Hard to think about anything too serious when the sun is out isn’t it?
The warm rays, you have finished exam season, your friends want to meet up, time at the park, time by the sea – and let’s not forget the all important nights out coming up this weekend.
It’s just time to enjoy yourself, right?
Well we hate to bring in a teeny bit of boring-ness to the festivities (honest) but… there’s the start of term to think about. We’re releasing a series of blogs soon to feed you ideas throughout the coming weeks, that you can use when term starts this Autumn. Whether you are off to uni, starting at a college, or even starting work in a new location and need some inspiration, we’re here to help.
The first topic we want to bring up, is one that well, without it you won’t achieve much as a cash strapped student!
That is (drumroll please) – saving money.
That’s right – money, cash, green-back, dosh, notes, whatever you call it, you are going to need it.
Now it goes without saying, that if you are a Switching Rooms user you’re also going to benefit from an incredible up to 10,000 Euros extra to spend which you probably didn’t think you’d have access to right? The amount we have saved users on rent is staggering, and we’d love to see how it gets spent for 18/19…
But what if you haven’t signed up to Switching Rooms yet and need some ideas anyway? Maybe you are still thinking about whether one of our room swaps is for you? Swaps are happening right now so do sign up.
Here are 8 ways you can save some money fast, some are easier than others – so simply start your journey at the level that works for you:
- Bag lunch. Yup, oldies are the goodies – get that brown paper bag, don’t worry about anyone else but you – they are not the ones you need to worry about. Grab yourself some snazzy tupperware (we like Sistema, but whatever rocks your boat) and let your inner child rock out with a selection of bento style lunches, or traditional sandwich, crisps and fruit. Next thing you know folks will want to know what you brought in and you may excite them with the home prepped goodness.
2. Practice pleasure delay – a proven strategy since the marshmallow experiment (late 60s – read more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment) – this one is gold dust but you won’t thank us for it (yet). Test how long you can go without getting the thing, or doing the thing, you want. Stretch it out. Most often, the desire will pass and you will get to keep that money in your pocket and do something actually important with it. Start with small stuff (we all know the Amazon wishlist method) and then progress to bigger things like the holiday you *have* to take or that night out you *need*. Soon enough, it will become second nature
3. The art of cooking – yes this is one you already know, but do you really really know? Food is one of the biggest expenses we have and yet so many orders of take aways and nights out steal your potential millionairedom from beneath your feet. Start by watching Youtube (we have a crush on The One Pot Chef) and get some basic ideas, cook 3 meals a week and just double up each recipe for the other days. Freeze the rest if you can (or just have the same food 2 nights in a row). Allow yourself some treat nights – cheap pizza and a drink – and you’re on a roll.
4. Don’t get into rounds – get into buying your own. If you go out more and find it hard to not buy that round – arrive a little later and buy a drink before you get to the table. Yep, we know, you don;t want to be *that* person but it works and so long as you do not do it every time, that will help a little.
5. Avoid spendy people – yes the ones who want to book a fancy restaurant or trip off the cuff – they will help drain your wallet by making you want stuff too. Next thing you know you are on lobster and chardonnay and we hate to tell you, you can’t live like that just yet… though we’d be super jealous regardless.
6. Get a jar, any jar – yes the oldies really are the goodies. Used jam jar, super glue a lid with a slot in it, and hey presto you have your own Christmas jar (yeah we said Christmas, in August) – think 5 Euros a week min, painful in the short term but but how good will it feel when you have 100 ‘available’ euros to treat friends and family at Christmas?
7. Write stuff down. Cheap note book and pen, or a note taking app on your phone. If you really want to get into it, something like YNAB. Just write down what you spend and on what. Do you get to the end of the month and find it went on pubs and restaurants? Gaming? Clothes and makeup? Whatever your nemesis is, get close to it. Once you have a cold hard number each month it becomes really hard to ignore. Save that cash towards books you need, a few more things to make your room fabulous, savings…
8. Last but certainly not least – this is the golden one. The one that rules them all and that your granny always said. Guessed it yet? Use CASH only. Do not use the debit or credit card, do not pass Go. Get cash out – we’d recommend twice a month (coz getting it out for a whole month is just too painful right?) – once every 2 weeks might work for you, or you may like rush of every week, maybe for #Friyay.
So there you have it – something to think about and hopefully pick one at least to get you started – we’d love to hear what your favourite ways of saving cash are, and what you spend it on so do drop us a comment or see us on Facebook.
