10 money saving tips for students in the UK and US 

The student life is is interesting and challenging at the same time. It could also be a time for strict budgeting, so you don’t run out of funds before either the next pay check or when you get a job after your program. Surprisingly some students have been able to have some money in a savings account at the end of their program, although that may be asking too much for most of us. The bottom line is that no one wants to be out of funds before the next inflow comes.

Money saving tips are beneficial because they help you stretch your funds and remove the stress of worrying about money as a student. The academic work should your major preoccupation.

The first of the ten money saying tips for UK students is.

All ‘best before’ dates are only recommendations about the quality of the food quality, not its  safety. “Use by” dates on the other hand are recommendations about the safety of the food. Most supermarkets have shelf where items that are close to their best before date are displayed at a huge discount.

There are also some sites that legally sell groceries close to (or past) their best before dates that are still safe for consumers. This is a fantastic way to save money.

It’s a definite no no to wait for winter before getting a winter coat or other winter clothes. Get your winter clothes in summer when the shops are trying to offload. You will be amazed at the awesome deals you will find. Do your summer clothes shopping at the end of the season when the summer clothes are being cleared off the racks. Sometimes you can get an item at 70% discount.

As a student, keeping up with the joneses will be a tall order, particularly if you re on a budget. Last summer’s clothes are perfectly okay for this summer. You don’t need to change your winter jacket every year. Buy good quality, reasonably priced and use your money”s worth out of it!

Truth is that most supermarkets start heavily reducing prices on items that need to leave the shelves by the end of the day after 6pm. The is therefore the best time to shop for a bargain.

Its ideal to make a list, no matter how cheap the items are so you don’t buy food on impulseIf Its even better if you’re not fixated brands and flavours, you could get fresh produce that’s, a lot cheaper

Some items can be purchased in bulk, particularly when they are discounted. Particularly for items that do mot really expire. This also applies for fresh produce that you can freeze. You will be amazed at the savings you make when you do not need to buy tissue paper monthly, or fruits for your smoothie weekly.

Those pennies count seriously! Walking is also good for you, opt to walk and save that money. One pound each day is 30 pounds per month! Of course you can’t walk everywhere but if you control your social life, you will find that everywhere you need to do is within walking distance most days. Ideally we should take 7000-10,000 steps daily.

When your phone, tv subscription or gas subscription is due, don’t just ay automatically, search for cheaper alternatives. When you get something cheaper with good reviews, call your provider and tell them you’ve gotten a cheaper alternative and you’re taking your business elsewhere unless they beat this cheaper alternative.

For mobile phone companies, try to cancel your contract and you can expect to be directed to their loyalty team who can offer substantial discounts to retain customers. Haggling is a skill you must learn. No embarrassment, no guilt, remember they won’t agree to make any deal that will be be losing money on. This means they cannot be cheated, so don’t let this bother you t all. They know their bottom line.

Note that this works also if you have had poor service from them.  If you’ve had a poor experience with a company, get in touch with their customer service team and make it clear that you’re unhappy – this can get you some great discounts and incentives to remain with their brand.

Spend an evening comparing the cost of your gas or electricity and you could save hundreds by moving to a better deal. If you sit with it, you will be amazed at the plethora of cheaper and better options out there.

Switching should be simple and free ; do  make sure you’ve not signed a contract with exit fines  (although the savings on a cheaper deal can sometimes still outweigh the cost of leaving your current provider).

Drinks are a major expense. An evening out for drinks or always drinking fizzy drinks can set you back some good money a month. Do not underestimate the cost of drinks. Everyone pays for their drinks even at birthday parties!

One other way to save is to actually save by skimming off 10% off any money that comes  into your account. It may look like small amounts, but it increases over time. If you can save 25 pounds each month, that’s 300 pounds in a year!

You can put a standing order on your account requesting 10% of any inflow is debited and place in an account you do not easily have access to.

It takes discipline, but the rewards are huge. It’s also amazing how innovative we can get when we have less to spend. You will find that you did well without that ten or twenty pounds.

You can still thrive with the limited resources you have. If you can tweak some areas by applying these 10 money saving tips for students in the UK, then you will be well on your way to being as smart as possible with your finances.