Hello all you lovely gals and guys.
Today's post is a ramble on my personal experience of coping on a student budget (prepare for a large amount of complaining)
For those who haven't gone to uni or are about to, you might think that I must of known I'd be living on a student budget for 3 years so why complain? but trust me when you're initially setting off to uni whilst money is somewhere in your head it's certainly not a priority. Personally my brain was more focused that I was about to go move to a city, and into a building with hundreds of people I'd never met.
So first year...a word that sums up how I survived is overdraft. Boy oh boy was that a good friend of mine by the end.
I'd decided seeing as I needed to settle into a new city the last thing I also want to be stressing about is also settling into a new job so I decided not to get a job this year. I figured I could survive off of my student loan and savings...fast forward to Christmas and I'm deep deep in my overdraft. Semester two certianly called for some sort of budgeting (which of course didn't last...).
I've never been good with money really, for some reason it burns a hole in my pocket and I think my obsession with shopping is something to do with that. So from being comfortable with a part time job at home, and having money to buy some of the clothes I wanted, to be able to go for a meal if I wanted, to suddenly have the reality check I can no longer do that hit hard.
If I had advice for any first year it's to not blow all your money in freshers and actually attempt to budget. For me personally, the summer between first and second year the amount of hours I worked to get myself financially stable again wasn't all that fun!
Fast forward to second year...it was time I got a job. Which I did, I worked at my local Topshop in Cambridge. Getting a job there was one of the best parts of second year because I got to meet some of the best babes ever, two of which blog themselves go peep Charlotte at iamcharrloteolivia and Sophie over at sophiefoskett.
Anyhow, so yeah not only the people were fab but payday was also. But me being me now worked in Topshop which meant most of my wage went there...but without having a job in my second year I wouldn't of survived! So whilst being finically stable and not having to become friends with my overdraft again I still to this day have a spending problem...
So to finish of this post here's a list of the top 5 harsh realties every student faces when living on a student budget...
- Not being able to order takeaways whenever you please. The worst is when you're hungover and all you want is a dominos but your bank account just won't let you.
- The guilt. To a degree shopping isn't as enjoyable as it used to be for now every single time I buy anything (even a weekly shop) I'm filled with guilt and dread that £15 is about to leave my bank account and I'm left feeling guilty for picking up an expensive pack of grapes.
- A lack of luxuries in your life. The holidays, the massive spending sprees are a thing of the past for a while. Which is very depressing.
- Not being able to give back. For me I LOVE buying presents for people for no reason at all, and this becomes a rare occurrence when surviving on a student budget. As a weekly shop is probably a little more crucial than that top for your mum.
- The trade off. For many students I think we've all at one point or another had to do a trade off. For example, I buy that dress I really don't need instead of doing a weekly shop, and end up eating pasta for a week...When this starts to happen it's when you know times are tough.
So there we have it, the harsh realities of living on a student budget. Although at times it's very testing. I love uni and whilst would love a lot more money wouldn't change it for anything.
Here's to hoping I survive my final year!
Thanks for reading xx
P.s I reached 900 followers Monday and I want to thank all 916 (current following when typing this) of you for following me and reading my blog! It's very much appreciated xx
