This week, the students on KMTV's Year In Television course are talking all things student budgeting. The team look at the best tips and tricks for managing money whilst at university.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00exploring different facets of student life across Kent with a range of topics and segments.
00:05This week we're taking a look at budgeting. As a student, budgeting can be difficult but
00:09we hope to offer some tips and tricks to make it that little bit easier.
00:13First, budgeting can be an intimidating subject. It's hard to know where to begin and what
00:18methods might work for you. We spoke to a student money advisor at the Canterbury Christ
00:23Church University as well as a University of Kent graduate to hear two different takes
00:28on easy budgeting for students. Getting started with a budget can feel very
00:32overwhelming but we went over to Canterbury Christ Church University to speak to Kerry,
00:37a student money advisor, to get some guidance on those first steps.
00:41I would say the first thing to consider is maybe what format would work for you, so is
00:46it pen and paper, maybe one of the new mobile budgeting apps that's available, an Excel
00:54document, to just try and figure out what might work best for you to start with. So
00:58I would recommend one of the first steps to take is get to know your income and outgoing,
01:04so have a look through your bank statement, scroll through your mobile app and make sure
01:08you're fully aware of what's going out of your account and the dates of the payments.
01:12Yeah, just think it's really important, just be honest with yourself, be really realistic
01:17when you're starting a budget plan or reviewing it for yourself, what are you actually spending
01:23on, maybe food and entertainment. Budgeting is a skill that helps you even
01:27after you graduate. We spoke to Aline, who graduated from the University of Kent in 2024.
01:34So as an undergrad student I found budgeting quite difficult to begin with, but the more
01:39I did it the easier it became. So Student Life helped me budget as a postgrad
01:43as it gave me the ability to become quite organised, not only with my money but also
01:50in terms of keeping spreadsheets and things like that, which I found quite beneficial.
01:56As an undergraduate I used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my budgeting and as a postgraduate
02:02it's a method that I've kept in practice. As a postgraduate my budgeting is somewhat
02:10similar to how it was as an undergraduate in terms of the social aspect and also at
02:17home I do pay rent, but at the same time my rent that I pay at home is lower than
02:25what it was when I was an undergraduate. So the difference there, so what I would do with
02:31the difference in how much I would pay, I put that into my savings account.
02:35The advice I give to undergrad students would be to start budgeting if you haven't already
02:42and also if you are currently budgeting to continue doing that after you've finished
02:47your studies. With these tips, hopefully starting to budget
02:51is a lot less intimidating. Now, we've sent our journalists out to the
02:57Medway campus to ask students about how charity shopping and finding clothes in second-hand
03:02thrift shops and websites can contribute to an effective clothing budget.
03:07So do you thrift? Yes I do thrift, I enjoy it actually.
03:11I don't usually do that much, but occasionally actually.
03:15Because we are getting high quality products for lower prices, charity shops are better.
03:20I think they're really good, I think it's an opportunity for almost everyone, like in
03:25the brands, brands are not open for everyone, they're expensive, but in terms of charity
03:30shops I think everyone can go there, they are accessible, so I'm really in favour of
03:34charity shops and it's really good to have them.
03:37I mean you actually carefully select things in charity shops, you could actually get something
03:42nice that if you don't tell someone that I got it from a charity shop, they wouldn't
03:47actually know. For me I think fashion is something which
03:51is more spontaneous, like if I like something I get it, like I said before, but to invest
03:57a lot of money in clothing, I mean that is sort of a luxury which I don't think students
04:02can afford, and I think thrift shopping and going to charity shops kind of really merges
04:07well into that. If I go to any shop, like clothing shops,
04:14I would ask for student discounts as I'm an international student, is there any student
04:19discounts or anything else, like any seasonal discounts, so that is how I am maintaining
04:26my budgeting. I don't buy so much things regularly, but
04:32when I see I need something then I get it, so this is how I manage it.
04:37Some interesting takes there. Next up, we are going to open the page on budgeting for
04:41books in the first chapter of a new segment, Buddle's Book Club.
04:46Okay, so what do you say, reading can be a budget friendly hobby?
04:57Reading a thousand percent can be as budget friendly as you need it to be, obviously additions
05:01in Waterstones can be between nine to ten pounds, so overall sometimes it cannot be
05:06the most budget friendly option, especially if you read for your degree and need textbooks
05:09as well, but I found that there are so many ways to enjoy books without spending a fortune.
05:16And so what would you say your top ways to buy books are without breaking the bank?
05:20A classic is charity shops, people often think of charity shops and think of clothes shopping
05:23but don't realise that there are millions of second hand books being sold in places
05:28like Oxfam and Cancer Research UK, most of which are between one to three pounds. I've
05:32found entire series on there like Throne of Glass or the Akatar series and it's a perfect
05:37way to enjoy different genres in a budget friendly way.
05:41What would you do if you don't have the time to go around and look in person?
05:45I would say if you want a bookshop from the comfort of your own home, there are so many
05:48reselling websites out there that aren't very well known such as Bookfinder and World
05:51of Books, I've found plenty of my required texts on there for a third of the price. It's
05:57perfect for people who are short on time or just enjoy the more online approach. And
06:01my final suggestion would be to just get people together and do a book swap, it's a perfect
06:05way to spend some social time around reading.
06:09Sounds like a great opportunity, thanks.
06:19And finally, time for another new segment, let's hear what our resident student Sam has
06:23to say about his budgeting experience.
06:26Hello and welcome to Sam Says, this is the part of the programme where I talk to you
06:35about my experience as a student, hopefully give you some advice that could help you.
06:39This week we're talking about budgeting. Let's get to it. As a student, budgeting is very
06:44key. When I first came to university, I'll be honest, I was awful at it. I had so much
06:48money and didn't really know what to do with it. It was just there, I would spend it too
06:53much and well, I made a mess of it. But over time, I picked up so many tips and tricks,
06:57which honestly, I think could help you as well. Opening a savings account allowed me
07:01to know which money I actually had to spend, rather than just having it all in one place
07:06and made it so much easier to know what I could actually do with it. You may be wondering
07:10how to decide how much money you keep and how much money you put into your savings.
07:14My best way that I found to do this was actually use my calendar. The way I use the calendar
07:18is I put all the events and stuff that I have to go to into it. And then I know how much
07:22money I'm going to be spending in a certain day or time, and I can plan for that. A final
07:26thing that's extremely helpful for me is actually making a list for when I go shopping. I know
07:30this may sound simple, but otherwise, when walking down the aisles, I will just pick
07:34things up. And that adds so much money onto my shop for things I don't even really need.
07:39This means you have this money for stuff that in the future you can actually spend it towards,
07:43such as like I said, concerts or going out or just things that you'd rather spend it
07:47on than little things in the supermarket. Thank you for watching Sans Says. Hopefully
07:52these budget tricks have helped you and you're doing a better job of budgeting at university
07:55than I did in my first few years.
08:03And now we're joined in the studio by Zoe Fode, a final year student at the University
08:07of Kent to talk about her own experiences with budgeting and her take on student life
08:12while keeping costs low. Hi Zoe.
08:15Hi.
08:16So, well, as Terry said in the first report, it's important to know your income is an
08:21outgoing for budget. Is that something you felt has helped?
08:24Oh yeah, definitely. I think it's very important to know what's coming in your bank every month,
08:28just keeping track of it. Maybe every so often you double check so you still know what's
08:32going on. I mean, I know when I was in my first year of uni, my biggest thing was subscriptions.
08:39At one point I found out I was subscribed to one thing twice. So I was paying for it
08:43double for like a good few months before I even realised. So I do think it's very important
08:48to know what's going in and going out just so you can manage it easier.
08:51No, I doubt that. I had a gym membership that I didn't use for a year. I don't even want
08:55to think about how much money that was. So would you say you are good at budgeting, do
09:00you think?
09:01I like to think I'm good at budgeting. People who know me might disagree. I know I'm very
09:06good at saving. I've always saved a lot of money. If I'm going to buy something a little
09:10bit more pricey, I save up for it a lot. However, I do know that I'm very bad at impulse buying.
09:16That is probably my weakest thing. If I see something shiny, I'm like a magpie, just buy it.
09:22Fair dues. I mean, well, as a student, I mean, I'm sure, you know, maintaining the social
09:27life is important. Is there anything you do to keep the cost low while still managing
09:30to have fun?
09:31Yeah. So I, a bit mentioned in the package, I tend to pre-plan things a lot. So if I know
09:37that I'm going out or if there's somebody's birthday coming up, I put it in my calendar
09:41so I can budget accordingly throughout the month. I might miss one social if I know I
09:46have somebody's birthday present that I need to pay for or something like that. So I tend
09:49to pre-plan a lot of things so that I know that there's enough money for me when something
09:55comes in the calendar.
09:56Well, do you think that on that theme, do you think that peer pressure and social trends
10:00might play a part in people spending more money than they know they should?
10:04Oh yeah, 100%. I think peer pressure plays into a lot of things and I think it's probably
10:08the biggest downside people have when it comes to budgeting. It probably, they fall on it
10:14a little bit too much. I know I personally did. Everyone started wearing over-the-head
10:17headphones and I suddenly was like, hey, I need some too. But I think what's important
10:23to remember is that you buy something that will last you long term. You won't just throw
10:28it away or it'll break in the long run. Those headphones that I have, I still use them now.
10:32So I think it's really mindful of just picking what you buy.
10:35Really, so make sure it's good quality then.
10:37Yes, definitely.
10:38And what would you say is the biggest mistake you made when you first started to budget?
10:43Honestly, mine was not having a plan at all. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't realise
10:50how much money had costs, especially with prices going up. So I think just making a
10:54plan, sitting down and knowing what you're doing basically.
10:57Oh, it's exactly the same. Thanks for that.
11:03Now, you've been watching Kent Student 101 live on KMTV. There's more news made just
11:09for Kent throughout the evening. And don't forget, you can always keep up to date with
11:12the latest news across your county by logging on to kmtv.co.uk.
11:19That's all for us. Have a good night.