How to keep your money under control
Learn key money management tips for students, including budgeting, spending wisely and building an emergency fund.
📚 Money at university: rarely a lot, often tight
Rent, semester fees, living costs or pizza with your flatmates: students juggle a limited budget every day. Many feel overwhelmed when it comes to money, and no wonder. Did school teach you anything about it? Usually not.
But you don’t need an economics degree to understand your finances. A few simple tricks and tools are often enough to get through the month smartly and without stress.
💡 Why managing your money matters
Handling money thoughtfully helps you:
- avoid stress and worry
- put money aside for emergencies or things you want
- avoid debt
- become more financially independent in the long run
So financial know-how isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s a real life skill, especially at university.
📋 7 tips that help straight away
1️⃣ Get an overview
Start with a simple budget overview:
- Income: BAföG (Germany’s state student funding), part-time job, parents, child benefit (Kindergeld)
- Expenses: rent, food, phone, subscriptions, free time
📱 Tools like the Studibuch App, Finanzguru or a simple Excel sheet can help.
2️⃣ Set a monthly limit
What’s really left after your fixed costs? Set yourself a realistic daily or weekly budget, so you avoid the end-of-month hangover.
3️⃣ Watch the small spends
The daily coffee to go, spontaneous takeaways or in-app purchases add up fast. Track spending like this for two weeks and you’ll be surprised.
4️⃣ Save automatically
Set up a standing order that moves, say, €10 to a savings account every month, like a subscription for your future self. It’s more motivating than you’d think!
5️⃣ Use student discounts wisely
Lots of shops, software tools, gyms and even insurers offer discounts for students.
👉 Sites like Unidays, StudentBeans or Milanuncios Estudiantes list many of them.
6️⃣ Cook instead of ordering in
Sounds old-school, but it really saves: cooking together with your flatmates or meal-prepping for the week saves not just money but also time and nerves.
7️⃣ BAföG and co.: claim what you’re entitled to
Many students leave support unclaimed. Check regularly whether you’re entitled to:
- BAföG
- housing benefit (Wohngeld)
- scholarships
- or other kinds of funding.
Websites like BAföG-Rechner.de or myscholarship.de can help you find your way.
🔄 Bonus tip: financial education, but bite-sized
Formats like podcasts, reels or YouTube videos finally make financial education easy to understand. Recommendations (in German):
- Podcast: “Finanzfluss”
- Insta: @madamemoneypenny
- YouTube: “Finanzfabio” or “Sparkojote”
💬 Conclusion: managing money can even be fun
Sure, money isn’t everything, but managing it well gives you freedom. You don’t have to be an investment pro to keep your account under control. All you need is structure, habits and a bit of motivation.
Start small: your bank account (and your nerves) will thank you.
