The student lifestyle is actually really expensive

Trying to keep up with the student lifestyle is actually really hard.

Before I went to University I thought I understood the basic outline of student life: going out five days a week, binge drinking Glens, eating a lot of baked beans and occasionally studying for a rip off degree. All very simple stereotypes, but in reality I think it took me all of my first year to actually understand what student living is really about and I can’t be the only one left feeling somewhat disillusioned.

Facebook and Snapchat would lead you to believe that nearly every student you know is out on a bar crawl or club night out, living the Geordie Shore lifestyle or a more alternative version, one which comes in heavier filters, 90’s clothing and indie warehouses, but lets have a reality check for a second.

Nights out are really, really expensive.

The alcohol, transport, drunk munchies and occasional new item of clothing to keep your Facebook looking all new and shiny has a price tag, and is it just me or is anyone else left wondering where this money is coming from? Maintenance loans often just barely cover rent, and it seems me that in spite of this impossible financial situation, a surprisingly small portion of students have part time jobs, and those who do aren’t generally the ones with the most lavish lifestyles.

Even day to day life is a joke

It is widely known and mostly accepted that university has a reputation of being elitist, but the reality is that it’s not just the fees that are extortionate; the pressures of day to day life can leave you feeling like you’re drowning in a sea of unrealistic uni experience expectations.

Its not just going on nights out that break the bank, lunch time burgers for a fiver, that vintage Adidas jacket you just bought and all your actual university costs, like that £70 ‘compulsory’ textbook your lecturer bloody wrote, are still more expensive than most people can afford.

How does everyone afford this life?

The harsh reality is that without an extortionately generous relative or handsome maintenance grant,  most of you need a part time job to actually just survive. But even with that taking up all the hours you should be studying, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the abundance of oddly well off ‘broke’ students living a such a lavish lifestyle – from dining out every other day, to cocktails on the weekend.

And do not even get me started on those inter-railing trips in summer  where they all had the most #incredible time sightseeing in Prague and sunning in Phuket.

If we were all actually living off our student loans or part time jobs instead of family or an ever increasing overdraft, we would be hitting up Asda’s reduced section, nights out would be impossible and Phuket would have to wait until we graduated.

The unrealistic expectations of how much fun we should be having at uni, and what type of branded, fashionable trainers we should be wearing, what holiday we should be going on and how many lunch dates we should be able to afford, needs to stop. Facebook and Instagram breed this idea that everyone you know is having a better time than you at uni and its time for us to all admit that we are actually broke and a homemade bowl of soup and a sandwich at the flat would actually be a better option than that new quirky vegan place around the corner.

There is nothing wrong with actually being a broke student and it definitely shouldn’t be something to be embarrassed of.