Eating out and takeaways may be worth reviewing

Your current spending on takeaways or eating out is relatively high compared with the rest of your budget.

You do not necessarily need to stop completely. Setting yourself a weekly amount for eating out can make the cost easier to control while still leaving room to enjoy it.

Planning a few simple meals, taking lunch with you or cooking with housemates can also reduce the amount spent without making your budget feel overly restrictive.

Your travel costs are relatively high

Travel is taking a noticeable amount from your budget.

Check whether weekly, monthly or term travel passes would work out cheaper than individual journeys. Student discounts, railcards and university transport schemes may also reduce costs.

If practical and safe, walking or cycling for shorter journeys could reduce regular travel spending.

Remember to keep enough in your budget for essential journeys, including travel home or unexpected trips.

Have you allowed for course costs?

Your budget does not currently appear to include an allowance for course materials.

Depending on your course, you may need to pay for books, printing, software, equipment, specialist clothing, materials, field trips or other study-related costs.

Even if these costs are occasional rather than weekly, adding a small allowance to your budget can help prevent them becoming an unexpected expense later in the term.

Your university or department may also be able to tell you which costs are likely to arise.

Your spending is currently higher than your income

Your budget currently shows that your weekly spending is higher than your weekly income.

Start by checking that all of your figures and payment frequencies are correct. Then look at which costs are fixed and which could potentially be reduced.

Flexible spending such as eating out, takeaways, entertainment, subscriptions and non-essential shopping may be the easiest place to make changes.

If the shortfall is significant or difficult to reduce, consider speaking to your university’s student money or welfare team for additional support.

Accommodation is taking a large part of your budget

Your accommodation costs appear to take up a relatively high proportion of your available income.

Rent is often one of the hardest costs to change during a tenancy, so first check what is included in the figure. For example, your rent may already include heating, electricity, internet or other bills.

If you are planning accommodation for a future term or academic year, comparing university halls, private halls and shared rentals may help you understand your options.

Avoid making changes to an existing tenancy without first checking your contract and any financial commitments.

Review your subscriptions

Your budget shows a relatively high amount going towards subscriptions.

Check your bank account for recurring payments such as streaming services, gaming memberships, apps, cloud storage, gyms and other monthly subscriptions.

Consider whether you still use each service regularly and whether a student plan, family plan or cheaper alternative is available.

Cancelling even one or two unused subscriptions can create a useful amount of extra money over a term or academic year.

A large part of your budget is going on flexible spending

Your flexible spending is relatively high compared with your regular fixed costs.

This can be useful because flexible spending is usually easier to adjust than rent or other contractual bills.

Look through your flexible categories and decide which are most important to you. You could set yourself a weekly limit for some categories rather than trying to cut everything.

Making a few smaller changes is often easier to maintain than making one large reduction.

Remember to spread termly income across the whole term

Some of your income is received as a termly payment rather than every week.

A student loan, grant or other lump sum can look like a large amount when it arrives, but it normally needs to cover several weeks of rent, food, travel and other expenses.

The calculator spreads termly income across the term to give you a more realistic weekly figure.

Consider keeping money needed for major bills separate so that it is less likely to be spent accidentally.

Your budget includes borrowing or credit

Your budget appears to include an overdraft, credit, borrowing or a buy-now-pay-later payment.

Make sure you understand when repayments are due and whether interest, fees or charges could apply.

Where possible, avoid relying on additional borrowing to cover an ongoing gap between income and normal living costs, as this can make future budgets harder to manage.

If repayments are becoming difficult or you are regularly relying on credit for essential spending, consider speaking to your university’s student support or money advice service.

Consider allowing for unexpected costs

Your budget currently has some money left over, but it does not appear to include an allowance for unexpected or irregular expenses.

Even a small buffer can help with costs such as replacing something that breaks, an unexpected journey, medical or dental expenses, course costs or changes in household bills.

If your budget allows, consider setting aside a manageable amount rather than assuming all of the remaining money is available to spend.

Your budget looks reasonably balanced

Based on the figures you have entered, none of our main budget checks have highlighted a particular area of concern.

That does not mean your budget will never need changing. Income and expenses can vary throughout the academic year, so it is worth reviewing your figures regularly and updating them when something changes.

You may also want to keep some of your remaining budget available for unexpected or irregular expenses.

This is where the general advice goes