My Second Year University Experience: Finances

Welcome to part III of my second year university experience series! First of all, congratulations to A-level students who got their results this week and a place at university. A massive achievement, especially considering the circumstances. Hopefully my university posts will be a help to you as you start your journey. So far I've published my social experience and accommodation experience. If you haven't read those yet, please be sure to after this post! Today's post is going to be focusing on finances. Finances are a huge part of university life (it's not cheap), but not many people tend to talk about it. In this post I will be making a brief comparison to first year and go into how I've handled my money. If you haven't read my finance post for first year, you can check that out too. 

T H E   A P P L I C A T I O N    P R O C E S S 

Applying for student finance is always pretty stressful. Well, my parents' part anyway. The bit that students have to sort can take a while but the application itself isn't too bad. It's when our parents have to include their income that it gets frustrating. I remember we had problems with them adding figures that weren't relevant and it ended up having a huge effect on how much money they gave me. I was entitled to a lot more than I received but because of SFE adding numbers they shouldn't have, I didn't get much. It definitely affected first year because of needing to pay rent but we didn't fight it this year as I knew it was enough for being a commuting student. It would have been nice to get the full amount I was entitled to but at least the debt will be smaller after graduation I guess haha.

My advice to people is DO NOT LEAVE IT UNTIL LAST MINUTE. If you do it sooner but encounter problems, you'll have time to get it fixed and adapted. SFE will have a lot more patience and consideration with your application if it is processed way before the deadline. 

T R A V E L / T R A N S P O R T 

With commuting, unlike first year, I didn't have to worry about paying rent or living costs. Although I still paid for things I needed here and there, I wasn't doing weekly food shops. That obviously left me with a lot more freedom to spend my money on fun experiences. I was able to go to a university ball, go out with friends etc without having to make financial sacrifices. I'm very grateful for that. With that being said, the only thing that needed to be paid for was transport, so that I could travel to and from campus everyday. It was about £42 a month for a bus pass, which is pretty decent. It would definitely cost a lot more than that if I was to get Ubers everyday. It also covers bus travel across all of the West Midlands, which is fab. I was able to get student discount on my travel pass, by sending verification of my student status. It was quite an easy process and saved me a good amount of money. I definitely recommend doing this if you're not walking distance from campus and you are studying in Birmingham. 

My plan was to hopefully pass my driving test this summer so that I could drive to uni everyday in third year but corona said no. It's OK though, as long as I pass before graduation I'm happy. The upcoming year will be remote learning for the first semester, so I probably won't get a bus pass until semester B. I'll make trips to the library and campus occasionally but it would probably be better to just get day savers whenever that may occur, so I'm not wasting over £40 by barely travelling. 

M A N A G I N G / S A V I N G   M O N E Y 

As mentioned, I haven't had to worry as much about handling my money this year, however I still wanted to make it a habit to budget and know where my money is going. Money management is a life skill that I'm going to need from now on, so even though it hasn't been completely necessary, I still make sure to do it. In first year I would track my spending daily and set a budget on Sunday evenings. This year has been more random and quick because I downloaded the app Yolt. One of my co-workers actually told me about it. I wish I had this app in first year because it is LIFE CHANGING. You connect your bank accounts to this app and it essentially categories your spending for you. It also notifies you of upcoming subscription payments, so you're aware of when it's taken out of your account. Remembering direct debits was so hard until I got the app. 

With Yolt you can see how much you spent on different things like food shopping, personal purchases, well-being etc. You can also customize categories which is amazing. If you go out quite often, you can make a night out section and see how much money you've spent on drinks and tickets. It really is a game changer. Of course it also tracks income too. 

Having the app has helped with knowing what most my money has been spent on and it has helped me set limits for things. This isn't a sponsored post or anything, I just really appreciate the app.

I've also made great use of apps like shoptagr and honey because they alert you when things go on sale and when new discount codes are available. I've saved so much money because of money apps, so I would definitely recommend. 

W O R K

The summer before second year, I made the most money I've ever made because I was working pretty much most of the summer. Unfortunately I caught mumps and was off work for weeks towards the end. It was really frustrating at the time because I wanted to have as much money as possible for the academic year and I had 2 holidays coming up that I wanted a fair bit of spending money for. Fortunately everything worked out perfectly fine and my account was still thriving. God is good! I started second year with a healthy account and along with my loan, I was pretty much set for the year. Compared to first year, I barely worked during the year. I was just so busy all the time, that I couldn't find time to do shifts. I worked during the Christmas break but besides that I didn't really do any shifts. In first year, I had no choice but to make time because my loan didn't even cover rent. I'm really thankful that I could put other things before money this year and didn't have to stress about making time for work. My job is a casual contract, so I get to choose when I work, which really helps as a student. 

I usually work the whole summer before the academic year but with the virus, I haven't been able to work at all. I'd be stressed if I wasn't commuting again but with good management and budgeting, my loan should be sufficient. Like I said, the first semester will be remote learning, which is already going to save me money from little transport. 

F I N A L   Y E A R 

I'm yet to find out how much I am entitled to this year but my application is being processed. In terms of managing and saving, I plan to keep using Yolt and other money saving apps, as it has really worked for me. I will be commuting again, so I'll get a new bus pass for the year but I'm in no rush yet due to remote learning. With this being my final year, I'll be looking at my next steps after graduation and money is a huge factor when it comes to that, so I'll need to save and work whenever I can. I don't want to restrict myself too much as I want to be open to doing things that will make my last year memorable, however I also want to be smart with my money so that grad Rochelle isn't having too much of a hard time. 

Hopefully this post has been helpful for some people. I have one more post to come in this series so please do follow my page and keep your eyes peeled for that.

How did you find managing your money whilst at uni? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x