Student Budget Planner

Who this is for

A term's money divided by the weeks in it. Loans, grants, wages and help from home go in one table; rent, bills, food, travel and course costs in the other. Every line is converted to a weekly figure using the number of weeks you enter, so the term total becomes a number you can actually spend against.

Students working out whether a term's money stretches, parents helping with the sums before the first term, and anyone moving from termly payments to weekly living.

What this helps you track

• Every source of money for the term, and what each comes to per week
• The costs of the term, split between the ones that are fixed and the ones that are not
• What each cost works out at per week
• Whether the term balances, and by how much
• What is left per week once the fixed costs are covered

How to use it

1. Write your name, the course or institution, the term and — importantly — how many weeks that term covers. Every weekly figure on the sheet comes from that number.
2. List the money coming in: loan or grant instalments, bursaries, wages, savings, help from family. Enter the amount for the whole term.
3. List the costs the same way: rent, bills, food, travel, books, course materials, phone, anything else. Enter the termly amount.
4. The per-week columns and the totals are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, divide each line by the number of weeks.
5. Read the left-per-week figure in the summary. If it is negative, the term does not balance and something has to change before it starts, not halfway through.
6. Keep the sheet and fill a fresh one each term — rent, hours and instalments rarely stay the same.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How many weeks is a term?

That depends entirely on your institution and whether you are counting teaching weeks, tenancy weeks or the whole vacation as well. Use the number that matches the period your money has to cover, and say which in the notes.

Does it tell me how much to spend on food?

No, and it will not. What food, travel or going out costs depends on where you live and how you live. The sheet divides your own figures by your own number of weeks.

What if my rent is paid termly but my wages are weekly?

Convert everything to the term: multiply the weekly wage by the number of weeks and enter that. The sheet then divides everything back down consistently.

What if the sheet does not balance?

Then the term is short before it begins, which is worth knowing early. The usual levers are hours worked, costs cut, or asking your institution what support exists — most have a hardship or advice service.

Can I use it for a year rather than a term?

Yes. Put the number of weeks in the year in the weeks field and enter annual figures. The arithmetic is the same.