Having finished two years of university I am well aware of the difficulties students find with managing their finances and sticking to a budget to avoid blowing your entire loan in a few weeks. But what are the main expenditures for students? And how can expenditures be avoided or reduced? This article provides a brief guide on how to save money at university without making compromises. Below are 5 tips and tricks I learnt to help my student loans last longer..
1. Textbooks for each of my modules added up to quite a sum if bought new. Some even cost up to £ 80 each! Student textbook websites provide an affordable alternative. Here you can buy and sell textbooks, saving you money at the start of the year and making a little back at the end !
2. Buying food can also be a major expense – Always remember that it’s much cheaper to cook for more than one person and split the costs evenly than to prepare a fresh meal for yourself. This is a useful recipe website for low cost, nutritional recipes.
3. Using you student ID card can get you all sorts of discounts where you would least expect them. It’s always worth asking before you buy something; student discounts can range from 10-50%. Some restaurants chains often allocate a certain day of the week to special students offers. Handy websites allow you to print of discount vouchers that are valid throughout the UK.
4. One of the most effective ways I found to stay on top of my finances was simply to get a part time job. I was working in a cocktail-bar two nights in the week and one night at the weekend which dramatically reduced my expenses on going out. It was still great fun too, I met lots of people, learnt how to make nice drinks and was even bought a shot or two if I was lucky!! Here you can find lots of cool part time jobs.
5. Learning to create and stick to a budget is crucial for students who want to avoid the financial difficulties that irresponsible spending can create. Budgets can be as basic as tracking incoming and outgoing money in a notebook. The goal is to track what money is coming in and to allocate what will be spent on necessities. Learning to budget will also provide a great opportunity to start saving and investing.
By Hayden Hill
