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How to manage your money

Learning to manage your money effectively is one of the important life skills that you can learn whilst at University.

 

Make sure you are getting everything you are entitled to:

 

Prepare a budget:

Planning ahead and preparing a budget is a good strategy when it comes to managing your finances.

There are many benefits to using a budget, the primary one being that it will help you to live within your means.

It also helps students to make their funds last and avoid the pitfall of spending large sums of money at the beginning of each semester, only to struggle at the end of the semester.

The University has its own budget planner or alternatively you can find other example budget planners and money calculators.

 

Reduce your expenditure:

  • One way to improve your personal finances is to spend less!
  • Full-time students are exempt from paying Council Tax, as are some part-time students. You’ll get information about this at the start of your course.
  • Make sure that you are not paying too much Income Tax. Most full-time students don’t earn more than the Personal Allowance of tax-free income.
  • Assess your essential travel needs; for most students, paying for a car becomes a financial burden.  Chichester and Bognor Regis are relatively easy to travel around on foot, by bike or using buses.  The University subsidises a bus service (see the ‘Travelling by bus’ section) which links the two campuses.
  • Be cautious when signing contracts for mobile phones as you are often then committed to paying at the same rate for up to two years.  These payments can become a burden so look for a competitive rate and make sure you will be able to afford it before signing up.

 

Ask for help if you need it

The University has a Student Money Advice Service which supports students to keep them informed about student finance, help with applications and assist with any problems you experience with your finances as a student.

Students can email the student money team or visit us at one of our drop-in sessions.

Our Support Fund helps students who experience financial difficulty despite accessing all the support they can get from Student Finance England (or the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish equivalent funding body).

The aim of the Fund is to help alleviate financial difficulty and enable the student to complete their course.

 

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