National Student Money Week 2023: Campaign Reflection 

Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash

Throughout this week, our Money Mentor team thoroughly enjoyed interacting with our fellow peers on and off campus! We hope you found our various tips on money helpful. As we wrap up our campaign, a current and a former Money Mentor decided to write a reflection on our week. 

Our ‘umbrella’ theme, ‘Navigating the numbers: cost of living’, sought to support students through the current cost of living crisis. We understand how stressful money management can be when the cost of household bills, food, and everything else continues to rise. By exchanging our personal experience and tips on money, we hoped to help students feel more confident about making their money stretch longer.  

Monday 6th March – Sustainability 

On day 1, we focused on living sustainably and making student money last longer.  

‘Monday was all about the concept of helping students save their money, but in a sustainable way, and so this involved giving students tips and tricks on how they could be greener with their purchases and actions, for example upcycling old clothes instead of throwing them away or using apps like Olio or Too Good to Go to save waste food from being thrown away. The stall went extremely well with lots of students interested in taking part in the spin the wheel to test their knowledge, add their own tip to the ‘Tree’ or complete the prize draw survey. The recipe jars and mugs proved to be a big hit at the end!’ 

– Amber, Student Money Mentor.  

Tuesday 7th March – Look after yourself 

Day 2 involved our Money Mentors speaking with various students about mental wellbeing and money. We know financial concerns can have a profound impact on people’s mental health – we hope our conversations and plant pots helped to relieve some of your stress. 

‘I have had the pleasure to be part of the stall running on the second day during national student money week, and let me tell you it was delightful, interesting, and fun! We got the chance to talk to hundreds of students about taking care of yourself when university, social life and cost of living crisis all come to knock at your door, and the wisdom and empathy that was exchanged between Money Mentors and students was mesmerising. In conclusion I believe it was an unforgettable experience that I will carry with me and remember as a highlight of my university career.’ 

– Asmae, Student Money Mentor.  

Wednesday 8th March – Reducing costs and save 

Day 3 was all about reducing expenses and saving money. We shared our personal experience and tips on using various strategies to cut down on some of the day-to-day expenses. 

‘I had a great experience working as the team lead for theme 3. It was wonderful to see so many students interacting with us, as I know reducing costs and saving is a topic that we could all use some help with. I’m really happy that Money Mentors are available to give or signpost this help to students during the cost of living crisis, and it’s great that so many people came to see us on Guys Campus and our Mentors braved the weather to host a great stall!’ 

– Shivam, Student Money Mentor.  

Thursday 9th March – Extra support from King’s 

On Day 4, we shared information on the financial support King’s can offer and other funding opportunities that students may be eligible for. We gave out goodie bags in King’s App tote bags with informative leaflets for our students.  

‘It was great fun meeting students and talking to them about NSMW at our stall in the Strand Building. Spin the wheel was the main attraction, even security and reception got involved and grabbed themselves a goodie bag with lots of free treats! Even with the poor weather our Money Mentor Team went out and about and met students all across Strand. All in all, it was a successful penultimate day of our campaign.’ 

– Yogi, Student Money Mentor.  

Friday 10th March – Making cents of it all 

Our Money Mentors handed out flyers on various campuses and spoke with students about money management and budgeting to make every pound count!  

We also shared various information related to our themes throughout the week on Instagram.  

‘While working on Day 5 of the NSMW, I really enjoyed speaking to various students at Waterloo, Strand, and Bush House. Something I found quite fascinating was the different perceptions of money held by each individual. Some third years were tired of London because of how expensive it was while other found a way to make it work and they are loving it. I also learnt new things! Speaking to students at the Vault, I found out all about the amazing lunch prices. I will definitely be taking advantage of those more often.’ 

– Ami, Student Money Mentor.  

Missed us?  

If you wished to speak with us but could not visit our on-campus stalls or attend our online session, you can still do so by contacting us via Instagram! We also organise other campaigns throughout the year, so we hope to see you in some of our future events.  

Keep an eye on our Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blog for more tips on money!  

King’s Student Money Mentor Team
Part of Money & Housing Advice

The King’s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students’ personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post. King’s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned. Readers should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts.

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