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💸📆A 10-minute guide to budgeting

Stressing about money and can't be bothered to learn? Here's a quick guide on how to budget your money while studying in Australia. You can download this template and use it as a guide for the rest of the article.

Vincent F

— 5 min read
💸📆A 10-minute guide to budgeting
This student is at least acknowledging the problem. It took me years to realise I was spending more than I was making 🤯😭
💸📆省钱指南：10分钟搞定预算规划
钱包告急，却懒得研究理财？别担心！这篇超快入门的预算指南，专为在澳洲读书的你量身打造。只需10分钟，帮你理清收支、掌握基本的预算技巧。本文还附上了预算模板供下载，建议从简单版本开始练手（但进阶版本更方便长期追踪，想了解原因请看最后的Bonus小贴士）。
Arrive Thrive SucceedHarrison H

中文版

💸📆10 मिनट में बजट बनाना सीखिए
क्या आपको पैसों की चिंता सता रही है लेकिन उसके बारे में सीखने का मन नहीं करता ?
तो ये गाइड आपके लिए है, यह ऑस्ट्रेलिया में पढ़ाई करते समय अपने बजट को बनाने का एक तेज और आसान तरीका है। आप इस टेम्पलेट को डाउनलोड कर सकते हैं और देख के बाकी हिस्से का इस्तेमाल एक गाइड के रूप में कर सकते हैं।
Arrive Thrive SucceedSaanvi J

हिंदी संस्करण

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Just a gentle reminder that nothing in this article constitutes financial advice. We're just here to help you with general information, not advice specific to your situation 😇.

Stressing about money and can't be bothered to learn? Here's a quick guide on how to budget your money while studying in Australia. You can view and download this template and use it as a guide for the rest of the article (start with the simple template, although the complex version is easier to track over time, see the bonus step at the end of the article to understand why).

If you have a Google account you also have the option "Make a copy" enabled, so that could be easier and faster.

Four steps to budgeting (plus a bonus step)

  1. Track your basic income and expenses.
  2. Save money towards an emergency fund.
  3. Give yourself spending money.
  4. Create saving goals.
  5. [Bonus] Gain greater control over your finances.

Track your basic income and expenses

Most people usually don't have too many sources of income. However, we often have expenses that we don't remember until it appears in our bank account records. Tracking both allows you to more intentionally decide where you would like to spend or save your money.

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Put your income and expenses in your budget spreadsheet to keep track of them. You don't need 100% accuracy, just get it as close as you can without wasting hours chasing after a few dollars (unless you're studying to be an accountant, in which case it's up to you if you want to treat this like a job 😇).

Save money towards a rainy day / emergency fund

A rainy day / emergency fund could be used for a variety of purposes, including medical, accommodation (eg. eviction) and travel emergencies, so it would help to have $1000+ in a savings account that you can draw on when needed. While this won't cover all possible emergencies (that's what health and travel insurance is for), it will add to your peace of mind knowing you have access to money immediately instead of having to ask your parents overseas or borrow money with high interest.

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Set an emergency fund amount that you can work towards, then estimate how much you'll need to save to get there. Try to get there sooner rather than later. If you have a large chunk of money from your parents, consider paying into the emergency fund first and not touching it unless you have a real emergency (eg. health, accommodation, travel etc).
If you only have this much in your rainy day fund, you better start saving!

Give yourself spending money

This refers to fixing your non-essential spending money to a reasonable amount within your means (ie. less than your income minus essential expenses). Giving yourself spending money allows you to psychologically set boundaries and expectations for your own habits. This way, when you encounter something you want to buy, it's much easier to decide yes or no because you know how much you can spend. The worst situation to avoid is when you want something and you don't know the consequences of your spending (eg. spending money from a credit card on impulse purchases).

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Spending cash can often save you money on processing fees as well as help you set boundaries on your spending. No more cash = no more non-essential sending this week.

Create savings goals

Now that you've tracked your income and expenses, set aside money for emergencies and set a fixed amount for your non-essentials, you're feeling pretty good about yourself 😇. It's time for savings goals!

Saving goals is a great way to set money aside for longer term spending goals you may have. The budget template has some suggested saving goals and estimated amounts (eg. trip to Hunter Valley, watch a show at the Opera House). As long as you can commit to not touching that money until you use it for that specific goal, you'll be able to enjoy your time in Australia without ever worrying about spending too much!

[Bonus] Gain greater control over your finances

If you want greater control over your finances, you can also track your income, expenses and savings week-to-week in the complex version of the budget template. Here's a few tips for using the complex version:

You shouldn't worry about money, money should be worried about you 😎💪
  • Start by setting a rough yearly goal for each line item in income, expenses and savings. This should take you 30-60 minutes, depending on how much experience you have with Australian living costs. Don't be afraid to search online for prices of household goods or travel packages. Doing this one can save you so much time later on.
  • It shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes per week to track everything you've spent or earned. Just fill out one vertical column per week.
  • The cells with a coloured background are calculated cells (ie. don't touch them). Only fill in the cells with a white background and slightly grey text (I made it grey to make it easier on your eyes).
  • Row 57 "Savings" with an orange background should tell you how much you are saving in every week / column. This savings total should then be distributed to the orange cells below in your savings goals. In other words, every week you:
    1. Receive money
    2. Then spend a portion on essentials
    3. Then spend a portion on non-essentials
      1. Don't forget to put a little under "Cash you carry"
    4. Then whatever money you have left over is your savings
    5. Then split up your savings into your savings goals
      1. This is a manual process, the spreadsheet doesn't do it for you, sorry 😅
    6. Then whenever you hit your savings goal you're ready to spend it!

Happy budgeting!

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