Budgeting for Students

If you are going to university, a course in budgeting for students would be a useful addition to your timetable. Like everything else these days, the amount of higher education finance needed for a first degree seems to be spiralling out of control. And the average college student's budget is not enough to cover the bills, despite student loans and financial aid packages.

The government encourages more and more young people to go to university and get a college education, but for many, this means taking out big student loans which in turn results in high levels of student debt.

You will need to look at scholarships and take out student loans, so be sure to check you aid eligibility. But there are plenty of other steps you can take to cut your outgoings.

So how can you minimize your expenses and still manage to have a good experience at college? First compare all the deals on student bank accounts and student credit cards.

Once you've found a good student bank account and/or student credit card, you need to learn how to budget - perhaps not high on a student's to-do list! But you need to be aware of the cost of accommodation, household bills and food. It's very easy to blow your student loan in the first month of college and then find yourself freezing and starving by Christmas.

So take some lessons from your mother, aunt, grandmother or any other experienced housekeeper. When you know how much you'll need to pay for essentials like rent, heating and food, you can set the money aside at the beginning of the year and then work out how much you have to spend on things like beer and entertainment.

Next you need to learn how to cook basic meals which are cheap and filling. Again you could enlist the help of a friend or family member. Or seach online for easy recipes. Making your own meals, or at least some of them, will be much cheaper than eating out and will also be better for you.

Textbooks can be expensive. So see if you can buy secondhand from the student bookshop at your college or from Amazon. Most univeristy towns also have secondhand bookshops. So it's worth checking them out as early as possible in the academic year. Look out for stationery shops which offer cheap students' rates for college supplies.

Look for vacation jobs early. Most students need part-time work, either during term time or holidays. So if you need to find work, get looking as early as you can, otherwise the best jobs will be gone.

Summer student jobs are always very popular because of the long break and so it's advisable to start your summer job search at the beginning of the academic year.

If you need a job during term-time, consider tutoring in any subjects you are good at, not just the ones you are studying at college. High school students with exams coming up are a good target group and if your subject isn't on which is in demand, think about hobbies, sports or other interests which other people want to learn.

Teaching guitar or tennis could be a lot more fun and more lucrative than stacking shelves.

Think about asking your family if they know of any vacancies, for example, your parents could have friends who run a small business and need casual help at times. The best way to get a job is through your network of contacts, so use it.

If you want to travel and work abroad, you should check out the possibilities as early as you can and look into booking cheap airfares for students, other student budget travel options and reduced rate accommodation.