Student Budgeting Tricks
How To Avoid Relying On Your Overdraft
Since Moving to university just over 3 weeks ago I’ve somehow managed to not spend all my student loan in one go, even though it’s incredibly tempting. Sadly, I know not everyone is lucky enough to receive a student loan that they’re able to live off comfortably, so here’s a few tips and tricks that will, hopefully, help you to take better care of your finances.
Bank Account
My first piece of advice is to research which student bank accounts offer the best interest and free perks for you. For instance, Santander’s student account offers a free 16–25 rail card once you open a student bank account with them, meaning you’ll be able to save money when you book your train tickets home each weekend. Most bank accounts offer cashback when you shop with certain retailers too so make sure to be on the look out for those.
When I was getting ready to move to university, I had a conversation with one of my friends from home about how I was just going to stick with my normal bank, but she gave me some good advice. She told me to open a separate bank account to my normal one (which had my savings in it), so that I’d be less tempted to spend that money. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think that would stop me but, so far, it has.
Student Discount
Now this may seem like an obvious one, but when you do go into town or have an online shopping splurge, check and see if that store offers student discount, or even just ask an employee as not everywhere advertises that they offer it.
During your three years at university, apps like Unidays will be your best friend. However, If you’re shopping somewhere online that doesn’t offer student discount, useful chrome extensions like Honey that will try and find you coupons for that site.
Food
“Three words. Plan your meals.”
When doing your weekly or monthly shop, check price labels for what you’re buying as they typically tell you how much you’re paying per millilitre or gram, so make sure you pick the cheaper option per whatever measurement it is. Yes, you may end up paying more for an item at that moment in time, but you’ll save money in the long run.
Sign up for loyalty cards at any supermarkets you shop at. The points will add up over time and you’ll get vouchers based on your shopping habits pretty much every time you shop.
Three words. Plan your meals. Come up with a fortnightly food plan, this way you’ll find that you waste so much less food as you only buy what you need (plus a few backup options like the classic pot noodle). If you’re worried about food going off before you can use it then the freezer is going to be your best friend. After I do my weekly or monthly shop, I portion out any meat I buy into reusable freezer bags, based on what I’m going to cook. If you’re not sure if you can freeze it just read the packet or google it.
Budget
My last piece of advice is to create a written spending tracker. For each tiring semester at university I calculate how much I can spend per week after paying for things such as my phone, Spotify student and, most importantly, my rent. This way I can keep track of how much I’m spending each week and can see where I’m spending too much money or where I’ve managed to save some. Yes, I’m aware of how boring this sounds but in the long run it will seriously help as you won’t suddenly run out of money and have a nasty surprise when you next check your bank balance.
That’s it for my first attempt at a blog post, hopefully it has helped you to make at least one positive change to your finances. If you need any more advice or want to ask me anything about university in general, then feel free to send me a message on Twitter or through my Instagram.
