An insight into how the uni can help you with your money.

Learning how to manage your money at university is a big adjustment for everyone and can feel very daunting, especially with the increasing cost of living. However, learning about the range of support services that the Student Money Advice team provides can make the process easier. 

General tips for managing your money:

The Student Money Advice team provides advice on a wide range of topics including food, work opportunities and health costs. I’ve made lots of little changes in my daily life using their tips to reduce my spending and manage my budget!

Making the switch to the £1.50 meals and using the Bath Go app to get my 10th coffee for free has reduced my weekly spending on food when I'm on campus. Also, after reading the advice on the teams' website I found out that students can get 10% off in Fresh with a Totum card so I'll definitely be trying that out soon.

Working for the university as a Reslife Ambassador has been a very helpful source of income during my second year. The SU website has a page dedicated to jobs for students and is a great place to look if you're searching for part-time work alongside your studies. They are very understanding of students' need to focus on studying so the hours are very flexible. 

I've also recently learnt about the website BlackBullion from the advice team, a free-to-use service that helps students budget their money. There's a range of tools to explore, but I found the list of scholarships tailored to your degree to be the most useful. As a student going on an exchange year next year, I have been searching for extra funding so being able to see a big list of options on the app has been very helpful

Asking for advice:

If your situation is more specific and you would like to talk to a member of staff, it is very easy to make an appointment with a member of the team! In the appointment, they can help you make a personal plan to budget money, support an application to the hardship fund, refer you to a specialist and more.

The Hardship Fund:

Sometimes you can find yourself in financial difficulty and in need of some financial support. The university offers a non-repayable grant called the hardship fund. You can apply to the fund for a wide range of reasons such as struggling to pay rent or not being able to afford the bus up to campus. 

I accessed the hardship fund recently and found it to be a very smooth and straightforward process. It was super easy to fill out the forms and I heard back from the team within a week or two! I’d encourage anyone who is in need of money to apply as the money doesn’t have to be paid back.