How to economize without being mean to yourself

In this time, I would like to share my tips on how I manage to arrange my budget during my stay in Europe. This might be helpful for people who are planning to move in or the one who wants to have a tidier management of their budget. Perhaps for some of you, this is the first time that you have your own money and live by yourself. As I explained before, I would like to divide the monthly allowance of +1000 eur that I get from Erasmus+ scholarship into several posts that might be generally useful. 

Accommodation (-350 eur/month)

I will start with something obligatory to be paid. The first thing first is the accommodation rent. It will depend on where your country is. For comparison, in France it was 250 eur per month, in Prague 190 eur per month and in Enschede it is 402 eur per month. So here, I will take the middle value of 350 eur on this so it will leave us with 750 eur of balance. In France, they will also ask you for accommodation insurance which can be bought from many options online or by the bank that you have your account in. It was around 80 eur per year, if I am not mistaken.

Tips: Do not forget to look for possible governmental aid application to be able to get lower cost in this post. 

Groceries and food (-150 eur/month)

I always have the similar shopping list for each week that covers all my need for the whole week. This is actually super helpful and when you know what you want and need you can really control this expenses so well. For me, it would not exceed 30 eur per week for groceries shopping. So let's make it four times 30 eur so it is 120 eur per month. Next, I also sometimes do not have time to cook my lunch so I eat at the canteen maximum twice a week. So it will be 4.75 x 4 = 19 eur or let's just make it 20 eur. In total, for my main meal for whole month I will spend 120 + 30 eur = 150 eur. This will leave us with the 500 eur in our balance.

Tips: shop in a local farmer's market or cheaper supermarket. Cook more no matter how lazy you are.

Amusement (-30 eur/month)

This can be going to the cinema, concert, books, buying unimportant stuff or eating in a fancy restaurant. Looking at the condition in Enschede, I actually did not have really much option to spend on. So I allocate this as twice a month which in total is 30 eur. This will leave us with the 470 eur in our balance.

Tips: do not be too mean to yourself.

Travelling (-30 eur/month)

People say the best investment of your money is to travel. I do deeply believe in this because some experiences and beauty of the nature or a country can not be measured by what you pay for it. Sometimes you bumped into a place with an extreme beauty without spending a lot of money on that but sometimes you paid a lot for a disappointing place with the grandiose expectation beforehand. Well, so far I have not planned to travel each month, but this money will be used when I will finally travel during holidays. So I will allocate this as 30 eur per month. This will leave us with the 440 eur in our balance. However, in six months you can have 180 eur for this that will be enough for 1-2 travels. So we are good. 

Tips: Look for student discount in several travel companies and places like museums. Learn on which package is the most advantageous for the travel cost. 

The Unexpecteds (-40 eur/month)

Sometimes you might need to go to the doctor and pay it before you get reimbursed by the medical insurance. Others might be school supplies, problems with bike, or other unexpected things (that is why is called unexpected by the way). In this case I will put 40 eur. This will leave us with the 400 eur in our balance.

Donation (Fill in by yourself)

I do think that any help that you give to a community or others would makes you feel better about yourself. I have experienced this quite often that after helping someone, I feel like my life gets easier. I know that it does not work that way and it is just how life phase are all temporary. But anyway, doing a good deed is never a problem. This, you can consider and budget for each month also to also push you to do it regularly, not only when you are feeling abundant. 

Saving (+350-400 eur/month)

Now we are left with 350-400 eur per month that is able to go to the saving. 

Investment (?)

If you are thinking on investing on something so it is indeed great! In my case, I was planning to pay in installlment in some properties back home (like a chep apartment) but then realizing I probably need a more long-term and stable income to do that. So, unfortunately I could not give you any real example of this. Another option is also on investing on some business run by friends and sahre the profit, in which, I have thought about but not yet tried. It will be always nice to see your money growing instead of just putting in below your pillow with no increasing value. 

These are few other tips also to economize:

1) Think about how can you finish the meal or groceries that you buy. Is it possible for you to finish it or can you buy smaller one that matches your capacity ?

2) Start living with few things that are functional. This also helps a lot when you need to move 

3) Remember that what is lost will then be replaced in the future. What you give to people would not make you poorer. But sometimes when you are too stingy, you will lose something in a very annoying way. Trust me, I have experienced this by myself adnd observed it a lot from many people. Maybe you think you save a lot but who knows what can happen in the future ? You probably have a situation where you have to use all your savings for an unexpected issues. So the point is, we just can do our best and literally have no control on what results we will have. Okay, I am kind of brainwashing you on how to be a stoic 

I do not think that we have to be super mean to ourselves and not letting ourselves to eat good food or watch some interesting concerts. Planning it to have estimation on how you pattern is will also be helpful to increase your awareness and alert when you feel like you are exceeding the limit. Good luck on that! 

Photo gallery