{"id":32266,"date":"2026-09-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=oasis-news&#038;p=32266"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T07:51:16","slug":"how-to-make-your-money-go-further-at-uni","status":"publish","type":"oasis-news","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/oasis-news\/how-to-make-your-money-go-further-at-uni\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make your money go further at uni"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">University can be expensive and we&#8217;re not just talking about tuition fees. Rent, groceries, transport, textbooks and the occasional \u201cI deserve a little treat\u201d coffee can add up quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But making your money go further doesn&#8217;t have to mean cutting out everything you enjoy. Often, it&#8217;s about making small, intentional choices that gives you more room to spend on things that matter to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are six realistic ways to make your budget work a little harder this semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Know where your money is actually going<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before creating a budget, spend one week tracking your spending. You don&#8217;t need a fancy app, your notes app or your banking app will work just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Look for patterns like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Daily coffees or snacks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Food delivery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Subscription services<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Impulse purchases between classes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Awareness is the first step. You might discover you&#8217;re spending less on coffee than you thought and more on impulse purchases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2. <strong>Budget for your treats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sustainable budget should include things you enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of feeling guilty every time you buy lunch on campus or grab bubble tea with friends, set aside a small weekly \u201cfun money\u201d amount. When you plan for it, you can enjoy it without the stress of wondering whether you&#8217;ve overspent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3. <strong>Make the most of your student discounts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your student ID can unlock savings on everything from software and streaming services to retail stores and transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before paying full price, ask yourself one question: <strong>\u201cIs there a student discount?\u201d<\/strong> It&#8217;s a habit that takes seconds and can save you hundreds of dollars across the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">4. <strong>Plan your grocery shopping<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Going into the supermarket hungry and without a plan is one of the easiest ways to overspend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Try this simple routine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check what you already have at home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plan 3\u20134 meals for the week.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Write a shopping list and stick to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Buy ingredients you can use in multiple meals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You&#8217;ll waste less food and usually spend less money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">5. <strong>Use the free things you&#8217;re already paying for<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a Curtin student, you already have access to plenty of resources included in your student experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That might include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Library textbooks and digital resources<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free campus events and activities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Student wellbeing programs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Guild clubs and low-cost social opportunities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes the cheapest weekend plans are already happening on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">6. <strong>Know when to ask for help<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes budgeting isn&#8217;t enough <strong>and that&#8217;s okay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re experiencing financial hardship, unexpected expenses or difficulty affording essentials, Curtin has support services that may be able to help. Reaching out early can make a real difference, whether you need financial advice, emergency assistance or help exploring your options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Need support? Explore Curtin&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/personal-support\/financial-advice\/\">Financial Advice<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/guild.curtin.edu.au\/advice\/non-academic\/financial\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/guild.curtin.edu.au\/advice\/non-academic\/financial\/\">Financial Resource and Support<\/a> services to learn what help is available.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University can be expensive and we&#8217;re not just talking about tuition fees. Rent, groceries, transport, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4499,"featured_media":32267,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"8146,7277,5713,5201,6001,4905","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_oasis-categories":0,"footnotes":""},"oasis-categories":[146,149],"class_list":["post-32266","oasis-news","type-oasis-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","oasis-categories-student-life","oasis-categories-wellbeing"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/take-your-money-furthher1920-x-1080-px-1-1920x500.png","author_meta":{"first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Mangoba","display_name":"Alex Mangoba"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-24 08:51:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/32266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oasis-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/32266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-categories?post=32266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}