Money

M is for Money. 

In line with the very name of my blog "Pennies, Paper, Plastic" I had to dedicates M's post to Money. 

I wouldn't say I'm the best at organising it and spending it wisely but I would say I do a pretty good job. This quality of mine has come in super handy at the moment as I'm a student and students are notoriously known to be bad at budgeting and spending wisely.  

To be honest I don't blame them. 

You look at your account and find that you have a few grand of what essentially feels like free money at the time just sitting in there. Realistically, no ones first thought is going to be "Hmm, how will I pay for food in two and a half months time".

I opted to live at home as my Uni is not too far from where I live and so many will think and most likely correctly believe that budgeting will be a lot easier for me. Despite this I'm still going to share with you some of the things I do to help stretch my money further. Many of these tips can be applied to both students living off student loans as well as people in full or part time jobs. 

• The first thing I do when I get paid is sort my money into different 'categories' and put it into separate accounts. For example, with my student loan I split it equally by 3 (to account for the 3 months it has to last me) and then from my current months budget I separate out money for savings, money for bills and the rest will be my spending money for the month. This, for me, ensures that all my bills are covered and I know clearly what I have available to spend. 

• In relation to the tip above, I always write down all the things I have to pay for in the month such as my phone bill, car insurance and travel card and add these all up so I know exactly how much I have to put away for bills. It can sometimes seem a bit depressing looking at all your outgoings compared to what you have coming in but in the end you'll be financially better off. 

• Lastly, I'm (usually) very careful in how I spend my money. It's easy for me to adopt an "I don't have any money" attitude. This helps me to not spend on things that aren't necessary i.e. that cheeky takeaway on a friday night. Of course there are lots of other ways we can be careful in how we spend our money. For example, planning your meals for the week before you go shopping so you don't buy things unnecessarily. Additionally, we can seek discounts or use loyalty card schemes to ensure we don't pay full price for things we don't have to! 

Whilst these methods really help me spend my money wisely I understand they won't work for everyone. Whilst you shouldn't make money your god and let it rule over your happiness, we all know that money is an important factor in our society. Thus, learn personal methods to help you spend it wisely but don't always be too strict with yourself we all deserve a new pair of shoes or a night out every now and then!