Having fun
Perhaps the only element of your budget that has any more give in it than a frozen pencil is entertainment.
Don’t imagine that you can just cut the whole thing, however. You will need to have fun from time to time. Apart from the fact that you’d fairly swiftly go crazy if you didn’t go out and kick back occasionally, you’d also miss out on a good chewy chunk of what student life is all about.
But if something’s gotta give, it’s gotta be the finances for fun.
When you come to work out your budget, you’ll need to allow generously for the cost of everything you can’t predict exactly. What’s left is what you can allow yourself for entertainment. With a bit of luck you’ll be under budget on other things and therefore be able to loosen up on your own spending restrictions, but it’s better to do that once you’re in the clear, rather than spend first and ask questions later.
Still, if you want to have a good time, but need to do it cheaply, at least it’s easier if you happen to be a student.
For a start, if your students’ union is affiliated to NUS, you’ll get a free NUS card at the beginning of your first year. It’ll carry your name, NUS number, the students’ union’s stamp and an invariably unattractive mug shot. This is your passport to discounts in clubs, pubs, cinemas, theatres, in fact just about anywhere where students will be welcome bums on seats.
Within your university, too, the students’ union will be responsible for putting on ents ranging from regular club nights to hypnotists, from movies to plays – you name it.
The quality, quantity and the kind of entertainment varies from place to place – and even if it weren’t for those variations, the differences in costs would probably be wider than a hamster eating a frisbee. As it is, what you spend on entertainments will depend entirely on where you’re living, what’s available, what tickles your giggly bits and how often you do it.
Taking all this into account, you’re probably looking at a good-time budget of around £35 to £45 a week. This is to cover the usual: drinks, entrance to clubs, gigs and concerts, more drinks, movie tickets, eating out (if you don’t count it under food), a few more drinks and morning-after painkillers.
Drinking in student bars is almost always cheaper than regular pubs and if you get your drinks in during happy hours, you can squeeze even more alcohol out of your notes.
Always be on the lookout for free entry and cheap deals. If you’re a girl, practise your seductive smile and the blokes might just buy your drinks for you. If you’re an easily-seduced bloke, try not to get taken in too often.
Go to www.studentbean.co.uk for discounts and special offers at shops and restaurants etc.
Last updated on: 07 October 2008