As living costs continue to rise, new research from Santander Current Accounts[1] reveals the different ways that savvy students minimise their living costs.
At present, the average student says they live on an income of just £118 per week – roughly a quarter of the average UK weekly wage[2]. Despite this, students are preserving their living standards by taking a proactive approach to budgeting and money saving.
Utilising a variety of student-specific discounts is the most popular form of money-saving, with 83 per cent making use of these offers. Buying reduced price food (78 per cent), finding cashback deals and group discounts online (33 per cent) and coupon stacking (26 per cent) are also the norm for many savvy university students.
Most popular ways students save money
% of students who regularly do this
Make use of student discount cards
83%
Buy reduced price food at the supermarket
78%
Use cashback deals or group discount websites
33%
Avoid buying a TV license
32%
Avoid buying contents insurance
32%
Stacking coupons (use multiple discount vouchers to reduce the price of a single item)
26%
Sell items on eBay
26%
Shop in charity shops or use reuse/recycling sites like Freecycle
25%
Santander also questioned students about their living arrangements and found that many choose to reside with family to cut costs. At present, 22 per cent of students live in their family home, and almost three quarters (71 per cent) of these do so specifically to save money. Over half (57 per cent) of live-at-home students also say that their university choice was heavily influenced by the need to live at home.
Going forward, one in five (20 per cent) university students are considering moving further out of town or further away from their university in order to reduce their living expenses. Eight per cent say they may move back into their family home next year for the same reason and a further 8 per cent are considering sharing a bedroom.
Santander, which is offering a four-year Railcard to those in full time education who open a student account with the bank, found that 15 per cent of students have seen a ‘significant’ reduction in their income compared to this time last year and a further 13 per cent have seen their income reduce ‘slightly’.
Hetal Parmar, Head of Banking at Santander, said: “Students are very forward thinking and proactive when it comes to saving money. With costs of basics like food, accommodation and travel all rising, students need to be clever with their cash.”
“With the majority of students living significant distances from their home town or city, visiting family can be expensive. Santander’s exclusive 16-25 Railcard is free to all new Student Current Account customers, giving up to a third off rail travel and helping with those cost savings that really matter to students.”
Santander’s Student Current Account offers:
- 0% EAR (variable) overdraft up to a £2,000 with no Daily Arranged Overdraft fees.
- 1% AER (variable) credit interest on balances up to £500.
- A Visa Debit card for secure purchases and free cash withdrawals up to £300 per day from any Santander or LINK cash machine.
- Easy account management via branches, telephone, internet, mobile or tablet.
- Free SMS and e-mail alerts service to help you keep on top of your money.
Applications can be made online at www.santander.co.uk or at your local Santander branch.
Notes:
1) Research conducted by YouthSight, 29th April – 1st May, amongst a UK representative sample of 1,000 full time undergraduate students.
2) Average weekly wage (including bonus payments) according to ONS Labour Market Statistics July 2013 (released September 2013)