This is a guest post from the awesome Chris from Spend It Like Beckham. He is new to the world of blogging so show him some support by going over to check his fab blog out!
After I finished University, I would often look back at my time there and slip into nostalgic daydreams where everything seemed at peace. This is due to the fact that my brain, much like Match of the Day, only showed me the highlights; the best bits. When I actually thought of what the majority of my University experience was, I was surprised that I survived. When I looked past the parties, the summers, the guitar playing lecturers, I realise that my head was so far from being screwed on I would’ve made Miley Cyrus look like an upstanding member of society (although I was definitely prettier).
I came to the late realisation that the fruitless spending and the partying was great at the time, I would have been much better off being a little (a lot) tamer, especially when it came to my finances. I’ve learned a lot in hindsight and I feel that I should pass some of it on. Who knows, maybe it will come in useful to some other partying, broke, Miley Cyrus lookalike!
Do not buy something just because it is on offer
I was guilty of doing this, so, so much. I bought things that I absolutely did not need, just because they were on offer. I still, to this day, have an espresso machine in my kitchen when I don’t even drink coffee. When the urge to buy something spontaneously arises, which it will, take a step back and think to yourself, “Do I REALLY need this?” A good rule to adopt is the 48-hour rule. If you see something that you ‘desperately need’, wait 48 hours and go back, and if you are still convinced that you need it, then maybe you do, but there’s an even better chance that you will just forget about it.
If you have to get a credit card, get the right one
There are a lot of negative connotations with students and credit cards; usually from people who got themselves a bad credit card. I, unsurprisingly, was one of these people. I fell for the student branding of a certain bank’s credit card and thought, “Oh, I’m a student. This is ideal.” It wasn’t ideal. It had a really high purchase and interest rate. Banks, believe it or not, take advantage of students. I know, I used to work for one. This one that I got from my current bank (Clydesdale Bank) has 0% interest on purchases and balance transfers (which has been handy in paying off my balance from the aforementioned student card) for over a year, and is available to any member of the public, whether you’re a student or not. The chances are your bank’s standard credit card will be better for you than their student product.
Don’t let the tax man take all your money
The one smart thing I did while at University was have a part time job, which is actually a sound piece of advice in itself. I needed to fund my lavish lifestyle while we weren’t in term, so I worked more or less full time over the summer months. As I was working more hours, I was obviously expecting to be paid more money, makes sense, yeah? When I got my first wage slip I was surprised to find I had barely made any extra at all as a lot of my wage had gone towards PAYE. At first I was thinking that it was correct and I’d just have to live with it, but when I actually looked into it, it turns out it wasn’t correct. I had the wrong tax code and was paying way too much for a student. So, while I got over taxed at that point, I did get a small but welcome tax refund a while later. If you’re a student you can learn more about tax codes and if you’re overpaying on your tax from the HMRC.
These are just some of the ways that you can help yourself financially while you’re a student, but I’m always writing advice on how to save money over at Spend It Like Beckham. I also write about fiscally related football (and other sports) stories if you’re into that kind of thing. You can also talk to me on Twitter or Facebook. I might not answer you, but you can always try