January can be a great month for setting goals and making plans for the year ahead. You may have a whole host of resolutions you want to embark on, and you might be filled with the inspiration and motivation to get things done. But there is the other side of January that many of us know all too well. It is often referred to as the January blues, and more often than not, this is because people start to feel the pinch of the festive spending, and really struggle to make ends meet or pay off debts. So how as a student can you combat that? With that in mind, here are some of the ideas you could implement right now that could help you to see some improvement to your financial situation, and therefore, enabling you top put all of your efforts back into those new year’s resolutions and study. 

Image source – Pixabay – CC0 License

Take a look at your outgoings and make some changes

One of the first things to do is look at your outgoings and what is coming in and see if any changes could be made. Perhaps looking at your bills might highlight some direct debits you didn’t realise were leaving your account. You could also look at rejigging your finances, perhaps researching things like student loan refinancing or balance transfers for things like credit card debt. You can also think about things like reducing the costs of travel, while still getting the experiences that you want. There are websites like NST that could be a great way to expand your horizons as a student, but keeping the costs down. There are often things you can action to help ease your financial strain, and sometimes our current situation identifies areas of improvements. Doing this could also highlight where you might be overspending, which leads me nicely on to my next idea for helping you improve your financial situation. 

Could you be saving on the food bill without sacrificing?

Your food spend could often be one of the biggest outgoings you have after rental payments or debt repayments, so you may want to look at some of the ways you can make a difference to this, without sacrificing what you eat. First of all, meal planning can be a great way to lower your weekly spend. Knowing what you plan to eat can help you to write a list of what you need, which then helps you to deter from buying anything else. You could also consider changing where you shop, which could also see you decrease what you spend. One last thing when it comes to food is staying away from the brands, and trying supermarket own brands instead. They can offer a huge saving on your overall shopping spend. 

Got anything lying around you don’t want anymore?

Finally, there is money lying around. You may even be looking at it, you may know it is hiding in a drawer or wardrobe. We all can hoard things at times, but now is a great opportunity to declutter some of the things you no longer want and pop them for sale on websites like eBay. It can be a great way to boost your income in a month that feels like it is so long. Plsu doing this can help you get organised for study ahead this year. 

Let’s hope that these ideas help you to get back on the straight and narrow with your finances this month. 

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