The Ultimate Guide in Balancing Your Finances as an International Student in the UK

As a student abroad, managing your finances could be a challenging feat because you need to make sure that you are responsible enough to budget everything you are spending on. It could definitely be tempting to spend more than you should especially because you are in a fresh and exciting environment where everything you see is a new kind of experience for you. 

However, you need to first remember that you’re still a student in a new place who needs to budget your money at all times to make sure that you don’t spend too much on unnecessary things. Always take time to think before buying anything to determine if what you’re intending to buy is a want or a need. It makes all the difference to be wise with money even if you’re just a student to practice being financially responsible. By budgeting your money, you will be able to save money for emergencies or even occasional leisure activities that can further enrich your experience as an international student. 

As an international student in the UK, you’ll definitely need to have sufficient knowledge regarding everything you will need to spend money on to be able to always budget your finances. Some of the things you need to take note for your living costs as a student in the UK are your university location, your ideal choice of living, and the type of environment you prefer. 

To learn to budget your finances, you must first determine the average living costs of students in the UK by knowing the different expenses there and their specific costs. Here are the different expenses you need to know and their equivalents costs:

Source: https://www.savethestudent.org/money/student-budgeting/what-do-students-spend-their-money-on.html

In the latest annual National Student Money Survey, 2000 students in the UK were asked where their money is usually spent on. 

As seen in the table above, rent dues are the most spent on by students in the UK, amounting to about £418. It is no surprise that it costs the most among the expenses because rent fees are knowingly quite expensive especially abroad. 

The next most spent on expenses for students are their groceries, bills, going out, transport, and food deliveries or eating out. Consecutively, their costs amount to £116, £64, £59, £54, and £49. It is also expected that these expenses also cost quite a bit expensive because the activities involve paying for food, bills, and going out. These are basic necessities that students need to fulfill on a daily basis to maintain their living abroad in the UK. 

To be guided with managing student bills, check out this complete guide to student bills as well as this help with energy bills to have a complete step-by-step guide in responsibly managing your bills as a student abroad. Additionally, you can also better manage your monthly budget for food by reading this guide to  saving money on food and you can also check out this weekly meal plan to have a fixed amount of budget set for a specific meal plan on a weekly basis. 

When it comes to students’ mobile phones, course materials, gifts and charity, and friends and family, they spend the least with these expenses, with the costs amounting to £18, £17, £15, and £14 consecutively. 

Now that you have knowledge regarding the student living costs in the UK monthly, you can now move towards knowing how to budget your finances for these expenses that are provided. To properly manage your budget, you can do certain steps in saving money and maintaining your finances so that you always have enough for every expense.

Here are 4 steps you can take to balance your finances as an international student in the UK:

1. Utilize the offer of student loans
In the UK, there are two kinds of student loan. The first one assists you with your tuition fee and the second one helps you with the cost of maintenance. With these types of loans, the rules are different depending on where you are residing in the UK as you are taking up your course there. To qualify to receive a student loan, you need to have certain student characteristics that involve the university you’re studying at in the UK and if what you are taking is your first full-time course. 

To pay for the loan in the future, you will begin exactly after you have already finished your course and if you are already earning a certain amount of money. The process is quite flexible because if you are having a hard time finding a job, you have an unstable career, or you have suddenly stopped earning for some reason, your loan payments will be paused until you are ready to continue paying again.

An estimate of 25-30 years is allotted for you to complete your student loan payments depending on the type of plan you have availed. However, there are proposals to extend the time frame for the payment to allow you to have enough time in earning money and properly paying the loan completely. This proposal comes with lower interest rates which is said to take effect this year. 

Although these student loans can immensely aid you in helping you pay for your academic costs, these do not cover every cost, and so that is why you can also make use of other budgeting hacks for your study abroad journey. 

2. Have discipline in budgeting your money for expenses
As a student, you can take charge of your money by identifying how much income you gain, whether it’s from a part-time job or your family, and identifying your weekly expenses and how much each one costs. You need to list every expense to also determine the estimate of your budget. 

By having a list of your expenses, you’ll be able to monitor how much you are really spending and if what you’re spending is just enough to sustain your needs as a student. It would be better if you are left with extra money, because that means you are thrifty with your money and you can have additional savings which you could use for emergencies and other relevant situations. 

3. Make use of opportunities that can help you save money
There are plenty of opportunities that you can use to help you save money as you are studying abroad. Such are the following:

•    Use public transportation over app-provided vehicles.
•    Be responsible in using your mobile phone and maintain its functionality for as long as possible.
•    Try to eat out less or order food deliveries.
•    Keep vouchers, promos, or coupons to spend less on your groceries and other shopping needs.
•    Co-rent an apartment or dormitory close to your university instead of staying in a halls of residence to allow you to save more money.
•    If you have allotted time and energy, try to apply for a part-time job to partially cover your student expenses and provide you with additional money you can either save or use efficiently for leisure activities. 
•    Participate in your university’s special programs and events instead of going to parties and concerts outside the university.
•    Sell some of your belongings that you think you don’t need anymore, or you really have no use of. If you can, borrow some additional clothings from your family or friends instead if they are willing to lend you some clothes they are not using anymore. 

4.  Avail student discounts
Because you are a student, you have the privilege to avail discounts in almost everything. Through these student discounts, you could save up to 5% to 40% depending on what and where you’re buying. Like retail savings, there are bars, restaurants, and café shops that offer student discounts as well as cinemas, bookstores, and even public transportation. 

Some social media platforms online also offer student discounts for subscriptions and shopping online, you just need to verify if they are really offering such promos and what confirmations they need from you that you need to provide as proof. In other platforms, they may need other requirements as proof to confirm that you are a student, which could be proof of your enrollment as well as the course and subjects you are taking. 

With these helpful tips provided in learning how to balance your finances as an international student in the UK, you now have the complete knowledge to responsibly budget your money for your expenses. You just need to make sure that you maximize these tips that are given to help you maintain your student living costs and even save up some money for yourself to use for emergencies. 
 

Successfully Study Overseas With IDP

Have you been thinking about furthering your studies overseas?

Our team of education counsellors can help you with tailored guidance to pursue your career aspirations abroad and navigate the application process with you.

Also, they can give you budgeting advice for your study adventure overseas so that you stretch your dollar during your time abroad.

Click here to book a free virtual counselling session with our education counselors.