Being a university student also means managing your own finances and making sure that you are aware of how much you have available to use. Although it sounds easy enough at first, being good at managing your money can come with experience, research or being naturally thrifty. A university student has some specific benefits that can help with saving money. Within this article, there will be tips that will hopefully help you with saving money as a student in Lincoln.
1. Homecooked Meals
For some people, going to university and living away from home for the first time may be your first experience of having to cook your own meals. As much as learning to cook on your own may be daunting, cooking as many of your meals yourself will save a significant amount of money when compared to buying takeaway food every day. Buying separate ingredients, especially at a supermarket, will save you money as well as allow you to make more meals with the same ingredients.
2. Supermarkets
Shopping at a supermarket for food will save you a lot of money whilst being a student. Making a shopping list will help with buying only what you need and have decided on before going to the supermarket of your choice. Whilst picking up each item, if you want to stay under a budget, add each price to the calculator on your phone to make sure you buy what you can afford. Depending on which supermarket you go to and how regularly you go, getting a rewards card will give you some benefits in the long term.
3. Expense Tracker
Being aware of your financial situation can sometimes be difficult and hard to stay on top of. Keeping an expense tracker will help you to be conscious of how much you have on a regular basis. For example, setting yourself a weekly budget and using a journal to write down everything you spend. That way you can look at the rate at which you are spending and see how close you are to your limit. You can use a journal to track it or use an app if you prefer to keep track of things electronically, there are many different apps that you can try and see which you like best.
4. Discounts
As university students, there are quite a few options for discounts on things that you are not aware of. The most common discounts that are offered are through specific apps that just require you to use your university emails to verify you are a student. For example, Unidays and Student Beans are two popular apps used by students. These apps offer discounts for all kinds of things like food, clothes, and other lifestyle services. Check your university emails regularly because they do sometimes send information for discounts from the university like occasional Dominoes discount codes for example. It is also worth checking shops and stores before going or whilst you are there to see whether just providing your university ID will allow you to get a discount.
5. Emergency Situations
Sometimes you may run into circumstances that cannot be helped, in these situations if you do not have enough savings to help you, as a student at the university, you can click on this link to apply for help. https://studentservices.lincoln.ac.uk/life-at-university/money-management-financial-support/student-finance-and-funding/university-funds/financial-assistance-funds/
I hope these tips can help you to save some money and make managing your money a little easier! University is a wonderful opportunity to figure out the most suitable way to save money, some people prefer weekly budgets, some prefer monthly. Using these years to experiment with diverse ways to make managing money the least stressful experience for you is perfect whilst you still have support from university services.
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