BeDo

If you’re struggling with financial burdens as a student or researcher, I feel you.

I know what it’s like to be a broke student. Broker than broke.

Most of my adult life I’ve been a student—going from undergrad to a Master’s, to a PhD, with little time between to earn an income. So, trust me, I know what it’s like going to sleep in socks, a hat, and a jumper because heat is too expensive. Turning down invitations to go out for drinks or dinner with friends because the amount in the bank account is just enough to pay for rent that month. Or, when you do decide to go out, ordering the cheapest thing on the menu and praying that your friends don’t suggest that you split the receipt four ways. I know what it’s like getting food from the university food bank, and hoping none of your classmates see you in line. I know the jealousy of listening to friends talk about where they’re flying for spring break. The shame at having to borrow money from your little sister because you can’t afford to pay rent.

I know the exhaustion that comes from having to work three jobs just to make ends meet, and falling asleep on the bus ride home. I know what it’s like putting your body into strange, stressful, and sometimes dangerous situations to make or save money (like selling my blood to a university science project, or waiting 45 minutes for a bus at midnight in the middle of a snowstorm because I couldn’t afford an Uber). I know what credit card debt does to the soul. I know what it’s like using your debit card and saying a mental prayer, hoping that the transaction doesn’t bounce, and then having your face set on fire when those dreaded words would appear—“insufficient funds”.
It becomes an uneasy sort of normalcy, living paycheck to paycheck. But even if it’s the norm, the stress never really goes away, does it? It sits in your gut, a jagged ball of anxiety that wakes you up in the morning and is the last thing on your mind before you go to sleep. It makes your breath catch in your throat and your palms sweat. It plagues your thoughts at all times and strips you of peace.
Trust me, I know.

I have become an expert at living lean, and derive a sense of pride at having made it through some extremely tough times. I feel a sense of solidarity with my fellow students and early career researchers who struggle to make ends meet on limited salaries.

The COVID pandemic has made things harder for many of us. A 2022 study by the UK-based Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that 62% of students polled are cutting back on food and essentials; 29% are skipping non-mandatory classes; and 25% have taken on new debt. There are plenty of statistics that show the correlation between poor mental health and financial hardship. One study showed that, among British university undergraduates, financial difficulties were a predictor of greater depression and stress cross-sectionally (Richardson et al., 2017), and that students with financial difficulties were more likely to have poorer mental health, greater rates of alcohol dependence, and greater anxiety (Ibid.).

So, if any of this resonates with you—I get it. All I can say is that the important thing is not to suffer in silence, and that there is nothing shameful about needing help. About 99% of the time, I never told any of my friends or family that I constantly worried about how I would pay rent, and as a result I isolated myself. There are communities that exist with the purpose of providing supportive networks for students, like Togetherall, which offers free and anonymous online chat groups.

You can find cheap and/or free ways to care for yourself. Paying £20 a month for a gym membership at a budget gym chain was one of the best purchases I made throughout my university journey, because physical wellbeing is so intricately connected to mental health (plus, you get free hot showers!). If the gym isn’t your thing, get outside and take a long walk when you feel the anxiety flaring up. Take one day at a time, and keep your body moving along the way.

You got this, my friend. Being broke doesn’t need to break you.