As well as looking at ways of increasing your income, it’s really important to look at ways of decreasing your expenditure – particularly if your expenditure is bigger than your income.
Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert website is a fantastic place to find lots of useful information about how to do this – for example:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/stop-spending-budgeting-tool/
www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/
There’s also a whole section of the site for students:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/
It can be useful to look at absolutely everything you spend and ask yourself if you really need it – and if you can really afford it. In many ways, we live in a society based on unnecessary consumption – so there may be ways of cutting back on what you spend without dramatically decreasing your quality of life. Some expenditures you may be able to cut back on include:
- Spending on drinks and snacks – for example, can you bring a packed lunch and flask of coffee onto campus instead of buying drinks, snacks and lunch in cafes/fast food outlets/pubs? This can reduce your expenditure considerably. And never buy bottled water – it comes free (or nearly free) out of a tap!
- Do you need to ‘buy new’? For example, refurbished electronic products can be really good value for money.
- Do you really need to subscribe to services like Spotify Premium, Amazon Prime etc?
- Do you really need that takeaway from Deliveroo/Uber Eats/Just Eats etc?
You should also become a bargain hunter! Your student status may give you access to discounts on a range of products and services – see:
https://www.savethestudent.org/student-deals
The TOTUM card – the National Union of Students’ discount card – may be worth buying – see:
Another way of controlling your spending is to operate primarily in cash – and take out your weekly spending, in cash, from an ATM, once a week. This can make it a bit easier to monitor what you spend and hopefully stick within your spending limits.
There's also a few restaurants and shops that have a student discount:
Zizzi - 20% off
TGI Fridays - 20% off
Shake Shack - buy one burger get one free
Cafe Rouge - 30% off food
Holland & Barrett - 20% off
Your rent is likely to be your biggest item of expenditure (after your tuition fees). Rents have increased dramatically recently, and it is easy to feel powerless in the face of this, and the wider societal issues around housing in the UK. However, there may be ways you can reduce some of your expenditure on rent – for example, see:
https://www.savethestudent.org/accommodation/how-to-save-money-on-renting.html
There are also various campaigning groups you might want to check out – see:
You may be interested in property guardian schemes – these are where you live in an unused property (to ‘guard’ it) usually for a lower rent than you would expect in ‘standard’ accommodation. Be aware though that you usually have less housing rights under these schemes and can be required to move out at short notice. For further information see:
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/renting_as_a_property_guardian
Another alternative to living in the private rented sector is to live in a housing co-operative. A housing co-operative is a group of people who manage and control the housing in which they live. Each person is a member of the housing co-operative and has an equal say in decision-making. No member individually owns or makes profit at the expense of another. All members are expected to take an active role in providing and managing the accommodation and the level of rent the tenants pay reflects the cost of managing the housing. For further information see:
The most helpful thing you can do to feel more in control of your money situation is to draw up a budget – this is basically a list of your income (money you have coming in) and your expenditure (money you have going out). Crucially, it needs to be a realistic budget – and then, once you have a good idea of your real income and expenditure, you can look at ways of trying to ensure you don’t have more money going out than coming in.
There are lots of ways you can draw up a budget, from the very ‘old school’ (using pen and paper) to using a spreadsheet or a mobile app. There’s great information out there to help you with this – a good place to start is:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-budgeting-planner/
Cooking your own food is generally way cheaper than eating takeaways (especially with delivery fees) and eating in cafes, restaurants etc, even given the increases in food prices – if you’re not confident about your ability to cook there are plenty of websites that can help, such as:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/student-recipes
www.savethestudent.org/save-money/food-drink/student-cooking-basics-lets-get-to-grips.html
www.thestudentfoodproject.com/
Plan your meals for the week and help reduce food waste by using a meal planning guide like this one:
If you are looking for bargains, go shopping later in the day when you may see more reduced items.
Eat before you go food shopping to avoid impulse hunger purchases.
Go armed with a list,and stick to it!
Buy supermarket own brands – they are usually much cheaper (and taste no different!) to more recognisable branded items.
Not all supermarkets charge the same for similar products – some (e.g. Waitrose and Marks & Spencer) will usually be more expensive than others (e.g. Lidl, Aldi).
Smaller, independent shops and convenience stores are generally more expensive than supermarkets.
Don’t be dazzled by deals! If you don’t absolutely need it, don’t buy it!
Sign up for point schemes such as the Coop Membership Card, Nectar, My Morrisons, or Tesco Clubcard – these can make you real savings.
Check out Save the Students’ guide to saving money while grocery shopping:
www.savethestudent.org/save-money/food-drink/the-students-ultimate-supermarket-guide.html
Compare each supermarket to find the best deals by using My Supermarket Compare:
https://mysupermarketcompare.co.uk/
Consider cashback apps - Check out Save the Student’s article on the best supermarket cashback apps:
www.savethestudent.org/save-money/food-drink/the-best-supermarket-cashback-apps.html
Use coupons as a way to make your money go further. Money Saving Expert’s Extreme Couponing is a great resource:
Now might not be the time to change energy providers (although you might want to take the opportunity to switch to a green energy supplier), but you can make small changes to your energy use that can make a big difference to your bills.
There’s lots of really helpful information out there on more sustainable energy use - whether that be ways to reduce your bills; what you need to know about green energy tariffs and suppliers; or how you can campaign to make your accommodation (and the University) a more sustainable energy user.
Check out the excellent Money Saving Expert’s resources about cutting the cost of energy; energy saving myth-busting; and their guide to green energy tariffs and suppliers:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/energy/
The Energy Saving Trust have great advice on energy efficiency when renting a home:
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/
The National Union of Students Student Switch Off features a range of tips for those living in rented accommodation, even if the cost of utilities is included in the price of your accommodation:
Also check out the related Students Organising for Sustainability website for practical and achievable advice for student renters, and what you can do to campaign to make your accommodation more sustainable:
The University is doing lots of great things to make us a more sustainable organisation – for example, did you know that the new suppliers of graduation attire use recycled plastic in their gowns, and are cheaper as well as being more environmentally friendly than the previous suppliers? Check out the Sustainability section of our website for more information:
www.law.ac.uk/about/sustainability/
If you want to become more involved in making the University more sustainable why not become a Sustainability Champion? For further details check out:
www.law.ac.uk/globalassets/13.-media--doc-repo/06.-about/pdf_about_sustainability-champions.pdf
You could also set up a Students’ Union environmental society, like the one that exists on the Bloomsbury campus – check out:
www.studentsunion.law.ac.uk/clubs-and-societies
www.studentsunion.law.ac.uk/groups/environment-society-bloomsbury
Save the Student also have great tips for saving money on energy bills:
www.savethestudent.org/accommodation/save-money-gas-electricity-household-bills.html
There are lots of ways that you can reduce your travel costs.
As ever, Save the Student is a mine of really helpful information about ways to reduce travel costs and trave deals:
Host’s website (Host are a student accommodation provider) has information about the 18+ Student Oyster Card, 16-25 Railcard, Young Persons Coachcard and International Student Identity Card (ISIC) in one handy place:
https://host-students.com/top-travel-discounts-for-students/
Fun fact - even if you are over 25 and not officially a ‘young person’ you are still eligible for a 16-25 Railcard or a Young Persons Coachcard if you are a on a full-time course.
Do you really need a car? For many students living in places well-served by public transport – or living within reasonable walking distance of campus - a car is a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘need to have’. Even leaving aside the environmental impact of fossil fuel use, a car can be a significant drain on your finances, with the cost of repairs, insurance, MOT etc...
Consider investing in a bike, or using a bike share scheme. Cycling UK has great information on their site on all aspects of cycling and has a helpful guide to public bike share schemes:
www.cyclinguk.org/article/guide-hire-bikes-and-public-bike-share-schemes
If you are aged under 19 and in full-time education, you still qualify for free prescriptions and full help towards certain health-related costs; once you turn 19, however, you may still qualify for full or partial help towards the cost of prescriptions and dental treatment/eye tests/glasses etc through the NHS Low Income Scheme. For further information, see:
If you are on a full-time course, you are generally exempt from council tax liability. Your local authority will want to see proof that you are a full-time student – you can request a council tax exemption letter from your Student Information office, which you send to your local authority.
Whilst students on part-time courses are not exempt from council tax, if you are on a low/no income, you may be able to claim some help towards your council tax through your local authority’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme – see:
www.gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction
