The image of the cash-strapped student is a familiar one, but there are plenty of special discounts and offers out there to help you stretch your resources that bit further. Here are some of the best to look out for, plus other ideas on how to thrive on a shoestring.
Many banks offer discounts and extras to students in the hope that they can make money from you in the future. It’s never a good idea to choose a bank account for its freebies alone, but they are worth factoring in to your decision. And whatever deal you choose, make sure you read the small print:
• Backpackers might like the Lloyds TSB student account, which currently comes with a free three-year Youth Hostel Association (YHA) membership, as well as 40 free downloads from eMusic and an MP3 mini speaker.
• Students with a car get a 25 per cent discount on AA breakdown cover if they open a current account at the Halifax.
• Techie types should check out Santander’s student offering of free mobile phone, gadget and laptop insurance if they deposit £500 into their account each term.
• Open a student current account with NatWest and you can also get a credit card with 56 days’ interest-free credit on balances of up to £500, as well as discounts on CDs, sports gear, travel guides, gadgets and short breaks.
Insurance
Before you rush to get quotes, find out whether your parents’ existing household insurance will extend to cover your belongings while you’re at university. If you can’t rely on mum and dad’s largesse, here’s how to cover yourself:
• Use a comparison site such as Confused.com or GoCompare.com to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Then call the companies, with your new student address on hand, to find out more. Chatting in person to an adviser will help ensure you’ve covered every angle.
• Make sure you’re covered for the possessions you take with you to lectures (laptop), the pub (mobile phone) or the park (iPod, bike). It’s not much use if they’re only insured while they’re in your house or hall of residence.
• Read the policy small print carefully before you accept it – for example, is there a costly excess to pay in the event of a loss? If you’ve got a particularly swanky computer or a plasma-screen TV, does its replacement price fall within the single-item limit? Is there a caveat about walk-in thefts (the most common type of student claim)? And are you covered in the event of out-of-term break-ins?
• Insure your work. Arrange online storage for important documents and data from your mobile phone and laptop. Many backup companies offer up to 5GB of storage space for free, so if you spread your work across several services you won’t pay a penny. Try idrive.com or Dropbox.com for starters.
• Try to take mostly practical, replaceable things with you to uni – clothes, kitchen utensils, books and so forth. You really don’t need your prized collection of Star Trek figurines – if they don’t get lost or stolen they’ll almost certainly get covered in beer, so leave them at home.
Food
You need to eat, but it doesn’t have to be porridge and beans on toast every day. Here are some top tips for filling up without emptying your pockets in the process:
• When shopping, buy fresh ingredients, not ready-meals, which will cost much more. Also, make your own lunchtime sarnies and drink water – it’s free.
• Get a supermarket loyalty card. All offer some sort of money-off or point-saving scheme.
• Look for the latest deals and best prices at local supermarkets by using an online comparison site such as mysupermarket.co.uk or trollydolly.co.uk.
• Go economy class – all the big supermarkets have lower-priced ranges that are just as good as top-priced brand alternatives; you might get slightly misshapen fruit and veg or less glamorous packaging for your spaghetti, but it’ll taste the same as the more expensive versions. Also check the “reduced” shelf for that day’s offers on goods that are near their sell-by date or have damaged packaging.
• Work out whether the 2-for-1 deals actually save you money, and whether you will be able to eat the contents of both packets before the sell-by date.
• Learn to cook and you’ll eat like a prince (or at the very least not like a pauper). There’s plenty of free online advice and recipes that can help you find your inner Gordon Ramsay. Get started at Student Recipes, Student Cook and Beyond Baked Beans.
Travel
Whether you’re off on a backpacking adventure across Europe or simply need to find the fare home every now and then so that mum can do your washing, here’s how to get there for less:
• If you’re lucky enough to have a car, hopefully its carbon dioxide emissions are below 100g/km, which means you pay no road tax. Cars that are more than 10 years old (for which there is no emissions data) and up to 1549cc are charged £85 less road tax than more powerful vehicles. If you use your car to commute to lectures, find out whether your campus has free student parking – and if not, how much it will cost, otherwise you could end up cancelling out any road-tax savings.
• Cycling is a great option – your own set of wheels, and no need to stump up for a gym membership to keep fit. Unless you’re a serious cyclist who absolutely can’t live without a lightweight aluminium frame, Shimano disc brakes and quick-release racing wheels, pick a cheap model, as it’ll cost less to insure. Whatever you ride, though, don’t forget your cycling helmet and – at night – a high-visibility vest and front and rear lights.
• A Young Persons Coachcard costs £10 for a year or £25 for three years and offers up to 30 per cent off National Express fares. When booking seats, try to pick an off-peak time and you’ll save even more.
• For trips that require combined rail and bus journeys, try low-cost operator Megabus, which will give you the cheapest route and travel options for your trip and offers fares from just £1.50 including the booking fee.
• Buy yourself a 16-25 Railcard and you’ll be entitled to a third off most train fares across the UK as well as savings on days out, hotels and restaurants. It costs £28 a year or £65 for three years and will more than pay you back.
• Spend an extra £1.99 upgrading your £11 NUS Extra card to include the ISIC (International Student Identity Card) and you’ll gain access to 40,000 discounts in 120 countries. You’ll need a passport photo and proof of your student status, such as a signed letter on headed paper from a teacher. If you buy it from the NUS website or STA Travel, you can also travel for less with Student Flights and STA Travel.
Living
Learning to budget is the key to living within your means; set yourself a weekly maximum spending allowance and stick to it. Here are a few ways you can help yourself stay on target:
• If you’re renting, make sure all your flatmates are full-time students and you won’t have to pay any Council Tax.
• You may need a TV licence if you live in a hall of residence and want to watch in your room, as the university’s licence probably only covers communal areas. In a shared house, one licence should cover the whole property. To find out whether or not you need a licence, check here. You can pay in instalments from just £5.60 per week (spread over 26 weeks) to make it manageable.
• Set some rules for communal areas – for instance, have designated shelves in the fridge for each flatmate, and agree a rota for cleaning so that everyone takes their turn.
• Invest £11 in a UCAS Extra card for access to more than 160 offers and discounts, such as five per cent off many items at Amazon.co.uk, 20pc off at Pizza Express, a 10pc discount at ASOS, and 25pc off student tickets at Odeon cinemas.
• Apply for free NHS dental care, prescriptions and eye tests with an HC1 form, which you can get from an NHS dentist or doctor, or your Students’ Guild. The process takes six weeks and you will need to reapply every six months. If you need treatment or medication in the meantime, keep receipts as you may get a refund.
• Sign up to a few money-saving websites. groupon.co.uk, studentbeans.com, moneysavingexpert.com, s-k-i-n-t.co.uk and thestudentroom.co.uk are all good starting points, as is the Vouchercloud app for your mobile.
Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Insurance
Before you rush to get quotes, find out whether your parents’ existing household insurance will extend to cover your belongings while you’re at university. If you can’t rely on mum and dad’s largesse, here’s how to cover yourself:
• Use a comparison site such as Confused.com or GoCompare.com to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Then call the companies, with your new student address on hand, to find out more. Chatting in person to an adviser will help ensure you’ve covered every angle.
• Make sure you’re covered for the possessions you take with you to lectures (laptop), the pub (mobile phone) or the park (iPod, bike). It’s not much use if they’re only insured while they’re in your house or hall of residence.
• Read the policy small print carefully before you accept it – for example, is there a costly excess to pay in the event of a loss? If you’ve got a particularly swanky computer or a plasma-screen TV, does its replacement price fall within the single-item limit? Is there a caveat about walk-in thefts (the most common type of student claim)? And are you covered in the event of out-of-term break-ins?
• Insure your work. Arrange online storage for important documents and data from your mobile phone and laptop. Many backup companies offer up to 5GB of storage space for free, so if you spread your work across several services you won’t pay a penny. Try idrive.com or Dropbox.com for starters.
• Try to take mostly practical, replaceable things with you to uni – clothes, kitchen utensils, books and so forth. You really don’t need your prized collection of Star Trek figurines – if they don’t get lost or stolen they’ll almost certainly get covered in beer, so leave them at home.
Food
You need to eat, but it doesn’t have to be porridge and beans on toast every day. Here are some top tips for filling up without emptying your pockets in the process:
• When shopping, buy fresh ingredients, not ready-meals, which will cost much more. Also, make your own lunchtime sarnies and drink water – it’s free.
• Get a supermarket loyalty card. All offer some sort of money-off or point-saving scheme.
• Look for the latest deals and best prices at local supermarkets by using an online comparison site such as mysupermarket.co.uk or trollydolly.co.uk.
• Go economy class – all the big supermarkets have lower-priced ranges that are just as good as top-priced brand alternatives; you might get slightly misshapen fruit and veg or less glamorous packaging for your spaghetti, but it’ll taste the same as the more expensive versions. Also check the “reduced” shelf for that day’s offers on goods that are near their sell-by date or have damaged packaging.
• Work out whether the 2-for-1 deals actually save you money, and whether you will be able to eat the contents of both packets before the sell-by date.
• Learn to cook and you’ll eat like a prince (or at the very least not like a pauper). There’s plenty of free online advice and recipes that can help you find your inner Gordon Ramsay. Get started at Student Recipes, Student Cook and Beyond Baked Beans.
Travel
Whether you’re off on a backpacking adventure across Europe or simply need to find the fare home every now and then so that mum can do your washing, here’s how to get there for less:
• If you’re lucky enough to have a car, hopefully its carbon dioxide emissions are below 100g/km, which means you pay no road tax. Cars that are more than 10 years old (for which there is no emissions data) and up to 1549cc are charged £85 less road tax than more powerful vehicles. If you use your car to commute to lectures, find out whether your campus has free student parking – and if not, how much it will cost, otherwise you could end up cancelling out any road-tax savings.
• Cycling is a great option – your own set of wheels, and no need to stump up for a gym membership to keep fit. Unless you’re a serious cyclist who absolutely can’t live without a lightweight aluminium frame, Shimano disc brakes and quick-release racing wheels, pick a cheap model, as it’ll cost less to insure. Whatever you ride, though, don’t forget your cycling helmet and – at night – a high-visibility vest and front and rear lights.
• A Young Persons Coachcard costs £10 for a year or £25 for three years and offers up to 30 per cent off National Express fares. When booking seats, try to pick an off-peak time and you’ll save even more.
• For trips that require combined rail and bus journeys, try low-cost operator Megabus, which will give you the cheapest route and travel options for your trip and offers fares from just £1.50 including the booking fee.
• Buy yourself a 16-25 Railcard and you’ll be entitled to a third off most train fares across the UK as well as savings on days out, hotels and restaurants. It costs £28 a year or £65 for three years and will more than pay you back.
• Spend an extra £1.99 upgrading your £11 NUS Extra card to include the ISIC (International Student Identity Card) and you’ll gain access to 40,000 discounts in 120 countries. You’ll need a passport photo and proof of your student status, such as a signed letter on headed paper from a teacher. If you buy it from the NUS website or STA Travel, you can also travel for less with Student Flights and STA Travel.
Living
Learning to budget is the key to living within your means; set yourself a weekly maximum spending allowance and stick to it. Here are a few ways you can help yourself stay on target:
• If you’re renting, make sure all your flatmates are full-time students and you won’t have to pay any Council Tax.
• You may need a TV licence if you live in a hall of residence and want to watch in your room, as the university’s licence probably only covers communal areas. In a shared house, one licence should cover the whole property. To find out whether or not you need a licence, check here. You can pay in instalments from just £5.60 per week (spread over 26 weeks) to make it manageable.
• Set some rules for communal areas – for instance, have designated shelves in the fridge for each flatmate, and agree a rota for cleaning so that everyone takes their turn.
• Invest £11 in a UCAS Extra card for access to more than 160 offers and discounts, such as five per cent off many items at Amazon.co.uk, 20pc off at Pizza Express, a 10pc discount at ASOS, and 25pc off student tickets at Odeon cinemas.
• Apply for free NHS dental care, prescriptions and eye tests with an HC1 form, which you can get from an NHS dentist or doctor, or your Students’ Guild. The process takes six weeks and you will need to reapply every six months. If you need treatment or medication in the meantime, keep receipts as you may get a refund.
• Sign up to a few money-saving websites. groupon.co.uk, studentbeans.com, moneysavingexpert.com, s-k-i-n-t.co.uk and thestudentroom.co.uk are all good starting points, as is the Vouchercloud app for your mobile.
Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
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