Freshers' Week 2015: Top 10 ways to reduce your university debt this year

With Tories raising tuition fees even further, and having scrapped the maintenance grant, it's more important than ever for students to budget their way through university - and Claire Beveridge tells you how to do it

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Starting university can be one of the most exciting times of your life: a fresh start in a new city with new people.

Shedding the skin of your former self, you can booze to your heart’s content without Mum getting her back up – and if you actually go to any lectures, you might even learn something new.

Unfortunately, though, it’s not all fun and excitement: tuition fees for academic year 2015/16 are set at a whopping £9,000 and, as part of the Budget, the Conservatives have also outlined their plans for universities with “high-quality” teaching to have the ability to uncap fees in 2016/17, essentially allowing top universities to charge even more per academic year.

On top of this, the Tories outlined controversial plans to scrap the student maintenance grant and replace it with a more repayable loan instead. Not cheerful reading so far, is it?

One thing to keep in mind – when your banter game is on-point during Freshers’ Week and you’re achieving all those squad goals – is to be aware of how much cash you’re spending, and not add to the debt you’ll undoubtedly be leaving university with.

So, follow these ten points this year to make your whole university experience that bit easier:

1) Research your student bank account offers

Banks want you to be their customer. They crave your loyalty and aim for you to open a student account in the hope you’ll stay with them post-graduation, paying-in your supposedly higher-than-average salary.

Don’t be lured into signing up to a bank when some flashy geezer in a polyester shirt tells you how great the account is because it comes with a free cinema ticket. Think long-term.

Shop around for banks that have the longest zero per cent overdraft you can find. When it comes to being totally strapped for cash towards the end of term, delve into your overdraft – but don’t go over that set limit. And please remember to pay it back. “I love getting charged for being overdrawn!” said no one. Ever.

2) Budget

As horribly boring as budgeting sounds, it can save you a lot of time and stress in the long-run.

Think about how much money you really have to spend each week and stick to it – even if it occasionally means forgoing date night.

Get out your weekly money in cash and only spend that amount. Tempted to use your card? Don’t take it out with you. You’ll quickly learn you can get by on the amount you’ve set yourself.

3) Get a part-time job

With students leaving university in 2015 with an average of £35,000-£40,000 of debt hanging around their neck, a part-time job throughout university can help alleviate the balance you’ll leave with.

Working while you’re studying also means that, come the weekend, you’ll be able to spend as much as you like because you aren’t solely relying on your student loan. If you’re savvy enough to juggle your hours around uni, you can still leave with strong grades. So don’t convince yourself it’ll ruin your studies. There’s a lot of free time when you’ve at university – more than you realise.

If you do something you enjoy as a job you’re much more likely to gain fulfilment out of it. Studying film? Get a job in a cool art-house cinema. Studying English? Get a job in a library or bookshop. Want to be a writer, designer, or creative? There are loads of sites to find freelance work, the majority of which pay fairly well.

4) Don’t get a credit card or payday loan

Credit card companies and quick loans with huge APRs will see you heading their way and rinse you for every single penny you have. Never, ever sign up for them whilst you’re at university. Seriously – they are the single biggest financial mistake you can make.

Credit cards may seem like a brilliant idea to access money, but the downside is banks will know you’re not earning and have no method of paying off purchases quickly. They’ll hike up the interest and you’ll be totally stuffed and in debt that you have no way to re-pay.

The same goes for payday loans: the amount of interest you have to repay is extortionate and not worth the risk of missing payments.

5) Buy in bulk

Nipping to the local convenience store that’s on campus will undoubtedly chip away at your student budget faster than you can say ‘price hike’. Buying the odd essential item from these types of stores is okay, but never do your actual shopping there.

Check out local, cheap food markets for your fruit and veg, get savvy as to when supermarkets price-down products (usually late at night), and pick up a load of cheap meat and freeze it – or even head down to the cash and carry if you’re serious about bulk buying because you’ll save a fortune and always have food/booze in your cupboard.

6) Learn to cook

Long gone is the stereotype that students live off tins of beans and cans of cheap cider. This is 2015, people. Knowing how to cook is cool, not to mention incredibly fashionable, a bit sexy, and it saves you stacks of cash.

Buying fresh ingredients and making your own sauce for a bowl of pasta is far more economical than splurging on a jar of something to mix in. Learn a few basic recipes from a student cookbook and the world is your oyster. Far healthier than eating microwave dinners, learning to cook is one of the best skills you can take to university.

7) Take advantage of student deals

Businesses understand students don’t have much spare money, yet they still want you to spend with them. This is why many companies offer deals or money-saving offers for students. Cinemas, gyms, shopping centres, and nightclubs all usually have some kind of special price for students. If it’s not advertised, ask.

8) Know where it goes

Whilst budgeting may be important, being aware of exactly where your money ends up is also a good thing to keep track of.

Use Money Dashboard or a simple spreadsheet to track your spending. It might sound a bit geek but, when you realise you’re caning over £300 a month on booze, you might have a re-think of your spending habits and make some sensible changes.

9) Flog it

Take a look around your room. Got plenty of course books piling up? Do you need all those DVDs and CDs? Could you not burn them onto a hard drive and sell them if you get desperate?

Ziffit offers a great service by taking away your old books, DVDs, and games, and converting them to cash. Whilst you’re at it, do your bit and take some old clothes to charity. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, after all.

10) Don’t ignore debt

If you’re not careful with your money, you’ll end up in debt. Believe me, there is nothing scarier than owing banks or people money and feeling unable to pay it back.

If you are stuck, firstly talk to your university and see what guidance or support they can offer. Secondly, the Money Advice Service has some great information on debt management.

If you’re not careful with your student finances, you’ll find yourself ignoring the phone when it rings from an unknown number, being too scared to open your bank statements and live in a constant depressive state because you can’t afford to do anything fun ever again. Not even a cheeky Nando’s with the lads.

Twitter: @CBeveridge

Claire Beveridge is a writer and content producer at Crunch Accounting. She studied film at the University of West London