NATIONAL STUDENT MONEY WEEK STARTS HERE

This year’s theme is ‘Students, Money and Mental Health’ and throughout the week we’ll be looking at different aspect of money advice and mental wellbeing.

To kickstart the week, we want to promote the benefits of budgeting and planning ahead.
For those of you who rely on loans to pay for tuition fees and living costs, you are already accruing debt which you’ll only have to repay once you are earning over a certain amount, but there are a few simple things you can do which can keep further, and potentially much higher interest debt at a minimum.

Here’s our Top 5 budget or bust tips:

1. Make sure you’re getting everything you’re entitled to – loan, grant, bursary, interest free student overdraft. The Student Advisers know the right questions to ask
2. If you’re continuing with your studies in September 16, make sure you apply in plenty of time for next year’s funding. Applications open around February/March, so don’t wait until summer’s nearly over
3. Looking for part-time work? Look no further than the help on offer from the Careers service http://about.brighton.ac.uk/careers/. You can sign up for the vacancy bulletin, get some cv tips and advice and practice your interview skills. All available on your campus and completely free of charge.
4. If you are working, try to pay off some of your student overdraft as you’re going along. This will give you more bargaining power when you want to negotiate a better deal later on.
5. Living in a house share? Shop around for the best deals on utilities. You may not have to stick with the energy providers suggested by your Landlord or Agent, but do check the terms and conditions of your tenancy. And make sure you take regular meter readings rather than relying on estimates.

Planning a budget may seem like a bore, but by dedicating a bit of time and discipline to your spending you will soon see the improvements and therefore feel better about yourself.
How?
You can plan and get organised
You will be in control
You will have a skill for life
You will be prepared for an emergency
You will be able to focus on your studies
You won’t be stressed out by money worries
You can enjoy spending spare money on the things you want

You can come and see an Adviser to help you, or you can have a go at once of these tried and tested online resources:
Brightside: a charity which focuses on young people (16 – 25 year olds) in education. They have created this student calculator: http://studentcalculator.org// Alternatively, this one http://international.studentcalculator.org/ is aimed at international students.
For those of you more familiar with UCAS, you may want to use their version:
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/budget-calculator
This is Money: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/studentfinance/article-1633418/Student-budget-calculator-spend-fund-it.html

For more general student centred advice and resources, have a look at Save the Student http://www.savethestudent.org/money/student-budgeting/student-budget-calculators.html#planner and finally for all you money saving experts, if you need an incentive to stop spending, this tool is just for you: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/demotivator/

For more information, tips and advice, have a look at our extensive online guidance: https://www.brighton.ac.uk/current-students/my-finances/index.aspx

Where can you find us today?

Moulsecoomb – we’ll be outside Aldrich library in Cockcroft between 12 – 2
Eastbourne – we’ll be in Sprinters cafe in Hillbrow between 12 – 2
Just look out for the Money Matters banner and purple t-shirts

Student Advice Service