Money-saving Tips for Students

Students aren’t known for their extravagant lifestyles. Rather, the stereotypical view of a student is of them sitting on a tatty sofa eating a Pot Noodle before going out to find a bar with the cheapest drinks. 

Although you’d be hard-pushed to live a luxury lifestyle on a student’s means, there are ways you can save money during your time at university. 

Below are some money-saving tips for students. 

Reasons to switch to LED lighting

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One home feature that has a big impact on the look and feel of a room is lighting. Similar to how the colours, textures, fixtures, fittings, furniture and accessories in a room can change the style and feel of a room, the amount and types of lighting in a room can drastically change the room.

The lighting fixture that you choose not only provides functionality by lighting up a room but it is also a feature in it’s own right. The style of the lighting fixture helps create the room’s look - a minimalistic fixture can help create a modern, minimalist style or an ornate lamp with stained glass can be a statement piece and work well in a traditional or shabby chic styled room.

The type of light fitting also matters. In fact the lights in a room can impact on the feel of a room. A room with plenty of lights or bright lights can make a room feel bright and fresh or too cold and stark whilst a room with minimal lights can create either a cosy atmosphere or make the room feel dark and dingy. 

When thinking about a room’s lighting one of the decisions you have to make is what type of lighting do you want. There are a number of options available on the market with one popular option being LED lighting.

In recent years, thanks to improved technology and the ban of incandescent bulbs followed by a ban on halogen bulbs the popularity of LED bulbs has increased with plenty of LED suppliers in the UK available to source the perfect LED lighting for your home.

Protecting your future finances by making smart decisions today

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Keeping your personal finances in check can be tricky, regardless of your salary. Even a decent income might only just help you to cover your everyday costs of living, and what about savings for the future? It can be hard to plan ahead when you’re so focused on present-day costs. However, it’s important to think of your financial situation in 5, 10, or even 20 years. Let’s look at some ways in which you could protect your future finances by making smart decisions today.

8 Ways to save when you're strapped for cash

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When money is tight it can be hard to find ways to put money to one side, especially if you’re on a low income. Not having any funds to fall back on can make things difficult when you have an unexpected expense, but with a little planning, there are a number of ways you can save up. Here are 8 ways to save when you’re strapped for cash.

Kids Eat Free at Coral Island, Blackpool plus win a Mini Cooper

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This summer we are going on a little staycation. After visiting family in Leeds we will be holidaying for a few days at Blackpool. The kids are very excited about going to Blackpool and have been looking at the Visit Blackpool website for ideas of attractions they want to.

As the boys love pirates especially H as he has just been learning all about pirates and the sea at school, once they saw the iconic pirate themed logo of Coral Island they declared we HAVE to visit there when holidaying in Blackpool.

The kids have already had a GOOD old look at the Coral Island website to see what attractions and amusements they can enjoy when we visit. H is very excited that they have a number or ride on kids rides and loves the look of the pirate ships and Circus ride. T is hyped up about the fact that Coral Island boasts Virtual Reality arcade rides, which in his opinion is “super awesome”. They also both want to go on the Ghost Train and Pirate Flyer whilst I can't wait to give the Camel Derby a try.

School's out summer shopping spree - saving money on the kids’ holiday wardrobe

As the school year comes to an end, our thoughts have turned to the summer holidays. The boys are super excited about many weeks at home over the school summer holidays. They are full of ideas of how to spend the summer and are especially excited about our UK staycation holiday where we will be visiting family in Leeds before a few fun days at Blackpool. We've got plans to visit family friendly attractions, dine at restaurant with rooms Yorkshire dales, visit museums and explore the heritage and natural wonders of Yorkshire.

As both boys have had a recent growth spurt and have grown out of most of their clothes, especially their summer clothes from last year they are in desperate need of a new wardrobe. In fact T is growing so quickly that the new swim shorts I bought him in May are already too small and tight! In the hope that we are going to have a sun-filled summer we need to buy them new clothes that are perfect for sunny days. Shorts, t-shirts, lightweight short sleeve shirts and even swimwear are needed. 

Transforming a room on a budget

When we first moved into our current home we went all out on decorating the children’s bedroom. Apart from finding a home for our furniture and other worldly possessions the other rooms in our house got neglected.

Fast forward a few years and nothing much has changed. Busy lives and lack of money has meant we haven’t got around to decorating any of the other rooms which look rather drab, boring and uninspiring.

Recently we redecorated the children’s bedrooms - lucky boys getting their room transformed again whilst our bedroom has never been touched. We painted their room, moved around furniture, upcycled a few pieces of tired looking furniture, decluttered and added some new eye catching accessories such as modern rugs. Even though we did not do much and no radical changes such as flooring or new furniture it was amazing how the room was transformed.

Preparing your home for Winter

Brrrr! It’s cold outside.

As we reach the end of October ready to welcome in November with the nights getting darker earlier and a cold snap already hitting us, now is the perfect time to make sure your home is ready for winter.

Winter can be a harsh mistress. Whilst there is lots of lovely things about winter the cold, bitter weather can take its toll on you and your home. By making sure your home is ready for whatever winter can throw at it, you will hopefully enjoy a cosy winter, save some money and prevent any home disasters caused by the harsh winter weather.

Here are a few ways you can prepare your home for winter  -

Saving money with SMARTY

Are you happy with your current mobile phone plan and does it fulfil your mobile needs?

Do you have enough data every month to satisfy your data usage and is the amount of data you pay for a reasonable price? Or do you find your mobile plan disappointing, expensive and either constantly run out of data or feel frustrated that you have to pay for unused data?

If you feel let down by your mobile plan, unrewarded for being loyal to a network and find you are not getting value for money it may be worth considering switching to another mobile network and plan.

What if you could save money on your mobile plan whilst also enjoying the benefits of a mobile plan that is savvy when it comes to data?

Want to know more about the network that offers great value for money with their straightforward plans and transparent pricing and who’ve turned got a clever way of dealing with unused data? Yes well read on….

Times when we've needed money fast

Being careful and wise with my money has always been important to me. I've always ensured bills are paid on time, kept an eye on unnecessary spending and saved towards a rainy day fund.

Once I became a parent the importance of being careful with money was more vital than ever. From the day I found I was pregnant with my first born I felt a responsibility to love and care for my bundles of joy. Whilst it means the world to me to give them love, attention and quality time in simple ways it is also extremely important to me that I care for them by keeping a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food in their bellies.

Even though money is not everything and does not buy happiness it is important for helping them have a safe home and a caring environment. As such over the years I've developed and honed my budgeting and saving skills so that we can live comfortably within our means and save for the odd treat. Keeping a very close eye on the family's finances and bills, spending wisely in sales, taking advantage of discounts and offers when making a purchase we need along with putting our children's needs before our own (no longer do I splurge on a brand new wardrobe just for the sake of it and the kids getting clothes comes first) and buying second hand items has meant that we always have enough money for day to day family life.

Holidaying abroad with children on a budget

Whilst I am a huge fan of staycations and have enjoyed many holidays in the UK and plan on exploring more of what our beautiful country has to offer, there is something special about holidaying abroad.

A family holiday abroad is very exciting. Jetting off in the sun for a dream holiday where you can make amazing memories with the kids and get away from the hussle and bussle of daily life can be an incredible experience for the whole family.

But a big downside to holidaying abroad with children especially school aged children is that family holidays abroad during the school holidays can be very expensive. The thought of tour operators, airlines and hotels hiking up their prices during school holidays can put off many families from holidaying abroad.

Thankfully whilst there is not a lot we can do about the atrocious price increases of holidays during school holidays there are ways that we can budget and save money to book that dream family holiday abroad in the sunshine.

How to Encourage Eco-Friendly Practices in Your Home

As people we are becoming more and more aware of how important it is to take good care of this world around us. This means looking at our everyday lives and seeing if there are things that we could to better to protect the environment, use less resources and just generally be much more eco-friendly.

One great place to start on your eco-aware journey is at home. Whilst you may think that this only has a small impact, if everyone made this small impact, then it would come together to make a pretty big, pretty impressive result.

5 Untold Tricks on Saving Money When Buying Pet Meds Online

From monthly spot-on flea and tick doses to specific medications prescribed by the vet, buying pet meds is one of the major expenses of owning a dog or a cat. Pet owners often suffer from the misconception that pet medications should always be bought from physical pet stores and vets’ offices. While the threat of counterfeit medication is real, when you buy pet medications from reputed online pet pharmacies you are completely safe. Apart from the convenience of ordering online, pet pharmacy websites often give you deals and discounts on frequently bought medications and pet products.

Reducing Life's Big Three Expenses

When you are trying to become more financially free and independent, you first need to take a closer look at your existing expenses and the ways in which you can reduce these. And a good place to start is with life’s most costly items, which we will talk about as the ‘big three’. These are housing, transportation and food. In the average household budget, these things have been shown to take up 60% or more of your monthly outgoings. So, we will look to tackle these expenses one-by-one with a few different suggestions of exactly what you can do about each of them.

Managing your costs to prepare for unexpected expenses

Managing your finances can be daunting, especially when you need to prepare for unexpected expenses. We all make New Year’s resolutions, and they can often be disastrous, with 80% of people failing by February and regretting it instantly — have you managed to stick at yours? One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to cut down on spending, and although this sounds achievable, if you don’t have a fully-pledged strategy in place, the likeliness of failure spirals out of control.

Millennials, money and beating the January blues

January can be a month for reflection. It can prompt new beginnings. The new year often inspires resolutions and change. It can be a month of hope.

But it can also be a difficult month. The excitement and seasonal joy of December and Christmas is gone. Without Christmas cheer the temperamental, harsh winter weather can dampen spirits. With many people having being paid before Christmas - a week earlier than normal - the month is a long one financially.

Not only does the extra time between paychecks put a strain on our bank balances but the expense of Christmas can also have a negative impact on finances. Many people are left struggling with debt that they have built up over Christmas and festivities surrounding the holiday season.

Unexpected bills - how to deal with them?

As a family who live on a very tight budget and do not have much ‘spare’ money to play with from their low income after all bills and necessities have been covered, dealing with unexpected bills can be difficult.

Take for example when a couple of months ago our old, hardworking machine went bang! To be fair I can’t really complain as it had worked tirelessly for over 10 years without any issues, tackling mountains of washing for our family of four including at points in its life cloth nappies - but being so old meant it was out of any warranties. But with so much washing done in our household on a weekly basis it going bang and deciding to call it quits on washing our clothes was a big problem. Yes I could hand wash bits and pieces but there would be no way I could keep on top of the washing pile doing it by hand. Living away from family meant we could not pop round to a loved ones house to borrow their machine. And with no laundrette close by we were stuck and the washing was piling up.

Saving money for an emergency fund

Many people across the UK are living on low incomes and are living month to month. Incoming coming in is often already ‘spoken for’ and goes out as quick as it hits the bank to pay bills and debts. That leaves very little money to live on, with the end of the month being the hardest time as people struggle to survive until pay day.

For people, couples and families who have low incomes which leaves them with very little, if any disposable income having ‘spare’ money for treats and non-essentials can be difficult or even out of the question.

7 Saving strategies to help prepare for University

As students in the UK continue to face bigger problems when it comes to things like debt and paying for education, now's the time to start thinking about how you're going to save for your academic adventure if you want to go to University.

The cost of education is growing by the year, with more people than ever before finding themselves in huge amounts of debt as they pursue educational opportunities. No matter what you want to do with your time in Uni, make sure you follow these 7 saving strategies if you want to come out of the experience with as little financial hardship on your back as possible.

Forgot to include this stuff in your budget?

Creating a family budget is a great way to ensure that you don’t overspend and that you’re able to put something aside for a rainy day, but only if you do it right! So many people base their budget only on their monthly bills, which means that they aren’t exactly as balanced or effective as they could be.

If you have a budget, but it isn’t exactly helping you save money like you thought it would, could it be that you’re forgetting to include these things in your calculations?