How To Spend Your Money Wisely During Freshers’ Week

06 Oct 2021, by Lydia Kah-Pavlou, min. read

If you have money worries about freshers’ week, we’ve got you!

Going to university for the first time is an exciting time, but it can also be very nerve-wracking too. Your freshers’ week will probably involve a week-long (or, for some unis, it can even be two weeks!) celebration of your new freedom, including nights out, pub trips, meals out and takeaways, doing your weekly shop for the first time and of course making the best memories. After all, after the long 2020 we all had to go through, who can blame you for wanting to go all out and celebrate?

If you’re worried about how to finance your first few weeks of university and how to deal with the responsibility of managing your own money for the first time (including your student loan) here’s how you can budget wisely.

Break down your monthly costs

Now that you’re living on your own there will be a lot of things you’ll want to pay for each month. When drawing up a budget here’s what you’ll need to consider when deciding how to spend your money:

Nights out (this includes pre-drinks and drinks out)
Transport (taxis to and from clubs, or buses to explore your new town or city)
Groceries (your weekly food shop and household necessities such as washing up liquid, toilet roll or toiletries)
Takeaways (to help you cope with your hangovers, or meals out to get to know your new flatmates)
Course materials (notepads, textbooks, stationery etc.)
Clothes (you’ll probably want to look your best during freshers’ week, for both lectures and nights out)
Every day expenses such as grabbing a coffee or buying your lunch from the campus shop
Bills (If you’re in halls you won’t need to worry about utility bills, but you will have to pay for things such as Netflix, Spotify, Disney+ etc.)

Once you’ve made a list of everything, prioritise what’s most important and where you can cut costs on things that aren’t super important to you, such as cooking instead of ordering a takeaway or wearing old clothes.

Take the freebies

Visit your welcome fair and take advantage of all the freebies on offer. Whether it’s free pens, notepads, sweets, tote bags, pizza or condoms you’ll be super grateful for the free stuff you can get during your first week of university.

Split costs with your flatmates

Your new flatmates will most likely share your money concerns, so suggesting splitting the costs of things you all need is a great way to break the ice and make things more manageable for all of you. This can be as simple as ordering a big weekly food shop to cover the minimum delivery costs, having communal flat items such as washing powder or toilet roll, having a joint Netflix account you all chip into, or equally splitting the costs for an Uber to your night out.

Sign up to Student Beans

Ok, we couldn’t resist giving ourselves a shoutout here. When you sign up to Student Beans you’ll get access to thousands of student discounts from your fave brands so help you save some money on your freshers’ essentials, such as new outfits for your nights out! Our HSBC offer means that when you sign up for a HSBC student account you’ll not only get £80 cash (perfect for covering the costs of your nights out) but also either a £20 Uber Eats voucher or a year of unlimited next day delivery with ASOS Premier, so you’ll be able to order new outfits quickly without delivery costs and get a takeaway that’s essentially free!

Buy secondhand

When you start your uni course the chances are you’re probably going to need some key textbooks that are pretty pricey. Although you can borrow them from the library, most students will probably have the same idea (and there won’t be enough copies) and you might need it for longer than the allocated borrowing time, so buying them is probably a good idea. Keep an eye out on your uni’s student Facebook groups to look for second or third-year students selling their old textbooks, you can also check Depop, Vinted, Amazon and eBay to try and get the books second-hand for much cheaper.

Enjoy yourself

You’ll only get to do freshers’ week once, and the memories will last a lifetime. Try not to spend too much time stressing about the money and enjoy the moment, especially after the last year of lockdowns and staying inside. As long as you prioritise what’s important to you and budget sensibly, enjoying your first taste of freedom should be a fun and memorable experience! Don’t forget to sign up for your student bank account before you start uni, and check out our HSBC offer to make your money worries easier.