Students are set to have a harsh winter where they will have to choose very carefully how they use their limited budgets, especially when it comes to heating and electricity. Whilst most people will have to make sacrifices when it comes to budgeting in the next months students in particular face a very difficult task of balancing their finances on having a social life whilst also making sure that they are able to live comfortably at home.
The main impact that this will have is on the mental health of the students, being able to maintain a social life is integral to being able to keep up with not only friends but also creating the motivation to continue working on their studies. We spoke to Bournemouth University student Olivia to get the opinion of someone that has been impacted by this.
One of her main concerns was: “being unable to live life like university students from previous years.” When asked about how she is managing her finances she stated: “I’m having to turn to savings which I’m fortunate to have anyway.” Olivia also said that: “It would’ve been difficult to justify applying to university if I had foreseen the cost of living.”
Many students are left in a situation where they will be hoping the government can implement some changes to ease the difficulties that they are facing otherwise they will be turned towards taking on more working hours alongside their university commitments or even having to drop out so that they can earn enough money to continue living their lives.