Student Money Advice Guide

Being a student is expensive, it can cost over £10,000 a year covering all your rent, fees, and other bills, so it's important to know how to look after your money when you first become a student so that you get the most from what money you have, and don't end up with debt problems that are too big to deal with.

Draw up a budget sheet

The very first thing to do, is to draw up a workable budget sheet. This should show all your income, be it from parents, grants, part time jobs or other things. It should also show all your out goings, your course fees, rent, money for food, even spending money so you can go out and socialise. How much you have coming in, how much is going out, and what you can and can't afford.

Borrowing money

If you find yourself unable to meet all your outgoings it may well be necessary for you to borrow money from somewhere. Unfortunately this is the case for the majority of students today. When you do this, look at the options, and choose wisely. Official government backed student loans should be your first port of call. These are the cheapest loan you are ever likely to receive, with a current rate of 1.5% (dropping back to 0% in September). There are two types of loan, one that covers tuition fees, and another for maintenance (living costs). You won't have to pay these debts back till after you have graduated, and at that point, then you will only start paying it off when you are earning over £15,000 a year. If you feel you are unable to afford these payments, there are other solutions. A debt management company could be the answer, these would allow you to pay back an affordable amount.

Student banking

Some banks offer special accounts for students. These accounts generally have reasonably good interest rates compared to normal accounts, and at the same time many of them offer interest free overdrafts for the length of time that you are a student. Although obviously it's best to try not to go into debt, you may have no choice from time to time, and therefore having a free overdraft facility available to you could be very useful. Do be careful that you're not just opening the account because it offers good perks like some free cinema tickets though. Make sure you are getting the best deal for your money in terms of interest rates and banking facilities primarily.

Credit cards

You are now an adult, with all the rights of an adult, but none of the experience yet. It can be very tempting to take out credit cards and use them to pay for extras that you want, from a pizza here to a new CD there, the problem is, that if you don't budget for these things, you will end up with a debt that you hadn't expected to have, and if you use a credit card to pay for them, you have to remember that credit cards charge interest. If you do decide to go for a credit card, try to make sure that you pay it off every month without fail. This way, you will avoid increasing debt and charges that you can't afford.

Student discounts

There are many shops online and off which offer discounts to students. These discounts `are given as an incentive to you to buy from that store. Sometimes these discounts are an excellent thing and can save you a lot of money, however, it's important to remain savvy and check that the store that is offering you a 10% student discount doesn't charge 15% more than an alternative store that doesn't offer any discount. Ask at your college or university about the NUS Extra card, and look at websites such as studentbeans.com and snapfax.co.uk which are both sites aimed at students and focused on helping them to get discounts with their favourite retailers.

Save money simply

It is possible to save quite a bit of money, by simply changing how you do something. Avoid buying lots of takeaways by keeping snack food and things like frozen pizza in your store cupboard. You can buy a reasonably good pizza from the supermarket for around £3 these days, but one of a similar size from a pizza takeaway will probably cost you around £10.