Forget about exams, the points race and accommodation – for many students the biggest headache is making ends meet.
First of all, you should put together a budget – and stick to it. Establish what your income for the year is likely to be. Find out if you are entitled to a grant – also include any part-time work or allowances from your parents which you may receive.
Next, calculate your expenditure. Allocate money for essentials such as food and rent first (sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but drinking money really should come last). A good starting point is MABS, the government-run Money and Budgeting Service. With offices around the country, MABS publishes helpful guides to managing your finances which are well-worth checking out.
Furthermore, you should choose your accommodation wisely. Rents vary from city to city, but if we estimate the average to be around €420 per month (expensive for Galway, cheap for Dublin) that’s a total of €3,780 for a typical nine month college term. You can save a fortune by living at home –where this isn’t possible, try to find accommodation as close to college as possible, thus cutting down on travel expenses.
In addition, avoid credit cards: the interest rates can be crippling. If you really have cash-flow problems, talk to your parents about a bank loan – maybe have one of them go along to the bank with you. Student loans can be quite reasonable and offer deferred payment plans so that you don’t have to pay a cent until graduation.
And if you can fit in a part-time job, go for it. The recommendation is that you don’t take on more than 15 hours a week on top of college, so bear that in mind. Recruitment agencies can be great as they are always looking for temps and are usually quite flexible regarding hours.
The single best piece of advice we can give is to do everything on the cheap. As a student you must learn to love Lidl and Aldi. Where else could you stock up on meat, alcohol, socks and a microwave for €50? You will also make great savings if you do simple things like cycle to college and cook for yourself (repeated after me: I will not go to the Chinese around the corner). Don’t have a bike? Check out the website www.dublinwaste.ie where you can browse, among other things, a selection of unwanted bikes and furniture.