Attention Students! Stretch your budget

Attention Students! Stretch your budget

Everyone knows that students are a broke bunch. I remember eating rice for days on end in my student digs since I couldn’t afford anything else. However, according to a report, students are becoming more frugal than ever.

Annual living costs came in at £9,500 a year, down from £11,000. It’s the first time in 3 years that this has fallen.

Food and travel were the main things that fell by the wayside – grocery shopping dropped by 3% and transport spending fell to £75 from £116.

Obviously the cost of living is rising – therefore modern day students are cutting back even more on their spending.

Here are some tips I used to stretch my budget when I was at uni:

When looking for somewhere to rent, don’t pay letting agents a registration fee. Legally they can only charge for services such as credit reference checks when they’ve found you a place.

Make sure your deposit is protected. Landlords can no longer keep your deposit in their own account and must place your deposit within the tenancy deposit scheme within 30 of receiving it. You should get full details of where your deposit has been registered.

Make sure the inventory is accurate. Sure it’s time consuming, but you’ll thank your lucky stars you checked when you come to move out and you’re being charge £20 for a missing serving spoon which was never there in the first place.

Remember, students don’t pay council tax. Also, check whether your belongings are covered on their insurance policy as ‘contents outside the home’ before buying your own contents insurance.

Shop around. Student specials are everywhere, from bank accounts to broadband providers.

Do a bulk buy at the start of term at a cash and carry or suchlike for items like laundry detergent, toilet roll and tinned food.

Join a cash back website – make money back on anything you buy online.

I think the majority of my cash went on drinking when I was at uni. Throw parties at home and tell everyone to bring their own drink – it’s a much cheaper way of having a great night with friends.