One of the downsides of attending tertiary education is the necessary assumption of student debt. Student loans are available both to cover tuition fees as well as living costs, and can total tens of thousands of pounds at the time of graduation.Often the student will be living away from home for the first time, and may find themselves facing the novel task of having to take total control of their finances.It is a good idea at this stage to develop an outline for spending, and with a little help from the right people and resources, students will be able to stick to a well planned budget.A simple budget can be drawn up on an excel spreadsheet month by month where they will list their income and their expenses. This will be broken down into more detail. They will list things like entertainment, books or things they need for projects as well as transport and food. For something like this you have to be well organised and let’s face it, not all students will take the time once a month to draw up a spreadsheet like this. This is where personal finance software will help because it is a lot easier to handle.The benefits of using personal finance softwareYou will find that most of these applications are not expensive and you are able to put them on Windows as well as Mac.
You can run a report to see if you are within limit or if you have overspent and where you need to cut down.
It is very user-friendly which will encourage students to budget in this way.
There are some programs that allow you to create your own categories. Make sure you find out about the features of the software first. Some are more personal than others.
This is an excellent way of getting into the habit of budgeting for the future, which you should be doing when you have a steady job and a family to support.
The software is constantly being updated, making it easier for the student to get a grasp for handling their budget.
Budget trends can be set up as well which is really helpful and you can set this up so you are constantly reminded of what is happening with your budget.Budgeting categories to focus onEveryone has different needs and requirements as a student, but students still have a lot of things in common when it comes as to what they spend their money on.IncomePart-time job
Student loan
Allowance from parentsExpensesTuition
Extra college fees. For example, sports activities or admin
Rent or housing on campus
Personal items and services such as laundry and toiletries
Computer and applications
Books and stationery
Clothing
Entertainment
Transport – this could be petrol for a car which would also include parking costs, but it could also include public transport as well as rides shared with friends.
Insurance
Food – this will come in the form of groceries or halls of residence fees.The key is to take action, generate a framework for spending and discipline oneself to live within a budget. This is, of course, easier said than done, but well worth it in the long run.

For many amateur photographers, like myself, it is easy to get caught up in a one-tracked view on the skills that are required for good photography. In this article we take a look at a few digital photography tips and tricks that will help you understand the importance of view points in your photographs.There is a tendency with amateur photographers to focus solely on the technical aspect of photography such as pixels and megapixels, lens sizes and shutter speeds.To really understand and embrace the art of photography it is important to grasp the vital ingredients of great digital photography. To learn the real skills of photography in order to capture an image that you be proud of.One of the key points of good photography is making sure that you choose the Viewpoint of your Shot with great Care.An understanding of how to choose a composition carefully and how that simple choice can enhance your picture will mean the difference between amateur photographs sitting on the computer at home or reaching a competitive standard of photography.This article can serve as a guide for those starting out in digital photography and takes a look at the various tricks and tips associated with understanding the importance of your photographic viewpoint.1. Making the Choice – Choose the subject. This may seem like the easiest part of photography but as you progress you will aim to choose more and more challenging viewpoints. In order to be able to handle those challenges you will need to know and learn the basic tricks and tips associated with using and enhancing your viewpoints.If you see something that intrigues you or strikes you as interesting then you are in your viewpoint zone. You must always remember to really pay attention to the composition of an image when choosing your viewpoint. Both aspects go hand-in-hand when trying to attain that great photo.In order to choose a viewpoint when photographing people it is vital to understand how the position of the sun and shadowing can affect your shot. Something as simple as a subject wearing a peaked cap can affect the quality of your shot. There is no point in taking a great photograph with everything in place if your subjects eyes and expression cannot be seen due to the shadow of a hat.2. Scale – A sense of Scale can often be defined and highlighted by adding in people or animals to the photograph. Budding photographers can highlight the depth of a shot by including foreground subjects such as flowers or trees. This then shows the depth of larger subjects such as mountains and waterfalls in the background. By including an object of a commonly known size in a photograph it tips off the audience to the entire images scale and depth.Once the photographer understands scale and how to manipulate it then the technical aspect of photography can come in to play. Your choice of lenses, at this stage, can help to convey scale by making subjects look taller than they are or making the subject shrink to size. Therefore adding and enhancing to your subjective learnings on Scale.3. Perspective – Understand the perspective of your composition is key, photographs can take on a different dynamic just by changing the angle of view. Taking a shot of a subject from above can entirely change the feel of the shot. It can make the subject more sinister, can make the audience feel more nurturing towards them, all depending on the drama you want to create in your shot. The choice of angle and perspective you choose will also affect how the lighting falls on the subject, again adding or taking away from the drama of the scene you are trying to create.