How to cut living costs as a student?

pearce1979

Any suggestions? Got cheap rent but need to cut further.

GothicStirling

Is it private or university rental?

Gas and Electricity: compare suppliers
Food: compare supermarkets [our closest is Tesco, but it's cheaper to travel to Asda]
Buy books second hand/library books
Buy milk and sugar from Poundland.
I've found great bargains in charity shops [rare books, heavy weight bed covers etc]
Primark
Buy monthly tickets on bus service
Take your own lunch/coffee into Uni
Budget 'beer' money
Don't have a car.

killerpeaty

As a fellow student I feel your pain!
I agree with most of the above, but I think that cutting down on clubbing is for the best, I've stopped (I had to because I was on meds that reacted with alcohol) and I can get nicer food now. Live at the discount section of your shop, asda has gift card designed for students, your loved ones can up the amount on it.
Iceland. You just need to go there, some things in there are crazy cheap and they accept love to shop vouchers which you can earn on many survey sites.
Try to cook with someone, sharing food is cheaper. Invest in scales, if you measure everything out you can't overeat AND you will waste less, wilkos has very reasonable priced ones.
When you MUST have a takeaway, try to stick with just the one, they love loyalty and will reward you for it.
Also every university in England (not sure about elsewhere) has the access to learning fund, make an appointment with your advisor (every uni must have them) and see if they think you're suitable.

melancholly

if you put up a list of where your money is going, it'll help people give you some specific recommendations. writing out a full budget can help show where money is going and having it all written down together can be really helpful.

GothicStirling

I know students who have Sky, X-Boxes etc. I don't know how they afford it.

I do have the internet at home [£12 a month], but if you wanted to streamline you could just restrict yourself to using the internet at Uni.

Oldernotwiser

You have to accept that you won't have much money as a student and you have to go without things that working people have. Your student years are not the time to run a car, buy lots of clothes and have luxuries, but there are tremendous compensations!

minerva_windsong

Write down exactly what you have to spend per week and then take that out in cash so you can see what you're spending - I used to portion mine out into envelopes depending on what it was for (so one for food, one for going out/transport, one for bits and bobs etc) and then take them with me when I went out. You could do it per day as well.

Also, depending where your nearest decent sized supermarket is, it may be worth getting your food shopping delivered rather than going to the supermarket (although this means you have to leave your food money in your bank account and trust yourself not to touch it!). I could normally get two weeks' worth of food delivered from Asda for the price it would cost for one return bus journey out there, and then topped up with bread, milk, fruit and veg etc from the corner shop.

Amazon and Play are your friends for cheap books. Some unis also have a 'book amnesty' where textbooks can be traded.

Ikea for house stuff - I think I managed to kit out my room in halls from there for less than £100.

hobbitfancier

I've started taking a set amount of money out of my bank acc each week and sticking to it.

Meal plans! Make a list before you go to the supermarket, account for dinners/breakfast/snacks/lunches.

Walk whenever you can!!

glider3560

killerpeaty wrote: »

When you MUST have a takeaway, try to stick with just the one, they love loyalty and will reward you for it.

My local takeaways reward loyalty with smaller portions and increasing prices. Perhaps I should move to your part of the country?

If you make a list of everything you spend and post it here, people will be able to give you a better idea of where things can be cut back.

killerpeaty

glider3560 wrote: »

My local takeaways reward loyalty with smaller portions and increasing prices. Perhaps I should move to your part of the country?

Yes. Yes you should!

I thought of something else I do, I collect all the loose change I can, the other week I counted it and it was more than £50!

johnswife

my daughter joined a site as a mystery shopper, Gapbuster I think? Her first assignment was at pizza hut so she not only earned money but got a meal for free!