Five ways to save money as a student

Heading off to university will be one of the best times of your life, when you can really spread your wings and explore adult life. Unfortunately one aspect of that life is financial responsibility; that account might look healthy at the beginning of term but a few months of recklessness can soon send you into the red. Here are five simple ways of saving cash for the undergraduate:

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Banks will be desperate to sign you up and keep you there for life, with offers of railcards and 0% interest rates for sizeable overdrafts. Going over your limit will punish you in the pocket; you might do it once but hopefully not again, and it give you a stark lesson in how finances work.

A student discount card through the NUS will earn savings in hundreds of locations, including cinemas, the National Express and ASOS, for a small initial outlay. The 10% shopping discount at the Co-operative Food Store is well worth a look.

Budgeting

Plan most of your meals at the start of the week, but incorporate ‘anything’ days where you use up leftovers or old jars. By explicitly listing prices of ingredients you’ll know that you’re definitely not going over the budgetary limit. Sharing meal ideas obviously halves the costs (and sometimes the effort in cooking), while a shared store card will soon rack up big points for the student house.

Don’t buy any new books, and instead buy them on-campus or via second-hand websites.
If you can share books with a friend it can save money, although tread carefully. An older edition will clearly be cheaper than the newer one, and you’ll probably be able to find details of the ‘newer’ chapters online.

Travel smart

Cars are expensive to run; even though the student vehicle will probably be cheaper than most, the insurance certainly won’t be. If you absolutely have to have wheels, get insurance with telematics that rewards you for good driving, lowering your premium and hopefully encouraging you to bring up a no-claims discount. Walking, skateboarding, taking the bus and cycling are far cheaper (consider this when choosing where to live) and if you’re living in the capital you may want to consider a moped rather than the tube – click here to find more about Yamaha motorcycle dealers in London.

Cut down on drinking

Surely not? But there are ways of cutting money even on the most debauched of nights.

Have more before you go out, of both alcohol and carbohydrates, and have a pizza primed for your return to stop you reaching for the takeaway menu.

There are other preventative measures that could reap dividends when your head is in the cloud. Leave your cards at home if possible, share taxis (or just take a bus or drink near to home!), and find the Facebook page of any potential destinations beforehand to look for offers. Alternating alcohol and water, while seemingly boring, is actually a way of cutting money, and your head will thank you in the morning.

Time out

There are several months of the year, in the summer, when you don’t need a TV licence – unless of course you’re living on your own with a television. You can get a refund on this on the TV licensing website. Check out The Festival Calendar for free events across the country and of course befriend any local gig venues and pubs on Facebook to hear of offers.

What about holidays? AirBnB and Couchsurfing are two ways of saving money, while another is to stick to England and the south coast rather than Greece, Spain or Turkey.

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