Research by Experian has found that more than half of students would rather go on a run then a night out, which is shocking for most because people hear running and run the other way.
This being because of the growing cost of nights out, along with the mental health benefits running has to offer.
Run clubs are growing in popularity as a free alternative to socialise, where all you need is a pair of trainers – although from experience, it’s easy to justify spending a lot on these.
78 per cent of students have admitted money worries are causing them stress, with over a third saying it is affecting their uni experience as they can’t afford to go out and meet friends.
This is why Experian decided to partner up with ultra-marathon runner, mental health advocate and all-round legend Jonny Davies, to host ‘Run for Your Money’ and start a positive conversation about finances.
Jonny visited Nottingham off the back of his incredible ‘Run The Capitals’ challenge, covering 960km across the UK, in aid of the charity CALM.
He explained the challenge was ‘all about breaking down things into manageable sizes’ and commented ‘in my head, I didn’t run 960km, I did 96 10k’s’, which he related to student life and the many deadlines we face.
When feeling overwhelmed, it is best to break your workload down into things you know you can achieve rather than trying complete everything at once – although we’ve all pulled an all-nighter in the library once or twice.
He discussed how much running has helped his own mental health, saying running is ‘very rarely about physical health, it is much more about what it does for the mind’ and how ‘the guards we keep up in our own mind end up falling down when we run’.
With the ever-growing stresses students are facing, it has never been more important to look after our mental health.
He also added ‘there is something really nice about achieving something with your mates’, with going on a run being a casual environment where you can have genuine conversations about what’s going on.
As we begin to enter the part of term where stresses begin to creep up and the weather is getting everyone down, running is sounding like a great idea. Maybe this is your sign to give it go.
James Jones, an Experian consumer expert, discussed how ‘it is good to have a foundation knowledge of how credit reporting works’, with missing payments on rent or bills having a knock-on effect as adult-life approaches, and you want to start applying to grown-up things like mortgages.
He suggested ‘simple things like getting on the electoral register can boost your credit score’, which is definitely something to consider to get ahead of your finances.
It is so important to remember that money stresses are something effecting the majority of students across the country, so you are not alone in this and taking the time to talk to your friends about how your feeling is a great start – whether this is during a jog or not.
