Author: Olivia M // Editor: Erin Pallott

Feeling the pinch during this cost-of-living crisis? You’re not alone. Many of us are trying to keep our heads above water with raging inflation and skyrocketing energy costs, but hope is not lost. Luckily, the powers-that-be recognise the financial hardships, offered support in the form of an energy rebate for those of us living in privately-rented accommodation (effectively £66 off your energy bill every month until March). Our own university has chipped in with a £170 one-off payment to all full-time students and £85 to all part-time students. This is in addition to the stipend being raised by 10% if you’re funded by the university or UKRI (including the MRC, BBSRC and ESRC). Even with this additional help, it might still feel like we’re swimming against the tide, trying desperately to stem the flow of money from our accounts. So what about us? What can we do ourselves to mitigate the squeeze on our budgets? With winter still lingering a while longer, here are a few things that may help us navigate our way through the economic turbulence. 

Let’s start with the big one: Energy. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, I’m sure you’ll have energy-saving advice ringing out of your ears by now (we all know about turning devices off at the switches when not in use and turning off lights that you’re not using). As a self-confessed cheapskate, here are a few other hacks I take advantage of to save energy (and money!):

• If using an electric hob, put a lid on your pan and switch it off a few minutes before the food will be ready (basically, cook using residual heat). The same principle applies to the oven and the heating, except you can turn the latter off earlier – around 15 minutes on average – before you leave your room or house as it will still be warm. Talking of boiling food, use the kettle to boil the water to use in a pan on the hob as it’s more energy-efficient this way. (Special tip for pasta lovers who like it ‘al dente’: once the water is boiling on the hob, cook your pasta with the lid on for 3 minutes. Then turn off the heat and leave for the length of the original cooking time, which is usually around 12 minutes).

• Use a tumble dryer? Throw in a dry towel into the mix as it will speed up the drying process by absorbing some of the moisture from the wet clothes.

• Boil a full kettle of water when making a cup of tea (or *insert favourite hot beverage here*) and pour what you don’t use or need into a Thermos flask and/or hot water bottle. Not only can you warm yourself up with the drink, but you can keep yourself nice and cosy without turning on the central heating (or putting on the kettle again).   

• Identify areas where your house or flat might be leaking heat. If you are renting privately, you should have been given an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate, a legal requirement), which will give you some helpful hints. For example, cold drafts can get in if there are gaps between the main door and floor. Draft excluders can be bought quite cheaply to reduce this heat loss (or make your own). Radiators are other potential culprits, with energy being lost to the walls. Remedy this by placing a large sheet of foil (or use heat reflector rolls especially made for this purpose) between them and the heat-hogging walls. The rogue heat that would otherwise have warmed them up will be reflected back into the room instead.

• Buy a power bank, take it with you to your office and plug it into your computer while you work (do the same with your phone). You can also charge it on the bus to and from uni using the USB charging ports (if you’re lucky enough to get a seat!). You can then use the power bank to charge your phone and any other small devices.

Now we’ve tackled the elephant in the room, here are other ways to save money:

• Shop around for the best sim-only and broadband deals, especially if you’re coming to the end of your contract. Many providers offer 9-month student broadband deals, which are cheaper than their standard ones and mean you don’t have to fork out for the summer months when you might be away from the city. Also check out mobile broadband, which might work out cheaper and has the added bonus of getting you online when travelling or on the odd occasion that Eduroam is down on campus. This might not be the best option if you want to stream or watch videos though as the speeds are usually not as fast as standard broadband (you can check your current speed here). However, it is an option worth checking out if you need flexibility, for example, if you’re not sure how long you’ll be staying in your current accommodation for and don’t want to commit to a fixed-term home broadband contract.

• Sign up for student discount cards and websites. Student Beans gives you a range of discounts across many areas, from food & drink to fashion and tech (codes available both online and in-store). Totum also offers loads of discounts, including 10% off at The Co-op (in conjunction with a Co-op membership card, which is free). It’s worth getting loyalty cards from any supermarket you regularly shop at, as they’re generally free and points will add up to vouchers or money off that you can redeem on your next trip. In the case of Tesco, their Clubcard will also allow you to access discounted ‘Clubcard only’ prices on certain products, which change throughout the year. A good way to make the most of points is to convert them into vouchers which you can then exchange for up to 2 times their value through their Reward Partners programme. This can get you money off flights, restaurant meals and days out (among many other things!). Superdrug have a similar card scheme. Boots’ Advantage Card is also worth it as you get 10% off while collecting points with the money you spend. If you travel frequently by train (and even if you only make a few journeys a year), buy a railcard to get a third off fares.

• Make the most of food waste apps. You can find free, local giveaways of food and household items on Olio (including the Pret A Manger on campus and a few Tesco stores across the city) while Too Good to Go allows you to buy and collect surprise bags of food, from about a third and up to half, of their full value from cafes and supermarkets. With the latter, the catch is that you don’t know what you’re going to get before you pay and the bags you can collect from local restaurants and food businesses contain perishable food. The app covers places like Greggs, Morrisons and Tim Horton’s. You can also find Magic Bags from the Ibis and independent places like Richmond Tea Rooms (you can get a huge slab of cake from the latter for only £2!). 

• Switch bank current accounts to claim cash bonuses and put any spare money into savings accounts. A lot of high-street banks offer around £100 – £200 as an incentive to attract new customers. Changing accounts will affect your credit rating, so it’s not something you’ll want to be doing too frequently if you need to apply for credit in the near future. Another easy (and quicker) thing to do, if you’re able to, is to put away some money in a fixed-term savings account. They tend to offer better interest rates than easy-access ones but the money will be locked into the account for the full duration of the term (except in the event of bankruptcy or death), so make sure you definitely don’t need the money until the end of it! You can spread your savings across both account types depending on your circumstances. Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website is an excellent source to find out which banks are offering the best rates. If you’re worried about leaving your money with unknown banks, look up reviews on Trustpilot to see what their customer service is like before you make any decisions. With interest rates so high these days, now’s the time to take advantage of them!

• Use price comparison websites, such as Price Runner and Price Spy, to ensure you’re getting a good deal when buying items online. Both display graphs that allow you to track the price history of a product over the past year (or even the last few years), while also showing you the lowest price and its date. They’ll tell you the best price for new and used versions of the product and allow you to set up alerts in case the price drops. CamelCamelCamel is a similar price tracking tool but specific to Amazon and they have a browser extension you can download (the ‘Camelizer’). Make use of these to ensure you’re getting value for your money on the products you’re buying online. To optimise finances even more, make your purchases using a cashback credit card, which not only protects you as a consumer if anything goes wrong for any you make that are over £100, but also gives you back a % of your transactions as a reward.

We may not like the storm but we can certainly learn to weather it!