I spent last year working full time in an office in Cork to cover my expenses for this year, but then ended up travelling in Asia for the summer with a friend instead. In hindsight, that was a terrible financial decision, but I’m still glad I went as it was such a great experience. However, it does mean I now have to work alongside my studies to pay for my expenses. I’m really pinching my pennies this year to make it work, and here are some of my top tips for doing so!
Food: All the student budgeting articles I’ve read tell you to shop in Aldi/Lidl and avoid branded foods. This is great advice, but I’m yet to meet a fellow student who isn’t already shopping in Aldi and buying own-branded food. Some other tips that are handy are to always have some sort of instant or frozen dinners in your fridge/cupboard. They’re not the most nutritious of options, of course, but if you’re tired and hungry after a long day on campus they’re an easy dinner to reach for when you might otherwise be tempted to order a takeaway! With regards to coffee, if you’re often up in the J.E. Cairnes building and get coffee there, the coffee shop has a loyalty card where you get a free coffee after ten purchases. Also, buy multi-packs of chocolate bars or some other treat in your shopping and bring them to campus with you: you’ll probably pay €2 for a multipack of chocolate bars, whereas buying a singular bar on campus would be about €1.50.
Budgeting and Saving: I’ve found saving while doing my master’s difficult. Although I’m working part-time, everything is just so expensive. Since Christmas, I’ve been putting € away every week into my credit union – it’s not a lot, but it helps to have just a little bit of money put away in case some sort of emergency comes up.
I’ve found separating your planned spending from your overall bundle of money to be helpful in keeping on top of your spending. Some weeks I take out the amount I’ve budgeted in cash, or sometimes I transfer it to Revolut. Either way, I actively spend less when I separate my budgeted spending money from my general bank account. Revolut also has a ‘spare change’ feature where it rounds up your money to the nearest euro, which can be an easy way to put some money aside without even noticing it. It also helps to be realistic about your budgeting: there’s no point saying you’re not going to buy any food or coffee on campus if that’s something you normally do. Be conscious of your spending but sticking to your budget is easier if there is a small bit of wiggle room for some treats.
Other tips: Pálás cinema has a student deal with €5 buy-one-get-one-free tickets for the start of the week and any size popcorn for €4, or there is a €15 monthly pass for the Omniplex which lets you go to the cinema for free. Of course, this isn’t a neccessity but it can be a cheap way to get out of the house and do some non-college-related activities. Boots has a 10% discount for students if you have a Boots Advantage card, so I always buy my toiletries there. Lots of places around campus and the city will give you a small discount on coffee if you bring your own cup: it’s not much, but it all adds up over time. You also may be eligible for a student bank account, where you won’t pay any fees for your banking.
Postgrad pay-off: Your year of postgraduate study is undeniably hard. It is difficult to study when most of your friends are working full-time, and it’s hard to have to opt out of trips and nights out because you don’t have money. However, I’m comforting myself with the fact that there is a tangible pay-off from postgraduate studies. The Graduate Outcomes 2022 (a survey from the Higher Education Authority) found that 55% of those who graduated the previous year with a postgraduate degree were earning over €40,000 (the equivalent for undergraduate was 22.5%). From my own personal experience, job-hunting for both placement and a role for when I graduate has been infinitely easier than doing the same towards the end of my undergraduate degree. I’ve been called for more interviews and have secured a paid placement for the summer and a job for after I graduate. I really have noticed a significant difference in the interest from companies when applying as a postgrad compared to when I was an undergraduate.
Laura O’Keeffe, Global Environmental Economics Postgraduate Student at the University of Galway
Your Postgraduate Studies at University of Galway 