Students Save Money with Top Ten Tips

BUDGET Know exactly how much money you have to spend and make sure you have enough to cover your essential expenditure (e.g. rent). It will help you to avoid overspending.
BANKS Get a “Student” account, shop around and find the one with the best overdraft deal rather than the “free gift”. In order to open one of these accounts your Loan has to be paid directly into that account.
CREDIT/STORE CARDS Try to avoid these. It is an extremely expensive way of borrowing. Interest rates are exorbitantly high and there is a temptation to go on a spending spree!
WORKING A part-time job during the term and/or a full-time job over the holidays will be a financial necessity for many of you. Just remember your college work must come first, or there’s no point your being here.
NUS CARD Get a NUS Extra card. It will cost you £10.00, but you will get good discounts at many, many shops and other places. Always take it out with you and always ask if they do a discount.
6. COUNCIL TAX As a person in full time studying in HE (Higher Education) you are not liable for Council Tax, but you must get a Council Tax exemption certificate from the College Registry.
MOBILE PHONE With a Pay-As-You-Go contract you can easily control how much you spend.
INSURANCE It is always cheaper to insure your possessions against theft, loss or damage than to replace them should anything happen to them.
HEALTH COSTS People on low incomes can get help with National Health charges, such as prescription costs, sight tests and dental charges. The relevant forms can be obtained from the NHS (National Health Service). Enquire on 0845 850 1166 (UK students only)
SENSIBLE SHOPPING Shop around, look out for reduced items. 3 for 2 special offers. Buy fruit and vegetables lose and unprepared. Before you buy ask yourself “Can I afford this right now?” – if the answer is “No”, then don’t buy it and start saving up for it.

Students and Money – How to Make it Stretch

Students living away from home whether at Uni or College, and maybe for the first time, find that this presents both pleasures and pitfalls.

Keen to have a good time, often the need to save money and think about a budget falls temporarily out of sight.

A recent survey by Barclays Bank found that by 2010 the average person studying at University will leave with a debt of £20,000 – which unfortunately, must be repaid. Saving money for college becomes increasingly more important – but hopefully not depressing.

Therefore, if you can take the pressure off your budget, studying becomes easier and fun things can be much more enjoyable. Who wants to have the spectre of debt looming overhead all the time? So, what’s to be done?

If you think college is expensive,
you should see how expensive ignorance is!

First of all, make sure you have read our pages on saving money on students’ meals and also taken a look at our Top Ten Tips.

This new page will take you further along the line with learning how to limit your debts, but still live reasonably at the same time finding out where it is possible to track down some extra cash.

Stating the obvious – sticking to a budget is the first thing.

Make a list of the money coming in from your Bursaries, Loans, jobs, parents’ contribution, etc. then divide this by the number of weeks you are at Uni – usually about 30.

The next step is to make a list of all money going out, bills, food, rent, transport. Balance the total money coming in and the total money going out, one against the other and if your figures do not balance, then you must cut again. Depressing – NO, because if you can get this right in the first place you will get rid of any worries of looming debts in the future.

You will need to check whether there are any means tested bursaries available. These are mostly non-refundable and well worth seeking out – see 3.
Students paying the maximum £3,070 per year in tuition fees and entitled to the full maintenance grant of £2,765 will get a minimum bursary of £305.

The newly created Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) have developed a Bursaries Aware Map with links to 219 Universities. This can be found at bursarymap.direct.gov.uk/is divided into 9 regions and only covers England.

The University of Bristol offers a Bursary package worth up to £1,100 a year for students receiving the full grant. Students who receive a partial grant are eligible for a bursary of up to £700 a year.

Some Universities also offer a Sporting Bursary that may well be worth thousands of pounds. So again, individual checks must be made. the University of Manchester offers a sports scholarship of up to £2,000 a year. Thousands of people will qualify for a scholarship of some kind at university.
The Royal College of Music in London offers a bursary with a nine-month zone 2 travel card to poorer students who receive 85% or more of the maintenance grant.
At the University of Leicester, it is possible to choose to take a smaller bursary in return for a range of reductions including cheaper rent in first term, a local bus pass, and credit for university meals and at the university bookshop. Here you must balance one against the other.
The Services – the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy all have Bursaries for which you can apply.
Typically, companies offering incentives to undergraduates pay £1,500 a year, along with summer placements of varying length at around £250 a week. The Shell Technical Scholarship Scheme is particularly generous, offering £10,000 over four-year courses to undergraduates studying mechanical or chemical engineering. Other opportunities for sponsorship exist, but they tend to be concentrated in areas with existing skills shortages, such as engineering.

There’s little point money sitting there with bursaries and loans unclaimed while you scrimp and save. It’s time to act like a ferret.

Make sure you take advantage of a student loan through www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk If you are stuck for cash in the first few weeks at Uni visit your University Finance Office or Student Union and they should be able to help you bridge the gap.
Being away from home is an excellent learning opportunity as far as life itself is concerned, but keep in mind that you are at Uni to learn about your chosen subject for your future career. This should enable you to make money for your rest of your life.
On the making it stretch theme, take a look here for some more ideas.
1. BUDGET Know exactly how much money you have to spend and make sure you have enough to cover your essential expenditure (e.g. rent). It will help you to avoid overspending.
2. BANKS Get a “Student” account, shop around and find the one with the best overdraft deal rather than the “free gift”. In order to open one of these accounts your Loan has to be paid directly into that account.
3. CREDIT/STORE CARDS Try to avoid these. It is an extremely expensive way of borrowing. Interest rates are exorbitantly high and there is a temptation to go on a spending spree!
4. WORKING A part-time job during the term and/or a full-time job over the holidays will be a financial necessity for many of you. Just remember your college work must come first, or there’s no point your being here.
5. NUS CARD Get a NUS Extra card. It will cost you £10.00, but you will get good discounts at many, many shops and other places. Always take it out with you and always ask if they do a discount.
  6. COUNCIL TAX As a person in full time studying in HE (Higher Education) you are not liable for Council Tax, but you must get a Council Tax exemption certificate from the College Registry.
6. MOBILE PHONE With a Pay-As-You-Go contract you can easily control how much you spend.
7. INSURANCE It is always cheaper to insure your possessions against theft, loss or damage than to replace them should anything happen to them.
8. HEALTH COSTS People on low incomes can get help with National Health charges, such as prescription costs, sight tests and dental charges. The relevant forms can be obtained from the NHS (National Health Service). Enquire on 0845 850 1166 (UK students only)
9. SENSIBLE SHOPPING Shop around, look out for reduced items. 3 for 2 special offers. Buy fruit and vegetables lose and unprepared. Before you buy ask yourself “Can I afford this right now?” – if the answer is “No”, then don’t buy it and start saving up for it.
Students and Money – How to Make it Stretch
Students living away from home whether at Uni or College, and maybe for the first time, find that this presents both pleasures and pitfalls.
Keen to have a good time, often the need to save money and think about a budget falls temporarily out of sight.
A recent survey by Barclays Bank found that by 2010 the average person studying at University will leave with a debt of £20,000 – which unfortunately, must be repaid. Saving money for college becomes increasingly more important – but hopefully not depressing.
Therefore, if you can take the pressure off your budget, studying becomes easier and fun things can be much more enjoyable. Who wants to have the spectre of debt looming overhead all the time? So, what’s to be done?
If you think college is expensive,
you should see how expensive ignorance is!
First of all, make sure you have read our pages on saving money on students’ meals and also taken a look at our Top Ten Tips.
This new page will take you further along the line with learning how to limit your debts, but still live reasonably at the same time finding out where it is possible to track down some extra cash.
1. Stating the obvious – sticking to a budget is the first thing.
Make a list of the money coming in from your Bursaries, Loans, jobs, parents’ contribution, etc. then divide this by the number of weeks you are at Uni – usually about 30.
The next step is to make a list of all money going out, bills, food, rent, transport. Balance the total money coming in and the total money going out, one against the other and if your figures do not balance, then you must cut again. Depressing – NO, because if you can get this right in the first place you will get rid of any worries of looming debts in the future.
1. You will need to check whether there are any means tested bursaries available. These are mostly non-refundable and well worth seeking out – see 3.
2. Students paying the maximum £3,070 per year in tuition fees and entitled to the full maintenance grant of £2,765 will get a minimum bursary of £305.
The newly created Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) have developed a Bursaries Aware Map with links to 219 Universities. This can be found at bursarymap.direct.gov.uk/is divided into 9 regions and only covers England.
The University of Bristol offers a Bursary package worth up to £1,100 a year for students receiving the full grant. Students who receive a partial grant are eligible for a bursary of up to £700 a year.
1. Some Universities also offer a Sporting Bursary that may well be worth thousands of pounds. So again, individual checks must be made. the University of Manchester offers a sports scholarship of up to £2,000 a year. Thousands of people will qualify for a scholarship of some kind at university.
2. The Royal College of Music in London offers a bursary with a nine-month zone 2 travel card to poorer students who receive 85% or more of the maintenance grant.
3. At the University of Leicester, it is possible to choose to take a smaller bursary in return for a range of reductions including cheaper rent in first term, a local bus pass, and credit for university meals and at the university bookshop. Here you must balance one against the other.
4. The Services – the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy all have Bursaries for which you can apply.
5. Typically, companies offering incentives to undergraduates pay £1,500 a year, along with summer placements of varying length at around £250 a week. The Shell Technical Scholarship Scheme is particularly generous, offering £10,000 over four-year courses to undergraduates studying mechanical or chemical engineering. Other opportunities for sponsorship exist, but they tend to be concentrated in areas with existing skills shortages, such as engineering.
There’s little point money sitting there with bursaries and loans unclaimed while you scrimp and save. It’s time to act like a ferret.
1. Make sure you take advantage of a student loan through www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk If you are stuck for cash in the first few weeks at Uni visit your University Finance Office or Student Union and they should be able to help you bridge the gap.
2. Being away from home is an excellent learning opportunity as far as life itself is concerned, but keep in mind that you are at Uni to learn about your chosen subject for your future career. This should enable you to make money for your rest of your life.
3. On the making it stretch theme, take a look here for some more ideas.