Now, once you have your bursary/student loan for the week/month, you have to spend your weekly/monthly very wisely.
You have to work out on your travel expenses, food, cell phone bill, etc. I recommend using Microsoft Excel to plan out how or what to spend the money or add up the month's money that would be used for.
You have to ask the stores if they do student discounts or google the stores if they do accept student discount cards I.E. NUS Extra cards or something similar.
Go to cheaper stores like second hand/thrift/goodwill stores, discount stores (like dollar general, dollar/pound stores, b & m or home bargains), cheaper grocery stores (Aldi or Lidl) or outlet stores to get things at a great price and it's easy on your bank account and wallet.
Plus if you don't live near Aldi or Lidl to get your groceries, you can go to the reduced parts of the supermarket to get food and dry goods at a cheaper price and maybe get the store's savers/smart price/off brand goods. Some (or a good number) of the items tend to be as good (or mildly better) than the well named brand items. Even supermarkets and clothing stores like Asda, Tesco and Primark have a section of clothes that are reduced in price.
A number of grocery stores may offer coupons to get a discount on items and grocery stores may offer store point card and it could help you with your food shopping.
Hell, you can find things at a great price on Amazon, Facebook and Ebay. You can use student discount on Amazon and you can get Amazon student prime. You get about six months free or something like that.
I HIGHLY recommend taking a packed lunch with you. Because going to the cafeteria (if your college/uni has one), café, restaurant or getting something from a supermarket or convenience store can be pricey depending on the cost on the food and drink where you are. Also you might be on a certain diet and they don't have a menu for that, like a vegetarian/vegan menu, weight watching menu or a free from menu. Plus I recommend having a travel mug (ones made from metal, bamboo, silicone or plastic are the better options than getting the ceramic counter part (if you're a bit of a butter fingers like I am) and reusable water bottle (made from metal, silicone, glass or plastic). It'll save you loads of money per day/week/month from paying a lot at vending machines, grocery stores and cafés like Costa Coffee or Starbucks. You can get them decently priced online or in store.
If you want a water bottle that doubles as a thermos, they would keep your drinks hot or cold a lot longer like 12 hours for hot drinks and 24 for cold drinks. They may be on the pricey side, but believe me, it's worth spending a little extra money on those. It's quite useful during the hot or cold weather.
Avoid getting credit cards or over using them. Because they will put you into debt. If you do have a credit card, try using it sparingly.
If you're a gamer, Steam and Gamejolt offers games pretty cheap. You can get them for free, free to play and maybe just under 15-50 pence/cents. Plus Steam has a special section for games that are reduced in price for a certain period of time and every weekend they reduce the prices of popular games.
If your a big bookworm and don't have enough money for new books to read, go to your nearest library. Yes they still exist. Your local library may advertise a free ebook app for phone or tablet to use. Going to charity stores for books is a place to go.
If you are on a tighter budget, look for a part-time job like in a store, restaurant or anywhere. You could sell some things at car boot sells, Etsy or Ebay. Selling old things that you don't need or things that are hand made.
Go out as a treat like going to restaurants, the cinema or anything like that. Cinemas, restaurants, museums or etc accept student discounts or has a price for students, depending on the place you go to. There's museums that you can go in for free and donations are optional.
Buy some stuff in bulk from places like Costco or Sam's Club. Believe me, buying stuff like granola bars, female products, toothpaste, toothbrushes and other things in bulk would save you some money and they would last a good while.
YOU ARE READING
College/University Survival Guide
Non-FictionSo you're going to college or university for the first time after summer vacation and you have no clue what to do while going there. So here's a guide to help you get through your first year. I hope this book will help you.
