Financing Essex : living on a budget

So you’re probably used to earning about £200 a month from a part-time job. Think of this – when you start uni you'll more than likely have a terms student loan paid into your account (probably between £1,000 and £1,200), you may also have an overdraft facility that most banks kindly offer to all uni students (probably about £1,000) and on top of all this – if you’re lucky enough to have generous parents then they may have given you some money to spend as well.

If you’re good at maths – you should have realised that this means you'll have over £2,000 available to you! The trick's not to spend it all in Freshers’ Week, and have enough cash at the end of term to afford to eat and get the train home!

The best way to make sure you're not smashing your piggy bank open in the last couple of weeks is to budget – write a list of all the big amounts that need to be paid with the money you have in your account. This would include things such as:

1. Tuition fees
2. Rent
3. Phone bill

Take the amount this adds to off how much you have available to spend, and then work out how much you have left to spend on food, going out and clothes.

However, it is very tempting to go and splurge your new-found wealth on everything and anything! This idea will definitely lose its appeal when halfway through the first term you run out of money and you have the choice of making a very pleading phone call home (knowing you mum will say, "well I did warn you not to spend it all at once"), or not eating for the next four weeks.

All it takes is a case of budgeting and prioritising – some people may prefer to spend money on new clothes, whilst somebody else may want to spend that money on going out, going on holiday etc.

Whatever happens, do try to resist those oh-so-tempting store cards. What looks and feels like a free shopping trip – will undoubtedly set you on a downward spiral to unmanageable debt. If you head for stores like Topshop, Topman, Burton and Miss Selfridge you can get a 10% NUS discount, and remember to hunt around for bargains (especially at sale time).