Balancing the budget – part time work

Amy-Louise, third year History student

I work part-time in a bar, and have done for the past year now, while I also work as a Student Voice Ambassador, I have gained a lot with working part-time while studying not just in a finance aspect but also skills that can be used in both academic and career life.

I found my job through the ‘York Hospitality Exchange’ facebook page, and sent my CV as soon as I saw the post and had an interview within the same month.
I chose to work part time to be able to financially support myself better and independently while still studying as well as enjoying work-life culture.

In my workplace, our availability is sent weekly, and therefore I can balance my shifts and deadlines a lot better. For me, whenever I have an assignment deadline I take more time off work to be able to focus on my studies as well as gaining a sense of caution to avoid late finishes if I have early classes the next day.

In terms of routines, I find that attempting to stick to the same routine helps me a lot to balance both work and university. This for me includes meal prepping on days I have both class and a shift to make sure I’m not missing meals, as well as regularly checking in with my own mental health to make sure I am not doing too much and increasing stress levels. I also make sure that I balance work, university and my social life by making sure I take time off work to be able to see friends as well as having days to clean up my flat and spend time doing things that make me happy such as reading or going to the gym.

I have been working for a long time, not only while at university but also while I was at college, so skills such as time management, mental health management and social balancing are ones I have always been working on. I have also learnt the importance of taking time for myself in a week to maintain a positive outlook and not letting my work life get in the way of my studies.

I struggle with budgeting and it is something I am still learning to manage better. I tend to keep two banking accounts, one is my everyday and the other a ‘rainy day fund’ which I put amounts from my pay checks into after I pay for bills, university parking and car maintenance (I am a commuting student so I use my car a lot in a week). I try to not be as strict on myself with saving as I used to be to make sure that I am not worried about finances which can be a major struggle and anxiety.

If I could speak to my first year self, I would give the advice to focus on the everyday and that I shouldn’t have worried as much about finances to the point I wasn’t looking after myself properly as a reaction to worrying about it. I would also advise my first year self that there is always someone to talk to and seek help whether this is online or person to be able to gain better budgeting skills.

With all that said, balance comes with practise, there are still times now I find myself overworking and it takes reflection to be able to notice this. There is also support always there for those struggling with anything and it can be refreshing to take things one step at a time, even if that seems difficult in the moment.

Visit our dedicated webpage for advice on funding and budgets.

To discover more about work opportunities, head over to our Careers and student opportunities page.