Today I was reading online and found an interesting article from The independent about saving money and thought they were funny but so true! Here they are!
1) join a website called freecycle.com and collect free items from people who don't want it! on this website you can find free laptops,tvs,bikes etc. they say we should look to freecycle ourselves. Ask our friends,strangers and post on noticeboards! - It is also a green activity so we'd be helping our environment as well!
2) Get a TV legally without a licence! (however its only 1/4 off it but its something!) If we as students are happy to watch our programmes with delay we don't need a tv licence for watching on-demand over the internet! if our parents have sky, then we can get sky GO for our laptop. 32 channels,tv and movies on demand! all we need to do is get a cable to hook up to our tv. If you already have a licence then make sure you claim one quarter back for the three months you aren't in your house!
3)THE IRON BUDGET! - a money saving tip that came up time and time again on the independents survey. This means thats when we go out on a night out we plan how much we are intending to spend that night. once we have decided we do NOT bring out our credit cards (as we know what happens when we've had a few drinks!) That way we are on a budget and aren't tempted to get more and more money out!
4)freeze your credit card. yes, the independent literally mean freeze your credit card. money-saving experts have advised us that if we are about to buy something big we need to stop, walk away and think about it before we buy it straight away. we are poisoned by these great deals "5 for £10" but do we actually need 5! The more time we need to think about our buys, the bigger the ice cube needs to be!
5) Work for shops that give you discounts! the independent did a little investigation and discovered that places such as the body shop,republic,new look and lush ( a very popular place for the female students to shop in) offer 50 percent student discount!! french connection offer 40 and even greggs is in it with a 50 per cent discount! not bad if you want cheap food!
6) KISS. Keep.It.Simple.Stupid. as students we need to think of saving ideas that are going to help us in the long run. for example, making shopping lists and sticking to them!, buying supermarkets own brands!, making packed lunches and drinking before we go out! ride our bikes rather than get taxi's!
7)Check before you buy contents insurance because the likelihood is you parents may already have this entitled in their household policy! recent discovery found by NUS/Endleigh surveys said that they own around £2,632 worth of items at uni so make sure all your items are covered!
8)Always ask shops whether they offer a student discount. if the answer is plainly no, ask them whether they would! Aim for the sympathy vote, as the government in this coming year have boosted up our funds and we barely earn enough to live let alone earn enough to buy a new outfit! We can't ever know unless we find out!
9) Condoms! don't buy them! we should all know there are millions of family clinics available to us and open often for us to get them free. Loads of freebies are offered to us! Make the most of them and save those much needed pennies!
10) Join studentbeans.com. If students become members, they are offered deals like 2 for one cinema,food deals,freebies and good saving tips! This website was listed the fifth most essential uni item!
So there we have it. I just wonder whether students will actually do any of these top tips!
