Saving money at university
For students, saving money at University should be a priority aside from getting good grades and having a good time. Here are some ways to save money at University:
• Have a budget of your own - having a plan on how to spend the money aside from tuition fees and all miscellaneous fees at university, will certainly make life easier. List all the necessary things to buy and stick to the budget. Try not to deviate from this plan, but be realistic too. Leave yourself some money aside for entertainment and having fun - thats what university is about!
• Do not spend too much money on food - Obviously eating well is still important, but you can be frugal with your shopping habits. Be practical when buying some foods as there are ways to save on your shopping bills, buy purchasing lesser brands. This also includes making your own tea or coffee and not paying someone £2.50 for the priviledge. The same goes for lunches, why not make your own food and bring it into university with you.
Buy second hand books to save a small fortune at university
• Always find good deals for books - inevitably, books are part of student’s life. Without them, knowledge would never be sufficient enough. Canvass bookshops to find which ones are cheapest, shop around and look on notice boards to find second hand text books from ex students.
• Do not spend too much on fashion - if you are to treat yourself, always find fashionable clothes which will not cost you too much. There are often vintage or discount clothes stores where you can do both.
Fashion is not about how expensive your clothes are, it is about style and how you carry off what you are wearing.
As a student, you should aim to do well to give you the best chance of success in the future. Remember that you can have all you want if you finish your studies, stay out of debt and work hard.
5 great places to hear free music
Spending money on CD’s, MP3’s and vinyl when in debt is no longer a problem, as there are now hundreds of new places to hear, share and discover the next big thing. With the age of streaming now well and truely under way, there are plenty of places to get your music fix, without having to get out your wallet. Here are my favourite 5 places to listen to music for free right now:
Myspace
Myspace is still one of the largest sites on the web to find music.
Myspace, the hugely popular social network is still a great place to discover new music, stream preview tracks and get the latest news on your favourite artists. By allowing users to upload music to their own integrated MP3 player, the site quickly became the most popular site in the world to find and share music. While there are still plenty of maniacs, with their, ear piercingly awful screamo/funk/gabba hybrid creations, you can still find some great music on there.
Last.fm
Last.fm, the music streaming portal is a fantastic way to get free music streamed directly to your speakers. The site has a fair amount of niche or unheard of tracks that you may struggle to find anywhere else.
Another cool feature is the site will recommend artists and tracks that match your tastes, which is a great way to find new musical talent with ease. Read more
Tackling Student Debt
As the new student year is on the horizon, many students will soon realise that university life is not cheap. Despite the increasing expense of further education, there are numerous was to stay in the black and enjoy yourself while you are at it!
If you are about to start university this autumn you could graduate with on average £30,000 in personal debt over the course of your studies. With an estimated expenditure of £10,000 per year over the course of a 3 year degree, there are numerous ways to help cut this figure and reduce your overall level of debt.
Being intelligent with your accommodation choice is just one way to save money over the course of your student career - “Consider staying in shared halls during your second year, not just your first year” suggests Amy Holt, a third year student at Birmingham University. The tendency to move into private accommodation may be somewhat appealing during your later university years, but this can often come with added costs.
It is estimated that students spend around £2,900 on accommodation in their first year of university, rising to £3,300 in second and third years. A saving of around £300 over a year may not sound like much but over a 5 year degree this can be a considerable reduction in your student debt levels - which makes the appeal of university subsidised accommodation an attractive prospect.
At some point, you may find yourself contacted by a debt collection agency, but this is not always as intimidating as it is made out to be. Keep in mind there are laws that these companies must adhere to, and they are acting on behalf of whoever your debt is owed to. If you are courteous and professional while speaking to a representative, they should return the favor.
Along with some of our other money saving tips, we will be continuing a series of student debt management ideas to keep your debt levels to a minimum during your student years.
Change your travel arrangements to help ease Debt
When the purse strings are a little tighter, we can often continue with our normal travel routine and expect things to help themselves. However, this is somewhat unrealistic and can often push you further into debt.
Travel costs are on the rise, so consider your options before going to work or even taking a trip down to the shops. A few things you should ask yourself when considering your transport options are:
Trains are a great way to save money on long journies if booked in advance.
1. Are you always taking the cheapest alternative? Many times walking or taking a bus may be more cost effective than a car, and will be suited to those struggling with shrinking bank balance. Perhaps invest in a bicycle for local trips or your journey to work.
2. Can you make your journies more efficient? - If you are able to share car journies with others you can save a good deal on your petrol costs. Why not consider a car share system for work ? Pick up your colleagues who need a ride into work and allow them to contribute towards the petrol bill to help cover the costs of running the car.
3. Could you work nearer to home? - We would all love to spend more time at home whenever possible, so consider your housing or work location in more detail next time you are thinking of a change. A workplace which is a few miles closer to home could save tens or even hundreds of pounds on petrol costs over a year, so factor this into your work or living area.
4. Are you getting the most out of your transport? - Some types of public transport, such as bus, train or tram routes offer discounts for advance booking or season ticket passes. These offers will save you anywhere up to 50% off a journey (especially for advance bookings), so consider these options when looking to travel. Companies reward individuals who book a long time in adavance by offering saving - so take advantage of these where you can!
Although we often need to travel on a regular basis to get to work, there are still numerous way we can save money while doing so. Planning ahead is key to saving money on your travel costs, so have a look for alternatives to your current travel methods- you might be surprised how much you could save.
7 Quick Debt Busting Ideas
7 quick tips to help save you a few pennies
If your finding yourself up against a mountain of debt, there are numerous ways in which to change your spending habits and get back on the right path to financial security. Outlined below are 7 quick debt busting ideas that you can implement today to help tackle your debt:
1. Shop around online for good deals on any potential purchases you make - Although excessive spending is not great for reducing for your, there are some situations when large pruchases must be made. An hour or two crawling the net for the cheapest deals can save you tens or even hundreds of pounds. This is especially true for electronical and hardware purchases - so don’t buy in high street stores unless you cannot avoid it.
2. Consider going on a cash only allowance - Allow yourself a set budget of say £35 a week to spend and leave your credit cards at home. This prevents you going for the impulse purchase that you don’t neccesarily need. You will also be taught to think alot more carefully about where you spend your money.
3. Make your own lunches for work - Saving money by making your own lunches can add up to a great deal over the course of a year. If you imagine £3 per day that equates to:
£3 x 5 days = £15 a week
£15 x 52 weeks in a year = £780 a year!
If you make your own lunches, you could save upwards of around £390 a year - nothing to be sniffed at.
4. Ask your boss for more hours at work - If you work in a job that is paid hourly, why not add a few hours to your working week. An added 5 hours a week work could add over £1,000 an year to your income, which could help pay off some of your debt repayments.
5. Rent out a spare room - If you have a spare room or even a loft, which could be converted, you should consider renting it out to earn a little extra money on the side. In the UK, this is easier than ever, with the government’s ‘Rent a Room’ scheme, you can collect up to £4,250 tax free from becoming your own landlord.
6. Ask your credit card companies for a better interest rate - Often credit card companies are so eager to keep your business that, when pushed, will sometimes lower your APR. You can achieve this by ringing and saying that you are considering cancelling your credit card and would stay if you were offered a lesser rate.
7. Start earning cash back on your old items - Think about renting out some of your electrical equipment or machinery on Zilok, the peer to peer sharing site. Alternatively, why not list some of your items on Gumtree or eBay to earn a few extra pounds (Gumtree is still free to use for most categories).
It’s true that every little helps, which is why following a few of these ideas can be used to bust that debt!
Zilok - Peer 2 Peer Rental
I recently stumbled across a rental site called Zilok, which effectively works as a peer to peer rental portal, where you and I can rent items to others in our local area. The concept works by allowing users to upload items to a specific category for a small fee, then displays these items to people in the area. Users will then pay the lender, depending on the price they set for their item, and return the item once they are done.
This is a great site to use during the economic downturn as it means you can rent out some of the things you no longer use to earn a little extra money per month. I recommend taking a look at the site and familiarising yourself with how it works.
Also do a couple of test searches, Nintendo Wii in London for example yields two results, with one available for £8 a day and one for £20 a day. This shows that a little shopping around can get you some great deals.
Lenders can also request a deposit for their items, so if you plan to rent something of value, ensure your piece of mind by attaching a refundable deposit to the listing. The transactions are secured by a legal agreement provided by Zilok, but you never can tell with some people.
In regards to cost, the listing fees for products is currently set at 10 pence per month, per item. See below for final transction fees:
| Transaction Total Amount (GBP) | Commission (before tax) |
|---|---|
| 0 to £10 | £1 |
| £10 to £50 | 9% + £0.10 |
| £50 to £100 | 8% + £0.60 |
| £100 to £500 | 7% + £1.6 |
| £500 to £2000 | 6% + £6.6 |
| More than £2000 | 5% + £26.6 |
So going by this, it seems for smaller hires you get a decent deal. I’m going to give it a try with some smaller items to see how i get on. It seems this could be a good idea for helping get out of debt, or even just for a little pocket money.
Are your water bills furthering your debt?
Excessive water wastage can increase your debt
Everyday we spend money unneccesarily on utilities, by leaving taps running, leaving that hallway light on or forgetting to turn down your heating during summer. All these things can contribute to a rising level of personal debt.
If you have been keeping up with our recent debt management and budgeting articles, you find various bite size articles which will can help you save money, however utilities seem to be one area that is often overlooked within the household.
Unlike our gas and electric suppliers, who we can change to find a better rate (which we highly recommend), our water supplier is often fixed, so usually stays the same. Because of this, some basic ways to save money on your water bills include:
- Use a shower rather than a bath. Although showers are commonplace nowadays, some people still are bathing rather than using a shower. An average bath uses between 30-50 gallons of water, however a shower uses around half of that. So that’s a considerable saving on your daily water usage!
- Turn off your taps whilst you brush your teeth. Although this may be a little over cautious, you may have a tap running for 2 or 3 minutes whilst you brush. Add up this volume of water over 2-3 brushes per day it soon adds up.
- If you have a garden or plant lfie that requires constant watering, consider rigging up a water trough that collects rain water from your gutter. When the weather is warmer, you will have collected plenty of rainwater for use on your plants, saving you cost on your water bills.
Even small changes in the way you use water can add up to considerable savings during the year which can be used to repay your debt.
Do hobbies increase your debt?
Often when we attempt to consider why we end up with high levels of debt, we look at the common factors such as rent, mortgages and credit card bills to understand our financial situation. Although these areas are key to understand your personal finances, it is also important to consider your hobbies and whether or not they are adding to your financial worries.
If you have expensive hobbies, such attending sports events, music gigs and theatre trips then you may be living too extravagently when instead, you should be considering putting that money to one side to help clear your debt.
Firstly assess how much your hobbies and leisure activities are costing you. Of course, im not saying stay indoors at all times and never enjoy yourself, but you may need to ease back on the spending for a few months while your finances get back on track. The key to debt management is minimise unneccesary spending when you have more urgent outgoings, such as credit card and mortgage payments.
Although you may be a little tighter on the purse strings for a while, there are thousand of free things you can do that wont involve just staying indoors. Check Time Out for some great suggestions. So get to those free museums, gallerys, fetes and shows and save some money in the process. Your bank balance will thank you in the long run.
Have you been driven to Debt?
Filed under: Debt Management, Money Saving Tips, Mortgages, Savings
As if rising utility bills aren’t enough, now motoring can drive you further into debt. It’s a little bit of a catch 22 situation, as most work requires you to drive, but with rising costs for running a car, this can put you in a difficult situation.
If you are in some financial difficulty and you rely on a car to get around, take note of some of these car insurance money saving tips and you can save a few pennies along the way.
When completing a car insurance form:
- Check if your car has an advanced security device. If so, note the model and number and let your insurers know. They may offer some form of discount.
- If you have had a long period of ‘no claims, note this thoroughly as you will be rewarded with lower premiums.
- If you are an advanced driver ie: you have passed your PassPlus exam, again note this on the application as some insurers reward drivers who have this additional certificate.
- Make sure you obtain quotes from a large number of insurers before signing a contract. There are a number of car insurance comparison sites which will find you the best deal based on your car and personal details.
By following a few of these simple tips you can ensure that the pleasure of driving doesn’t drive you further into the red.
How to avoid Debt
We talk alot on this blog about how to get yourself out of debt, but we should also consider how to avoid debt in the first instance. With so many financial pressures in todays society, we should always be aware of the well known idiom:
“Prevention is better than cure”
With that in mind, it is always advisable to think before you act, because once you are in debt, it can be a vicious spiral of more and more borrowing.
If you are close to the being in the red, consider a few of these simple steps:
Spend within your means - Never intentionally spend outside your budget. The ‘buy now and think later’ attitude is a surefire way to get yourself into debt. Understand your earnings, take away your monthly expenditure and that is your expendable income.
Keep detailed financial records - Set up a simple excel spreadsheet to calculate your spending. Every time you make a purchase, add this to your spreadsheet and this will allow you to understand where your money is going. Don’t miss anything out, even small purchases add up to a considerable amount over a month.
Avoid using credit cards at every opportunity - By adding to your credit card budget when you can spend via other means, you are increasing the likelihood of overspending or forgetting about this outstanding balance. Relying on varying forms of credit for purchases can lead to a dependency on credit cards for purchases, when in reality, you can’t afford the item in the first place.
Think about your savings - There are various ways to increase your assets, through popular saving methods such as ISA’s, savings accounts, bonds and stocks. If you are able to set money aside on a monthly basis, no matter how small, this can create a ‘nest egg’ for any tough financial spells later in your life.
If you are in debt already, you can take something from these tips. Being able to budget effectively is one of the most important aspects of keeping a healthy bank balance.
