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Pennypincher1989
Posts: 1 Newbie
When you think of university life, you conjure up images of eating cold baked beans from a tin, blagging free drinks from the students union and spending your free time looking for clothes and books in charity shops.
Not me.
Luckily, whilst at university, I lived a life of luxury. With halls of residence rent paid up front with student loans and all utilities including unlimited internet included, I had no ‘bills’ to worry about. I also had a 25 hour per week job working for a very generous family member and as I lived directly opposite the university, I had no commuting costs to worry about.
Moreover, I also performed burlesque at local venues and earned approximately £120 a week from cramming in shows in my ‘spare time’.
To add, the university course offered generous performance based bursaries, therefore those all-nighters in the library paid dividends!
With approximately £1K+ of disposable income to live off a month, I enjoyed eating out and treating friends to dinners in fancy restaurants, expensive nights out in expensive bars, top of the range laptops and phones, ‘pretty’ clothes and shoes, high-end make up and toiletries AND I still had money left over!
Looking back, I could kick myself extremely hard, repeatedly.
A night out wouldn’t just be a ‘cheap student night out’. It would consist of a full scale shopping spree prior, with dinner and drinks in a snazzy bar. New make-up and shoes would have to be purchased and I would buy bottles of Prosecco and Asti to pre-drink as opposed to cheap vodka.
I certainly lived a champagne lifestyle on, well, a champagne budget. It seemed that because I’d never had money before, I didn’t know how to handle having it. The novelty of independence and freedom took over and I overindulged when I should have been saving for the future.
Things took a turn for the worse when in my second year, my foreign flatmate and fellow student decided that she’d had enough of England and decided to up and leave at the beginning of our tenancy for our second year accommodation. I was therefore forced to pay full rent and bills on my own after little mercy from the lettings agents. This led to spiralling debts, which are still hanging over me now.
I hung my graduation gown up over a year ago and reality has since kicked in.
I now work full time for a modest wage and share an apartment in central town with my partner of two years. Fortunately, my partner has a well-paid job too and we live a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. However, some savings between us would have been greatly welcomed.
With city rent to pay, high council tax bills, two cars to run and other living costs to contend with, our joint income £2800 per month doesn’t stretch very far.
I have now learnt the true value of money and consequently live a budget-busting lifestyle in order to free up cash for debts and emergencies.
I’d therefore like to share some of my moneysaving tips with you guys!
· Swapped shopping at ASDA and Sainsbury’s forshopping at ALDI. Spend £20-£30 a week on food, toiletries and even a bottle of cheap wine!
· Visit MSE weekly and print off vouchers to saveon toiletries, food and household items.
· Use Voucher cloud on phone to save money on clothes, leisure and eating out.
· Visit cinema on Wednesdays ONLY, using EE 241 Wednesdays voucher code.
· Walk to the supermarket instead of driving thus saving petrol.
· Search for vouchers and offers online and use them weekly.
· Save up points on Nectar card, Tesco Clubcardand Boots Advantage card to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for friends and family members.
· Packed lunches every day for my partner and I.
· Use free coffee machines at work and make hot drinks up in flasks when going out to avoid stopping off at Costa or Starbucks.
· Cleared credit cards and loans and now live on a ‘cash in my hand or not having it’ basis.
Debt April 2013:
Utility Bills £3000
Phone Bill £200
Rent Arrears £2000
Debt July 2014:
Utility Bills:£2500
Phone Bill: £90
Rent Arrears: Seeking to waiver
Creditcard: £500
Seeking to be fully debt free and rid of any credit agreements and contracts by August 2015.
:A
Not me.
Luckily, whilst at university, I lived a life of luxury. With halls of residence rent paid up front with student loans and all utilities including unlimited internet included, I had no ‘bills’ to worry about. I also had a 25 hour per week job working for a very generous family member and as I lived directly opposite the university, I had no commuting costs to worry about.
Moreover, I also performed burlesque at local venues and earned approximately £120 a week from cramming in shows in my ‘spare time’.
To add, the university course offered generous performance based bursaries, therefore those all-nighters in the library paid dividends!
With approximately £1K+ of disposable income to live off a month, I enjoyed eating out and treating friends to dinners in fancy restaurants, expensive nights out in expensive bars, top of the range laptops and phones, ‘pretty’ clothes and shoes, high-end make up and toiletries AND I still had money left over!
Looking back, I could kick myself extremely hard, repeatedly.
A night out wouldn’t just be a ‘cheap student night out’. It would consist of a full scale shopping spree prior, with dinner and drinks in a snazzy bar. New make-up and shoes would have to be purchased and I would buy bottles of Prosecco and Asti to pre-drink as opposed to cheap vodka.
I certainly lived a champagne lifestyle on, well, a champagne budget. It seemed that because I’d never had money before, I didn’t know how to handle having it. The novelty of independence and freedom took over and I overindulged when I should have been saving for the future.
Things took a turn for the worse when in my second year, my foreign flatmate and fellow student decided that she’d had enough of England and decided to up and leave at the beginning of our tenancy for our second year accommodation. I was therefore forced to pay full rent and bills on my own after little mercy from the lettings agents. This led to spiralling debts, which are still hanging over me now.
I hung my graduation gown up over a year ago and reality has since kicked in.
I now work full time for a modest wage and share an apartment in central town with my partner of two years. Fortunately, my partner has a well-paid job too and we live a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. However, some savings between us would have been greatly welcomed.
With city rent to pay, high council tax bills, two cars to run and other living costs to contend with, our joint income £2800 per month doesn’t stretch very far.
I have now learnt the true value of money and consequently live a budget-busting lifestyle in order to free up cash for debts and emergencies.
I’d therefore like to share some of my moneysaving tips with you guys!
· Swapped shopping at ASDA and Sainsbury’s forshopping at ALDI. Spend £20-£30 a week on food, toiletries and even a bottle of cheap wine!
· Visit MSE weekly and print off vouchers to saveon toiletries, food and household items.
· Use Voucher cloud on phone to save money on clothes, leisure and eating out.
· Visit cinema on Wednesdays ONLY, using EE 241 Wednesdays voucher code.
· Walk to the supermarket instead of driving thus saving petrol.
· Search for vouchers and offers online and use them weekly.
· Save up points on Nectar card, Tesco Clubcardand Boots Advantage card to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for friends and family members.
· Packed lunches every day for my partner and I.
· Use free coffee machines at work and make hot drinks up in flasks when going out to avoid stopping off at Costa or Starbucks.
· Cleared credit cards and loans and now live on a ‘cash in my hand or not having it’ basis.
Debt April 2013:
Utility Bills £3000
Phone Bill £200
Rent Arrears £2000
Debt July 2014:
Utility Bills:£2500
Phone Bill: £90
Rent Arrears: Seeking to waiver
Creditcard: £500
Seeking to be fully debt free and rid of any credit agreements and contracts by August 2015.
:A
0
Comments
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I think this would be better located on the Debt-Free Wannabe board0
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