How to Survive on a Low Budget at Islamic University in Uganda Kampala Campus

Finances, different requirements at the university push university students to spend more than their upkeep. However, this does not have to be the case. It is possible to cater for one’s expenses within one’s upkeep. Kabuye Kith explores how this can be achieved.

Be contented with what you have.

Have you ever wondered why some students prefer to live a modest lifestyle?

Rather than have a television set of their own, they use laptops to watch things going on in the world. The reason could be that the person settled for such a lifestyle as a way of cutting unnecessary expenditure.

For instance, Kabuye Kith,24, a student of computer science at the Islamic University in Uganda Kampala campus. He told us when going to campus his dear parents give him upkeep of seven hundred thousand Uganda shillings which is supposed to cater for the whole quarter since he enrolled in the quarter system at IUIU Kampala campus says many times his colleagues ask him why he does not a television set.

“Having a television set would increase my expenses and yet am given seven hundred thousand Uganda shilling for the whole quarter. Buying it will mean that I will have to pay for subscription every month yet my parents do not cater for that, then am left with using a laptop which I will connect to the school internet and I download movies online watch them in my free time hence saving the money supposed for subscription,” Kith says

For this reason, Kith remains contented without a television set at his hostel. He further told us how he manages everything.

Know where to live

Once you have made a budget, identify the affordable places to stay. If you are planning to stay near campus, hostels around the campus are quite expensive because a single bedroom house with bathroom inside costs between two hundred thousand shillings to three hundred shillings and the two roomed hostel costs between three hundred thousand shillings to five hundred shillings with both kitchen and bathroom inside.

Preferably, if one cannot afford the hostels close to the campus, one can go a little distance far from the campus in the areas around Kibuli Muslim Hospital. Because hostels that side one can access a lot of cheep things in terms of welfare and the hostels range from one hundred thousand shillings to three hundred shillings.

Below is the video showing one of the cheap hostels in Kibuli

Where to do shopping

In terms of food in Kibuli and the areas surrounding the campus is cheap, as low as two thousand Uganda shillings one can get something to eat.

“My food starts from two thousand shillings meaning one can spend fourteen thousand per week but there is also an option of subscribing and you pay for the whole quarter meaning if one is to pay one hundred twenty thousand shillings, there is a discount that will be given to him or her,” mama Juma owekikalayi.

If one wants to cook food for him or herself one can buy groceries in the Kibuli open market which takes place every Monday near Kibuli Dipo where there is an opportunity to bargain and in the market a bag of rice goes for thirty-four thousand shillings but if ones is a good bargainer they can reduce for him/her.

 Stick to your budget

Whenever you come up with a budget, stick to it. For instance, if you are planning on spending

Shs30,000 on transport a month, resist the temptation to spend more money.

Sticking to your budget limits incidents of overspending on unnecessary items. As you draw your budget, also ensure to put some money aside for emergencies.

Limit borrowing

It is funny how some people acquire loans to cater for their extravagant lifestyles. It happens all the time. Ever heard of stories of individuals applying for loans to buy phones just because they were ashamed of other people seeing them holding bad phones

Then there are those who will borrow money from others to cater for their luxurious habits such

as drinking and shopping. If you do not want to fall into financial ruin, desist from borrowing and getting loans when there is no need for it.

Do so only if you must, to cater for an emergency.

Keep away from bad company

There is an old adage that says, ‘birds of a feather flock together’. In other words, your close friends influence your habits.

If they are the showy type who love to flaunt their possessions, the same bug will bite you. And before you know it, you will be tempted to do all sorts of things to keep up appearances.

How Kabuye survives on a low budget

According to Kabuye, he says that he is given seven hundred thousand shillings and this is the breakdown:

Rent – 360,000

Food -120,000

Transport -90,000

Emergencies – 130,000

Advise from university officials

“Students should always put it in mind that planning before spending their upkeep is paramount because it will help them spend well. They should find capable means to fit into their means rather than being led by peer pressure,” Dr. Muyingo Rajab says

Tips on how to survive

• Do a side hustle
• Cherish your possession
• Adopt a minimalist lifestyle