Tips For Budgeting Well As A First Year In Manipal

“Budgeting Is King” is a motto drilled into every college student. Spend too much money and your parents might restrict your freedom, spend too little and you’ll be living minimalistically albeit also miserably. To hit that sweet spot you need to have a plan, spend the right amount on food, bills and transportation and have a good chunk reserved to have fun with. Doing this for the first time in your life invites a lot of trial and error but it’s a very important thing to get used to for the future. Even then going into it blind as a first year is quite an ordeal so here are some tips to help you out.

Obviously the advice offered here will be relative however we will do our best to accommodate as many people as possible. Your flexibility in regards to budgeting depends entirely on your allowance which for living in Manipal should be at least around 4-5 thousand a month(not including money spent on electricity, water, gas bills and rent).

 

Set spending habits

Spontaneity invites a lot of unnecessary stress when it comes to money management. Try to set a plan so you can fall into a routine and relax even when you go wild. Planning can not only help you limit your spending but also allow you to evaluate what you’re spending money on. It can make you consider the necessity of your indulgences. Just keep in mind that while you create a distinction between necessary and unnecessary spending you don’t accidentally eliminate everything that allows you some relief in your day to day life, you can be a little flexible, unless you really need to save money at which point, best of luck and take good care of yourself, especially your mental well being

 

Set Better Consumptive Habits

It’s an obvious fact that to check your spending habits you also need to check your consuming habits. Simply opting for less frequent outings, cooking more at home, not using the ac as much can save you heaps at the end of the month. This isn’t to say that you should rigidly adopt a minimalist lifestyle but do try to follow through on these tenants for at least most of the week and cut loose on the weekends as a treat if you want. After all, the plan here is to incorporate the ability to frequently cut loose into your budget itself. You need a good work-play balance to live without going insane especially during college and that is facilitated by whether you can afford it or not.

 

Cheap Options For Food And Ways To Reduce Bills

Cooking at home is by far the best way to reduce unnecessary spending. Just learning basic things like Dal Chawal, maggi, omelettes etc.  goes a long way and is more than enough to get you through the week without weighing down your wallet too much.  Other than that buy an electric fan as a substitute for an AC and keep any appliances you aren’t using shut down as if it’s an absolute, unbreakable routine. Last but not least, whenever you cook, keep the flame as low as possible(you won’t need to go above medium heat for most dishes you’ll be cooking).

Get a place as close to the college as possible so you can walk rather than spending money on an auto which will almost always total out to at least 40-50 rupees, a miniscule amount at first but it really adds up when you realize just how many trips to and from college you’ll be making.

 

What If You Cant Spend Money As Comfortably As The Rest

Not everyone can budget comfortably despite adopting good spending habbits sometimes your pockets are just too tight because your parents want you to hyperfocus on studying and aren’t really too big on the idea of you deviating from that. In that case while the advice that’s optional here might already be a habituated necessity to you there’s still things you can do to spread your wings a little bit wider at least.

 Manipal is an expensive city but the benefit of being here as a college student is that you won’t be alone, splitting costs with friends can still avail you breathing room to relax a little bit. Making those luxuries a bit easier for your wallet to bear. Additionally don’t deviate from the essentials you need to save more money, that will only cause unnecessary stress and possibly even decrease your engagement with college.

We hope the contents of this list can serve as a solid basis for you to plan out your budget. Regardless of how much it helps we wish you a happy and enthralling college experience here in Manipal. It truly is a city worth living in.