If you’re living away from home in order to study there are certain costs you are unable to avoid, such as the cost of rent and food. However, there are plenty of other non-essential items you can find yourself wasting money on. You may be able to do this when you receive your first instalment of your student loan, but you can’t go throwing your money around forever, as it’s not as if you even have that much to begin with. It is therefore a good idea to make savings where you can so that you can avoid going overdrawn, since you’ll be in enough debt when you leave university, as it is!
Clearly, socialising can be rather expensive when you’re at university because you do it so often. Unfortunately, when you spend time with your friends it usually involves going to nightclubs and getting drunk, which can be rather costly. Even if you stay on campus, where there are usually pretty good deals on alcohol, you can find yourself spending quite a lot of money.
Consequently, it may be a good idea to purchase some alcohol from a supermarket, as it is cheaper, and have a few drinks before going out. If you only take a certain amount of money with you and leave your debit card at home you won’t be able to spend any more than you’ve got on you.
Or, you could always take up a cheaper hobby! There are plenty of societies and groups you could join which don’t revolve around drinking. You could work on your fitness and join an athletics club or become a member of a political group where you can voice your opinions. The choice is yours.
As well as your social life you could also end up spending quite a lot of money on text books, but sometimes you buy a brand new book and hardly even use it. If there is a copy of the book in the library it might be a good idea to have a look inside and see whether it’s worth buying your own copy. Even if it is you don’t have to buy it brand new, as there will usually be a second-hand bookstore on campus that you can access, or you could always search for it online.
You might spend money travelling around the city, but a cheaper alternative would be to walk or buy a bike, as this will work out much cheaper in the long run, and will also keep you fit and healthy.
It is therefore clear that there are plenty of ways you can spend less money when you’re a student, without even examining how you could reduce the amount you spend on essential goods and services. If you’re prepared to shop around and alter your lifestyle a bit you could easily save yourself quite a bit of money.