The entire student loan blown up in the first semester itself. Oh yes, I remember being at University two years back, and I know much hasn’t changed. Just like myself, are you struggling with your student budget, looking online for a student budget template and then not sticking to it and yet still wondering, as a student, how to budget and save money?
Here’s a tip. Don’t just rely on saving money if you can’t trust yourself with saving student money. There are plenty of ways to make money besides getting student jobs for quick money.
Guarantor My Loan is all about making a smarter choice with your money. Take for example, the cashback reward we offer- if you repay your first 12 monthly payments, on time and in full, guarantor loan along the agreed plan, then we reward you with cashback equivalent to one monthly installment.
Speaking of Cashback, you may find interest in our post about Cashback as a way to make money, and save student money too.
Get Online
There are plenty of apps and websites that can help you make money.
PostLoop: get paid for posting messages and comments on forums and blogs across the internet.
Return to Earn: All those clothes you bought on student shopping night, but didn’t know what to do with afterwards? This is a free service meaning collecting from your door and taking them away for you. If you’re wondering what they do with all those garments, they recycle.
Note Sale: Share the wisdom. Well getting paid for it isn’t exactly sharing, but you can sell your old lecture notes and study notes. You can set the price and will keep a portion of the sale. This is one of my favourite picks for easy student money.
Know your ability
Spending student money beyond your means , and worse, wasting what you have spent money on needs your attention. Take action now and you will find yourself much better off in as few as 30 days.
Keep a track of your bank statement: creates a sense of panic actually. Knowing how much of your student loan you have (if you are serious about this) will help you restrain unnecessary spending. Now’s the time to overcome any form of peer pressure. Keep track of what you’re spending money on (and scope for cutbacks) and plan for any shortfalls in the near future.
Learn to think about ways to save money
Do you really need to buy a new paperback version of the book when it’s available at the Library or used books easily available? Are you collecting coupons, discount vouchers and points? You may not have thought much about collecting points on each Pizza delivery while living with your parents, but they can be an easy way to treat yourself to a free pizza one night.
Term time may not allow you to work many hours in a student job for easy cash, but it is relatively easy to spot new opportunities for small but easy cash.
I grabbed volunteering opportunities for consumer behaviour and psychology experiments at the Department of Psychology, and found myself earning up to £80 for just 30 minutes of my time. Keep your eyes open and speak to people across departments to know about such opportunities, which may not necessarily be advertised.
Cashback rewards, such as CheckOutSmart, are also an easy way to save on your bills at supermarkets with little effort.
Get advice
It wasn’t uncommon to find students in debt taking payday loans at painful repayment terms and rates. More often they took loans without fully understanding the terms of loan, nor impact it will have on them and quite possibly their credit scores in future.
At Guarantor My Loan we receive many applications from students with spiraling debts and they are drawn towards the lower interest rates. However, the applicants have little understanding of guarantor loans, and for which such applications are likely to be refused.
Remember it's not the end of the world and it's unnecessary to curse yourself for feeling like you are ensnared in what appears to be a bottomless pit of 'debt'. If you find yourself in a worrying situation, you can seek free and confidential advice on managing student debt or student loans, and get help with student money budgeting too. In fact, you are likely to find help on campus itself.
Going to Uni changes who we are as a person, usually for the better, and if you have found yourself in a dire situation with student money and student debt, you can help yourself out and learn a solid life skill to take through. That is, if you are serious about this.
About us
Guarantormyloan is the only direct lender in UK offering one month’s equivalent as cashback to the guarantor if your first 12 monthly instalments of your loan are paid on time and in full. Learn more about our guarantor loans here and about our loan cashback here.