How to live like a student monarch: Money-saving tips for the discerning undergraduate

Student loans only go so far - but here's how to make them go further without dirtying yourself with a job

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Everyone knows that student life is associated with a lack of money and tough decisions on whether to spend the last of the loan on food or a night out. However, we all have that one friend who has no income but somehow still manages to fill the fridge with their food and purchase new clothes and gadgets all too regularly. We’ve taken a look at some of the ways in which a lot of your student budgets are spent and have come up with some hints and tips to help you make your money go a lot further - without having to get a job.

Buy a Kindle

Most students would consider a Kindle (or another e-book reader) a luxury item, but when you compare the initial upfront cost to how much you’re spending on books over time, you’re actually saving yourself a large amount of money. A basic model costs £69, and the ebooks thereafter usually cost no more than £5, and are instantly delivered to your reading device. Although paperback books can vary in price, they normally cost between £7 and £10, not including the delivery charges. This means that you’re saving around £3.50 per book and it'll have paid for itself before very long.

As a student, a large proportion of your costs will be spent on textbooks which, due to their enormous combined weight, always become a hassle when you want to go home for the weekend and do some revision. When buying the Kindle editions of your textbooks, they can often be up to £50 cheaper than the physical textbook, and obviously end up being a lot more convenient for you to move around.

Clear the ‘reduced to clear’

Every supermarket in the UK has a dedicated section where the goods are reduced in price. Sometimes there’s nothing exciting, but sometimes the supermarket will reduce the price of a 10-pack of beer because it’s only got nine cans or a tin of beans that has a dent in it becomes half the price. Obviously it’s often hit and miss as to whether you can get a good purchase here but it’s always worth a look.

Buy a flask and make your own coffee

If you’ve ever had a 9am lecture you’ll know and love the value of a good cup of coffee. However, if you’re drinking one cup of coffee from a chain on a daily basis you could be spending up to £25 a week just on coffee. Combat this by getting a decent flask from one of the aforementioned coffee shops and buying your own coffee to make at home. This works out a lot cheaper and also a lot quicker than queuing up in the shop and waiting for a barista to make it.

Shop at outlets and make eBay your best friend

You can save paying full price for items for when you get a full time job and are earning enough money to start paying off your student loan. Right now, you have a very limited budget but you still need to look good so start shopping at clothes outlets and buy all of those cool gadgets and new phones on eBay.

Get a Netflix account

At a cost of £5.99 per month, you will have instant and unlimited access to hundreds of movies and television shows. With the Netflix app you can watch hundreds of hours of entertainment straight from your mobile device and therefore is a great alternative to buying expensive and space-consuming DVDs. You can also create up to five profiles on a Netflix account so there’s nothing to stop you getting your housemates involved and splitting the price per month.

Always look for student discounts

There are hundreds of websites on the Internet which are solely dedicated to giving you the information about where to get the best student discounts and which promotional codes you should put in to get a deduction on your purchases. Before you hit the go to checkout button, check one of these sites to see if there is anything you can do to cut the price of that new jacket.

Wait for the sales

With the amount of sales that shops have, if you can just hold on for a month or two you’ll be able to get that product for half the price - leaving the other half of the money to buy another item of clothing. This can also be beneficial if you have a lot of birthday presents to buy for friends and family throughout the year. You can buy the presents in the sales earlier on in the year and save paying a lot more if you leave your birthday shopping until the day before.