It’s Freshers’ Week, you’ve just settled into your flat and met your flatmates, got your hands on all the free stuff and are just buzzing with the excitement of living away from Mum and Dad at last.
In the midst of it all, responsibility is the last thing that’s on your mind. Unfortunately, financial responsibility is one of those things that lurks in the shadows until it corners you when you realise you haven’t been managing your funds and shocker, you’re broke.
Although a few students always fall victim to this every year, it doesn’t have to be you. So save yourself and your digestive system from having to ingest pot noodles thrice a day by learning from Max’s trials and tribulations of wading into the world of financial responsibility.
Max Jenz was 21 when he started off as a law student at London South Bank University. As thousands of students do, he had applied for student finance, but a bit later than usual.
“Because I had only applied in July, it took a while to get the money. They had trouble assessing a few details so it went back and forth for a while,” he said.
“I finally got my money in October, which meant I had to survive essentially with little to no student finance during the first few weeks.”
During this time Max learnt what all university students eventually do: scour for bargains, student discounts and of course, free food.
“It was noodles, noodles, noodles everyday. A lot of tinned beans too.”
Even after the money came through, it wasn’t enough to cover the exorbitant costs of living in London. Asking his parents wasn’t an option either. So he did the other thing that university students eventually do: get a job.
“I was looking everywhere for a job. It didn’t matter what it was, dishwasher, cleaner. As long as it paid weekly, because I needed the money immediately, I was willing to do it.”
He got lucky and got one selling perfume on the streets of Leicester Square. The hours weren’t as lucky, though. It was two hours a week, 10pm to 12 midnight. It wasn’t much but at least it allowed him to sort out groceries.
After a while the job didn’t work out and neither did law. Max then decided to study journalism at the University of Sheffield in 2021.
“Applying for student finance this time was much smoother since I had learned from my past mistakes and I applied really early.”
Starting uni again was a much more positive experience this time for Max, until he received a call one day.
“I got a call asking if I would like to set up a payment plan and I was like what.
“It was student finance asking me how I would like to pay back the money I had borrowed while I was studying law. That moment was another shock because after dropping out I used up the rest of the money on silly things, like a guitar or a professional modelling portfolio that cost £400.”
“I thought I would be in a better position financially in Sheffield since I had saved up over the summer working part time but I now owed £1000.”
Despite this setback, Max got onto his feet pretty quickly.
“I was saved by a paid internship in the first year and then also picked up part time work. I finally got a long term part time job in the second year. I work 18 hours a week and even though it doesn’t pay all the bills the money doesn’t go away as quickly.”
Max is now going into his third and final year and feels like he’s pretty much on top of things. It hadn’t been easy to figure out money management and there’s no guarantee that it’ll all be smooth sailing in the future, but at least he’s got a better idea of handling finances as a young adult.
As of the time of writing this, Max is in Berlin enjoying a well-deserved holiday.
“I’m having a great time seeing friends and family. I had been budgeting the last 3 months to afford this getaway but it’s been worth it.”
