These should be the monthly costs you have, without fail, every month:
– Phone bill
– Food
– Electricity
– Gas
– Travel costs (bus, train, car costs)
– Rent
– Drinking
– Clothes
These are the bare essentials that you need to have a good time at university.
Phone Bills
Before you buy any phone you MUST visit our mobile comparison tool in order to compare every deal on the phone market.
If you’re going for a contract phone then think about how many voice and text minutes you
actually need.
* Can you use Facebook to communicate with your friends for free?
* Can you use a house phone with free minutes to ring home?
* Can you use Skype to cut costs?
You can probably cut right down if you think of ways round it.
POTENTIAL THREE YEAR SAVING: £1420 (based on a £40 a month contract phone).
Food
Asda. “Why pay more?” is their slogan and it’s a valid question. Asda is by far the cheapest
supermarket. By shopping at Asda and going for the cheaper brands then you can save at least £500 a year. By all means you may get bored with Asda food and need a swap.
Make sure not to spend too much in your local Co- op or little food shop. It’ll probably cost at least TWICE as much as Asda. be sure to check the ‘use by date’ before you buy. It’ll save you having to buy more food after yours has gone off.
Shopping in the evening (after 7pm) should get you even further discounts. Supermarkets tend to get the price sticker gun out at this time to get rid of produce that hasn’t sold.
POTENTIAL SAVING – £500 per year
Gas and electricity bills
Fancy saving the planet and saving yourself some money? Here are some tips…
* Don’t leave TVs on standby. Turn them off.
* Turn off lights when you leave the room.
* Turn the gas off when you’ve finished cooking.
* Turn the heating down by a couple of degrees and wear your cardigan or jumper.
* Turn your washing machine down to 30 degrees.
* Use an alarm clock on your phone rather than a plug in alarm clock.
POTENTIAL SAVING – £100 per year
Rent
Shop around when looking for a student house, there are bargains to be had but you’ll have to get in there early. If you look for a house late on you can try haggling the rent down as they may be desperate to get the house rented out.
POTENTIAL SAVING – £250 per year
Cut travel costs
CAR
If you drive whilst you’re at university then you have extra monthly costs to deal with (unless your parents are helping you out). You’ll have insurance, tax and an MOT to worry about.
To get cheap car insurance you need to check out the main comparison sites plus a couple of other insurers.
POTENTIAL SAVING – £200 per year
TRAIN & COACH
Get a third off. Visit railcard.co.uk – cost £24. Use National Express or the Megabus or
Megatrain if you are traveling to and from cities. The earlier you book the more you will save. If you have an NX2 card you can save more on National Express journeys.
POTENTIAL SAVING – £100 per year
TAXIS
When you get to your new town make sure you find a cheap taxi service. Test a couple out and make sure you are calling a local number not an 0845, 0870, 0700 or 0900 number – it’ll cost you a fortune. Also, don’t bother tipping! You’re a student, you can get away with it!
Rather than taking a taxi, get a group of you and walk back home rather than getting taxis. If you have no coat, it’s winter and it’s raining then get a taxi because you’ll end up saving on the
Lemsip the next morning when you have the flu.
POTENTIAL SAVING – £100 a year
Save when drinking alcohol
Some of you will love to drink and some of you won’t. If you don’t like drinking much then you
are going to save a bucket load at university because the average student will spend up to
£6,000 on booze whilst at university.
Many students have problems with their liver whilst at university and can develop an addiction
to drinking. It’s so easy to be swept up with the peer pressure and the fact that everyone else is drinking doesn’t help. But you must think of yourself when it comes to your next drink.
Think…
* Is this next drink going to make me have a better night?
* Is it going to give me the confidence to go up to that guy/girl or will it make me look even more like an idiot?
* Is this drink going to cause me to go home with less money or more money?
TIP: If you are that worried about what people think and want to look like you are still drinking alcohol just buy a half of coke and people will think you have vodka in it. Saving at least £1 per drink.
By all means, you should get drunk during your time at university and have a good time. Be careful about how much money you are wasting and what damage you’re doing to your brain cells and liver.
For those who want to drink on the cheap, go for this:
* Drink some wine before you go out.
* Only take £10 to spend with you.
* Drink spirits when you’re out.
* When you get home, drink loads of water to flush out your system.
WARNING: Wine can get you seriously drunk, seriously quick.
Try to stop drinking alcohol at midnight. Save the pounds and your hangover.