As exciting as most of us get when we realise that our student loan has dropped, we soon discover that all the things we were planning on buying becomes a dream and we have to budget in order to last for the term. I have a few great tips on how to save your money:
Keep track of where your money goes: The easiest and quickest way to track your spending habits is through internet banking, specifically mobile banking so you can also check your balance on the go. You can also keep a note of how much you spend daily/weekly or monthly.
Avoid having takeaway everyday: As students we have a habit of feeling too lazy to make a home cooked meal and with justeat or dominos being a click away that doesn’t make things any better. Instead of spending all your money on takeaway, cook and store the leftovers. If you don’t know any recipes there are thousands of easy and quick recipes online or you could even ask friends or family members.
Compare prices: Lookout for deals especially when doing grocery shopping and limit the amount of brands you buy, why spend £3 on Fairy washing up liquid when you can buy a supermarket brand washing up liquid for £1 and it does the same thing! An extra tip for washing up liquid to make it last longer is to put half in an old washing up liquid bottle and fill it up with some water, it will last a lot longer I promise you! In regards to clothes shopping, during first year I got a bit excited and decided to splash out over £70 on topshop jeans and then I discovered boohoo jeans which was similar and only £20!
What you don’t need, don’t buy: When you first receive your loan or even payment from a job don’t impulse buy on the first day! Wait a day or two and if you still want it then buy it, if you go back to that item and you no longer want it then the chances are that you didn’t really want it in the first place.
Pay off all bills: Before you start buying the things you want, make sure everything is paid off whether it be a phone bill, rent or if you owe someone money pay it all off. This can prevent you from having a bad credit score or falling out with people! You don’t want to spend all your money and then you can’t even phone friends because your signal has been cut off by your phone company. (That’s embarrassing.)
I hope these tips have been helpful and that you will all be wiser when it comes to spending habits!
