The Student Guide to Maximizing Your Money!

1. What are you actually spending on?

It’s easier than ever to spend without noticing, especially on campus! Cafés, Breakfast Bars and quick bites to eat might feel like harmless treats, but that daily £4 coffee adds up fast. By Friday, you’ve spent £20 - and that’s just on caffeine!

Apps like Monzo and Revolut are great for tracking your spending habits. You’ll quickly spot where your money’s going, be it fast food, Uber, or unused subscriptions. If you’re not using that streaming service or gym membership, cancel it for now. You can always rejoin later when it fits your budget! If you can spare it, consider cancelling that subscription and paying it into a Savers Account each month!

2. The Student Toolkit – Offers and Apps.

Being a student unlocks an absolute treasure trove of discount; something you’ll come to really appreciate when living on a student budget. Make sure to always carry your Student ID, and take advantage of reduced pricing at cinemas, museums, and even some restaurants.

Apps like UNiDAYS and Student Beans are also essential. They round up the best student offers across fashion, tech, beauty, and more. Most online deals will also require them to verify your student status.

Even services like Spotify and Apple Music offer discounted subscriptions, so don’t miss out. It might be a good idea to go through any subscriptions you currently pay for, and see if they offer a student plan!

3. Day-to-Day Living: Where money slips through.

Along with the stuff we’ve already looked at, there are lots of small changes in your daily routine that can lead to big savings. Let’s have a look at some of them, starting with food:

• Meal Prep: It’s cheaper, healthier, and a great way to sharpen your cooking skills. Consider looking up recipes online, and cooking something you can store in Tupperware. This means you don’t have to commit to cooking every night of the week, and gives you ready meal convenience without the sugar or high prices!
• Meal Deals: Convenient, yes, but at a price! Often far more expensive then cooking yourself and packed with sugar. Save these for long days when cooking isn’t realistic and you don’t have anything already in the fridge.
• Delivery Apps: Uber Eats and Deliveroo are budget killers. You’re not just paying for food; you’re covering delivery fees, service charges, and tips. Use sparingly, if at all.

For supplies, skip buying textbooks new. Check your university library first, or buy second-hand. Academic books are expensive, and you might never touch them again after the module ends. Unless it’s something you think will be really valuable, it’s probably best to try and save here. Depending on your family income, your University might even offer funding for course specific supplies.

When it comes to shopping, avoiding impulse buys is an obvious one, but there are also other things to note when trying to save some cash. Sites like Depop or Vinted can be a great way to get high street fashion for supermarket prices. Other second-hand sites like eBay or Facebook Marketplace can also be a cheap way to pick up electronics or furniture for your dorm room.

4. Emergency Support: When things get tough…

Life throws curveballs, and sometimes you need a financial lifeline. Here are two key options:

• Student Overdrafts: Most student bank accounts offer interest-free overdrafts. They’re a solid short-term solution, but treat them like emergency funds — not free spending money. You’ll need to repay it, so use wisely. If you need a little bit extra to tide you over till your next maintenance loan, this could be an option.
• University Hardship Funds: If your financial situation changes unexpectedly, speak to your university or even your student-union. Many offer hardship grants or support with course-related equipment. It’s confidential, and designed to help you stay on track. University can be very challenging – don’t feel like you have to face it on your own.

Hopefully some of these points can help you out, and best of luck on your student journey! Maybe even try a weekly challenge where you limit your spending to just £20 and see how long you can last!

Unihousing Study Highlights Student Perspectives on AI

A new global study by student housing provider Unihousing sheds light on how students view the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in their lives.

Unihousing found that young people are both excited about AI’s potential and concerned about its impact on their futures. In the UK, 44% of students said they’re enthusiastic about AI, especially in areas like healthcare, education, and climate change.

AI is already playing a supportive role in students' academic lives. Nearly half of UK students (43%) use AI to proofread and check grammar, while about a third turn to it for simplifying complex information (31%) and generating ideas (31%). Additionally, 21% use it to help write CVs.

However, this excitement is tempered
by serious concerns. A large majority (78%) of UK students fear AI could negatively affect their job prospects, and over half (56%) worry it may lead to a decline in human intelligence.

“At Unihousing, we’re committed to understanding our students and supporting their futures,” said Ken, Unihousing’s Chief Operating Officer. “This extensive study reveals students’ enthusiasm for AI, particularly in tech, education, and health, but also underscores their concerns about career impacts. Our new AI training programme is a bold step forward in helping them navigate an increasingly AI-driven world.”

The Upside of AI

UK students see strong potential in AI, with 57% citing advancements in healthcare and tech as the top benefit. Improvements in work/life balance (55%) and productivity (54%) are also seen as major advantages. Many are also hopeful that AI will accelerate progress on climate change and expand access to education (48%). A smaller, yet notable, group (22%) believes it could improve access to mental health support.

Social Concerns

Despite its benefits, students remain wary of AI’s broader impact. Sixty-five percent of UK female students worry it may reduce meaningful human interaction—compared to 50% of male students—mirroring global trends.

There’s also concern about AI affecting relationships: a third fear genuine friendships may be replaced by tech, while 27% believe AI could even take the place of romantic partners.

Globally, students express political and economic anxieties around AI, with more than half concerned about cybersecurity threats (55%), misinformation (51%), and misuse for political agendas (50%).

Maintaining a Healthy Balance at University

As you may already know, living as a student in 2018 can be difficult, with the cost of student accommodation ever rising it can be hard for students to maintain a healthy lifestyle alongside paying for their student living. So, how you may ask do students effectively use what they have available to them? Well, there are some little known secrets that could help you not only save money but also provide you with a happy and healthy experience at University.

Although you may not be used to giving much thought to everything you eat on a weekly basis, it is crucial that you take your student eating habits very seriously. It pretty much goes without saying that the life of a student is one that is often associated with less-than-healthy eating habits. The student lifestyle can often be perceived as one dominated by too many take-aways and a generally poor standard of eating.

Food and Exercise

It may sound completely obvious, but a good starting point for healthy eating is simply making sure you have a balanced diet. This should generally be one that is rich in fruit and vegetables and low in sugary, fatty foods, and accompanied by plenty of water. Plus, a good amount of regular exercise is advisable, too: the NHS recommends keeping active on a daily basis and doing 150 minutes of exercise on a weekly basis as well as strength exercise on at least two days a week that work the major muscles, including chest, shoulders, legs, arms, hips, back and abdomen.

Obviously, though, it doesn't have to be this way. If you are beginning your academic experience in the not-too-distant future, or even if you are or have been for some time a student, making the right kind of effort to ensure your eating habits do not become unhealthy, is something you should definitely be looking into. 

Good Planning

In terms of direct, practical advice for healthy eating, one sensible tip you may wish to employ that could make a big positive impact on your eating habits is to plan ahead. This may sound at first like a very simplistic idea, but preparing for the meals you will be eating in the coming week is very helpful in ensuring that you get enough of the right things and less of the things that aren't so good for you. Failing to plan for the week's meals can also result in choosing meals that are done quickly and easily, which can quite easily mean just ordering a takeaway at short notice.

Once you begin planning a week in advance, you can start constructing a schedule of meals that incorporate healthy ingredients as well as tasty flavours, which will also make going to the supermarket easier, as everything you need in terms of food will all be clearly written down.

Doing this means as well that you can start having fun exploring the possibilities for delicious meals that are good for you. In order to learn about the kind of things to put together that are both appealing and healthy, maybe have a look online as there's plenty of information to be found. It's possible that some students may be concerned that eating well won't suit their tight student budgets. Eating well can be affordable and performing the right kind of research should demonstrate how this can be done.

Have Limits

Being careful about want you drink is, in many ways, just as important as what you eat. So if you want to make sure that you are doing what you can to stay in good health during your time as a student, monitoring alcohol consumption is a good idea.

There are times though that we can allow ourselves to have a little treat and enjoy something that we perhaps wouldn't eat or drink on a regular basis. Take-away food, for example, can be a delicious treat every now and then but is something that we shouldn't eat too often. Similarly, food from restaurants can make for a fantastic meal, but probably shouldn't be indulged in too often, either.

Down To You

There's no shortage of suggestions on the web and elsewhere for helping people to stay in good shape. The student lifestyle isn't often thought of as being healthy. But with these tips, a little extra research and a little effort, you can easily stay in good shape, which can only be a good thing.

Searching for Student Accommodation?

If you're looking for student accommodation in Birmingham, Selly Oak-based Unihousing can help you. Unihousing offers studios and houses for very agreeable prices. Their properties are furnished with pretty much everything that is needed for modern student living, while the locations of their Selly Oak accommodation are excellent for access to local amenities, such as shops and supermarkets, not to mention the local pubs and clubs. In Selly Oak, you just need to head to the train station for a quick ride to the City Centre where there's plenty to see and do. Find your ideal student let in Selly Oak today.