How I Avoided Debt At University • 10.07.09
When I first started university, I wasn’t too concerned about my finances – in fact, I didn’t really know much about them! Providing I kept my balance above £0, I was happy and didn’t worry about a thing.
However, when my parents told me about student debt I started paying attention. They told me the average amount of debt a student now leaves university with is over £20,000.
This took me by surprise and made me think carefully about how I would spend my money at university. I didn’t want to leave with a mountain of debt, I just wanted to enjoy myself, get my degree and then leave – preferably with as little debt as possible.
And that is what I did. I have recently left university with just a few thousand pounds of debt.
So how did I do it? Well, it’s all about planning. If you plan out what you are going to spend each week, then you might be able to remain in control of your financial situation. You can plan out exactly how much money you need to spend on your food, studies, travel and social life.
I did this every week. I spent half an hour every Sunday writing down exactly what I needed for the next week, and planned what I would spend my money on:
• £20 would go towards food/drink
• £10 would go towards travel costs
• £20 would go towards socialising.
This would come to £50 week in, week out. By doing this, I could work out how much money I would spend in a month (£200), and then how much I would spend in a term (around £600) – so I knew exactly how much money I would need throughout my degree and could avoid getting into debt unnecessarily!
If you are a student or a graduate looking at your finances / debt, you may find these websites useful:
http://www.push.co.uk/
http://www.interstudent.co.uk/student-money/stop-student-debt.html
http://www.thinkmoney.com/debt/
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/student-loans-repay
