Saturday, 30 May 2026
Budgeting
Practical budgeting guides for students and young adults — stretch your money further without spreadsheets and misery.
5 articles
budgeting
The classic advice is three to six months of essential expenses, but for students that's often unrealistic — and a smaller buffer of a few hundred pounds still transforms how you handle a surprise bill. Start small, keep it accessible, and build gradually.
budgeting
If your maintenance loan doesn't cover rent, you're far from alone — many students face this gap. Closing it usually means a mix of part-time work, careful budgeting, and tapping university hardship funds, which many students don't realise exist.
budgeting
Impulse spending is rarely about willpower — it's about how easy buying has become. Adding friction back in, like removing saved card details and applying a 24-hour wait before non-essential purchases, cuts impulse buys more effectively than trying to resist in the moment.
bnpl
Buy now, pay later isn't inherently bad — used carefully it spreads costs at no interest. The danger is how easily it encourages overspending across multiple purchases, and missed payments now harm your credit. Used with discipline, it's a tool; used loosely, a trap.
budgeting
The 50/30/20 rule suggests spending 50% of income on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on savings or debt. For students it's a useful starting framework rather than a strict rule, since rent often swallows far more than half.