Hey everyone! We have another
inspiring guest poster here today to share with us how she makes her small student budget work!
If you missed the first posts of the series here's where you can find
them:
Hey
Everyone! Bare with me as this is my first guest post anywhere so I am
something of a newbie and have a tendency to ramble on…
I’m
KayleighAnn, a student trying to save for a deposit for my first home whilst
studying, interning in a beautiful craft gallery and in my spare time
volunteering, crafting and blogging, all whilst living on a budget.
The
hardest thing about budgeting is feeling the limits on what I can do; I have to
be really strict with myself so as not to be wasteful.
I find alternatives and
live with some brilliant girls who keep me entertained socially but sometimes,
you know, when there is a new book you’re dying to read, or the beautiful dress
is screaming ‘BUY ME’ through the
shop front and you know you have to wait it out for the sale, save up or forget
it-it can be so hard.
Luckily I am away with the fairies and tend to forget
things easily.
As
a resident of and student in the UK I do enjoy the luxury of a student loan to
cover my fees, rent and bills, eventually I have to pay it back but not until I
graduate and earn a certain amount, the interest is also minimal which is a
bonus. Overall I am left with an allowance of £25 a week or less depressingly worded £100 a month, to live on.
To
make the most of the money I have, I spend time researching online to be
certain I am always getting the most for it and the best deal. Let me give you
some examples of how powerful research can be.
I
visit my boyfriend across the country two weekends a month using trains.Trains
in the UK have different railcards that give you discounts every time you
purchase a ticket to encourage your use of them. I qualify for a 16-25 year old
card that gets renewed every year at my train station for £28 as one of my
birthday gifts and means I save a third off the fare every time I travel
regardless of other offers.
I
book a week in advance, off peak trains and online (on the official website
that has no booking or card fees www.nationalrail.co.uk ) to get the best saving.
I also
found recently that I can get 2.5% of the money back if I go to the website via
www.quidco.com (depending on the website you are aiming to buy from you
can often earn a set amount of money or up to 20% back) By doing all this,
rather than £31.90 my two way ticket is £9, a massive saving of £45.80 per month. (Two weekends, remember..?)
There
are lots of different ways to save, making sure you really need what you are
about to purchase is the most obvious, that you aren’t getting ripped off
another.There are deals, offers and ‘secret’ ways to save you money just have
to find them. My money saving browses online often begin at www.moneysavingexpert.com
Asking
never hurts either. I called my mobile
phone network provider a few months after getting a brand new top of the range
phone and asked for a better deal on my contract that suited my phone and
internet usage. They immediately changed my contract from £32 a month to £13.96
(Its actually £15 but my online usage of their network is so minimal they
deduct that too!) saving £18.04 a month.
Hello
beautiful bargain smart phone with free apps.
In
my experience, a call to cancel or change contracts with most companies for
most things leads to them offering you a better deal in a desperate bid to keep
you as a customer. If they don’t give you a better deal, go to someone who will
(but check if there are fees to cancel early or change contracts/contractors,
no one likes a hidden fee.)
The
best thing about living on a budget is the learning; I am learning more ways
not to waste and finding new uses for so many things so for starters I save
money on bin bags! I also adore thrifting, but then I always have; it is
something my Mother instilled into me at an early age.
If I am completely
honest, there is also that terribly smug feeling and sense of accomplishment
from managing your money well and being able to squirrel some away at the end
of the month into a HIGH INTEREST savings
account. Shop around for the best deal there too, you can move your money to a
different bank every time someone else if offering a better deal guilt free.
Check www.moneysupermarket.com
Mostly
my main aim of saving is for a house deposit when I leave university. To me one
of the biggest money wasters is RENTING.
It’s paying off someone else’s mortgage. I hope that a year after being out of
university I can get the cottage I am desperate for and never have to pay
someone else’s mortgage again.
Being
on a budget means I have given up shopping for things unless they are a
necessity. My parents have invited the other half and I on holiday to Tenerife.
The flights cost just £42.50 return per person thanks to my Easyjet air hostess
sister and her staff flights perk (friends in high places or something?), the
apartment is paid for and with just the spending money I have to save and a suitcase
full of summery outfits to organize it's time to get my thrifting hat on, my
sewing machine out and get creative…
Hopefully
I have inspired at least one person today with some of my money saving website
research skills. Thanks for having me ladies!
If you'd like to read more of Kayleigh's writing and get to know her a little bit better, make sure you check out her blog at: Kayleighshomemadelife.blogspot.co.uk!
Yay! Such great ideas!! Thank you for sharing :).
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