How Can Students Reduce Their Expenditure?

Discounts

• Always ask for student a discount! An NUS card will help
• Sign up for a weekly email from the ‘Money Saving Expert’ for lots of 2-for-1’s and other offers
• See other discount websites including www.hellodiscountcodes.com and www.vouchercodes.co.uk

Banking

• Open a student bank account
• Check your bank account regularly in case you have forgotten a bill

Shopping

• Shop for food with friends – it’s usually cheaper to buy in larger quantities
• Visit Leicester market at the end of the day for cheap fruit and veg, especially on Saturday
• Big supermarkets have lots of special offers
• Smaller shops (even the small versions of major supermarkets) are often more expensive than the big stores
• Only buy what you will use before the ‘use buy date’
• Freeze food close to the use by date to avoid waste

Nights out

• Only take what you can afford to spend – but make sure you have a means of getting home (e.g. carry a Safety Bus card)
• Leave your bank card at home (in a safe place, nowhere near your PIN!!) so you’re not tempted to use it – temptation will be harder to resist if you are under the influence of alcohol

Bills

• Turn down the thermostat– the lower the setting the cheaper the heating bill
• Turn heating/hot water off at night/when out
• Don’t leave appliances on standby
• Don’t boil more water than you need

Phone

Shop around for a better contract; if there is time left, a new provider may buy you out of it to gain your custom. (Always check the small print!)

Eating

Learn to cook - it is cheaper AND healthier.  If you haven’t got a cook book look online, e.g.:

• Student Cook
• studentcooking.tv (see the University of Leicester page)
• The Guardian student health guide
• NUS cooking advice
• Take a packed lunch to campus

Text Books

• Use the David Wilson Library  instead of buying books
• Buy second hand books: visit Willingales second hand book shop on campus, look at notice boards in your Department or shop online

Travel

• Buy a young person’s rail card or a student coach card
• Buy train/bus tickets in advance online to get the best deals, try Raileasy for trains, National Express or Mega Bus for coaches
• Walk!  If you live near enough to campus save money on bus fares by walking
• After dark stay safe by walking in groups or using the Safety Bus
• Buy a bus pass if you will be using the bus regularly: Student annual bus pass

TV

• Get a TV licence refund if going home for the summer
• Use a Freeview box instead of satellite TV

Health and fitness

• Buy a University Sports Card instead of joining an expensive gym
• Join sports societies at University
• Walk/jog instead of spending on bus fares!
• See Student Healthy Living Service

Seek advice from a Student Finance Adviser in the Student Welfare Service