Student Life on a Budget in the UK—Guide by a Reliable Online Dissertation Help UK Company
Our reliable online dissertation help UK experts understand living in the United Kingdom can be a little overwhelming for international students. Everything seems to be so expensive. From rent to utilities and transport, there are so many costs you have to account for to lead a comfortable life here! Thankfully, our online dissertation help officials can assist you with this major issue. We’ve compiled a guide to help you live on a budget. Have a look!
Never Hesitate to Ask for and Use Student Discounts
The great thing about living in the UK as a student is there is no shortage of student discounts. You can easily cut down your overall expenses on food, utilities, clothing, and transport if you regularly make use of the many deals available. Using these discounts everywhere might make you feel cheap, but considering the United Kingdom ranks 31 on the list of the highest living costs in the world, it’s the most practical option. Otherwise, you will be left with barely any money at the end of the month. Remember, until you get a full-time job that allows you to live without worrying about using discounts all the time, it’s important you lead a frugal lifestyle.
So, where can you get amazing deals? Here are some resources you can check out:
1. Student Cards
Here is a list of student cards you can apply for:
- UNiDAYs
- Student Beans
- ISIC
2. Websites
These sites post the most recent deals. They also offer numerous guides:
- Save the Student
- Student Money Saver
3. Tech Discounts
Here are some student discounts from tech companies:
- Adobe Creative Cloud: 60% off
- Apple for education: 10% off on laptops and Mac computers
- HP: 50% off through UNiDAYS
- Microsoft Office: 100% free
- Norton Security:$65 (approximately £46) off on Norton internet security and antivirus systems.
- O2: 20% off your Airtime Plan
- Vodafone: 10% off selected price plans
4. Travel Discounts
Here are some transport discounts for students in the UK:
- 16-25 Railcard: 1/3 off on train travel
- Cross Country: 10% off on advance tickets
- Megabus: 10% off on all coach travel with Megabus
- National Express Young Persons Coachcard: 15% off on coach tickets
- Student Universe: Student discounts on flights, hotels, hostels, and tours
- TransPenine Express: 50% off on advanced fares
5. Clothing Discounts
Following are only a handful of the companies offering 10% off all year round:
- ASOS
- Boohoo
- Burton
- French Connection
- New Look
- Office
- River Island
- Schuh
- Topman
- Topshop
- Urban Outfitters
These are not the only student deals, either. There are many, many more, and a simple online search will list the most recent offers for you.
Create a Budget and Stick to It
For all the people not interested in keeping a close eye on numbers, creating a budget is a tough job. It often requires a deep dive into existing expenditures and keeping track of whatever you spend money on. This can become boring, and students often give up on creating one. However, there’s a quick way to get a rough budget plan you can tweak later.
Let’s get into the two steps of the strategy:
1. Budgeting Strategy for the Non-Numbers-Savvy Student
First, calculate your income and any other money (grants, cash from parents or guardians, etc.) you get for a specific month. This will be your foundation. Next, just note how much is left at the end of the month. Jot down this number for about three months and take an average (remember to remove any “leftover” money from the previous months in the total to keep the data accurate). Now, remove this average from your foundation amount, and you will get a basic idea of your spending habits.
Now, if you have nothing or too little left by the end of the month, cut 10% from your spending amount and make this your first “budget”. Once you know exactly how much you need to cut down on, it will be easier to figure out areas you can compromise, such as not eating out as often, not shopping without discounts, etc. Keep monitoring your budget and expenses for a few months; then, you can sit down and make more budget cuts where you see fit. This will help you get into a saving mindset and even allow you to set up an emergency fund! Our dissertation proposal writers attest this is a great way to plan a budget if you don’t like planning everything down to the T.
2. Easy-to-Follow Strategy of Sticking to the Plan
Once you create a budget, you should stick to it. This means no cheating. However, if you really want to splurge on something, make sure you balance it out by cutting down on other expenses. This way, you won’t go over your budget. A great way to maintain a habit is to identify how much you should spend in a day or week (divide your budget by the number of days or weeks). This will allow you to gauge how much you are allowed to spend. Any amount you save can be carried forward to the next day or week, and any amount you exceed should be compensated accordingly.
Cook Your Own Meals
This may seem counter-intuitive, considering how little time students have on their hands, but you’d be surprised to find out how much you’re spending on eating out. Moreover, if you choose the cheaper, instant food options, they’re only going to contribute to bad health—something you absolutely cannot afford when you have so much to do.
There are two ways you can save precious time when cooking food. Have a look at these options:
1. Option #1: Purchase Groceries and Cook in Bulk
You can visit Tesco or shop online to purchase groceries. It’s cheaper to buy in bulk, so get all the ingredients together. Get them on a Friday night or Saturday morning, and do your meal prep for the week. This way, you will have something ready to cook in a few minutes every day.
But how do you plan?
Well, you can start with a simple online search for easy-to-cook recipes. There are numerous blogs and sites to help you out. Pick out the ones you like and create your list. It’s better to choose recipes with similar ingredients, so you can buy them in bulk (it’s cheaper this way!). So, for example, if you’re cooking chicken steak for one meal, you can cook chicken and veggie spaghetti any other day of the week. This way, you can get the meat in bulk (look for deals) and save money.
If this sounds confusing, don’t worry because you’ll get the hang of it after just a few weeks of tweaking.
Once you have your ingredients, you can cook and freeze whatever you can and sort them day-wise. This way, preparing your meal will only take a couple of minutes of microwaving and tossing.
2. Option #2: Purchase Recipe Boxes
If you don’t want to spend all your weekends cooking, you can use another option: getting pre-made recipe boxes. There are multiple options, such as Gousto and HelloFresh, but you can find more after some research. These recipe boxes come with prepped ingredients, so you spend only a few minutes cooking.
With these recipe boxes, you can take some time daily from your routine to cook and leave most of your weekends free to socialise or catch up on some work.
No matter what option you choose, make sure it fits your monthly budget.
This brings us to the end of the guide. We hope this resource allows you to manage your living expenses in the UK. And if you need assistance in your academic life, you can always reach the experts at Online Dissertation Help.
