So you’re off to university and you’re thinking of saving some money when you do go, well you’ve come to right the place as you’ll find that there are lots of tips and hints that can help you save while you study, we want you following this tips so you can save the cash and come out with far less debt than is needed.
If you can remember when you were applying to UCAS for the first time – fast forward to today and it’s time to financially look after yourself while at university. However tempting it is to go on a mass shopping spree as soon as your loan is in, it’s crucial that you don’t and be smart with your money. What are you outgoings? What are bills? Saying that, try to avoid any impulse buys – c’mon we know you do it, but beware of the tricks used to make you spend that extra cash that you wasn intending on doing.
How much do you need to live? Saving on spending is an easy task, but saving on living is what becomes difficult. There’s no clear-cut answer to this, as the cash you need to live off in London is very different to what is needed to live elsewhere (this is why maintenance loans always vary).
When living, always think twice about what you are doing, never shop when hungry and always check our offers, ask for discounts and whether or no ‘you need it’. It’s a common pitfall to purchase a lot of food that you never really need.
The next tip is working out whether a credit card is a good idea or not, for sure. If you lightly ignore the danger of debt and keep on top of things: you can be okay. You should never have a credit card if you think there’s a chance you might not be able to afford the repayments, don’t spend what you can’t afford.
If you’ve got the self-discipline to settle in full (not just the minimum payment) when the bill arrives, you typically won’t pay any interest on the purchases you’ve made, either. here are also a few perks for credit card customers out there, such as: Air Miles to put towards a holiday, cheap foreign exchange, cashback and fraud protection.
Going back to saving on living, one of the best tips that we can give is to plan your meals,
Walking back from a lecture, you’re likely to want to pick up lunch or a drink with friends.
If they become too much of a habit, they will significantly impact your finances. Preparing food at home is a great way to save cash and is the best way to eat smart, and save smart. Remember, that one meal our can pay for 5 meals at home.
No doubt if you’re a student, you’ll probably see yourself getting trains as running a car isn’t cheap, and you’ll need the money for those mid-week nights our. Travelling home for a weekend or visiting friends at other universities can be a costly affair, but that doesn’t have to put you off. There’s the 16-25 railcard that can get you up to a third off rail fares, use this or once you turn 21, you can start sharing rides with friends and use some helpful apps to help spread the cost of a journey.
When shopping, We understand that there’s something less than glamorous about supermarket value ranges. Don’t let that stop you – the quality is often indistinguishable from that of branded products, coke, pepsi, walkers. Avoiding the household names can mean a hefty saving on filling the fridge. There are plenty of places to explore student discounts too if that’s something that you’d like to know more about – which is your student entitlement.
For any more advice on university-related topics then check out University Compare, a university comparison website that compares over 36,000 degree courses across 425 institutes and offers education advice, the largest personal statement library, guidance and student discounts.