Your years as a student can be some of toughest years of your life, both educationally and financially speaking. You are expected to live like a mature adult, but you are also forced to work with a lower income, either from student grants or from a part time job. It can be really hard to make ends meets when you are dealing with a strict student budget. Read up here on these handy tips to get a better understanding of how to make your cash go that bit further every week through inexpensive shopping.

1. Make A List Before You Go Shopping

Going into a supermarket without a pre-written list can spell disaster for your cheap shopping budget, especially if you are already hungry! It can be so easy to scan the aisles and drop items in to the cart, and the cost soon starts to add up. Instead of going in blind, write a strict list of only the items that you really need and use all of your will power to stick to it. It’s one of the best tips for students you can abide by.

2. Cruise The Reduced Aisles

If you are a student, you are probably only shopping for groceries for yourself on a regular basis rather than a family, and because of this you can find great food deals by heading straight for the reduced aisles in your local supermarket. A lot of these items may have been damaged during the day or coming up to their use by date, but for somebody who doesn’t care about a ripped package or the fact that the food has to be eaten within two days can make some amazing savings by ignoring the ‘normal’ aisles and solely concentrating on the reduced section.

3. Ignore ‘Specials’ That You Don’t Need

Some people can get carried away when they enter a grocery store with all of the discount and deal signs that are placed for different items throughout the aisles. The fact is that if you hadn’t seen the deal, you wouldn’t have wanted to buy that item in the first place, so you are not saving money, simply spending more to feel like you have bagged a good deal! Just because something is ‘buy one get one free’, you are still paying for something you didn’t need or don’t want. BOGOF and multi-buys are generally only worth it if they are items you use all the time or if you have some pennies for a special treat.

4. Make The Most Of Charity Shops

Of course, it’s nice to have a few high-end pieces of clothing in your wardrobe, but do you really need to be wearing designer gear to your lectures every day when on a student budget? Visit one of your local charity shops and you will find that you can pick up lots of great garments for a fraction of the price they were originally sold for. This is one of the best tips for students. Not only will you be saving some cash for yourself, but in buying from a charity shop you can leave with the satisfaction that your student budget is also helping out those in need.

Guest Post Biography: Samanphy is currently based in London, coming from Hong Kong. Along with speaking Cantonese, Mandarin and English, she has been learning Spanish since 2010, lived and worked in Spain before and is a fluent speaker.

She is studying Business with Marketing and working in the marketing department at Livety.com – a young startup whose purpose is to help students from all around the world find the best and most suitable accommodation in the UK.

We welcome your feedback to our work.

Email:  General Information   |   Prof. David C. Pecoraro

Thank you!

Daniel & David

###

How To Do Shopping On A Student Budget?

Published:  June 13, 2016