If you’re thinking of returning to university or upskilling yourself, then your biggest barrier has probably been finance  — not just the cost of your studies, but the possible loss of income if you’re leaving your job to study further. Avoid a financial crisis mid-way through your education by using our student budget checklist:

1. Determine your income

To create your study budget, you first need to work out how much money you've got to play with. This will set the parameters of your spending, so think carefully about every possible source of revenue.

Tip: Apply for external bursaries or approach your employer and learnership programmes. These will cover the cost of your studies and often also pay for added expenses like stationery and textbooks.

2. Estimate your expenses

Now that you know how much income you have at your disposal, you need to figure out what you’ll be spending that money on. You can either look back at your bank statement to add up all your previous purchases or simply use a rough estimate of how much you think you’ll spend on each category. There are also budget planners and apps to help you track everything.

 A student budget should include:

• The cost of your studies and the deadlines for payment
• All your monthly expenses like rent and groceries.
• Once-off payments for things like textbooks, a laptop and stationery.

3. How to save money monthly as a student

Now that you have all your income and expenses calculated, take a look at what you’ve got left. Does your income cover your expenses with some extra money left? If not, then you may have to cut down on some non-essential expenses.

Tip: Be on the look-out for student specials and discounts.

4. Consider alternative universities

If you’ve tried to cut down on spending but your expenses still far outweigh your income, then you may want to consider alternative options for your studies. These work particularly well if you can’t afford to stop working and need to be a part-time student.

Here’s a list of online courses that won’t break the bank: 

• Wits Digital Campus
• Unisa Online
• GetSmarter and University of Cape Town
• Red & Yellow

5. Set some goals

Whether you need to budget to get by, or you're trying to cut back, it's all about setting goals to either reduce your spending or boost your income. If you can’t cut back anymore, look at some side hustles to boost your income.