students Cost of Living

After tuition fees, rent is likely to be your biggest expenditure. Rents have increased recently, and although it may be easy to feel powerless in the face of this and the wider societal issues around housing in the UK, there are ways you may be able to reduce some of your expenditure on rent.

For example, you may be interested in property guardian schemes. These are where you live in an unused property (to ‘guard’ it) usually for a lower rent than you would expect in ‘standard’ accommodation. Be aware though that you usually have fewer housing rights under these schemes and can be required to move out at short notice.

Another alternative to living in the privately rented sector is to live in a housing co-operative. A housing cooperative is a group of people who manage and control the housing in which they live. Each person is a member of the housing cooperative and has an equal say in decision-making. No member individually owns or makes a profit at the expense of another. All members are expected to take an active role in providing and managing the accommodation and the level of rent the tenants pay reflects the cost of managing the housing.

Now might not be the time to change energy providers (although you might want to take the opportunity to switch to a green energy supplier), but you can make small changes to your energy use that could make a big difference to your bills.

There is lots of really helpful information out there on more sustainable energy use - whether that be ways to reduce your bills or what you need to know about green energy tariffs and suppliers.

• Check out the excellent Money Saving Expert’s resources about cutting the cost of energy, energy saving myth-busting, and their guide to green energy tariffs and suppliers.
• The Energy Saving Trust have great advice on energy efficiency when renting a home.
• Save the Student also have great tips for saving money on energy bills
• The National Union of Students Student Switch Off features a range of tips for those living in rented accommodation, even if the cost of utilities is included in the price of your accommodation.
• Also check out the related Students Organising for Sustainability website for practical and achievable advice for student renters, and what you can do to campaign to make your accommodation more sustainable.

If you are under 19 and in full-time education, you still qualify for free prescriptions and full help towards certain health-related costs. Once you turn 19, you may still qualify for full or partial help with NHS charges for prescriptions/dental treatment/eye tests/glasses etc through the NHS Low Income Scheme.

For further information see the NHS help with health costs website.

Please note that for prescription charges you either receive a full exemption, or you have to pay the full cost. However, if you have regular prescriptions and have to pay for them it can work out cheaper to buy a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) - a prescription currently costs £9.35 per item (as of March 2023), but a PPC costs £30.25 for 3 months or £108.10 for 12 months. For further information see the prescription prepayment certificate page on the government website.

There are lots of ways that you can reduce your travel costs. Save the Student travel page is a mine of helpful information on ways to reduce travel costs and travel deals.

Another great resource for information about all things travel is Host. Host is a student accommodation provider who provide useful information about the 18+ Student Oyster Card, 16-25 Railcard (even if you are over 25 and not officially a ‘young person’ you are still eligible for a 16-25 Railcard or a Young Persons Coachcard if you are on a full-time course), Young Persons Coachcard and International Student Identity Card (ISIC) in one handy place.

Alternatively, a great way to cut travel costs is by asking yourself if you really need a car. For many students living in places well-served by public transport – or living within reasonable walking distance of campus - a car is a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘need to have’. Even leaving aside the environmental impact of fossil fuel use, a car can be a significant drain on your finances, with the cost of repairs, insurance, MOT etc. If you are in an area where it is possible, you could always consider investing in a bike, or using a bike share scheme. Cycling UK has great information on their site on all aspects of cycling and has a helpful guide to public bike share schemes.

If you are on a full-time course you are generally exempt from council tax liability. Your local authority will want to see proof that you are a full-time student – you can request a council tax exemption letter from your Student Information office that you can send to your local authority.

Whilst students on part-time courses are not exempt from council tax, if you are on a low/no income you may be able to claim some help towards your council tax through your local authority’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

There are lots of ways to reduce what you spend on your shopping and even earn whilst you shop.

By signing up to cashback sites (which should be free to do) you can get paid for your purchases. The sums range from pennies for groceries to more than £100 for some mobile or broadband contracts. Check out Top cashback and Quidco.

We’d also suggest having a look at money saving experts guide to cashback websites to learn more about how cashback works.

You can also find top coupons, vouchers and cashback available through the following pages on Money Saving Expert, which are updated regularly:

• Guide to Supermarket Coupons
• Discount Voucher Codes

Groupon also offers great discounts on experiences, eating out to everyday essentials.

Another good app to check out is Too Good to Go, which allows you to buy food from local cafes, restaurants etc. that might otherwise end up wasted.

When doing your food shopping it could be a good idea to shop around as some supermarkets are cheaper than others – you can find out which supermarkets are the cheapest by checking out the 2024 Which? guide to the cheapest supermarkets.

You might also want to check out the Save the Students’ guide to saving money while grocery shopping which offers tips to help you reduce your grocery bill further.  

Cooking your own food can generally be a lot cheaper than eating out or ordering a takeaway – if you are not confident about your ability to cook there are plenty of websites that can help, such as BBC goodfood.

You can also find lots of great resources to explore through Love Food Hate Waste.

We've partnered with TOTUM, the UK's top student discount card and app, to give our students a one year Student+ card (RRP £14.99) for free when they enrol with us. You'll gain access to hundreds of offers on food and essentials, beauty, fashion, travel, tech and so much more. Your TOTUM card also acts as an accredited proof of age ID.

Some other student discount sites and apps to check out would be Unidays, StudentBeans and Studentdiscount.co.uk.

The best thing you can do to gain control of your money situation is to draw up a budget – basically a list of your income (money you have coming in) and your expenditure (money you have going out).

Crucially, it needs to be a realistic budget – and then, once you have a good idea of your real income and expenditure, you can look at ways of trying to ensure you don’t have more money going out than coming in.

There’s great information out there to help you with this – a really good place to start is the student budgeting planner.

This site, as well as explaining the basics of how to draw up a budget, also gives links to a number of free student budgeting apps and spreadsheets, and budgeting top tips - some of our favourites are:

The money mantras

Before spending anything, ask yourself: Do I need it? Can I afford it? If the answer to either of these questions is ‘no’ don’t buy it. Check out the Money Saving Expert's Money Mantra.

The Demotivator tool

Enter items like takeaways, daily coffees/snacks etc and it’ll tell you how much you spend per year. Then print out the results and stick it to your wall or fridge as a constant demotivating reminder. Access the Demotivator Tool.

The Boost your income guide

You'll find some ingenious ways that could help you to increase your income in the Money Saving Expert's guide to boosting your income.

Sometimes what may seem like a harmless habit can start to turn into something more serious and can start to spiral out of control. Gambling and gaming are easily accessible; research shows that 79% of students have gamed, whilst 47% have gambled in the last year.

It can be easy to be drawn into trying to win money or using gambling and gaming as an escape from the pressures of studies and life, but if you are worried about whether or not you might need to make changes to your approach to these, or if you would like advice, you can contact YGAM for Students, an organisation with in-depth information especially for students.

There is also lots of information on Gaming and Gambling on the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) website, which is aimed at lots of different levels of participation and has both self-help materials and a cost calculator to help students understand the real cost of a habit.

Cryptocurrency

Many students are becoming increasingly interested in the world of cryptocurrency and there are many resources which provide information and education on this and what the potential dangers are.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) give an understanding into the basics and risks, and Save The Student have useful “what’s it all about” articles:

• Crypto Basics
• How to Buy Bitcoin
• NFT Explained

Adult work

Some students choose to undertake adult or sex work as a way of making an additional income, and whilst this may be a positive experience for some, it can also impact negatively on mental health and studies. If you are affected by this, you can always talk to your campus Wellbeing Team or Mental Health Advisor who can provide a confidential and safe space for you to seek appropriate support and advice.

Deposits

You might feel tempted to send a deposit to reserve or secure a property before viewing, especially if it looks great online. But it’s safer to view the property and make sure it lives up to these expectations before sending any money.

There are now limits on what landlords and letting agents can charge for holding deposits, the max you should pay is 1 week’s rent.

We’d say avoid sending a full deposit before you’ve received a tenancy agreement and are serious about taking on the property. Remember for most fixed term tenancies, once you’ve signed, this is legally binding and it can be very difficult to get out of this contract, so it’s best to feel comfortable it’s the right move for you. Again, there are limits on how much deposit you pay, this should only be equal to 5 or 6 weeks of rent.

End of tenancy

When you’re coming to the end of your tenancy, make sure to take videos and pictures of the property before you leave. This might be useful if you need to challenge your landlord on deductions they’ve made from your deposit.

It's also a good idea to take lots of pictures when you first move in and ask your landlord for an up-to-date inventory. This will help you evidence the standard of the property when you first moved in.

It's also key to check your deposit has been protected correctly, for most private renting tenancy agreements, your deposit needs to be protected in a government approved scheme. This helps keep your money safe if you don’t agree with some deposit deductions at the end of your tenancy.

Scams

Unfortunately, housing scams do exist so it’s really important to look out for signs to avoid them.

A key sign might be ‘too good to be true’ rent prices. If you’ve been looking for a while and suddenly spot a property with much lower rent than the average price in that area, it’s worth being cautious before sending any money.

We’ve already flagged not sending money before a viewing, if a landlord is pressuring you to do so alarm bells should be ringing. Likewise, if your landlord says they don’t need to complete any checks like right to rent or credit checks, or that you don’t need a guarantor, this might suggest the property is not legitimate.

If you’ve found the property on Gumtree or Facebook, we’d suggest taking extra precautions. Searching on Rightmove, ULaw Student Pad or letting agents’ websites are best for finding genuine rental listings.

In the UK, fraud makes up 41% of all crime and around 80% of fraud offences are enabled through computer technology.

More than one in ten 18-24 year olds have been the victim of a phishing attack, double that of those aged 55+.

How to spot a scam

Scam emails (known as ‘phishing’ emails) are often sent in bulk and are unlikely to contain both your first and last name.

Check the quality of the communication - misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are common signs of bogus emails or text messages.

Fraudsters will try to create a sense of urgency as a way of pressuring you in to giving your personal details. For example, they’ll say things like ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’.

A scam which we see increasingly being used against students involves a fake job offer. Check out Which's Guide to Job Scams to help you better identify them.

How to avoid these scams

Keep an eye out for any emails, phone calls or SMS messages you think are suspicious.

Always ensure that you’re using a secure website when submitting sensitive information online and don’t post personal info on social media pages.

If you receive a phone call/email/text that you’re suspicious about, don’t feel pressured in to giving the requested details.

Remember, if something sounds too good to be true it probably is!

What to do if you've been scammed

If you've already responded to a scam, end all further communication immediately.

Call your bank as soon as possible, explain the situation and cancel any payments that haven't yet been made. For speed and ease, you can call the 159 hotline instead – this will connect you directly with your bank.

Report cybercrime and fraud in the UK to Action Fraud:

• Online - Action Fraud Police UK
• By telephone - 0300 123 2040.
• If you are deaf or hard of hearing you can use textphone 0300 123 2050

You can also find some good information in the stop scams article on the Money Saving Expert website.

One of the best ways of reducing the risk of financial hardship is to not be tempted by Buy Now, Pay Later offers and short term borrowing, which could have an impact on credit scores and increase the risk of slipping into debt. Save The Student has an article on buy now, pay later, which explains the risk of schemes such as Klarna, Clearpay and Paypal Credit, and the potential impact it could have on your finances.

Buy Now Pay Later lacks some vital consumer safeguards which you should be aware of.

You might also want to check out the buy now, pay later guide from Money Saving Expert which tells you what to look out for.

PayDay loans and credit

Short term or ‘PayDay’ Loans often have greatly inflated interest rates and repayments which can be difficult to keep up with, but it is very important to keep making debt repayments, even if the temptation is to bury your head in the sand during challenging times. An alternative to this type of loan could be a loan from a Credit Union, which is generally thought to be more of an ethical alternative to the for-profit sector, and are also able to help with savings schemes services, such as for Christmas or holidays. Find a Credit Union near you.

If you are struggling with debt there are several free, independent debt advice charities which can help:

• Stepchange
• National Debtline

Insurance

It is important to have insurance! There are many companies which will provide insurance for students, but do compare what each one offers before taking out a policy - for example, find out what excess (if any) there is on a claim, and what discounts might they offer for students.

You might also want to check out the Save the Student guide to Student Contents Insurance to learn what to look out for.