Budgeting: aka, Where Did All The Money Go?

Budgeting is probably the least fun part of being at university (unless you hate your course, in which case, that's just unfortunate). When you're living on your own for the first you'll probably be shocked by how expensive everything is (7 euro for a glass of wine??) and at the same time you'll be tempted to buy all the things.

This is more important than ever when you’re starting uni and learning how to manage money for the first time. It’s amazing how easy it is to live cheaply and well. Alas that was a lesson I could have learnt much sooner in my uni career .

Lecturing you is no fun unless I show my own failures as a young'un, so here, in all their glory, are all the financial blunders I made as a first and second year. AKA: Where did *I* waste the money?

1. Buying snacks like muffins, hot chocolate, fizzy drinks and chocolate for a quick pick-me-up between classes= a waste of money and unhealthy. Buy a multipack of treats from Aldi and ration them throughout the week.

2. Library fines. There is literally no excuse for this. Set reminders on your phone if you need to.

3. Fresh food that goes to waste because realistically you’re not going to cook beautiful dinners from scratch every night. Bagged salads are a curse (just throw what you don’t use into a blender along with fruit for a smoothie. If it tastes vile consider it a penance). Frozen is the way to go always.

4. Buying books or magazines. Like ever. Sure when you’re actually earning money, spending some of your hard earned cash on a book to keep might be reasonable but until then have you ever heard of a wonderful thing called a LIBRARY?! You don’t have the space/don’t trust yourself to return an actual book? Most libraries have online services where you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks along with magazines and-often- language courses. Bliss.

5. Eating out. I know, I know , I know. It’s so lovely to have a gorgeous dinner with friends and restaurant/cafe food is so delicious. It’s so tasty. And expensive. Do this rarely. (Ditto Just Eat. Ditto Costa/Starbucks). Otherwise you’ll be wondering where your money went.

6. Booze. This is blasphemy I know. But consider how much you really need to drink, bearing in mind that alcohol often causes more problems than it solves (that next-day slump? If you drink often enough that can bleed into the next day and the next…). Most Irish people could do with drinking a little less. I know I definitely drank far too much and it’s a waste of money and time.

7. Not being savvy enough. Use your student card. And take advantage of student nights at cinemas, bars etc.

With a little experience, budgeting can be fun and it always helps to remember that you're working towards a goal. The best things in life don't have to involve lots of money and knowing how best to spend what you have is a life skill that will serve you well your whole life. Best of luck to everybody entering college this September!