Budgeting and financial support

DSC_0142For most of us, life at university means we’re not only juggling studies but also a social life, family, and work. Studying at university means we are giving up some of our capacity to earn money. Plus, sometimes things happen out of the blue and we find ourselves forking out money on unexpected expenses (or finding ourselves struggling to pay for them). That means that managing our money is even more important, especially if we still want to be able to have those catch ups with friends, put money towards our savings goals, or simply build up an emergency fund.

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Saving Money with Textbooks

Sam

If you are annoyed at the fact you are spending waaaayyy too much money on textbooks, stop stressing!

You should be able to get most of it back, textbooks hold their worth fairly well and there is always somebody looking to get them a little bit cheaper so it’s a win win for everyone.

First off, the best place to sell/buy them cheaper if you are organised are the second hand book sales that happen usually in the first week of semester. For more information search “book exchange” from the Fed Uni website 🙂

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Money Saver: HECS Discount Schemes

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**NOTE: The HECS repayment schemes discussed below have since been updated, and so the advice contained in this post is out-of-date. However Amelia worked hard on this so it’s still here for your reading enjoyment!**

 

Hi everyone, today I wanted to share with you the incentive schemes in place for paying your student fees up front as well as making voluntary repayments on your HECS debt. Now, your student debt may not be a priority by any means. You probably have other living expenses to focus on and maybe other forms of debt like a credit card or even a mortgage. Or maybe you’re building up your savings to buy a car or travel overseas. Everyone’s circumstances are different, but it’s always good to know what options are out there.

 

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Volunteering

HaydenWhy do I volunteer? Well, it’s a sad story, so please have a box of tissues handy. LOL not really but it could be.

I have worked my whole life caught up in the materialistic commercialism world of having to buy everything because some lady on the TV tells me that my life won’t be complete without it. So I was working for a major company in Morwell and had just organised to relocate from Drouin to Churchill to save some money on travelling when we got told that the company was closing the doors on our site. Continue reading Volunteering

Working While Studying

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Going to university is much like going to high school or having a job of its own — except, at this job, your work doesn’t finish when your contact hours end for the day. So, as most students know, there is usually little to no free time left when you factor in your lectures, tutorials and practicals (your contact hours) along with study, social time, any hobbies, commuting to the university and a little bit of rest and relaxation. Try fitting in a part-time job in there somewhere and, well…you almost have a recipe for madness! Continue reading Working While Studying

Food is Free — a lot

selfieEveryone loves free food, right? Well I’ll tell you, when you are a uni student you definitely love free food. Luckily, FedUni is happy to oblige! I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve had a burger (or vegie burger!) or a sausage, or even on some occasions a baked potato, hot dog, or even a sub at lunch time! These free food initiatives, at Mt Helen, are run by the Student Experience Office and the various clubs and societies at the university. I’ve even been part of the cooking and organising of a few of them with the BioMed Club. Continue reading Food is Free — a lot