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Managing your money

Ten tips for saving money

  1. Sign up for student discounts 
    Students can claim discounts via NUS’ Totum Card, Student Beans or Unidays and in return, you can receive hundreds of discounts for your shopping.
  2. Buy second hand items 
    Buying from charity shops is cheaper and more sustainable. A lot of societies run clothes swap events to get rid of your unwanted clothes. Scoop in Wentworth College also helps you buy food more cheaply by buying in bulk from producers or other co-operatives.
  3. Open a student bank account 
    Student bank accounts can usually give you access to an interest free overdraft (see our Overdraft guide (PDF , 74kb)) to help you with additional funds when you need and also manage cash-flow between receiving your loan instalments. See a good summary of the different student bank accounts from MoneySavingExpert.com.
  4. Save money on software 
    The University has subscribed to Office 365 to provide you with a free copy of the MS Office suite, as well a range of other software available to you too, including EndNote, SPSS, and Maple. Find out what software you can install.
  5. Make use of cheaper travel
    Try cycling or walking to bring down your travel costs, or consider purchasing a 16-25 Railcard, which reduces your train costs by a third.
  6. Are you eligible for any bursaries, scholarships or benefits?
    See information about the different bursaries and scholarships offered by the University and you can also browse Turn2us for other potential external grants or scholarships. While students are not eligible for most benefits, if you are disabled, a carer, have a child, live with a partner who is not a student, or you’re on a part-time course, you may be entitled to claim certain benefits. See our information on benefits and tax credits. 
  7. Supplement your student loan with a part-time job 
    Log on to Careers and Placement's Handshake platform to search for part-time jobs and book appointments to help you support yourself financially.
  8. Shop around for reducing money on your bills 
    Use comparison sites to get the best deals for insurance, energy, mobile phones, and more. This is especially important if you rent privately with bills not included. Popular sites include: Confused.com, CompareTheMarket.com, GoCompare.com, and MoneySuperMarket.com.
  9. Create a budget
    Learning to manage your finances can be difficult. We recommend using the Money Advice Service’s useful budget planner, to enable you to assess how you spend your money and how much you will have available each week. If you are unsure on how much you usually spend, you could also use the University of York’s sample living costs - see 'Budgeting' below.
  10. And finally...if you do run into money problems, don’t panic
    An estimated 79% of students run out of money before receiving their next loan instalment. If you do face financial difficulties, get in touch with the Student Hub who will be happy to help.

Budgeting

We have created sample living costs - based on information given to us from existing students - that may help you budget during your studies. Work out your income and how much you are spending in order to stay on track.

Take a look at the Money Advice Service’s budget planner or MoneySavingExpert.com's Student Budgeting Planner, which lists websites and apps that help you build your own personalised budget planner.

Money problems?

If you are encountering unexpected financial problems or experiencing delays with loan payments, see our information about Assistance funding.

If you find that you are consistently struggling to make ends meet, see our dealing with debt advice.

You can also get help from a specialist adviser in the Student Support & Advice Team:

Student Hub