It sometimes seems impossible to save money as a university student, and we often find ourselves longing for the day we get a text saying our loans are about to drop. With budgeting becoming a huge part of our everyday lives and our constantly having to reject offers of going out, knowing where we can save money really can come in handy. Whether it’s declining a girls’ shopping trip or just knowing how to budget when it comes to things like food, here are a few tips to help make your life less stressful and more affordable!
For those of you who don’t have either a Unidays account or an NUS card, I’d highly recommend investing. Unidays offers all sorts of discounts both online and in-store, and an NUS card is extremely handy to have in hand when you go to your local shopping centre. Most discounts will only be around 10% off, but we all know just how much every little counts at this stage of our lives, and you’ll feel a lot better knowing that you’re saving money where you can. There’s always a way to afford some retail therapy!
It doesn’t necessarily have to be Aldi that you go to, but I’d avoid doing your weekly food shop at supermarkets like M&S and Waitrose if I were you. I know your parents may have bought the most amazing meat from there, or maybe you’re just used to opening your fridge at home to a huge variety of expensive treats, but as uni students, we can’t always afford to splash the cash so readily. Instead, try supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl which sell food at much more reasonable prices, and you’ll be shocked to see that you can even get away with only spending ten to fifteen pounds a week on food. Bargain!
Whilst we’re on the topic of food, here’s another top tip for you: bulk buy. I’ll admit it’s not something I used to do myself, instead popping into Tesco three or four times a week to buy this and that, but I, unfortunately, ended up racking up quite a bill. It didn’t take long to realise that if I actually sat down at the weekend and planned my meals for the upcoming week, I would save a fair amount of money. Not only could I keep an eye on the number of treats I allowed myself for the week, but I could also buy things like chicken in bulk ready to keep in the freezer.
I won’t lie, shopping is a massive guilty pleasure for me, and if I could do it every day of my life I probably would. Unfortunately, that’s not quite reality, and I actually really need to save the pennies wherever I can. This means setting myself a budget each month for luxuries such as new clothes (with places like Primark and H&M being my go to shops) or anything that I don’t really need but just want. It can be really tough, I know, but if you manage to focus on the essentials like food and, of course, paying your rent, then it will be much more of a treat for you when you do go on a shopping spree.
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