Shopping when you’re a student is unavoidable, from buying your weekly food shops to wanting to spend time with your uni mates, money can add up and your student overdraft will start to look a little too tempting; so here are my best pieces of advice to save some money when shopping and spending when you’re a student…
1. Use student discounts to your advantage
As a student, there are so many apps and websites purely designed just to give you student discount offers and help you out! For example, Student Beans and UNIDAYS are two of many, all you have to do is sign up and verify your student email address to access hundreds of student codes and offers for pretty much every brand you could think of, so I couldn’t recommend signing up for them enough if you fancy some great exclusive discounts for some extra saving!
2. Prepare your weekly food shops and shop at the cheaper supermarkets
I notice that I always spend way more money on my weekly food shops if I don’t plan a list beforehand. Making a list and taking it with you will stop you from straying from what you actually need and going over your budget. Shopping in the cheaper stores like Lidl or Aldi if there’s one nearby will also help you save a lot more money than the likes of M&S and Waitrose, as everything is a lot more inexpensive and you can get more with your money! Luckily we have an Aldi and Lidl very close to our university campuses, so it’s really convenient for those student weekly food shops!
3. Shop online rather than in person
Shopping online is almost always much less expensive than it is to shop in store, especially when it comes to retail buys like clothes and products, as most companies will offer discounts on their website and apps but not offer discounts in store! Therefore, unless you NEED it on the day of purchase I really recommend online shopping for some extra discounts as it’ll be worth a couple of days wait if you’ve saved money from doing so.
4. Look out for student tickets for activities
You’re absolutely bound to want to go out in your new university city and hang out with your new university friends, and naturally this could be one of your most costly expenses, but if you look in the right places there are a lot of fun and affordable activities to do!
Many places, such as Junkyard Golf, Ten Pin Bowling and even theme parks like Alton Towers give you the option of purchasing a student ticket rather than the full priced adult ticket, knocking a decent amount of money off your purchase, meaning you can have fun even on a tight budget – so definitely keep a look out for those student tickets!
5. Buy essential items over branded items
Buying essential or reduced items over your branded Heinz, Kellogs and Walkers will save you so much more money as they are made to be a lot less dearer and, dare I say, taste pretty much exactly the same as the real deal. This means you don’t have to spend nearly as much on your weekly food shops and have more money at your leisure to spend how you like it, so it’s certainly a great little life hack to follow!
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