27 Money Tips For Students That Are Actually Useful

    Economics made easy.

    Emma Cooke
    by Emma Cooke

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    Rebecca Hendin / Getty Images / BuzzFeed

    We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page.

    1. Compare rates on your bills.

    Columbia Records

    If you're in halls, you probably won't have any say in who provides the gas, electricity...etc, but if you're renting a house you should *definitely* shop around. Don't just go with what's already set up in the house – see if you can get a cheaper deal from somewhere else. Money Supermarket is a great tool for this, as is the Cheap Energy Club and Compare the Market.

    2. Compare mobile phone deals.

    3. Look up transport discounts.

    wifflegif.com

    I don't know about other countries, but here we have a 16-25 railcard that gets you a third off rail prices – it costs £28 a year but you easily make that back. You can also buy tickets in advance for WAY cheaper – like, I'm talking £25 instead of tickets in excess of £100.

    4. Get a good bank account.

    5. Set up separate bank accounts.

    imgur.com

    Having multiple bank accounts is not as daunting as you might think it is, and it's so useful for separating out your finances. Set up an account separate from your main account and as soon as your student loan comes through transfer your rent and bill money into it. It'll stop you from accidentally spending it and immediately shows you how much money you have left to work with.

    6. Avoid credit cards.

    CBS / Via chrisruffalo.tumblr.com

    I mean, if you're determined to get a credit card, don't let me stop you. They can be helpful if you need money in a pinch. But if you can avoid getting a credit card when you're at uni, do. Basically, try to avoid anything that will encourage you to spend money you don't have: Credit cards, huge overdrafts, and the most evil of them all: store cards (lured in by 10% off, I once spent £15 on a card from a popular accessory chain, promptly forgot about it, then went on holiday and came back to over £50 worth of late charges). At some point you will need to get a credit card to improve your credit rating, but honestly starting to worry about that at age 18/19 seems like overkill to me – especially if you're bad with money and are at risk of spending more on it than you can feasibly pay back.

    7. Use cash.

    8. Track your spending.

    Money Dashboard

    When I was at uni, I had a friend who used to write everything she spent down in a little notebook. At the time, I remember thinking it seemed excessive, until I started doing it too after graduating, and it totally transformed my finances. These days you don't need a notebook – you can just get a handy app on your phone. Not only will they help you track what you spend, they'll budget for you, and help you set saving goals. My favourites are Money Dashboard, MoneyHub and Toshl.

    9. Set up overdraft warnings.

    10. Save up an emergency fund.

    imgur.com

    Emergency cash, a financial buffer or a fuck-off fund. Whatever you want to call it, you should have one. "But how can I save enough, when I live off 50p a day and have to craft my clothes out of macaroni cheese?!?!" I hear you cry. Ok, it might not be easy, or even possible – I don't know your financial situation. But please, take a long hard look at your finances and if you can, put a little money aside regularly into a savings account.

    Maybe it's £2.50 a day. Maybe it's £5 a week. Maybe it's whatever spare change you have going into a piggy bank. Build up your emergency fund and then if emergency strikes, you're not left maxing out a credit card or going over your overdraft.

    And avoid pay day loan companies – the interest rates will never ever work out in your favour.

    For some tips that will actually help you save, click here.

    11. Cook!

    12. Bulk is better.

    13. Set up a Come Dine With Me group.

    Channel 4

    At uni, a group of friends and I set up a Come Dine With Me style situation, where we'd take it in turns to cook for each other. It actually worked pretty well – we paid for one meal a week rather than five which worked out as a lot cheaper. Sure, it's a bigger meal, but cooking one big meal from scratch is way cheaper than five meals for one.

    Make sure you're cooking with like-minded people though. One person "forgetting" to cook, or another making instant noodles when you made salmon en croute is a recipe for an argument.

    14. Figure out your local supermarket's schedule.

    imgur.com

    Go to your local supermarket often enough, and you'll eventually see when they mark stuff down. Our local Asda was 24 hour and we figured out that a lot of things went on sale in the stupidly early hours of the morning. There's nothing quite like running through an Asda at 3AM with a trolley full of discount potatoes to make you feel alive.

    Meat, fish, bread and veggies can all be frozen so don't be put off buying food that's about to go bad. Just take it home, wash it, cut off any bad bits and freeze it until you need it.

    15. Get cashback on online shopping.

    topcashback.co.uk

    I used cashback sites religiously when I was at university and after I graduated, buying as much as I could online (with free shipping) – over a year, I got nearly £100 back via the sites. You can get up to 12% cashback on loads of sites, which really adds up over time – Top Cashback was the one I used most frequently, but check out as many as you can, as they all have different deals.

    16. Always carry your student card.

    Fox

    A lot of places offer student discounts, but they're hella strict about you having to show them your student card for the discount. Believe me, I drunkenly tried and failed to convince the McDonald's staff to give me my free cheeseburger sans-card enough times to know.

    17. Work where you shop.

    Paramount Pictures

    First of all, getting a job full stop will help supplement your student loan, plus will help add a bit of structure to your student life – as an English student I spent far too much time sleeping in until 3pm and staying up all night . But if you manage to get a job at your favourite clothes shop there's the double whammy of also getting a discount on whatever you buy there!

    This also works for food and drink – my weakness at uni was always nice meals and fancy cocktails. Working behind the bar at the local cocktail joint and as a waitress in my favourite restaurant made for a lot of free food and drink (the restaurant in particular would feed me every shift, and always gave me a discount when I ate there as a customer).

    18. Find out where your local pound shops are.

    19. Pre-drink

    iStock/Thinkstock/Ailbhe Malone/BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com

    To save money on booze you should always pre-drink rather than pay for expensive drinks when you're out. You can find a bunch of great pre-drinking games here.

    20. Have a booze-free night.

    Paramount Pictures

    Don't get me wrong, I like a drink as much as the next person. But no one at uni ever explained to me that you didn't have to drink just because everyone else was. I don't know if this is still the same, but back when I was studying there was a lot of pressure to get really fucked up all the time – which was both unhealthy and pretty expensive. Now with the benefit of 100% hindsight, I can tell you that actually, it's totally fine if you just want to spend a night drinking juice and coca cola. If your friends are actual good friends it won't be an issue, and speaking from experience, you can still have a great night out going booze-free.

    For some great alcohol-free drink options, check out this list.

    21. Don't buy new books.

    Disney / Via moviegifss.tumblr.com

    There are literally so many ways to not have to pay full price for your course textbooks. Call your library to see if they have them on reserve, then go and photocopy the relevant pages you need. Rent them. Buy them second hand. Find some buddies on your course, split a book between you and share it (the photocopier is your friend). Just don't go paying full price because those things ain't cheap.

    22. Use your library card.

    pbskids.org / Via bumbleandmumble.tumblr.com

    Hello my name is Emma and I am a number one library geek. And from my many years spent holed up in libraries, (school, public and university), I can tell you, they got everything there. Don't spend money on a Netflix or LoveFilm account – borrow dvds for free! Internet on the fritz? The library has wifi! Want to get out the house but can't afford to go to a cafe? LI-BRA-RY. Don't pay for anything that you can get for free at the library.

    23. Save on tea and coffee.

    24. Take photos of your house when you move in.

    adultswim.com

    I'm not saying every landlord is a miserly scrooge. But.... better to be prepared just in case. Take photos of every flaw, stain and broken item you can find when you move into your house, otherwise you may well find the cost for it taken out of your security deposit.

    25. Pay attention to university events.

    26. Apply for scholarships and bursaries.

    Nickolodeon

    This seems obvious, but check out the grants and bursaries on offer and apply for them. Even if you're unsure if you'll qualify, you should still apply – there's nothing to lose and you might be surprised to the tune of several hundred (or even thousand) pounds.

    27. Let yourself be experimented on.

    imgur.com

    There are so many psychology and science students out there who need someone to eat a cookie, fill out a form, or in my case, stare into a machine that monitored my pupil movement, for money. Find those students. Participate. Get cash in hand.

    For 26 other nifty (non-spammy) ways to make money in your spare time, click here.