Saving Money at Unversity Top Tips

Following on from the University Mini Series I started last week I am back with a new post all about saving money as a student. This is super important as once the money is gone, it’s gone and overdrafts are scary things! So the tips are as follows:

1) Smart price is your new best friend.

2) Freeze your bread if you aren’t likely to use a whole loaf in one week, or buy a smaller loaf. This saves on throwing out mouldy food. 

3) Buy fruit and veg from markets or veg stalls. Buying from these places is not only good for local businesses but also better for you as the fruit is a lot cheaper.

4) Learn to cook. One thing I learnt to make is homemade chips in the oven. One large potato from a market can cost as little as 20p and can make enough chips for 1-2 people.

          

5) When buying fabric softener, pour three quarters of it into a separate bottle and fill the original bottle with water. This works exactly the same as the original fabric softener it just lasts 4 times as long

6) Buy a money box you can’t get into! I bought a money box you can only open with a tin opener and started putting loose change in there after I’d been to town or shopping and it started filling up pretty quickly. I had over £60 in just a couple of months. This is a great way of saving for when your bank balance is looking dismal.

7) Student discount. Need I say more?

The next few tips are more along the lines of earning extra money rather than saving money but it all helps in the long run to try keep you out of your overdraft.

1) Aside from watching your pennies the best advice I have for saving money (or earning more shall I say) is a part time job. Get involved with the Student Ambassadors scheme at your university or apply for jobs working within the students union. These pay more than regular jobs and often the work is more flexible so you can avoid clashing with work with lectures.  

2) If you are doing an English/creative writing/journalism degree or if you enjoy writing, look up iTrigga. This is a company that hire you to work from home writing short advertising articles on different products. I am unsure of the pay but I imagine it is all good experience that is relevant to your course and will help to keep you earning money. It may also give you an idea of the career you want to pursue in the future. You have to send off a sample of your written work to the company to see if it meets their standards and then based on that they will employ you.

3) Install Qmee to your browser. If you search a lot through google this is a great one for you. You search as normal and sometimes an advert will appear in the sidebar of your search results with an amount next to it (i.e 6p). If this is relevant to your needs click this and 6p will be added to your Qmee piggy bank. There is no minimal amount you can withdraw from Qmee and it can be withdrawn straight to your paypal account. This is a great tool to use as you are saving as you go, albeit very small amounts but it all adds up in the end.

I hope this was helpful to you, it’s a little different to last week’s post but also very useful to know! If you have any further tips to add please leave them in the comments box!

University Tips - Moving into Halls of Residence

This is the start of a University series on my blog. I will be posting about what to take, tips for moving into halls and tips for moving into a house. I will add in anything I feel is important to know!

I have been at Staffordshire University for three years now and in September I will be entering my fourth. The reason I’ve been there so long is because I had what is known as a ‘false start’. This is where you apply to study one course but find it isn’t for you and switch to another course. I completed one year of an Early Childhood Studies degree and then switched to Film Production Technology. I have lived in halls and in a house so I have experience with both

If you are starting university in September then my advice for you is as follows:

Join the Facebook groups for your chosen university/accomodation – post an introductory post to who you are, what you will be studying and where you will be living! This is a great way to find people from the same area/course/halls as you and an excellent way of making friends.

Talk to as many people as you can before you go! – This is something that really helped me before I moved in. I found all my flatmates and spoke to them loads before moving in so once we all got there it felt like we’d known each other ages and all slotted together to form a group. I also spoke to people from my course which meant I recognised some faces when I attended the welcome week activities for my course!

Bring some things to decorate your room. – I think this is essential. You need to make your bedroom into a place you want to be and somewhere you feel comfortable. I didn’t unpack my things for about a month when I first moved in and I hated being in my bedroom, it wasn’t comforting and it just meant I had a rough few weeks. Once I had unpacked I felt much more comfortable and more accepting of the fact that this is where I will be living for the next 9 months.

Don’t visit home before Christmas. – This one’s a little bit tricky I suppose but I would recommend not going home until Christmas. This is because the first three months are crucial for making bonds with people and finding your feet living away from home. If you go home every weekend you are likely to miss out on a lot of activities within the friendship group and you also won’t feel as independent.

Make sure attend lectures (and actually pay attention). – This one sounds so obvious but it’s something that a surprising amount of people don’t do. It’s all well and good to go out partying every night and hang out with your friends until the early hours but if that mean’s missing your 9am lecture, is it worth it in the long run? Make notes and re-read them a few days later to see if you still understand. This is your future and you need to work for it. First year doesn’t count towards your overall grade but it is still very important as it covers all the basics you need to know for the rest of your degree.

I do have a lot more to say on this subject but I will save it for now. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask! I am happy to help, it’s a very exciting time in your life so be prepared for a truly great 3 years!