Imagine getting stranded in a foreign country without a single dollar in your pocket and no one to provide immediate support. Yes, things can turn sour. Maintaining and staying within the budget during your stay in Australia is one of the major challenges you will face. It’s very hard to call your parents in the last quarter of the month and ask them for extra money because you just spent the last dollar that you had. You will have to keep an eye out on your finances and the things and activities you spend your money on to stay within the budget.
Don’t worry if you’re not clear about how to avoid financial constraints. Below are some of the ways through which you can save money and stay within the budget. All you have to do is follow them as per your convenience.
Create a Budget
It’s impossible for you to stay within the budget if you haven’t formalized one. This is for sure not a fun task at all, but it’s equally essential. The best way of doing this is to maintain a weekly budget. Make a list of all the expenses you encounter throughout the week. The list should include every minor detail of your expenses related to food, travelling, leisure, phone charges, and accommodation. Now calculate all these expenses and compare them with the amount you would allocate to the week. Allocate a fixed amount to each of these expenses and stick to it.
Use Public Transport
As a young student, you might be prompted to use luxurious Taxi services or even to buy a car of your own. Doing either of these two will make you go beyond your budget. Australia is luckily one of the best countries in the world as far as facilities like public transport are concerned. You can catch a bus or train at the time of your choice with much lesser cost and without any hassle. It’s worth noting that Taxis are quite expensive in Australia. If for some reason you’re unable to use public transport, we will suggest you opt for ride-sharing apps like Uber, etc. These are much cheaper than conventional Taxis.
[do_widget id=custom_html-11]Cook your own Food
You will be saving a fair amount of money if you know how to cook some decent meals. It’s one of the first things you should learn while staying abroad. Although it may be a fun activity, it can be annoying at times. Try distributing the cooking-related chores among all the roommates so a single person doesn’t get burdened. If you ever plan going out to eat, lookout for special offers and deals. Restaurants near universities usually offer them. In addition to that, avoid going out to eat on weekends, because of the huge influx of people coming out to eat, most of the deals and special offers are not available on weekends.
Use your Student ID Card
Your student ID card can actually save you a decent amount of money. Whether you’re going out to eat, watch movies or to have a night out at the club, don’t forget to take your student ID card with you. There are a lot of restaurants which have special offers and deals for students. In addition to that, cinemas, museums and fitness clubs also offer discounted packages for students. Don’t miss the opportunities and privileges of being a student, always ask out if there are any concessions, discounts, special offers or deals for students.
Choose your Banking Options wisely
If you also work apart from your studies and have saved up some money, look out for banks that give good interest on deposits. The top big banks usually don’t offer a good interest rate on small deposits. Use the debit card instead of credit. Credit cards have additional annual charges and the financial institutions offering them also impose huge amounts of interest if you don’t pay back on time. In addition to that, transaction from Australia to foreign countries or transaction from foreign countries to Australia also have different kinds of fee on them. Search the exchange rates and the fees on a maximum and minimum amount of transactions and plan accordingly.
Apart from the ones discussed above, there are several other small ways of saving money and staying within the budget. For example there are a lot of parks and jogging tracks that don’t charge, you can utilize them for exercise; you can get your haircut done from training schools which need hair models and offer free haircut and personal grooming; avoid withdrawing money from ATMs of bars, casinos or night clubs, they usually charge more than normal amount; if you like going out to watch movies, make a plan for weekday nights or morning sessions, tickets have lower prices during these hours.
It’s true that living and studying in Australia is expensive and definitely not easy but effectively managing your finances can ease you a lot and rid you of financial strain.
If you’ve any queries survival, Australian Immigration, Visa or admission related issues or any other confusion related to the immigration, you can reach out to us at The Migration.
We have Registered agents in various cities of Australia to help and guide you.
- Registered Migration Agent in Parramatta
- Registered Migration Agent in Sydney
- Registered Migration Agent in Melbourne
