Managing your budget

It is therefore important to budget effectively, so you always have enough money to cover your basic living expenses and hopefully a little bit more for extras.

We’ve put together some steps to help you manage your budget while living at Scape.

Download a Weekly Budget Planner App.

Create an ‘essentials’ list.
Things like rent, groceries, utilities, stationery, and transport should be on your essentials list (thankfully at Scape your rent already includes unlimited wireless internet, electricity and water).

Create an ‘extras’ list.
These are items that would be nice to have, but only if you’ve got enough left in your budget. These could include new clothes, electronics as well as going out for dinners with friends.

Add up your ‘essentials’ list. This is to ensure you have enough money to cover those items.

Add up your ‘extras’ list. Work out the combined total of both lists. If you find you are a little short on money, think about which ‘extras’ are more important than others. If, after adding up both lists, you find you have some money left over, it is a good idea to consider setting up a savings account. This is good to have in case of emergencies, such as medical expenses or replacing a broken laptop. Otherwise, you can use it to go on a holiday to see more of your new city!

Learning how to budget effectively as a student, will place you in good stead for the future, and even give you more money to play with in the long term!