Being a student is hard. Having to live off your (too small) maintenance loan is even harder. Here are some top tips on how to make that pesky loan stretch as far as possible!

Budget Effectively

Budgeting is the single most efficient way to save money because you’re keeping track of your spends and have the constant knowledge of how much money you have (or rather, how much you don’t have). Not sure how to budget? Check out this article for a full guide on how.

Smarter Shopping

There are tonnes of tricks supermarkets use to try and get you to pay more. For example, they tend to put the most expensive things at eye level, where you’re more likely to pick them up. Also - NEVER go shopping whilst you’re hungry, you’ll regret all of those impulse buys you go home with. You can also try shopping online to really save some cash and avoid any pesky temptation offers, plus they sometimes have really good offers for first time shoppers. Don’t rely on one shop for everything. Sure, it’s convenient to buy everything from your local supermarket, but it’s not always purse-friendly. You’ll find fruit and vegetables much cheaper at your local market (and usually better quality!) and you can also find branded long-shelf-life products (baked beans, soup, etc) and branded toiletries cheap at your nearest pound shop.

Plan Meals

Leading on from the last point, plan your meals for the week and you can save a fortune. Not only does it mean you can buy some ingredients in bulk if you’re using them in more than one meal, it means you have a list to stick to and you aren’t going to spend extra money on items you don’t necessarily need.

Pennies Make Pounds

Get a piggy bank (or even just a jar) and fill it with any spare change you come across. You’d be surprised how quickly it all adds up.

Smarter Travelling

If you travel a lot, make sure you look into what travel cards and passes you can get that could save you money. For example, you can get a 16-25 railcard for around £30 that will save you 1/3 on all train journeys! Image via ontertussel.nl

Sell, Sell, Sell

Any books you aren’t using, clothes you don’t wear, CDs you don’t listen to and anything else can be sold for a lot more than you think online! If you don’t NEED it, you may as well try and make some money out of it!

Be TV Smart

The BBC license fee terms only say that you need to pay the license if you watch or record television as it is broadcast. This means that if you only watch things on-demand TV over the internet, you don’t need to buy a TV licence. Spend a few pounds on a HDMI cable, plug your laptop into the TV and watch things on catch-up with no spend. If you do want/need a TV licence, make sure you claim a quarter back for the three months you’re probably home for summer.

Student Discounts

And finally, take advantage of student discounts and student websites such as UNiDAYS! Being aware of where you can get discounts and any special offers shops are doing can save you a tonne of cash. Especially if you’re a serial shopper. Do you have any top tips for saving money as a student? Let us know in the comments! My name is Rhianna and I’m a final year student at Nottingham Trent University. I also run the blog robowecop.com where I post lifestyle posts, beauty tips, mental health posts, product reviews and general student life fuelled musings!