Where the money goes
It’s all very well planning your finances like a military operation, but sometimes Lady Luck likes to shove an oar in and remind you who’s boss. She’ll dump an unexpected expense on you that makes all your finely tuned preparation look like doodles in the sand.
They start from day one when you arrive in an empty room and need to buy a kettle, a few mugs and an ironic poster of Britney Spears or a tennis player scratching her arse. Meanwhile, you don’t know where’s the cheapest place to buy any of these things.
Then there’s freshers’ week — there aren’t usually any academic commitments, just an endless stream of social events and red tape. Some universities make do with just a couple of days, others plump for a whole fortnight, but it’ll be an expensive time nonetheless.
Freshers are particularly susceptible to ‘loan arrival frenzy’ – when the first instalment of your loan hits your bank account, it’s tempting to delude yourself into thinking you’re rich. But that apparently huge lump sum has to last the entire term and it won’t take much budget planning to see that it’ll barely stretch across the bar, let alone across the term.
Having said that, settling in is important and making friends is a good investment in the long run. Allow yourself some extra for Freshers’ Week. At least an extra £50 for entertainments alone (let alone all the one-off expenses like mugs and a hole-punch). Fresher’s Week is one of the few times it’s okay to push the boat out a bit.
When it comes to family birthdays and anniversaries and Christmas, you’ll probably have to use your common sense and maybe a little bit of artistic licence to come up with a novel gift idea. Even with a big and demanding family, you should be able to plan and limit the expenditure and the good news is that however many presents you have to give, you’ll probably get about the same number back. Make this work for you by putting out the word about what you want good and early.
Every now and then (usually when you’re down to your last penny), some bastard so-called friend will decide to have a birthday and expect to be bestowed with lavish gifts. Improvise a bit – don’t be ashamed to get them something in the sales (it’ll probably be nicer than anything you could afford at full price) or to club together with a few friends to get them something they’d really like.
By the summer, you may want a break from it all. Round the world cruises won’t be in your price range, but budget backpacking is a perennial favourite. Don’t be fooled by the word ‘budget’, however — it’s all relative.
Last updated on: 01 December 2008