How to cut living costs as a student?

atypical

johnswife wrote: »

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!

There's also Retail Eyes:
https://www.retaileyes.co.uk

They very often have Weatherspoons, Lloyds Pharmacy, Subway and Pret A Manger as well as more ad hoc ones. It's often not much though. Maybe £5 reimbursement and a £5 fee for filling in what is a long (20/30 minutes) questionnaire.

Oldernotwiser

atypical wrote: »

There's also Retail Eyes:
https://www.retaileyes.co.uk

They very often have Weatherspoons, Lloyds Pharmacy, Subway and Pret A Manger as well as more ad hoc ones. It's often not much though. Maybe £5 reimbursement and a £5 fee for filling in what is a long (20/30 minutes) questionnaire.

That represents £10-15 per hour.

atypical

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

That represents £10-15 per hour.

Not really, when you consider the time you spend going to/at the place and the cost of transport (a return bus ticket is £3.80 here).

It works out best if you would have been in the area anyway.

evespikey

-walk or cycle everywhere
-always buy your train tickets in advance with a 16-25 railcard (or get a Natwest student bank account and get the railcard for free)
-use the library! don't buy your books. If you can't borrow them, complain- they should be available in a uni library, it's appauling if they're not.
-go to the cinemas on orange wednesdays or use discounts from here
-if you want to eat out, use discounts from here
- don't go clubbing or drinking. It's amazing how many students think they have a 'right' to do these things. If you actually didn't have the money, you wouldn't do them. I have no sympathy for students who whinge they have no cash yet go clubbing every weekend and drink every other night.

Top tip: never buy coffee or tea when out, bring a flask or a bottle that you can refill with water.

irstaroo22

We eat as a house a few times a week, we each buy one of the needed items so it works out pretty cheap and you get a nice meal I also freeze everything as it reduces waste as before i would just forget about fresh food or end up going out on the night i was planning on eating it =( When i buy any fresh meats and things, like bacon i seperate it and freeze it in seperate portions, so you dont end up having to defrost 8 rashers when you only want two! Makes food go a lot further. We also used to shop in the evening as asda reduce a lot of their fresh food then you can get some great bargains. We tend to have friends over to play poker or a bored game quite often particularly on weekends when drinks out are much more expensive.

Spendless

Look on the oldstyle board for ideas for cutting grocery bills and eating well. Don't overlook the relatives who still buy for you at birthdays and xmas, we get stumped what to get our Uni student neice, but she could easily say to us "I appreciate you doing a hamper, filled with bits like bubble bath and handsoap and some basic grocery items cos that in turn helps me save money'.

Derivative

Spendless wrote: »

Don't overlook the relatives who still buy for you at birthdays and xmas, we get stumped what to get our Uni student neice, but she could easily say to us "I appreciate you doing a hamper, filled with bits like bubble bath and handsoap and some basic grocery items cos that in turn helps me save money'.

Very good point. Remember a couple years back when the big toys and computer games got replaced with deodorant and socks? At least one upside is now you don't have to buy them yourself

Oldernotwiser

atypical wrote: »

Not really, when you consider the time you spend going to/at the place and the cost of transport (a return bus ticket is £3.80 here).

It works out best if you would have been in the area anyway.

The poster said that the £5 is just for filling in the form.

atypical

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

The poster said that the £5 is just for filling in the form.

The poster was me. Perhaps I should have been clearer. The reimbursement is only for whatever they ask you to spend (supported by receipts) e.g. go into Lloyds Pharmacy and buy a pack of ibuprofen.

The £5 is for completing the questionnaire. But you still need to consider the extra time/cost of transport.

JamAtcha

Use price comparison sites to compare all your costs is a good start and cut down all your bills by just being aware of how much you are using in the first place will let you see what area's you can improve.

That doesn't mean you sacrifice your social life, look out for 2-1 nights or offers from students beans.com to find the latest offers in your city. Also, find a city recourse guide like Large Manchester.com which keeps you updated with what's going on where you live.