The Truth About Uni | Finance

This is the third instalment of a collaboration with other student bloggers. This week is all about finance at university.

Being a third year at university I have honestly been through the whole finance drama.

Firstly, before you even start university there are a few financial questions:

1. How much will my loan be?
2. Can I live off of it comfortably?
3. When do I have to pay my deposit?

To answer question one, you can get a rough estimate from the Student Finance Calculator, all you need are some basic details such as how much your tuition fees are, family income (prepare for your parents to not want to tell you this information even though you need to know it to fill out the actual finance forms), when you're starting and if you are going to university in or outside of London and any disabilities or extra help you might need.

This is a rough guide of how much you might get for that year, and keep in mind you get three payments throughout the year. We were on low income so a lot of my maintenance loan turned into a grant (grants mean you don't have to pay it back - yipee!) and I also qualified for an extra bursary each term (more free money).

For those of you starting this year, it's all unfortunately been turned into loans [insert sad face emoji].

Here is an example of the finance calculator:

You shouldn't be terrified of finance, there's lots of help around and especially at your university to guide you through the process.

The second question depends on how much you get, you will need to budget and work out how much rent you need to pay each term, if there's anything you'll need to pay for as part of your course, and a rough food budget. Notice I haven't included booze in this! First and foremost you need a roof over your head and food! There are lots of stories of students getting their first instalment of their loan and spending it all on the first Fresher's night - please do not do this. Unless you have rich parents to fall back on that is not advisable!

In my first year I didn't go out drinking much, partly because my housemates weren't party animals and I was quite happy binging Netflix and making Angel Delight. I also kept to roughly £20 per week on food as I shopped at ASDA and would raid the reduced sections as I memorised their reducing times!

If you keep to a strict budget you will be perfectly fine! I also kept my job so I had some extra income for when that loan starts to disappear, I would definitely recommend looking for a part time job even if it's just one day a week. It'll put some extra money in your pocket and also show's people you were prepared to work through university and not just party all the time.

My third point is very important, I didn't actually realise I had to pay a deposit before my loan came in. This is so that landlords can have security that they will have tenants for that year and usually they aren't refundable. I was completely broke before going to university, it was a very recent thing where I went shopping a bit too much and had to ask friends for money as I was ashamed of nearly having noughts appear in my account.

Luckily my parents saw I was hiding something and helped me cover my deposit and I paid them back with my loan. If you can save up now for your deposit I would advise it as you don't want to get into a bad habit of borrowing money (cough that's me cough cough).

As I mentioned earlier, in my first year I did ok I didn't have a lot of savings (I paid for a holiday, an iPad and lots of clothes that I never wore or didn't fit me), but then I kept getting into a bad habit of having to borrow money to see through the months. I also tried leaving my job for other jobs and it didn't work out and I ended up getting taxed a fair amount for having two jobs, and at one point they thought I had four?!

I made the mistake of getting an overdraft in my second year, as everyone had one and I thought it'd be a nice safety net and I wouldn't have to borrow from my parents anymore. I started off with just £500 as I could easily pay that back with wages. However, I could increase my overdraft online. Bad mistake. This then lead onto making an appointment at the bank to ask for an even bigger overdraft, and by this point I was in too deep.

If you saw my post earlier this year Why I'm On A Spending Ban you'll have noticed it's taken me awhile to get my finances under wraps. If you can avoid overdrafts I'd advise that! I didn't really need one and I abused it a bit too much.

I've got my last loan this month and it's terrifying. I have no savings and I still need to clear some debt and pay for driving. So you can guess where it's all going to go...

My one last piece of advice to you, whether you're about to become a university student or are a first or second year, is to save or spend your money wisely. If you need a phone, laptop, camera, decent clothes that are durable and can justify it then go ahead. But these loans won't last forever, trust me! These three years go by really fast!

Sorry for a very wordy post, but I hope it's helpful and can give you some insight!

Please check out these lovely ladies posts!

Jasmine from Thoughts From Jasmine (she brought us all together)

Jen from Velvet Spring

Becky from The Owlet

Annaleid from Actually Anna

Sophie from The Glamour Reel

Katherine from Millennial Rants

Tori from Legally Brunette

Why I'm on a Spending Ban

Hello!

Welcome to my first post of 2017. It's been a bit overdue as I've been concentrating on writing my dissertation (thank god that's over!) and this post is going to be about budgeting and spending bans.

As a university student, it can be common for many of us to be *cough* in debt *cough*. I recently came out to my family and my boyfriend about my financial situation, as it wasn't getting any better not talking to anyone about it. Even though that terrifying number still lingers in my bank account, at least I don't have to hide it or suffer in silence.

With that came discussing the quickest way out of my overdraft, I put some money aside from my most recent student loan as I had "borrowed" money from myself to help fund the most expensive month ever; December. I'm still not 100% certain about using this money to bail out my overdraft, as that money is there for driving lessons etc. However, it would be a quicker way to get out soon, then all the money I earn would be mine.

I started to look at what needs to come out of my account each month; direct debits, rent, and travel costs. All of that already takes out quite a large chunk of my monthly wage, therefor I should not be spending more than I earn (a huge mistake I've made in the past year). Of which I decided to put myself on a "spending ban" I'd seen some other bloggers do this recently, and thought it's a good idea and hopefully will get me out of my debt soon(ish). This means no unnecessary spending, no more clothes, make up, food, alcohol, nights out...you start to get the idea. Although this makes me a tad sad, it's for the benefit of my bank account. Ideally I'd love to be out of my overdraft and in a considerable amount of credit by the time I finish university (May this year).

I worked out all of my incomings up until May, and my necessary outgoings, and I should be in credit if I stick to my spending ban rules.

The only loopholes of my ban, are if I need any trousers or leggings (as my thunder thighs tend to rub and make ginormous holes 👍🏼) and if I need lunch. That's pretty much it, apart from needing to pay to get my dissertation bound. I know there will be the small purchase here and there, but I need to stop impulse buying to make myself happy. Yes, I am one of those people who got stuck in a rut buying things for happiness, only to be left unhappy and purchasing more.

The past year has been difficult for me, and I found that buying things (make up, books and clothes) made me feel better for a short period. My bank balance can't afford this bad habit anymore, and I have my support system to help stop me end this cycle. Today, I really wanted to splurge and buy the new 'Too Faced Sweet Peach Eye Shadow Palette' and I was close to clicking purchase. I had a justifiable excuse at the ready "I got some money for Christmas, that makes it ok", feeling close to giving in I told my boyfriend, he saw the price of it and exhaled dramatically. By telling him I wanted to buy it, it meant I couldn't because if he saw that I bought a £39 eye shadow palette I'd get a scolding and a lecture about saving my money. (I'm not bashing Too Faced, their products are beautiful, and I appreciate that they are cruelty free, it's just a shame my purse doesn't stretch that far!)

My advice to those who need to save, or get out of their overdraft:

1. Create a spreadsheet, or get a bullet journal
2. Figure out your necessary monthly outgoings
3. Work out your monthly incomings
4. See if there's anything you can give up, or reduce
5. Then see how long it would take you on a budget to get the amount you need
6. Tell people close to you of your plans, so they can help and guide you
7. If possible get a persistent other half to nag you the whole way (this can be optional but recommended, same effect can be created by a close friend who has similar traits)
8. Set yourself weekly spending budgets, you can even only take out so much cash and only have that to spend

I also would recommend getting a pot or jar that you can't open (easily found in a pound shop) so you can dedicate so much money to go in each month, and add in any change in your purse, and see how much you accumulate in a year, or a set time frame. I'm going to do this to save up for Christmas!

I hope this post has been a little inspiring for those in the same position as me, or even just trying to save up and are struggling! There's many helpful tips on Pinterest or you can look into bullet journals, they can help motivate you reach your goals.

Let me know if you have any handy saving or budgeting tips!

Saffron x