How To Budget Better As a Student in 2022

Budgeting as a student can be a challenge, but done right it can be rewarding and help to set up great habits to make the most of your income in years to come. There’s a Chinese proverb that says the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now. We’ve rounded up some of the best tools to help your money go further and make the most of your years as a student.

Money Saving Expert

Martin Lewis, who in 2015 was voted the most trusted man in Britain, is an English financial journalist. His weekly newsletter and online forum, Money Saving Expert, has over 2.2 million subscribers with thousands of members in discussions at any one time. It’s totally free to sign up to and you’ll get tips, tricks and advice straight to your inbox every week.

To sign up for the newsletter head to moneysavingexpert.com.  We recommend checking out the 50 Tips for Students page to find out which bank accounts are best, and which will hammer you with big overdraft charges when your time as a student comes to an end.

Smart Banking Apps

Apps like Starling and Monzo are perfect for managing your finances. They provide a card and allow you to set your monthly budgets for things like food, rent, entertainment, transport and more. Tracking your purchases on here helps visualise what expenses you’re overpaying for, enabling you to reduce the spending on whatever category you see fit.

Many people love starling for their desktop app, which allows for more thorough budgeting than the mobile app of Monzo. Starling was set up by Anne Boden and has gone on to win Best British Bank four years in a row; when you use the platform it’s easy to see why. Monzo was founded by a team who met at Starling and shot to fame in recent years with more than five million users.

To download their apps and open accounts head over to Monzo and Starling website to see which is best for you.

Student Beans & TOTUM

We all love when our favourite brands have a cracking deal on, so why not use your academic email and sign up to Student Beans or TOTUM?

Founded in 2005 by James and Michael Eder in Birmingham, Student Beans have been helping to save student’s money for over 15 years. Anyone over the age of 16 in full-time education is eligible to sign up. It takes up to 3 days to confirm your account and then you’re set. Some of the student offers currently running are:

– 15% off when ordering ASOS

– 10% off when ordering Gymshark

– Up to 60% off when ordering from JD Sports.

– 20% discount on National Express

– 30% off selected dresses, tops and shoes on BooHoo.

TOTUM is an online hub of student discounts, but signing up is slightly different to Student Beans.

They offer two plans: one is free and comes with 3o0+ discounts, the other is £15 a year; including everything on the free plan in addition to premium discounts for Co Op, Boots and Fender as well as an ISIC card and a proof of age student ID card. Check the plans out on TOTUM’s pricing page.

Covering the latest offers on fashion, technology, food, books and sports products, be sure to check out the best discounts available before making your next purchases.

Pouch & Honey

When buying things online, you might not know that there’s discount to be had and that a simple browser extension can make it a doddle.

Honey is a trustworthy web extension that can save you money where you didn’t think possible. The free service has more than 17 million members, over 23,000 employees and is owned by Paypal, a leading digital payment platform. Honey automatically finds and apply appropriate discounts for any product/service you are purchasing. Getting it is easy, you simply add the extension to your web browser.

There are other web extension alternatives to Honey such as Pouch, which has discounts for in excess of 3,000 websites. Pouch averages 4.6/5 on Trustpilot from over 1,600 reviews, which shows how useful it can be for time-pressed shoppers. In 2018, Pouch was pitched on Dragon’s Den, drawing 5 offers from the dragons. Pouch and the dragons couldn’t come to a deal, however that didn’t stop the business from hitting a multi-million pound valuation.

Rail Card

For those who study in a separate city from their hometown, heading back and forth on the rail network is commonplace. Instead of grabbing a single or a return each time – spending a large amount on quickly expiring tickets – check the prices on yearly passes to potentially save a big chunk of change.

If you’re between the ages 16-25 you can save up to £189 a year opting for an annual pass and full-time students can save a third on single journeys. Check out the railcard website for more details.

Food Shopping

How many times have you headed to your local supermarket for a quick shop, and ended up leaving with a trolley full of food and 6 more bags for life? We all do it.

Planning your meals for the week is a great way to start saving, enabling you to define your shopping list – and with some discipline – stick to it. Following this, set a total budget for the shop. You can check the prices of products online, and compare whatever is in stock. This effectively cuts out spontaneous and unnecessary purchases.

Sharing a fridge with housemates may be the cause for leftovers taking up shelf space. Instead of buying packets for just one person, why not collaborate with housemates on dinner preparation or go to you local greengrocer where you can buy three carrots instead of a whole pack.

To be more resourceful with your leftovers, invest in some decent Tupperware so you can take homemade food wherever you may go and remember, you can make soup from pretty much any veg, beans and more that you have left over. Here’s a link to some tantalising food leftover recipes that will make your mouth water.

We hope this list helps you get a bit more for your money and save a few bob for the things that really matter to you.