Summer has come to a grinding halt. It has probably been at least a week since you and thousands of other students moved to Uni. As if you weren’t already stressed about moving, lessons and making friends, you also have to deal with the absolute nightmare of Student Finance. Now, after dealing with loans and trying to save for essentials at Uni for 3 years, I feel like I can give a little bit of advice. A little bit of advice that nobody is probably going to tell you; IT’S OKAY TO SPEND YOUR STUDENT LOANS ON YOU.

It would probably be reckless of me if I didn’t at least tell you to make sure you buy food before I carry on with this post. A lot of Mum’s would be angry. So, eat your… vegetables? (and yes, tomato on pizza DOES count).

The three years at Uni are most likely the richest young adults have been throughout their life so far. You have your own money, and yes, once you have paid your rent for the term, that money will depressingly decrease BUT the rest is yours. As I’m writing this I’m sitting next to a pile of bags from a shopping trip I went on yesterday because for the first time in months, even though I’ve been working all Summer, I had money and time to spend. There was a moment yesterday that I stopped, I was staring down at a product thinking “do I actually need this?” The answer was of course no. Yet here it is, in one of these many bags of things I don’t need.

University is difficult, not just because of the ridiculous amounts of work, it’s difficult to be thrown into a completely different environment to what you are used to. There will be times you can’t physically look at that four-thousand word essay anymore, times you can’t deal with the messy kitchen your flatmates have left. These are the times you grab your coat, get your bag, go to town and buy something that makes you happy, buy something that reminds you of home, get a coffee and just take a break.

Student loans are probably going to fade away in the not too distant future, which is ridiculous, but for now they are there for you. There’s no real right or wrong way to spend them despite what people may say. I’ve had years where I spent them on books for Uni, and years where I’ve spent them in the pub and I’m still going to be in the same amount of debt as everyone else.

If buying new music, a new pair of shoes, a book or even just getting a coffee with a friend is going to give you the push you need to get through the next few days at Uni, then I’d say that is money well spent!