Learning to manage your money at university can be tricky. We chatted to one UNSW student to find out the real numbers when it comes to getting your finances in decent order on a week-to-week basis.

Name: Luke W (not his real name)

Age: 22

Faculty: Business School

Job: Works in retail

Salary, Youth Allowance & Rent Assistance: Approx. $485 per week

Rent: $260 per week, sharing with two others

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MONDAY

I start off the week by paying my rent. I live with two other students in Maroubra (about 5km south of UNSW main campus) and our place costs $780 total per week, so that’s $260 each.

I was in Baxter College in the first year which I think costs about $520 a week nowadays. But that also includes breakfast, lunch and dinner and all utilities like electricity, gas and internet, plus cleaning.

I didn’t know anyone when I first came to university, so going to a college was a good idea for me to get to meet people. It might have cost more money, but I was paying for the social aspect of it as much as anything else.

TUESDAY

Lectures and study until early afternoon and then catch up with a friend by hanging at the beach.

It can be tempting to just grab a coffee or go for something to eat, but that will easily cost about $20 and if you do that a couple of times a week the money will be flying out the window.

I always try to socialise by doing an activity. Going for a hike is free, or pretty cheap if you take your own food for a picnic on the way.

WEDNESDAY

Study at home, before doing an afternoon/evening shift in a retail shop in the CBD. I usually do a couple of five-hour shifts a week, so my total income is about $250.

At the moment, students can earn $437 per fortnight before it has any effect on claiming Youth Allowance through Centrelink. But you can ‘income bank’ which means if you don’t work for a few weeks, say during exam time, you get credits and can then earn more money later without being penalised.

I know quite a few people who only work during summer holidays and absolutely smash it out by doing seven days a week and then use that money when they are back at uni.

Getting a job in and around UNSW isn’t too difficult, depending on how picky you want to be about the type of job you’re willing to do!

THURSDAY

Time to pay some bills and do some food shopping for the week ahead.

Transfer $20 for my monthly share of the cost of internet in our house, plus $30 for the electricity bill.

Me and my housemates pool our resources and buy food to share between us which normally works out about $35 a week each. I was never much of a cook before I came to university, but I think it’s good to at least learn the basics so you can knock out a decent bolognese or omelette, for example, which is nutritious, filling and also really cheap.

When I was in College halls I never had to worry about cooking and that was pretty good in the first year when I was adjusting to life at university and just getting into the swing of everything.

I know some people are super-alert to any events going on around campus that might involve free food. You’d definitely save a lot of money compared to just buying lunch or dinner every day which soon adds up to a lot.

FRIDAY

Another day on campus studying. Maroubra isn’t far from university, so transport costs are pretty small – maybe $10 a week with a student concessionary Opal Card.

It’s my friend’s 21^st birthday tonight, so go and buy them a present and spend a bit of cash on drink and a plate to take over to their place where the party is happening.

It’s not super extravagant, but then I’ve seen some people blow huge amounts of money on their 21^st party by hiring a venue and having it catered and getting a DJ.

SATURDAY

Time to chill out and head into the CBD to buy a new pair of shoes. I don’t mind spending $200+ dollars on a good quality pair, as long as I know they are going to last me for years and years. Otherwise it’s a false saving to get a cheap $50 pair and have to replace them after 12 months.

Check my bank balance to assess my funds. I get $445.80 of Youth Allowance from Centrelink every two weeks, plus about $25 over the same period in Rent Assistance. But the actual amounts you could get depends on a lot of variable things and some of my friends are not eligible at all due to their parents’ income.

SUNDAY

Prepping for end of year exams which are pretty important as I will graduate soon. The fees for my course over four years have been around $35,000 and because they are funded from an interest-free loan, my plan is to leave the debt there until I leave uni and start to earn over the limit when the repayments will kick in.

That figure changes every year but is currently around $50,000. Once my salary is above that, I’m happy to begin to pay off that debt. I don’t think the course fees are something you really deal with when you are studying as it would be really hard to earn money or save up to pay them while you are still at university.

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Now that you’ve seen how Luke manages his budget, check out our UNSW student finance guide to start planning ahead.