1. Booze. Especially since your judgment may be clouded once you’ve had that first drink. You also risk enduring a permanent year-long hangover aka the on-going lecture your parents will give you once they find out you what you’ve done!

  1. Garms. Ladies, the sexy pair of Louboutains you spotted Rihanna wearing on Instagram the other day and those three body-con dresses you salivated at when you saw them on Kim Kardashian’s latest three selfie posts on Twitter, should remain as a liked item on your social media feed, and not as real life versions in your wardrobe. Remember these ladies are millionaire celebrities and the cost of designer clothes is like spare change to them. You on the other hand are not.  And for the boys, spending four figures on the latest pair of Yeezys, which you copped from a Croatian sneaker geek you met online after they sold out at JDs 20 minutes after going on sale is not advisable. So what if all your boys have got a pair.  Those weird-looking but ultra-soft and slipper like crepes will not house, clothe and feed you when you’ve got no money to pay your rent and buy food!

  1. Technology. Once that loan cheque clears in your account, it is so tempting to log onto the PCworld or Apple website to kit your student digs out with the latest electronic equipment – we’re talking top of the range i-Watches hifi system, speakers, PS4 and crazy-sized inched TV! Don’t do it. No matter how good your music sounds in the new system, it won’t drown out the constant voices in your head, asking you how you are going to pay your rent for the next 7 months!

  1. Expensive takeaways. Yes, you are stressed and tired and the last thing you are thinking about is adding cooking every night to your long list of ‘things to do’… BUT, falling into that common trap of getting a pizza, Chinese, Indian… Or of course a Caribbean or African take away most nights will quickly swallow up your money, without you even realising it!

  1.  Cabs! Thank God for Uber! But in the same breath: Damn you Uber! You are so easy, convenient and reasonably priced that you find yourself using them ALL the time, more than you should as  we don’t even feel the money leave your account. Late night raving? Call Uber, Late night study (or link) session? Call Uber. Can’t be bothered to make the five minute walk from one end of the campus to the other? Call Uber! Why not, eh? The trouble is, loads of ‘small’ charges add up to one ‘big’ charge, which you only really clock when you are going through your bank statement one day trying to figure out where all your money has disappeared to and you keep seeing the name ‘Uber’ listed every couple of lines! Doh *Homer Simpson voice*