Are Students Really Poor?

Charlie Lehmkuhl

Realising I grew up poor was not something I expected to happen at uni. 

Before I moved to Wellington, everyone told me the same two things about becoming a university student. First, they warned me about the hills—which I was NOT prepared for. Secondly, they told me how poor I was going to be. 

So I assumed we would all be in roughly the same situation: super fit from climbing the hills and flat-out-broke from trying to afford rent and food. 

Instead, I am still stopping halfway up the hills to admire the view while I catch my breath, and I have also found myself wondering whether I am struggling as much as a student supposedly should be.

On a late-night hot chocolate run from halls last year, I was ranting to a friend about this when they said something that has stuck with me. “Uni is a time when middle-class people feel broke.” 

It put things into perspective for me. 

There is, after all, a difference between having less disposable income than you are used to and being poor. If you grew up regularly getting takeaways, nice ice cream, new clothes, or other little luxuries, suddenly having to cut those things out might make you feel broke. If you grew up without them, your idea of what counts as the “minimum” can look quite different.

I have gone back and forth over whether to write this article because budgeting is always a weird topic to talk about. But I feel like this should be an open conversation between everyone because I feel like it connects us, allowing us to help each other out when we need it most.

It is probably the hardest part to get started with because everyone’s circumstances are different. But once you have a system that works for you, it can become a well-oiled machine.  

Before we start, I want to make one thing explicit: what works for me might work for you, or it might not. So I have included some other students’ budgets at the bottom to show how different the numbers can be.

With that in mind, let's create a budget together. Almost every budget starts in the same place. So, with the pen I know you already have ready for the puzzles, write down what is coming in and what is going out. 

I start by writing how much money I get each week, because it’s always nice to look at the total and think, wow, I make sooo much money.  

Incomings	Outgoings

Then, write down your essential expenses.

For me, these are rent—because I am quite attached to having a roof over my head—my phone bill, food and flat expenses.

I am lucky because power and Wi-Fi are included in my rent. I know that is not the case for most people. If you do pay those separately, and do not know exactly what they will cost yet, start with an estimate and adjust it once you have a few bills to work from. I would budget slightly above the average than below it, particularly because power bills can rise during winter. 

My essentials currently look like this: 

Incomings	Outgoings
StudyLink: $393.48	Rent: $324
Mum: $25	Phone: $10
	Food: $25
	Flat: $8
Total: $418.48	Total: $367

That leaves me with $51.48

If your essential expenses are higher than your income, look through them carefully. Are there any costs you can realistically reduce?

The word realistically matters here. Rent is still rent. You still need to eat. If the essentials genuinely cost more than you have coming in, cutting out the occasional coffee is not going to magically solve that.

In my case, my phone plan is relatively expensive, so that is one place I could look if I needed to cut costs. I also do not always use my entire food budget, so I could potentially adjust that too. 

I have separate bank accounts for my main expenses. When I get paid, money is automatically transferred into each account the next day and sits there until the relevant bill needs to be paid. 

Once the essentials are covered, you can decide what to do with whatever is left.

You do not necessarily have to budget every remaining cent. I know people who would find that incredibly annoying. One friend leaves most of their remaining money alone but puts some into a separate account for unexpected expenses. That way, when something inevitably breaks, disappears, or starts making a noise it definitely did not make yesterday, there is at least some money there.

I do have a non-essentials budget, and it looks like this: 

Social: $12.50	Keeps building
Clothes: $10	Keeps building
Bus: $5	Keeps building
Drinks: $10	Stops at $50
Needs: $13.98	Keeps building
Total: $51.48

You need to decide whether each category keeps accumulating or stops once it reaches a certain amount. 

I let most of mine build up because it means I don’t have to constantly think about them. My drinks account, however, stops at $50. Once it reaches that amount, the weekly $10 can go somewhere else until I spend some of it.

Now it’s your turn: 

Total:

Once you know roughly how you want to spend your money each week, you need a system for keeping track of it.

For me, that means multiple bank accounts and automatic payments scheduled for the day after I get paid. I set them up once and, for the most part, forget about them. 

Other people keep a rough total in their heads. Some use notebooks or spreadsheets. It doesn’t really matter how you do it as long as it is a system you will actually stick to. I am way too ADHD to reliably keep the whole thing in my head, so automation works best for me.

The final question is probably the most important: is this budget actually realistic for you?

If it is not, change it. 

If getting yourself a treat occasionally gets you through the week, budget for the treat. You do not have to construct the most joyless financial plan imaginable just so you can say you are good with money. Put a little aside each week. If you don’t spend it, let it build up. Then, when you have a horrible week and desperately need an emotional-support sweet treat, the money is already there.

University has made me realise that “being broke” can mean very different things to different people. Sometimes it means being unable to afford what you need. Sometimes it means being unable to afford what you were previously used to having.

Knowing which situation you are in matters.

And if you are lucky enough to have enough coming in to cover the basics, learning where that money actually goes might make being a “poor student” slightly less painful.

Other budgets:

These are examples rather than prescriptions. Different rents, jobs, family support, transport costs and food expenses can completely change what a workable weekly budget looks like. 

Incomings	Outgoings	Other
Studylink: $333.48	Rent: $212.63	Spending: 25.85
	Power+wifi: $25
	Bus: $10
	Food: $60
Total: $333.48	Total: $307.63

Incomings	Outgoings	Other
Studylink:$275	Rent: $225	Savings: $200
Work: $250	Wifi+power: $25	Social: $20
	Flat meals: $25	Other: $10
	Sweet-treat: $10
Total: $525	Total: $285	Total: $230

Incomings	Outgoings	Other
Studylink: $333.48	Rent: $250	Drinks: $20
Parents: $100	Power+wifi: $30	Social: $15
	Bus: $15	Uber: $20
	Food: $80	Free: $3.48
Total: $433.48	Total: $375	Total: $58.48

Incomings	Outgoings	Other
StudyLink:393.48	Rent: $200	Spending: $40.04
	Power: $20
	Wifi: $3.44
	Flat Food: $20
	Food: $100
	Bus: $10
Total: $393.48	Total: $353.44