How to Save Money as a Student

How to Save Money as a Student!

Being a student isn’t always just fun and games, even though everyone likes to tell you it is. Aside from the coursework and exams, budgeting your student loan is someone nearly all students need to do, and let’s face it we can all be better at it! Keeping track of your money with the Curve card is a great way to do this. With their clever app you can now manage all your spending across your bank accounts in one place, but more on this later and how you can earn a free £5 with Curve!

We’ve got a few examples of how best to make sure your money lasts as long as possible, or at least until your next student loan comes in.

Be clever when buying food and drink

Try to plan ahead when buying food. Buying in bulk for the week, or even splitting a food shop with a housemate is one of the best ways to make sure you won’t be overspending on food every day. Instead of spending £3-4 every day at the library on coffee try taking a thermos in every day, someone once said every little helps! Try to avoid late night takeaways as well. Yes we know they are one of the greatest wonders of the world, and who are we to say to never enjoy a late night kebab or pizza after a big one, but try cutting down on them at least. If you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves.

Student discounts, don’t sleep on these!

There are so many amazing student discounts out there nowadays, being a student has never had so many benefits before! Get an NUS card. This will open more doors for you in the world of student discounts then you could ever imagine. 10% off ASOS, discounts on student railcard and great discounts at your favourite supermarkets. Making sure you have got your university card on you at all times will also get your student deals at some places you may have thought weren’t even a thing, we all know how great those Mcdonald’s student deals are (but to go to often!)

Money monitoring

Probably the most simple one on paper, but hardest to execute. Know your limits. Don’t go out treating yourself living like royalty the day your student loans arrives, even if it is tempting! Try working out exactly how much you would need to spend per week, or even per day, to know that when it comes to the end of the month you aren’t completely out of pocket. Having visibility over your spending is so important. There are so many great tools nowadays to be able to do this, as we mentioned above Curve is a great way to do this. With Curve, you can add multiple bank cards to the app and will only have to ever go out with one card on you. On the app just simply to choose where you want the money to come out from when using the card. You’ll now be able to see how much your spending from your student account and any other credit or debit accounts you have. As well, after you make a transaction you’ll have 14 days to change from where the money has come from.

Part time work

Maybe something that doesn’t appeal to everyone but if you consider yourself a bit of a BNOC or just very sociable, then getting a brand ambassador role is a quick and simple way to make some extra money. Most companies offer a great commission, £5 for signing up one person. Getting two sign-ups an hour is definitely better value for money than pouring pints at your local! Curve also have a brand ambassador role which you can check out here

If you are interested in the Curve app to help with your finances, use this referral code UNI2RENT to get a free £5 when signing up!