Social Media Icons

slide code

Photo

Laura
Hi! I'm Laura, a 23-year-old millennial girl discovering who I am by sharing my life experiences on my blog. You'll find me writing about me discovering my personal style, my growing wanderlust or giving any sort of style, uni or mental health advice.

If you ever have any questions, notes or other things that you want to know, feel free to email me

styleandsushi@outlook.com

From July 2012 all items marked with a (*) are gifted items or PR samples. Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. Please read my disclaimer for more details.

social media icons 2

Search

category 1

STYLE

category 2

LIFE

category 3

TRAVEL

OUTFIT | SAVING MONEY WHILE ON A UNI BUDGET




Being in university is hard enough already, dealing with mental breakdowns, having to work in groups and dealing with exam stress. But how can we live on a uni budget, while still doing fun things? That's something I talked about recently with a friend of mine.

It feels weird to say this, but next week I am starting the second term of my third year at university. It's safe to say that I am student. And being a student comes with having real student struggles, such as my uni budget. 

Let's be honest, university is bloody expensive, right? I am lucky enough to be able to pay my monthly university fee with some help of my parents. But I know that there are lots of students in The Netherlands that need to loan a bit of money in order to go to college. And I know that most of the UK students that read my blog are forced to have a major loan, because their university costs are insanely high. 

Now of course I don't have it bad. I still live at my parents place, so I don't have to spend any money on a home, food or electricity. But even I find it hard to sometimes live of that university budget, so I can only imagine how it must be if you're not living with your parents anymore. 

Don't spend money on food and drinks at university

I am a big sucker for our uni's cafe. I am always getting myself either some more coffee, a sandwich or some snacks if I am feeling a bit peckish. What I have learned from interning the first half of this year, is that is totally normal to bring lunch with you. So, bring lunch and snacks with you while you're at uni too! It saves so much money and it probably is a lot healthier than getting yourself another sandwich with some sort of mayonnaise at uni.

Rent your books at the library or use the online library

The thing I spent most of my money on is books for uni. Whenever we start a new term at our university, we get a new list of books that we need to purchase in order to pass an exam. Sometimes I would spend €200 on books for one term, that I eventually end up looking in once. I am so over spending money on these books, so nowadays I either go to the library, or use our university's online library to go through the material that I need to study for for an exam.

If I then notice, that we use the books quite often, I would purchase the books for my exams and my future. If not, then I just write down my own summary of the book from the (online) library.

Use those student discounts

I know you're probably already doing this. I feel like we only recently really started doing student discounts here in The Netherlands. But it's so useful to always have that student card of yours with you! I always get myself a discount whenever I go to the cinema, if I shop at Weekday or Topshop, or if I am browsing for a new book at my local book store. Now student discount might not be a lot to save up on, but a discount is a discount, right? Even those 10% discounts on a €20 top are definitely worth it!

Put (part of) your student funds into a separate savings account

I am lucky enough to receive funds for being a student. I always try to set these apart into a separate savings account. I find that this is the best way to manage your budget. It's the best way to have some sort of a savings account, so you can spend it if you're in need of new books for uni, or just want to treat yourself to something new. 

Put 10% of your monthly income on a separate savings account

I read somewhere that setting 10% of your income apart is the best way to save up some money and I find that it's an amount I can actually miss, without me going broke. Setting 10% of my income apart I always do every month. This way I can either save up for something nice to buy for myself, such as a holiday. Or set it apart to save up for a house already. I usually am able to spend some of the money on there on having some sort of a social life.

What I'm wearing
ZARA blazer (in black)
Vila tee (similar)
ASOS jeans
Converse All Stars trainers
Lancaster bag
Céline sunnies




Reacties

  1. I study at uni too now, and it's bloody expensive. Even more expensive that I have accomodation to pay. But I think I shouldn't complain about our situation here in Belgium, because we don't have to take a loan.

    Some other things I do to save money is buying second-hand books. I usually have them for half the original price. Also, for copies and stuff like that, we have something called "Zerocopy", and it's really great. Basically, you get a number of free copies per week (which is quite large), and you don't have to pay a single thing. How amazing is that?

    Have a lovely weekend.

    xx, much love, Renaud

    http://renaudness.weebly.com

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
    Reacties
    1. That's such a good tip too! My friends always do that and end up saving so much money! Ohh and Zerocopy sounds pretty amazing! Thanks for the tips, have an amazing weekend! xx

      Verwijderen
  2. I'll be starting my third year in September and something I've learnt about saving money is that bringing lunch and snacks from home is so much cheaper than buying food there all the time! That's what I used to do on my first year but on my second I took lunch with me everyday and snacks as well so if there was something I was buying was a cup of coffee in the morning! Lovely tips! Xx

    Rita | abittersweetdiary.blogspot.pt

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
    Reacties
    1. Right?! I was always buying myself a cup of coffee at school in the morning and then just snacks throughout the day. I used to be broke halfway through the month! Have an amazing weekend xx

      Verwijderen

Een reactie posten

Thank you so much for leaving comments on my blog! I read and appreciate every single one :) If you ever have any questions, feel free to tweet or Instagram DM me @styleandsushi or email me styleandsushi@outlook.com