Student Money Week: Officer Top Tips

Student Money Week Officer Top Tips

Anna:

• Cooking at home more often: going out for dinner or staying in for a takeaway is a great treat, but it can be very expensive.
• Buying reduced food items: in the evening, Tescos/Spar has a reduced section in store where you can find food that’s due to expire for a fraction of the cost. I find buying reduced items and using the freezer when I can has saved me a lot of money.
• Bulk buying: consider buying items in bulk, especially non-perishable goods as this will save you money in the long-term. If you’re able to split items with your flatmates then even better!

Elain:

• Make a shopping list before going to the shop. If you’re like me, you’ll be tempted to buy stuff you don’t need whilst shopping, which is why making a shopping list is extremely useful whilst trying to avoid this.
• Use cash on a night out, and don’t take more out!
• Put £1 in a jar at the start of or end of every week and then treat yourself at the end of the month.

Helen:

• Meal planning being a key one, especially if you’re good friends with your flatmates they split the cost if you’re all eating together. And it works even if you’re not such great friends with your flat mates because you find a cost effective way to make sure you’re eating well. 
• Taking money on a night-out, taking cash out, stops you from spending too much and you’re also able to keep track of what you’ve spent and also how much you’ve had, double win! 
• For anyone with a bad shopping habit, I eventually started working on a throw 3-buy-1 or donate them so that I wouldn’t impulsively buy things I may not need long-term.

Tiff:

• Meal plan - Make weekly/monthly (whatever works for you) meal plans and stick to them. This limits how many times you go shopping and you can also plan in treats such as one takeaway a month. 
• Pres and keeping track of alcohol spending - If you like to go out and get drunk, consider doing pres at home so you spend less money on an actual night out, and keep track of how much you are spending while out. I know this can be difficult if you are drunk, but one night out a week could cost the same as that weekly food shop. So, it's important to be keeping track of it if you are trying to spend less.
• If you are someone who menstruates, try out reusable period products so you can save a lot of money and help the environment by avoiding single-use products. The student union offers a variety of different reusable period products for free. Just contact our Student Union Advisor at union.advice@aber.ac.uk or our Campaigns and Democracy Coordinator at suvoice@aber.ac.uk.

Bayanda:  

• Create 2 budgets a monthly one and a weekly one. Makes it easier to know how much you can spend per week.
• Make a meal plan - you then can work out how much money you exactly need to spend on food and helps avoid unnecessary purchases when food shopping. Also check the reduced to clear section for discounted food you can freeze.
• Make your savings account hard to access. For example, my savings are in a building society, so I must go in person during the day if I want to take money out.  This makes it harder for me to just move money out of my savings.