{"id":22715,"date":"2022-06-15T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=22715"},"modified":"2022-06-03T09:52:02","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T16:52:02","slug":"show-me-the-money-my-life-on-a-student-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2022\/06\/15\/show-me-the-money-my-life-on-a-student-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Show me the Money<\/em>: My life on a student budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

I hope that this column has so far been helpful to readers and that it\u2019s got you to start thinking about your financial health differently. This time around, I thought I\u2019d share a bit about my life as a student, from a financial perspective, of course.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m an international student, and I spent about four years working full time before coming to Camosun. I\u2019ve also been working part-time while studying. Everyone\u2019s circumstances and experiences are unique, but hopefully you will find something useful from my experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Show Me the Money<\/em> is an ongoing column dealing with finance issues (graphic by Eric Lee\/Nexus<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My biggest expense after rent is usually groceries. When I first arrived in Canada, I didn\u2019t know what things should cost, so I had no way of telling if I was overpaying. I remember spending the first couple of months doing a lot of price comparison by going to different grocery stores and just taking photos of prices. (I must have looked very suspicious because I was once approached by a store manager who wanted to know what I was up to.)<\/p>\n

Eventually, I developed a good idea of what things cost, and then I discovered the weekly flyers. It may be an over-exaggeration to say that they were life-changing, but they did change the way I did my groceries. I now plan my weekly meals based on flyer deals, and try to stock up on things when they are on sale. I\u2019ve also learned a lot about storing food items to keep them fresh. Just last week, I bought a month\u2019s worth of bagels on sale after Googling how to store them.<\/p>\n

Part of the fun of living in a new city is checking out the dining scene. I maintain a Google Maps list of restaurants in Victoria that I would like to try. Whenever I manage to stay under my grocery budget or pick up some additional shifts, I add to my dine-out funds. Then I make plans to visit a restaurant to celebrate small milestone events, such as the end of mid-terms or exams. This gives me something to look forward to, and a chance to take a break from my terrible cooking.<\/p>\n

For recreation, I follow the Camosun College Student Society\u2019s Instagram page to stay informed of upcoming activities it organizes, as they are a great way to have fun and make new friends. I try to go to these activities whenever my schedule allows.<\/p>\n

In general, I\u2019d say that I\u2019m enjoying my student life even though the current inflationary environment makes money tight. While it is important to manage your finances well, I think it\u2019s just as important to enjoy your college life. I wish everyone a great summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hope that this column has so far been helpful to readers and that it\u2019s got you to start thinking about your financial health differently. This time around, I thought I\u2019d share a bit about my life as a student, from a financial perspective, of course. I\u2019m an international student, and I spent about four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,269],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-june-8-22"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t