Kings Student Money Mentors

Savvy Spending!

Living in London can be very expensive, so it is quite important to know how to be a savvy spender. I’m going to share some of my tips and advice on spending consciously, including mindful spending, zero spend days and different methods I’ve noticed companies use to trap customers. Hopefully, after reading this blog post, you will feel a lot more confident when thinking about your finances and will come to realise that spending and budgeting isn’t as daunting as you might think!

A savvy spender is someone who spends their money wisely. Rather than just sticking to their budget by avoiding spending on anything else, a savvy spender will make sure that what they do spend money on is worth it and is the best deal. It’s always a good idea to implement some savvy spending habits into your lifestyle because it allows you to truly make the most of your money. A savvy spender won’t get caught out by sneaky marketing tricks designed to make us spend more. Instead, they’ll be switched on to make sure there’s no wasted spend, meaning the money they have can go further.

To be a savvy spender, you need to make sure everything you purchase is a conscious decision. When you’re acting consciously, you’re able to stop and ask yourself a few questions before you buy, which will make sure you’re a) not buying something you don’t really want or need or b) spending too much money when you could get the same thing for less. In today’s day and age, we are inundated with deals, offers and cleverly curated shops/online stores that are all designed to make us shop emotionally rather than consciously. The key to being a savvy spender is to understand that and be wise to their tricks.

Mindful spending is not allowing emotions to lead your spending decisions. Taking the time to consider whether you want or need something can add up to hundreds of pounds in savings. Telling yourself ‘No’ when it comes to purchases isn’t boring or tedious, it’s powerful. It isn’t about cutting out all of your spend either. By being mindful about your spending, you can decide what’s important to you. If you enjoy your morning coffee from your local coffee shop, we’re not saying don’t buy it. But by asking yourself ‘Do I need this? Maybe if I woke up 5 minutes earlier, I could make and bring my own’. You’ll start to find that you’ll cut out some unnecessary spending.

Zero spend days are a challenge to not spend anything for one day. Imagine this, you’ve done your food shop for the week, but you’re tempted for a takeaway after a long day. If you commit to not spending on that day, you might just fight off the urge to splurge on a takeaway. It sounds simple but it’s an effective way to take a step back and appreciate the things that you’ve already paid for and save money. Once you get into the habit of maybe one no-spend-day a week, you’ll realise how easy and rewarding it is. Then you can take it as far as you like. People do no spend weeks, months and sometimes even a whole year where they just spend on essentials. Maybe that could be you but set milestones that work for you.

There are a variety of different ways brands use scarcity marketing to rush you into a purchase. Some examples include:

Counting down how many hours and minutes you have left to get next day delivery

Alerting you when stocks are low or showing how many of an item are left in stock
Holiday sites telling you how many people ‘favourite’ a hotel
Flash sales and time-limited offers
Limited edition collectibles

There are lots of ways that supermarkets try to maximise your spend in-store. Look out for these examples on your next trip:

Essential items: Think bread, milk, eggs – these are often stocked further away from the entrance and apart from each other so you need to walk through more of the store to get there and hopefully pick up items you didn’t come in for along the way.
Expensive items: The most profitable or most expensive items often sit in the middle of the shelf directly in your line of sight and popular combinations will be stocked together to encourage you to buy both.
Impulse buys: One you may already know – tills are littered with small purchases to encourage ‘essential’ last minute purchases.
End aisles: We might be used to seeing cheaper deals at the end of aisles but its important to make sure you’re actually bagging yourself a bargain and haven’t just been conditioned to think you will. People are 30% more likely to buy items at the end of an aisle than in the middle!
Sensory overload: Shops use sight, smell, sound and taste against you in a bid to get you to part with your cash. Smells like freshly baked bread can trigger hunger, causing you to pick up more than you came in for and free samples can encourage a purchase you hadn’t intended. slow music can be used to slow you down and encourage more time in store.

When you’re shopping in store, I would recommend making a shopping list and having a clear budget in mind – and avoid shopping when hungry!

The same goes for online sites, which have their own ways to encourage spending. Sites will offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount, encouraging you to keep shopping and buy more. Amazon Prime and ASOS Premier delivery can be a great way to save on shipping costs, but these products are designed to keep you shopping more often and can sometimes work out to be more expensive than other places. So always shop around and be careful they don’t end up costing more in the long run. It’s common practice now for sites to offer savings on your first order if you subscribe to their email list. There’s no harm in saving yourself some cash using these in the short term but beware – your inbox will soon fill up with deals and sales which can be hard to say no to. These emails are a double-edged sword. They could save you money if you see a sale or discount code for an item you were already going to buy but they can encourage more spending too. It could be worth unsubscribing when you’ve made your saving to avoid falling into the trap.

I hope by lifting the curtain on some of these tips and tricks, you’ll feel empowered enough to make informed decisions about your spending – good luck!

Amani Parvaiz
King’s Student Money Mentor
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.

Part-time jobs, side hustles and the gig economy

Hi again KCL! This week, I’ll be focusing on ways to maximise your income – specifically, I’ll share with you the secrets of part-time jobs and ‘side-hustles’, and the ‘gig economy’.

Part-time jobs can be a great way to add to your CV, build your skill-set and confidence, and of course, earn some money to pay for your textbooks (or your next night out!). While part-time jobs can be a huge help when living in a city as expensive as London, I’d say it’s vital that you balance the time you spend working with the rest of your schedule, as holding down a job, doing a full-time degree course, and balancing other commitments can really easily lead to things like burnout and a feeling of being overwhelmed, so make sure you’re taking care of yourself! (If you’re an international student, I’d also advise you to contact KCL’s Visa & International Student Advice to see how many hours you’re allowed to work per week).

I myself have had a few part-time jobs at university, including an auditor, and of course, the fantastic role of being a Money Mentor (which is currently accepting applications if you’re interested), but there are tons of other student jobs up for grabs, with some of the most popular ones being a student ambassador, food delivery driver, student union worker, bartender etc. – if you’re looking for a job here at KCL, then the King’s Talent Bank is a great place to look for jobs that might appeal to you.

Side-hustles are similar, but technically are jobs that you do on the side of your main job. About 60% of students have reported having a side-hustle in the UK, and they can be a great way to not only earn money, but to do so creatively. There’s a lot of overlap with part-time jobs, but I’d argue that a side-hustle is less ‘full-on’ and intense. Some examples of great side-hustles can be paid proofreading of documents and other work, selling videos/pictures online via places like Getty Images, pet-sitting/dog-walking, and selling fashion items such as trainers. Side-hustles are also a great way to show some creativity on your CV, so if you have the time and a good idea for one, give them some consideration.

The gig economy is the name we give to the part of the labour market that depends on temporary/part-time positions filled by independent contractors or freelancers (self-employed people who do jobs for several different organisations instead of just staying at one). There are benefits and drawbacks to the gig economy. On the plus side, these kinds of jobs often give the workers a lot of flexibility, so can be great for students like us.

But on the down side, they can be unstable and have barely any job security, so I’d advise you to think carefully about whether this is the kind of lifestyle that suits you, and it’s also worth a discussion with King’s Careers and Employability, to see what sort of career you would like to have in the future.

Good luck!!

Shivam Chotai
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice

Keeping down energy prices

So, you may have heard a lot about energy prices recently. As the Office of Gas and Electricity Price Markets (Ofgem) raised the cap on energy prices this year, lots of us are worried on how to afford our bills. While students living in halls of residence will often have their energy bills covered in their rent payments, people living in private accommodation may be experiencing some concern at the moment.

But fear not! KCL’s Money Mentors are here to help you understand energy prices and how they can be managed and provide some useful myth-busting tips and tricks.

Saving on energy:

Finding cheaper prices is always excellent, but aside from that, there are some things you can be doing right now to ensure that you’re keeping your own prices down!

Turning your thermostat down

Turning down the thermostat is a fantastic and simple way to keep energy costs down. According to price-comparison site Uswitch, turning your thermostat down by just 1^OC could result in savings of £80 a year! https://www.yourmoney.com/household-bills/save-80-on-your-energy-bill-by-turning-down-the-heating-1c/

From my own personal experience, I know that this can be difficult when sharing a flat, as people often have different preferences for how hot they keep the home. In these situations, having discussions about the benefits of a turning down the thermostat and proposing alternatives such as wearing thicker clothing when cold might prove effective.

Fitting a ‘water-saving shower head’

In terms of saving on water-related costs, one quick and easy way to do this is to reduce the amount of water that you shower with. One way of doing this is by fitting a ‘water-saving’ shower head. These devices can reduce the energy needed.

And brilliantly for us students – you might be able to get one for free! Follow this link on Save the Student, complete the survey, and you may be eligible to receive free water-saving shower products! https://www.savethestudent.org/student-deals/bills-utilities-deals/free-water-saving-shower-head.html

Close doors to rooms you’re not trying to heat

According to the Energy Saving Trust, closing doors to the rooms you’re not using is a brilliant method to improve the heating in your home. Closing doors to these rooms allows the convection currents created by radiators to remain in the designated space you want to heat, meaning you’ll need to spend less time heating those areas as less heat is escaping. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/energy-saving-myths/?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=08-Feb-22-8269f798159406d98fc-6202eaa3d619ba62bc7c0c1ca94ab8a3&source=CRM-MSETIP-8269f798159406d98fc&utm_campaign=nt-hiya&utm_content=21

Use an airer instead of a tumble-dryer

While tumble-dryers are often much more convenient, they use a significant amount of energy and can add to your costs! A cheaper alternative is to purchase an airer (also sometimes known as a drying rack/clothes horse). Airers are best used when you time them so that you put your wet clothes on them during the times you keep the heating on in the household, but try if possible to use an airer outdoors when the weather allows – the National House Building Council says drying your wet clothes on an airer indoors can cause issues with condensation and damp due to the circulation of the moisture in your home, which is particularly a problem if you’re living somewhere older and more poorly-insulated.

Aside from these useful tips, I thought I’d like to share some myths often shared by students on the subject of energy prices, and see whether or not there’s any merit to them:

MYTH: Painting the radiators black helps to reduce energy wastage

ANSWER: This is not true! While it is commonly believed that painting radiators black improves the absorption of heat, the Energy Saving Trust says that the difference compared to keeping them the normal white colour is negligible.

MYTH: If a socket is switched off, there’s no problem keeping your appliances plugged in

ANSWER: False! While not a significant amount, studies have shown that leaving the plugs of appliances in sockets, even when switched off, can use up energy. This is known as ‘vampire energy’ and means that you should definitely unplug all of your appliances when you are finished using them.

Individually, the amounts of energy saved while doing this may not be much, but over time, with the number of appliances you use on a daily basis, the savings can really add up!

MYTH: It’s cheaper to keep the heating on low all day than to only turn it up when you need to heat up a room

ANSWER: False! While this one is still debated, the Energy Saving Trust says that keeping your heating on low all day leaks a significant amount more energy than to raise the temperature when you need it. I’ve found that keeping your heater on a timer is an effective way of managing the temperature in your home throughout the day.

Home

MYTH: Putting clingfilm over your windows is effective in keeping your home heated:

ANSWER: This is technically true! Although putting clingfilm over your windows may help to insulate your home as long as it’s airtight and completely transparent, you’re better off finding a home that has double glazed windows already.

The clingfilm works by trapping a small layer of air, which reduces how much heat can escape, but is much more effective as a second layer on windows that only have single glazing, than as a third layer on windows that are already double-glazed.

MYTH: It’s cheaper to use one main thermostat in the home than to use multiple thermostats on individual radiators:

ANSWER: FALSE! You can be more in charge of the way your home is heated by having thermostatic radiator valves on your radiators. These valves can be used with the main thermostat to better control the temperature in each room as you desire. One way of doing this is to use the thermostat to heat your main living space (e.g. the living room) and to use valves attached to radiators in other rooms to keep the temperature low in the rooms you use less.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, managing the temperature in this way would enable you to save approximately £75 a year!

I hope these tips and tricks have gotten you on your way to becoming a super saver with your energy bills in the future. If you still find yourself struggling at any point, please don’t hesitate to contact the Money & Housing Advice Team, who’ll be more than happy to confidentially discuss your situation with you.

Aside from this, Ofgem have also released a helpful guide on Getting help if you can’t afford your energy bills.

Other helpful resources on this topic can be found below: 

Money Saving Expert: Energy Saving Tips 

The Uni Guide – Student Survival Guide: Electricity and Gas bills  

This is Money.co.uk – 20 Energy Saving Tips to help reduce bills 

UK Power – Gas and Elctricity for students  

Shivam Chotai
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice