10 ways to save money as a student

This post was originally written for Student Nannies blog, click here to see the original article.
Autumn term is coming to a close and odds are you’re finding yourself at the end of your student loans. With money running short, Christmas presents and parties adding up, you need some money saving tips to make it until the January loan installment. Here’s my top ten thrifty tricks for students….

Cook with friends. Food shopping for one can be quite expensive as often you will purchase larger quantities than you need just because it is the smallest amount available. Shopping and cooking with friends allows you to share the workload, take advantage of special bulk offers and reduce the cost of your weekly shop. 
Buy your textbooks secondhand. Textbooks are extortionately expensive, especially from the campus bookstore. Odds are you can find a much more reasonably priced second-hand copy from someone in the year above you. Check to see if your department runs book sales or see if there is a Facebook buy/sell page for your course. 
Don’t pay for a TV license if you don’t need it. If you are a student, your parents have a TV license and you are watching on a device not plugged into the mains, you do not need to pay for a license. If you do require a license don’t forget to reclaim the summer months you are not living away from home. For more information to help you understand if you need to pay click here.
Take advantage of student discounts. Both NUS and UniDays offer great student discount systems well worth subscribing to. After all why pay full price when you don’t have. It is also always worth asking if a store/restaurant offers a student discount as it is not always clearly advertised (especially for smaller non-chain companies). Don't forget you can use conjunction with some student deals (Quidco give you cashback when buying a 16-25 railcard)
Ask a member of staff what time their supermarket marks down food items and schedule your shops for that time. Typically supermarkets will do their biggest reductions at about 7/8pm. Most supermarkets have a designated reduced section for different departments (chilled, fresh, dry goods) so it is a good idea to familiarise yourself where these are in your local store. 

Get the best student bank account for you. Whilst the biggest selling point for most student bank accounts is their overdraft (not something we advocate dipping into) they will offer additional freebies including NUS cards, train or coach discount cards. Look at which of these freebies will be of most benefit and value to you when deciding who to bank with.

Most students will work part-time during their studies in order to bring in some extra income. Working as a Student Nanny offers a great opportunity for flexible work schedules, avoids zero hours contracts and provides the chance for you to  network with local professionals and gain valuable work experience. StudentNannies.com is a great place to look for nannying work suited to fit around a student’s busy schedule. If you are looking for something even more flexible consider getting an online job that allows you to work from home. 

Being on a tight budget doesn’t have to mean no fun. From free festivals, museums and galleries wherever you live there is sure to be plenty of free (or low cost events to go to). Don’t forget events on campus are also often low cost or free as they know students are on a small budget. You can also get 2for1 movies for the whole year for less than £2 (learn how ) making it a great budget outing as you can combine it with student price tickets for an extra discount.

When the next student loan comes pays out in January there are couple of things you can do to make your money go even further next term :
Pay your rent first. Most landlords if you ask are happy for you to pay several months upfront, just be sure to ask first so they know that is what you are doing. When you get your termly student finance in, pay that term’s rent. 

Pop the remaining money into a separate account. Pay yourself an income. Odds are you get student finance three times a year, you might also get some sporadic scholarships or grants. When money comes in so irregularly it can feel tricky to establish a budget. Open up a separate account and set up a standing order for your ‘salary’. Depending on how easy you find it to manage your money you may wish to ‘pay yourself’ weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Just do what best suits you and your spending habits. 
With some creative ideas you can make living on a student budget a liberating not limiting experience.

Earn Money At University Nannying

With the cost of childcare skyrocketing and students with an ever increasing need to have a income capable of sustaining them whilst studying (aka not national minimum wage). Students have for years turned to babysitting and au paring as a great way to gain supplemental income whilst still being flexible to allow your studies.

But it can sometimes be tricky to find nannying jobs as a student with no formal childcare qualifications. Whilst local listed advertisements can be great, especially if you university has a site, and online sites such as childcare.co.uk can help with the search of finding nannying jobs neither are specifically aimed at students.

We recently came across a site called student nannies. It aims to put parents in need of flexible child care in contact with univeristy students looking for work around their studies. They aim to help students find regular work and intern a regular income rather than struggling with zero-hours contracts and the uncertainty they bring.

However, the perks to students extend beyond the new paycheque but also the opportunity to intern and gain CV enhancing opportunities. One user described how she was able to obtain and internship through her networking with her nannying family opening up opportunities that would by have other wise been afforded to her.

The amount you can earn depends on the family and location (London jobs pay more, and there are more London listings on the site), but remember you are entitled to the national minimum wage (if your employer counts you as a worker). The only downside to the site is that it is not shown initially on a listing how much the family are willing to pay. 

Student Nannies advises parents to pay a rate that reflects babysitting in their areas. Outside of London this is about £8/£10 an hour and inside of London £10/£12 an hour. If there is additional tutoring involved in the role then the hourly wage can quickly increase to £25/£30 per hour. This can be a great way to tap into the earning potential of a talent be it playing the piano or maths.

What are you experiences of nannying / babysitting as an income stream. 

Looking for more student friendly jobs check out this list of online jobs 

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If you are new to our blog, we are all about finding new ways for students and millennials to make and save money. Here are some of our favourite sites and products to help you out:

• Start a blog. Blogging is our side-hustle just over a year ago we didn't think I would bring us any income . You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
• Save money with gift cards Whether its for buying clothes, your weekly shop or dining out use Zeek to buy discounted gift cards to get more bang for your buck. 
• Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks is a passive way to earn gift cards. Over the course of a year you could earn $500.  Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “points called SB” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. Receive $5 for signing up today.
• Try matched betting. Matched betting is a great way to may easy money online. Despite the name it is not gambling and could see you earn £500-£1000 a month for only a couple of hours work a day see here and here. For your free trial head to profit accumulator or join the Facebook 'getting started' group.  
• Sign up for a cashback site like Quidco. where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free £10 bonus!

*This post contains affiliate links, all opinions are our own*

How to start a blog to make money from home

Are your a college student looking to earn more money? Trying to create a side hustle to boost your income, perhaps your trying to pay off your student loans, get out of debt or establish an emergency fund. Whatever your financial goal blogging could be a great option for you.

Note: This post contains affiliate links

Start a blog to earn money
Blogging can be a great way to earn money and can produce different income steams. Whatever you are passionate about from cooking to music there is opportunity for you to earn money blogging. 

Starting from the bottom.
You might not have much technical knowledge, but do not fret. You don't need to be a master coder or a journalist to be a successful blogger. 

Starting a blog
Starting a blog can feel like and overwhelming process and when I first started I wish I knew what I do now. The internet is full of great resources on blogging but there are a few key elements when starting out. 

Deciding your niche/topic  
what are you interested and passionate about. What do you want to share with in your life to the world, the options are limitless the most important thing is that you have a genuine interest in that area.

Choosing a name
This can be quite tricky and definitely not something to be rushed into as your blog name is your brand, you can even use your own name (Chris and I's surname is Scott which is where SavingScotts came about). Whilst you can change it at a later date it can be a kerfuffle so try to choose something timeless. 

Find a domain name
Once you have chosen your name you want to make sure that a relevant domain is free, you might also want to check that its free on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram as this will allow continuity. 

Most people will chose a .com version (but you may wish to buy other formats in addition). Head to GoDaddy.com to check the availably of the domain(s) you want. For the beginner blogger they have some great prices including a Special offer of .COM or .CO.UK just £0.99!

Blog host
When you first start out, using Blogger is a great free option and you are able to link your personalised domain to it easily. It allows a significant number of features and allows you to keep your expenditure for your blog log when first starting. 

Blogger also allows easy integration with google Adsense, allowing you to integrate an instantaneous revenue stream. 

As your blog grows you may wish to switch to self hosting on a site such as WordPress.org. The transition from blogger to WordPress is relatively simple, and allows you to make the switch when you are ready. 

If you are looking to move to WordPress I would recommend using BlueHost. If you purchase through my link, you can get hosting as cheap as $3.95 a month! They even have a handy guide on how to move between Blogger and WordPress and their 24/7 support are there to help you through the transition. 

Earn money from home 
Blogging is something you can do from home, around your schedule. Blogging can truly help you gain financial freedom. As a blogger income can come from a variety of different sources including advertising, affiliate programmes and sponsored posts. 
We continue to find google ads to be a solid steady source of blog income and it allows you to start earning from day one. 
For affiliate programmes we primarily use Awin (formally affiliate window) they allow you to keep you affiliates in one place making the whole process simple to manage. 

How to find UK scholarships

Finding scholarships to help with the costs of being a student can be a little tricky, but being able to get scholarships during your degree can be such a huge help. Scholarships are not as prevalent in the UK and there are far fewer "full ride" scholarships but they do exist and knowing where to look is the trick to success. 
Even a few hours work in searching and applying for scholarships can pay of hugely and scholarships are great to include on job applications as it shows that institutions are willing to invest in your potential.  
We have both been fortunate to receive several scholarships during our degrees and it has been of such a benefit to us. To date between the two of us we have received £17,000 in scholarship awards, and we are still applying for more whilst we are completing our degrees. That is why we are sharing how you too can find some amazing scholarships to help with the cost of university education. 

The Scholarship Hub is one of our favourite sites for searching for scholarships. We use the free option and have found it to be great, but there is a premium option that offers additional features. The Scholarship Hub allows you to search for scholarships based on subject, university or universal generic scholarships. They have a comprehensive easy to use database for many UK scholarships.

If you are already enrolled in a degree, or know where you are going to apply to the first thing to do is check your university for the scholarships on The Scholarship Hub, while not an exhaustive database it is a good start. If you are unable to find any scholarships on the site specifically for your university's course,  then move to searching your individual university's website.   There may be some more generic scholarships for those who are first generation students or care leavers. You may also find that a department offers specific scholarships, sometimes sponsored by a company. It is also worthies contacting your department office, as there may be scholarships which are not publicly advertised.  In my first year, I managed to pick up a scholarship, which was offered departmentally and not publicly advertised because I asked the school office if there was anything available. Also keep an eye out for posters on campus and emails advertising scholarships.

You can also use The Scholarship Hub to search for Degree apprenticeships and sponsored degrees which involve both an educational and vocational element. They typically take longer to complete, but can mean you can study with little or no costs. For example, KPMG offers a six-year programme where all your tuition and accommodation fees are covered for the duration of your degree, and you have a guaranteed job at the end. 

Degree apprenticeships are a "new" government initiative to allow students to graduate debt free and work during their studies allowing you to gain work experience while studying. They are not really new but just bringing back an old concept, in fact, Rebecca's dad obtained his degree through a degree apprenticeship scheme in the early 1980s through Rolls Royce. 

The downside is that you can expect to spend much of your evenings and weekends studying as the week is spend working.  If the 'typical student' experience is important to you, then a degree apprenticeship may not suit you. Also, not every sector is covered by degree apprenticeships, so this is another factor to consider whether they cover the subject you wish to study as the sectors are STEM-heavy.

There are currently 12 different industry sectors offering Degree Apprenticeships.

• Aerospace Engineering
• Aerospace Software Development
• Automotive Engineering
• Banking Relationship Manager
• Business & Finance
• Chartered Surveying
• Construction
• Defence Systems Engineering
• IT/Digital
• Electronic Systems Engineering
• Laboratory Science
• Nuclear Science

The NHS sponsorship scheme can help those studying accredited Medicine and Dentistry courses.  For those on the usual five-years undergraduate programme, the NHS will assist in the 5th year of study. While those on the accelerated four-year graduate programs the NHS Bursary Scheme will pay £3464 towards the cost of tuition in years 2 through 4. 

Did you have any scholarships whilst at university? How did you find and apply for them? 

How we budget as college students

Budgeting a student can be a big challenge. Often its the first time budgeting. Having a budget and sticking to it is the key to being successful with your finances at all stages in life and being a student is no exception. However, due to the intermittent nature of income and expenditure it can feel overwhelmingly challenging. When this post goes live I will be in my last ever exam in Law school and though Im done with my studies Chris still has a few more years on his Engineering degree. As students there a few things we have learnt along the way that can be done to make the whole process easier and more manageable.

As well as sharing some tips we have learnt that have helped us budget we are also including in this post an editable excel budget spreadsheet that is tailored towards student budgets. Click on the image below to be direct to Google Drive where you can download the spreadsheet

1. Knowing when all payments are going in and out.  
They key to managing a budget where this are intermittent is being in the know and consequently in control. In our budget spread sheet we note when our income streams are paid in by adding the comment boxes to annotate. Knowing how long a payment needs to last you helps you avoid big fluctuations in finances.
Things that count as income in a student budget include:
- Student Finance
- Grants/Scholarships
- Part-time work (term time)
- Holiday work
- Parental financial assistance
We also have on our calendar the dates of all our bills that come out through the month via standing order and direct debt and we have the amounts of each bill next to the date. I do this because before we were married I could just about remember the dates for all my expenses, but once we added Chris' stuff into the situation it just became too much for me to remember and left me feeling stress. Now I wonder why I didn't use a calendar before as it just makes life so much easier. For bigger, infrequent bills such as annual insurance we put a reminder on the calendar the week before its due (so if money needs to be transferred we have time) and then a note on the day its due.

2.  Budget for an academic year
When we make our budget spreadsheets we budget from September for 12 months rather than following the normal calendar year which most budgets apply. This allows us to see our expected income and expenditure over an academic year and avoid having to deal with two academic years at a time. We do this because it is easiest for us to project that time frame as most of our income is grants and scholarships and these are paid on an academic year basis. Taking this longer term perspective (rather than just looking at term time) allows you be aware if you need to make any changes for your budget to keep your balance in the green.

3. Pay your self a monthly income
We get student finance in three instalments and scholarships in two and they all come in at awkward times. We have easy access savings accounts linked to our current account and we divide up our total anticipated income over the year and pay ourselves a 1/12 each month. This works for us right now because we have 12 equal rent payments but when I was in halls my rent was paid in three instalments (the same as student finance) so what I would do is wait for the rent to go out (as it was only a day or so later) and with the remaining money divide it into the number of months it needed to last and put the other months money in an easy saver. To make things even easier (so you don't even have to remember to 'pay' yourself set up an automatic payment for each month.

How do you help keep your budget organised with the fluctuations of student life?

Get New Textbooks for Free

Textbooks can be very expensive (especially Law textbooks). There are a couple of standard ways of saving on the cost. Borrowing from a library, renting the textbook, buying a second hand copy or sharing a copy with a friend. Whilst all great ways to save money on textbooks they each are not perfect solutions and have little problems about them. We are going to share with you a trick we found to get brand new textbooks for FREE. This trick saved me hundreds of pounds and it could help you save big too, I only wish I had known about it sooner. 

During my second year I began reviewing books for Oxford University Press who are the main publisher for the law textbooks my degree required. It generally requires me to complete surveys and even if I don't own the book already my university library generally will have it. Other tasks include in-depth book reviews where they will send me a book to keep (and I sell it on) but the tasks rarely take longer than 1-2 hrs. There is also the opportunity to go to discussion panels (with all expenses paid for). 

Presently they only take students from the following subjects:

• Bioscience
• Business
• Chemistry 
• Economics
• Law 
• Politics 
• Psychology

Through doing the reviewing I get paid in OUP book vouchers meaning that the cost of all my final year text books were covered (over £200 worth). Plus it meant I can have brand new books so at the end of the academic year I can sell them on (I am often able to recoup about 50% rrp provided they are in good condition). For some reviews they have sent me free books and for those I'm not going to use anymore I took the opportunity to sell them at our Law Society's annual book sale.

How do you save money on text books?

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If you are new to our blog, we are all about finding new ways for students and millennials to make and save money. Here are some of our favourite sites and products to help you out:

• Start a blog. Blogging is our side-hustle just over a year ago we didn't think I would bring us any income . You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as £3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
• Save money with gift cards Whether its for buying clothes, your weekly shop or dining out use Zeek to buy discounted gift cards to get more bang for your buck and get £5 free when you make your first purchase through our link. 
• Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks is a passive way to earn gift cards. Over the course of a year you could earn £500.  Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “points called SB” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. Receive $5 for signing up today.
• Try matched betting. Matched betting is a great way to may easy money online. Despite the name it is not gambling and could see you earn £500-£1000 a month for only a couple of hours work a day see here and here. For your free trial head to profit accumulator or join the Facebook 'getting started' group.  
• Sign up for a cashback site like Quidco. where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free £10 bonus!

*This post contains affiliate links, all opinions are our own*

Boost your income as a student

So the summer holidays are here and classes are out, but your wallet is looking very empty from the last semester. Here are some great options for summer work that students can do that can boost you income. But not all of these options aren't limited to over the summer period and could extent to part time work during term time allowing you to supplement your income even further. 

Server / Waitress - Depending on where in the world you live the pay will vary drastically. In Europe you will get a much higher basic rate and less tips where as in america the basic rate can be a fraction of those seen in Europe but tipping is considerably more higher. Things to consider is whether you want to work evenings and weekends as many times you will work those hours. In addition, being on your feet all shift long can be very tiring. However, if your bubbly and love talking to people then being a waitress may a great job. 

Seasonal attraction work such as at summer camps and amusement parks. The hours for these CAN be more sociable but it you are work as a residential leader at a camp then you may have unusual hours. These jobs can be great fun and most of these types of employers will be looking for some summer only staff meaning that they are keen to employ students. 

Babysitting / Mowing/ Garden work/ Car washing- For these types of jobs try advertising in your local community for work. Consider knocking on doors and handing out leaflets to get your name know. Perform well at your job and referrals will come in due to the community nature of your work. As people you work for, friends and family if they know anyone that may be in need of your services.

Tutoring- Many parents will be looking for tutors over the summer to help their children especially if their child is preparing for important exams in the coming academic year. If you have good grades than this is a great way to make money and often pays very well (approx. £20 p/h). Make sure to take the time to properly plan lessons and listen to the need of the parents and the student. Tutoring is great because if a parent is happy with your work they will often refer you to their other parent friends making it easy to pick up lots of work. Consider adverting on a online bulletin board (such as gumtree) if you have not tutored before as many online tutoring posting sites will require a number of references. 

Summer on campus jobs. These may include working in campus shops or as a cleaner during the move in/out period. These may also be a number of student academic jobs. I am currently working as a researcher in my law school over the summer (think mini PHD style job) and am loving it as it relates to my subject and pays well (approx. £18p/h)

Summer Internships for big companies in certain sectors are not voluntary but paid (and is becoming increasingly common). This is a great way to garner industry experience whilst still not letting you bank account dwindle. Applications for this type of work often have to be made far earlier than the other previously mention due to the competitive nature of internships. 

Etsy/Ebay- consider making and selling something online, though be aware of sellers fees on sites such as Etsy and Ebay and ensure you list at a price that makes it financially viable. This can be a great option to do in addition to another job until your business takes off. 


What work did/do you do as a student over summer vacation?

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If you are new to our blog, we are all about finding new ways for students and millennials to make and save money. Here are some of our favourite sites and products to help you out:

• Start a blog. Blogging is our side-hustle just over a year ago we didn't think I would bring us any income . You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
• Save money with gift cards Whether its for buying clothes, your weekly shop or dining out use Zeek to buy discounted gift cards to get more bang for your buck. 
• Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks is a passive way to earn gift cards. Over the course of a year you could earn $500.  Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “points called SB” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. Receive $5 for signing up today.
• Try matched betting. Matched betting is a great way to may easy money online. Despite the name it is not gambling and could see you earn £500-£1000 a month for only a couple of hours work a day see here and here. For your free trial head to profit accumulator or join the Facebook 'getting started' group.  
• Sign up for a cashback site like Quidco. where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free £10 bonus!

*This post contains affiliate links, all opinions are our own*