Making your money go a bit further
We know its that time of year where your student loan and your bank balance might be starting to look a bit thin, as Term 1 seems to go on and on. It can be different for everyone else and can affect people in different ways, so if you do ever feel you’re struggling do come in and have a chat to our Help & Support team who will be able to point you in the right direction.
What LUU is doing for you?
When I was running to be on your Exec last year, one of the most common things people wanted to talk about was making their money go further in the Union and its something I made one of my objectives for the year.
It’s sometimes nice to treat yourself to some food or a drink out, so when you’re coming to the Union for a bite, it’s important then we do as much as we can to make sure it doesn’t eat into your balance too much! Over the summer, LUU have put out some new menus with offers across all of them and we’ve also been looking at how we can make the range in your Union Shop better value too. We looked at how our coffee prices compare to the rest of the city, and I’m happy to say that we are still the cheapest option!
Whether its a breakfast bun and a drink for £2.25 from Balcony or the Dine 2 for £10 deal in Terrace, there’re some deals across the whole Union.
Check out a load of the deals here or check out the LUU discounts page
Budgeting with Monzo
Something that I’ve been using over the past couple of years to help me budget, is a new bank called Monzo. It’s a bank which is a bit different to your traditional bank — there are no physical branches, just an app. Monzo wants to make it easier for people and work with them to help manage their money.
The app has a great budgeting tool which keeps track of all your different categories of spending, how much you’re spending each week and giving you helpful nudges to let you know how it’s going. It helps you save some money without having to spend time or brainpower thinking about it!
Plus it also has a really nice looking hot coral card…
So, because we think its great and Monzo think they’re great for students too, we’ve put together the first partnership with a students’ union just for Leeds students! For now, that means you get to skip the queue to get an account, but the first 1,000 who sign up here will get £5 for free just for signing up through LUU!
We know its not quite a replacement for a standard student bank account with an overdraft just yet, but one of the ways I get around that is by setting up a standing order to transfer some money into Monzo each month. You’ll be able set that up with your current bank account on their website or in a branch.
Monzo have some great tips on budgeting too, as well as loads more money saving advice.
There are load of other places around where you can pick up the odd tip about how to make your money go a bit further — Martin Lewis has some great tips on his website, here. If you buy the NUS Card, Totum for £12 you’ll be able to save 10% on all your shopping at Co-op too!
As always, do remember that whatever your problem may be, no matter how big or small, LUU is always here for you. You can pop in to chat to our Help & Support team in the Union Foyer or come up to the Student Exec office as well.
