How to Live with a Limited Amount of Money
People are working a lot these days to achieve some material things: cars, houses, apartments etc. It's become something that is considered to be a guarantee of safety and stability. However, at the same time many people are disappointed because of this "rush" for money and always being tense. So how can we as students live our life with a limited amount of money and be happy with these years of studying?
To do a spending retrospective
As the first step, I would recommend analyzing your income and spending. You can just write on a list how much money you have monthly (from income, stipend etc) and how much and for what you actually spend on. This step will already give you a clear vision of your organization of money. If it's not perfect yet, then please keep reading to find out some more tips to balance your sphere of money.
To learn about minimalism
Minimalism is a type of design and art that is characterized by moderate use of things, colours etc. This flow is now popular in philosophy of life, too. In my opinion, minimalism helps with enjoying your life more by putting your attention towards ordinary things. You can be satisfied with the day at the university, meeting your friends and getting new knowledge, helping someone in the metro and hugging your loved ones. You can be happy with having a cup of coffee during the day and just being at a warm, sweet home. When you see how much love you have in your daily life, you realize that it's not necessary to buy something everyday to be happy anymore. It's not always about a big amount of money or big events that make you happy in your life.
To plan spending
We all want to sometimes go to a theatre, visit some new places, events, especially in the big city such as Moscow. I have learned that it's better to plan such activities for a month. This method gives you a clear vision since you will know the events or trips planned for the month, so that you can be calm that you have planned something to get new impressions, to explore new places. After that, you can give your attention to the ordinary things and everyday life which reduces your unexpected spending. In addition, you can make your own plan for a year and include your vacation plans. This procedure also helps you to be ready for your monthly expenditure including basic things and something additional in your life such as vacation, trips, events etc.
To save some money
There is one more simple, but very important tip from me: you can save around 5-10% of your month income for the unexpected spending. My mom has always told me: "Imagine if you suddenly realize that you need a new pair of shoes for the winter and you haven't left any money for that since you hadn't planned this spending. What will you do?". Does it scare you as well as me? That is why I would recommend to save some money for something unexpected.
To set some limits for yourself
In my experience, it's good when you can set yourself a restriction to not spend more than a certain amount of money on something. For instance, I like eating somewhere out of home, bringing some coffee and desserts. However, it's not cheap in Moscow. That is why I decided to give myself a restriction coming from the amount of money that I have monthly for living: to spend no more than 2000 rubles on extra food and coffee in a week. The effect has been great because I have stopped thinking about buying or not buying something. I just know my own logical limit and keeping to it makes me feel proud of myself and strong.
To learn about financial literacy
There are many courses which teach how to thoughtfully spend your money, how to make investments and why it's important in the 21st century, why you should choose a savings account etc. This topic is becoming more and more popular these days. However, it's still hard to understand it and how to use it in your own life when you are a student who doesn't have much money.
In my experience, I have heard from my friends about their results and in this sphere and they say that opening your own savings account is a great idea. Financial literacy is our future, so we should learn it at least little by little.
To learn to be accurate with money
When I just moved to Moscow and started living by myself, I realised how money can fastly go away because of spending on little things. For instance, many of us don't even look at the store receipt. However, sometimes the products that we choose with a discount are paid for as if it was without discount. This can happen because of a device breakdown or a seller's mistake. If we are accurate and attentive towards such little situations, we can save 100-300 rubles step by step and see the progress. When I applied it to my life, I realised how good it is to know better on what and where you spend your money. It becomes easier to plan the expenditure.
To use your priority as a student
You are a student and it means you have a status to have some discounts in different spheres such as culture, transport, food etc. For instance, you can look for events which are organized for students for free in the university or parks. You can go to a theatre or a cinema and use your student's discount. In addition, there are usually student benefits for visiting museums, exhibitions, and for buying a month's transport subscription. To sum up, you can check whether there is a student discount in the place where you go. For example, there are many events organized in HSE and I am especially interested in the HSE Business club. They organize meetings with famous people in the work and business sphere who have opened their own company. There has recently been a meeting with a president of the X5 Group. They also organize a Business Forum each spring in the HSE where people come not only from the HSE.
To cook by yourself
Yes, it's about financial literacy, too! We eat everyday, 3 times per day which means that we will spend money on it anyway. If you eat out 3 times per day, you will spend around 1500-3000 rubles. However, if you cook by yourself, it will be a lot cheaper and healthier! For instance, cooking grechka with meat will cost you around 500 rubles, but there will be 5 portions for the next 5 days.
The quality of the products is important, too. To avoid extra spending, you can check the discounts for the products in the supermarket every time you visit it. You can buy some products and freeze it to leave for another meal while using other products to cook something different this time from what you have planned if you decided to buy it for a discount. It's not necessary to buy expensive products to eat healthy, but it's just important to look at the compound and expiration date.
By the way, if you live in a dormitory, you can invite your neighbours or friends to cook together. In this case you will be able to share the money on the products and it will be not only cheaper for you both, but also easier to cook.
To use free services
As for the sport, there are free gyms in the HSE campuses and dormitories. To attend them, you only need to bring a hospital certificate so that you don't have any restrictions to have a physical training. There are also trainers who help you to make the process safe and guide you with the exercises. Moreover, there are other sports centers in Moscow which provide students with discounts. For instance, you can have 2 hours in the Luzhniki sport centre for 500 rubles and swim in the pool, visit hammam, banya and jacuzzi. After that I usually bring a fruit smoothie to add to such a healthy sport day. I totally recommend it!
As for health, you can visit public hospitals. There are usually not many open slots for the close dates, but you can make an appointment in advance. By the way, you can also get tested for hormones and it will be also for free, but you need to go to your doctor and get a referral for the tests.
In my opinion, there are many opportunities to get help in the public hospitals, but the only thing is that you should be ready that it will take time. However, if you come to the hospital to get help with the cold, the doctors will help you immediately.
In addition, books are also considered to be expensive now if you want to buy them at the bookstore. However, you can look for them in the HSE Library and get free access to scientific sources for your course work. There are many libraries in Moscow which are public and where books are updated so that you can find new "trend" books for free. You only might need to get it from the library which is not the closest one to your home since the books are available in the certain libraries which are signed on the website mos.ru. Moreover, you can search for the books in the bookmarkets or on Avito to find the books which were used (read), but look well.
I do hope you will find some of my pieces of advice useful.
Shared by
Aleksandra Astashina
