Wellbeing

Managing your student loan

By Halls 07 Mar 2023

Your student loan will go quickly in this cost of living crisis if you're not careful. Instead, thrive in it through a few easy steps!

Keep your money in check so you have enough for the stuff you need and want in life. It's all about balance at the end of the day and it can be easy to feel the need to spend spend spend when your student loan comes in. So to keep it from getting out our hand, try some of our budgeting tips and money hacks to keep yourself in the green.

Budgeting tips

Save your big overspending/treats for the right time
The biggest tip we can give you is to be patient with your student loan. If you can hold off splashing the cash as soon as your student loan drops, you will have an overall more comfortable living period between loans. You will only really know how much money you have left to treat yourself when you have reached the end of that period. Then your remaining cash can be spent on whatever you please, without the worry you might have needed it later down the line. This only counts for big treats like booking a holiday, you can still have guilt-free little treats sprinkled over the months.

Create an actual physical budget
Having it all written out in front of you (or using a handy phone app like MoneyLover) will help your brain process how much money you need each month to pay the bills and also have fun. Get the calculator out and do the maths to figure out whether your current income outweighs your outgoings (if not then maybe it's time to pick up a part-time job or cut back on an area of your life). If you're not sure what sort of things need to be included in your budget then check out the MoneySavingExpert for a full list of items to include.

Set up a "rainy-day" contingency plan
Expect the unexpected! You will need to factor in that a lot of the time, there will be outgoings each month that you didn't predict (flat tire, phone breaks, etc). So make sure to put some money aside each month for these "rainy days", so you don't have to take money away from other areas that you've budgeted for. Yes, this will mean you will have less overall to spend each month but your future self will thank you for the prevention of any money stress over an unexpected expenditure. Also if you let this money roll over each month, you will end up with a sizeable pot that could go on something special at the end of the year!

Food and drink can be a killer
You'll probably find out quickly after you've done your budget that your biggest overspending each month tends to be food and drink... and let's be honest, we all know why. That "cheeky takeaway" or "just one more drink" becomes a regular thing without even realising it. The first thing you should do is limit these to a weekly basis. Make it a treat for the end of the week or think ahead to any special occasions that are coming up and save your money for them rather than just a random night.

Another tip would be to save on lunch by making a meal planner, cooking more and eating out less. Get your housemates involved and you can prepare meals large enough to feed all of you and have leftovers to tupperware up for the next day (and always do your weekly shop at Aldi or Lidl if possible). But a general rule of thumb would be to always factor in more money for food/drink in your budget.

Quick money hacks

Before purchasing ANYTHING, check for deals first!
You will honestly save so much money by doing a simple search either online or asking a staff member in the store. It's not always obvious that there is a deal, especially at an online checkout (as they don't usually want you to save money!). Use Honey as a free browser extension that will automatically search for deals on whatever site you're browsing, or sign up for Unidays and Student Beans for all the student-specific deals you could dream of.
In a physical store, just ask! A tonne of shops do student discounts as long as you can flash your ID card or deals on bulk buying of one item. Don't be afraid to haggle with independent stores as well, they would rather they had a sale than no purchase at all!

Get taxed right
Working over term time or during the summer to earn yourself some spare cash is a good idea but you might be missing out on what you're rightfully owed if you don't get your tax right! First of all, find out what your tax code is and then figure out if your employer has the correct information. If you're earning less than £12,570 a year then you won't be taxed at all. You can calculate your tax, but remember this is only an estimation based on limited information.

Bank smarter
If you haven't already, you should set up a student bank account (or switch to one, sometimes including incentives) that will treat you better given your student circumstances. With Santander, you can receive a free 4-year 16-25 Railcard (save 1/3 on rail travel in the UK) when you sign up. Handy if you plan on using trains to explore the UK or your course/lifestyle requires you to travel back and forth a lot. If you need to dip into an overdraft, this account also has an interest-free one of £1,500 for the first three years (but never go over your overdraft limit!). You can set up a saving account to keep your student loan separate from your day-to-day spending.