Budgeting

Starting or continuing your journey in higher education brings exciting changes, but it can also introduce new financial pressures, especially during a cost-of-living crisis. Managing day-to-day costs like travel, food, books, accommodation, and social life can feel like a lot to balance.

Budgeting is not about being perfect or restricting yourself, it is simply a way to understand what money is coming in and where it is going, so you can make choices that work for you and your individual situation. 

This page offers practical tips and tools to help you plan, stay on track, and feel more confident in managing your finances throughout your time at TU Dublin.

The TU Dublin Cost of Living Guide for 2025/26 provides detailed breakdowns of various expenses that students may encounter, living at home or away from home. These include rent, utilities, food, travel, books and class materials, clothing and medical expenses, mobile costs, social life and miscellaneous expenses, and the student charge.   

With the breakdown of expenses, matched with your income, you can now start to create a personalised budget to meet your needs.

Please find an excel Budget planner template to help you map out your finances and budget accordingly.

Financial Readiness for Life Free Online Course and Digital Badge

Learn practical money skills at your own pace.
This short course helps you:

• Understand needs vs wants

• Budget and save

• Borrow wisely

• Spot scams and financial risks

• Manage and prioritise debt

Complete the course to earn a Digital Badge that you can add to your CV or LinkedIn.

Access the course here 

Some other links below to show a variety of planners, hopefully you can find a planner that will help you create your own budget while in TU Dublin:

• MABS – Money Advice and Budgeting Service – helpful budget planning tool
• Credit Union Budgeting - budgeting template to assist with managing your money
• Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) - Budget planner
• Spunout.ie - How to Create a budget
• TU Dublin Student Union – Financial Support, fees withdrawal FAQ’s, budgeting, and support

Discounts and Free Supports

• Tax Relief for paying fees - Information on tax relief for college fees for approved courses

Free Supports in TU Dublin / Education:

• Discounts to Alumni of TU Dublin As a TU Dublin graduate, you may be able to avail of a 10% reduction in fees for any of our Level 9 taught Masters
• Free Career Supports with the TU Dublin Career Development Centre
• Free Maths Support with the TU Dublin Mathematics Leaning Centre
• Free Computing Support for students on the early years of a Computing programme, or taking a computing module, or using some aspect of Computing in one of your modules
• Free Academic Writing Support to all TU Dublin students, to help develop students as independent, confident writers in an academic setting
• Alot of TU Dublin events will have food / merchandise included, get involved and grab some free food / merch. Calendar of events in the Sustainability section of the website
• Free Medical care
  • Free Doctor and Nurse consultations
  • Free Contraception
  • Free sexual health advice and STI Screens
• Free Eye Examinations in the National Optometry Centre
• Free online mental health platform called Silvercloud, it is available 24/7 throughout the year
• Free counselling appointments, Monday to Friday from9am-1pm and 2pm to 5pm
• Free tea / coffee before your exams and a variety of celebrations throughout the year organised by the Pastoral Care & Chaplaincy team
• Free programme of supports to help you quit smoking and vaping, a Healthy Campus initiative, in conjunction with the HSE, Empower, Fingal County Council, Sláinte Care and Healthy Ireland
• Couch to 5km, including free weekly in person meet up lunch time walk/run sessions, free nutritional fact sheets and free training plan
• Free 6-week online cook-a-long evening programme delivered by Empower with budget friendly recipes
• Free TU Dublin Healthy Campus Sustainable Cookbook Vol1 and Healthy Campus Cookbook 2025 Vol 2 healthy, delicious, and sustainable recipes

Retail and Travel

• Leap Card - A prepaid travel card available to students to pay their fare on public transport around Ireland.
• Dublin Bikes - Discounted rates for students.
• UNiDAYS - Fast, free, exclusive discounts for students
• Student Beans - Free student discounts platform
• SavvySpender Discounts in Ireland
• Voucher Cloud Deals, offers, and discounts from Irish retailers and business