Unless a student has a full scholarship that pays for tuition for four years, university education is certainly not free. In fact, when it comes to paying academic fees and living expenses, many students rely on various sources such as parents, loans and personal savings. Tom Tifford, a second year commerce student from University College is such a case. This year, his tuition fees total more than $16,000. Even though he has money saved up from trust funds and summer jobs, he still has to count on his parents for financial support. Likewise, Duwaraga Sivakolunthu, a first year engineering student, is relying on her parents and OSAP to pay her way through school. With eight whole months ahead of them, they both agree that they have to budget themselves to avoid running out of money.
According to Shirley Godinho, assistant manager of the Metro Credit Union, planning a budget is not easy and one of the most important things about planning a budget is to keep track of where the money is being spent. “When you receive your money from bursaries, jobs, OSAP or whatever, you should allocate what you are going to spend each semester. You’re going to be there for four months and you’ve got to budget. If you have $10,000, $2,000 per month is what you’re living on and that includes everything your rent, your food, your travel expenses, phone…whatever you have,” says Godinho.
Godinho also says students need to learn how to manage their money wisely and make their money last. She says cooking can save students a lot of money since eating on campus is very expensive. The first step is to buy affordable and practical appliances. “Even if they only have a room with nothing else, all they need is a hot plate, electric frying pan, kettle, toaster oven, mini fridge and a microwave. All these things can be purchased very inexpensively at Value Village or second-hand stores. And that’s really all you need, basic things…you don’t need a stove or a whole bunch of electrical gadgets,” suggests Godinho.
What’s more, she says students don’t need to spend money on expensive meal plans. “They can spend under $100 and get all these appliances…and now they can cook. They can literally go out and buy their own food. They don’t have to buy any meals on campus at all.” Godinho advises students to get healthy foods and not expensive junk foods, which have no nutritional value. “You can go out and buy healthy foods such as pita bread, lettuces, tomatoes, tuna, fruits, vegetables and canned goods. It’s very inexpensive to live if you know how to shop for proper, good and nutritious foods. It’s amazing how much money you can save by doing that.”
When it comes to buying groceries, Godinho does not suggest buying them online because the prices are a lot more expensive. The best places to buy groceries are Price Choppers, No Frills and Food Basics. “Those are the best places to shop because they don’t have the fancy decorations like in other supermarkets, so you get the basic price. There is a No Frills located at Dufferin and Bloor…it’s a bit of a walk but if you are going for groceries once a week, you can take the TTC and it’s worth it. And China Town…it’s a gold mine for shopping. So nobody on campus can say they can’t get inexpensive foods,” says Godinho.
Other money-saving tips include buying second-hand textbooks, second-hand computers and cell phone cards. Second-hand textbooks are a lot cheaper and even if a book is missing a page or two, Godinho says students can always ask their friends to make photocopies of the missing pages. As well, students don’t need a brand new computer since all they really need to do is research. Finally, she says when students are on a budget, they should use cell phone cards because phone plans can easily come up to more than $40 dollars a month.
One thing Godinho encourages students to do is get a credit card. “When you’re young, it’s a great time to start building your credit rating. The best and the most important thing is to have a good credit record, but you should only have one or two good credit cards. Too many credit cards doesn’t look good because it looks like you’ll run yourself into more debt,” says Godinho. She cautions students that having a credit card means they have to pay their bills on time and should only use it for emergencies.
A general piece of advice Godinho has for students is to be active consumers. “I think the best step for students is to shop around. You can’t pick a place and live there without researching it. Go around your neighbourhood and see where you get your best deals. Pick up the papers and go through the buy and sells because you can pick up a lot of stuff that you ordinarily wouldn’t see.”
For more information on student budgets and other student account packages, students can visit the Metro Credit Union website @ www.metro.cu.com , or call (416) 252-5621.
