How To Plan Your Budget

Making the most of your money can help you make the most of university

Living away from home for the first time or being new to London can make it hard to predict what you’ll spend, but there is plenty of help available at Middlesex.

Creating a budget, and sticking to it, is crucial. Then you’ll be clear about what money you have to spend, what's essential and what's nice-to-have. If you can get into the habit of planning your spending and checking it every week, you’ll create less stress for yourself.

To help you out, we’ve broken down the basics of budgeting into some easy-to-follow steps.

Four steps to your budget

1. Look at how much money is coming in

This won’t take too long as it’s usually a much shorter list than all the money that’s going out.

Here’s what to think about:

• Your Student Loan
• Grants, bursaries, sponsorships or scholarships
• Any cash from parents - if they’re able to help you, it’s helpful to agree in advance how much they’re offering to give you each week, month or term
• Any work income
• Any savings you’re planning to use at uni.

2. Work out how much money is going out

This part is more complicated and depends on your personal circumstances. Go through these categories and make an estimate of your outgoings. Try looking through your past bank statements to see what you spend in a typical month.

Student budget calculators can be really helpful. Visit This is Money - Student budget calculator.

3. Calculate what’s left to spend

Take what’s going out from what’s coming in, and then divide it by the number of weeks during a term. What’s left is what you have to spend each week.

4. Keep track of your spending

When you’ve planned your budget, you’ve got to plan how to record what you spend.

• Try a mobile phone app which connects to your bank account. Make sure it’s a trustworthy app as you’ll be sharing your financial information with it!
• Read the Times Higher Education article on student finance apps.
• You can create a budget spreadsheet or check out these recommendations for free budget spreadsheets.

By going through this process, you’ll realise just how easy it is to keep track of where your money is going each month, and what you can afford to spend.

Going out with friends, don't forget to split the bill. There are some apps to help with this.