Starting Out - Your First Budget

It's just after fresher’s week and you've got everything planned - your classes, your lunch buddies, you've even sussed out your local supermarket, pub and may have your eye on the boy or girl next door....

But what about your finances - have you given a thought to them? The loan cheque is in, you might have started looking for a job, have some savings stashed away, Mum and Dad might still be helping out that little bit, but are you as prepared as you need to be? Well, we are here to help you bring things into order a bit and let you learn from our mistakes.

First let’s start with the basics. Do you have a student bank account? Well if not get searching for the best bank and account for you. Many student accounts offer incentives when you open them that can be nice in the short term, but make sure your account suits you for the longer term. Is a free CD really worth getting a lower rate of interest? It’s best to do your research and talk to the customer service advisers; they don’t bite, at the banks you think might offer you the best account.

Once you've got your account opened - monitor your balance. Keep an eye on what's going in and out. In this day of modern day technology it’s dead easy to know what is going on in your bank account, as there are so many ways to keep track of it. You can set up internet banking, get a mini statement when you go to the cash machine or with some banks get an app for your phone to help you keep track of your money, or lack of it. There is nothing worse than getting carried away in the first few weeks at uni having lots of fun only to realize that you've blown your loan and end up eating beans for the week before your loan arrives - trust me I know! So if you see your balance getting low, stop and think before you keep spending.

One-way to help is by making a budget... yes I know it sounds very formal, but it is really easy and can be a lifeline to your finances.

Budgets are all about balance. Your income has to be greater than, or equal to your outgoings – Fact. The best way to achieve this is to be honest and write everything down. From the big stuff like your rent to little stuff like toilet paper, everything has to go into your budget. We have created an easy to use budget to start you off but if there is something that you do that’s not on it then make sure you add it in.

Print the budget here!

Sadly not every budget can balance at the first attempt and no doubt with all the new stuff on offer around you yours will be rather heavy on the outgoings side. Don’t worry this is the case with most students but you can do something about it.

Firstly think hard about everything on the outgoing side. Do you really need a new outfit every week? Can you live without going to the hairdressers every week? No doubt the answer to these questions and others in your outgoing column is yes!

Hopefully making decisions like this will mean your budget is a lot more balanced but if it’s not don’t worry there are lots of people you can go to for help in sorting it. Most banks have in-store professionals who can help you manage your money and so will your university. The worst thing you can do is ignore the problem, it won’t go away and no one will help you unless you ask them to.

Once you have set your budget try your best to stick to it. No one is perfect and there will no doubt be times that you go a little, or rather a lot off, budget. If this happens try to rebalance it by dropping something else from the outgoing side.

There is no doubt that there is funnier things to do in the first weeks of term than setting a budget and sorting your finances but there are few that are as important in the long term. Looking after your money at the start will mean there is less chance of it interrupting the fun and freedom of the coming years. Trust us, ignoring your money and what your spending will mean you’ll get awfully sick of not being able to afford to go out by the middle of the month and eating baked beans, awfully quickly.

RBS MoneySense Top Tips:

• When making your budget, the key thing is to be honest with yourself and realistic, otherwise, it won’t work and you’ll probably find you’ll only pay lip service to it.
• Start by writing down everything you spend money on. Use your bank statements or online banking service to help with this although you’ll need to manually keep a log for anything bought with cash. You’ll probably be surprised at what you find and will quickly see what needs attention.
• Finally review your budget regularly and if your finances just aren’t adding up seek help early by talking to student services and your bank.

All information within this website is produced by Student Punch. Please note that the views and information have not been endorsed, issued or approved by RBS except for the RBS MoneySense Top Tips. Any views expressed in this website are not necessarily those of RBS.