Blow The Budget
We all know how good it feels to spend all the cash we can get our hands on and it seems like an all too familiar occurrence especially for students. Aidan Roberts shares his engineering insight on how to make the most of today regardless of your budget!
Someone asked me the other day, “What do Civil Engineers do?” and my answer, “Build really big things.”
My reply surprised me as I’d never looked at it that way before. I suddenly felt a sense of pride as I imagined myself saying: “You can put a shed up in your garden if you like pal; but if you want to put something on the map then make an appointment with me!”
As I stand on the brink of becoming a Bachelor of the Art and Science of Civil Engineering, I’d like to share some of the insight I’ve gained over past few years. To let you know that I am actually an academic, my preferred title for this article would be: ‘Fundamental Engineering Principle supported by a Decision Making Support Tool Towards Lifestyle Advance (FEPDMSTTLA).’ In other words, Blow The Budget!
The latest budget for the London Olympic games is over ₤9billion, that’s over four times the original estimate! It’s likely that the recently completed Wembley Stadium cost over ₤1billion, when early estimates were a reserved ₤400million. The news media has presented us with these statistics in a negative light, that those in charge are incompetent and our national wealth is being wasted. However, I choose to look at it completely differently.
Go For The Best!
Since tickets went on sale for the opening events at Wembley, they have sold like hot cakes! The New Civil Engineer magazine is full of stunning images portraying the incredible feat of engineering. Everybody’s talking about it. The reason for this is that it’s the best. There is not a single stadium in the world right now that can compare. It’s the top dog and phat daddy of all stadia on the planet. I’m proud to be British! I’d like to think that had the engineer responsible let himself be contained by the budget, he wouldn’t have created such a masterpiece that has become the talk of the town, or country, rather.
Blow That Budget
The core value behind this story that we all need to embrace, is this: If you want to do anything significant, you’ll have to blow the budget! We need to realise that a budget can become an attitude that cordons off our view of possibility, if you let it. Budgets are important and allow us to get a clear picture of what reaching a goal will take financially and can also be a way of making sure you spend according to what’s important to you. Don’t get me wrong – we should always have a budget. The point is that we understand that we are not limited by it, rather that the budget is only limited by us. If we want to make a few changes and decide that something along the way is too important to miss out on and worth the money, it’s ok!
As students, it’s easy to let our finances, and more often than not – lack of, dictate how well our year goes. One year we decide to treat ourselves like crazy and the next we’re living off beans and toast. Yet, we can apply the principles of budgeting and blowing the budget so that we get the most out of our money and are not bogged down with having no room for change. Life can be crazy and there are always last minute things, requiring money, that aren’t in the budget. We need to be able to enjoy these as well as enjoying the benefits of a well worked out budget. The secret is – always have a contingency. There needs to be room for last minute things and underestimation.
It’s easy to start university with the goal of living it up for the three or so years that you’re there – after all you may never get that chance again – right? I’m not so sure; I believe that we can have the fulfillment of lifelong living it up and getting the most from life. We don’t have to fit the stereotypes and conform to the world around us. Maybe you’re just looking for a little freedom, whether in your finances or in yourself, I know a God who has the answers. Maybe it’s time you searched a little higher for the answers you’ve been looking for. Why not check out our other articles for more inspiration on living life to the full. We all use some encouragement to blow the budget more often!