Managing your money
Get the knowledge and skills to manage your money.
Sign up for Blackbullion
We’ve partnered with Blackbullion, who offer specialised support to students in all areas of financial education and aim to help students develop financial confidence, knowledge and skills. It’s quick, simple and free to create an account to access the range of resources available.
Steps to managing your money
1. Understand what managing your money involves
Budgeting isn’t just about looking for ways you can cut back on spending. It's also about understanding what are the essential costs that you will always need to cover and which costs you have on top of these, considering your options to meet these costs. This might be compromising to reduce spend in some areas or looking at ways to increase your income to meet all of these costs.
2. Make a budget
Even if you think you have a good idea of what you’ve got coming in and what you’re spending you’ll be surprised how easy it is to miss things until you write them all down. There are different ways to make a budget, find out what will work best for you.
We have created sample living costs - based on information given to us from existing students - that may help you budget during your studies. Work out your income and how much you are spending in order to stay on track.
Living costs for undergraduates
Living costs for taught postgraduate students
Living costs for postgraduate researchers
3. Use a budget calculator
Using a calculator is the most accurate way to manage your money. This can be a live document which you come back to throughout the year.
4. Look at your spending lifestyle
You don’t have to stop spending on non-essential costs, you just need to make sure you can afford to meet all of your costs and live within your means.
5. Consider different ways to save money
This could be looking for discounts, swapping to non-branded foods or working more over the holiday period to save some money for emergencies.
Sources of funding
Have you checked all possible sources of funding?
Ways to save money
From thinking about where and how you shop to finding out about discounts for students, see our general tips on saving money.
Dealing with debt
Debt problems affecting your academic work, relationships or personal wellbeing? Talking about money can feel uncomfortable at times but the most important thing to know is that you can and should reach out if you need help.
Be aware of scams
Unfortunately, there are people who make a living by tricking others out of money. Students are often targeted but you can learn to recognise scams and protect yourself against them. Find out the tell-tale signs of a scam and the list of common scams we know of.
Help with the cost of living
The current cost of living crisis is affecting everyone and we're very concerned about the impact of money worries on our students and postgraduate researchers. We've created a cost of living hub to bring together all the support we offer in one place.
