Kings Student Money Mentors

National Student Money Week 2023 – Navigating the numbers: cost of living

Our annual campaign, National Student Money Week, is returning for 2023! Given the ongoing cost of-living-crisis, we are focusing on supporting our fellow students about making the most out of our money. We – a current and a former Money Mentor – will share our experiences with our previous National Student Money Week campaigns and introduce you to this year’s campaign.

National Student Money Week 2021: Expect the Unexpected

In our 2021 campaign, we shared our tips and tricks on how students could go about facing an unexpected financial situation, from scams and housing to emergency funds. We enjoyed collaborating with King’s Positive Peers to virtually talk about our themes on Instagram live. Not only were we sharing information with students, but we too learned a lot about how to best prepare ourselves for unforeseen situations that could significantly affect our financial and mental health.

National Student Money Week 2022: Sustainable Spending

Throughout our 2022 campaign, we shared various blog posts on themes ranging from banking and cryptocurrency. Given the rise of digital revolution, more people have been using things like online banking and cryptocurrency. By doing independent research, our Money Mentors team sought to share some of the basic knowledge on these novel areas related to money. We enjoyed engaging with students on various money-related topics that are particularly relevant today!

National Student Money Week 2023: Navigating the numbers

This year, we are back on campus for a week, so drop by our stalls to play our games, win prizes and take away lots of free goodies! We will be there from 11am-3pm on the following days:

Monday 6^th March: Sustainability (Bush House Arcade, Strand campus).

Tuesday 7^th March: Look after yourself (Library Alcove, FWB, Waterloo campus).

Wednesday 8^th March: Reducing costs and save (New Hunt’s House, Guy’s campus).

Live online Q&A: Ask a King’s Student Money Mentor.

Thursday 9^th March: Extra support from King’s (Strand Reception, Strand campus).

Friday 10^th March: Making cents of it all (Money Mentors will be giving out flyers and speaking with students in various campuses!).

Keep an eye on our Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blog for further information on this fantastic campaign! 

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.

National Student Money Week – The Freeway to Happiness and Health (okay, maybe)

When you’re struggling with the daily expenses of studying in London, it can be hard to feel like you can treat yourself. Of course, there are plenty of Instagrammable cafes and expensive Pilates classes I could be going to but there are also plenty of free things I can do to look after myself mentally and physically! Here is my round up of fun activities you can try during each season:

Spring

This is the best time to start getting out after the winter cold. Try making a coffee at home and going for a walk around your local park or green areas. I like to window shop and there are an endless number of unique shops around Shoreditch, Sloane Square or Soho. You might even find a great bargain by thrifting in the many charity shops. To stay fit, try the Couch to 5k challenge which helps even the most useless of runners (me!) to start running. And if you’re not quite a beginner anymore, find the nearest ParkRun for fun weekly runs (or brisk walks) with others. Not a keen runner? Download the King’s Move app and get points for tracking your steps. You can then redeem your points for a free hot drink and pastry at any of the King’s food cafés/restaurants across campuses – they’ve got me through revision many a time!

Summer

It’s time to get out in the sun and soak up some Vitamin D. If it is too hot, hang out in any of the free air-conditioned museums and art galleries all around the city. For those wanting a tan, having a picnic on Hampstead Heath or Hyde Park is cheap and easy. Enjoy the sunset from Alexandra Palace or the Tate Modern and walk the long way home, you might even pass a city farm full of cute animals. KCL also has loads of opportunities around the summer time like global exchanges and research internships for which you can get funding, so check them out if you don’t think you can afford your dream holiday this year!

Autumn

So, you’ve just arrived at university or got back from your summer adventures… what better time than to get involved in the activities run by KCLSU and our societies? They often have free introductory sessions and lots of freebies to draw you in. You can also try unlimited sports and fitness classes for £30 a year with King’s BeActive! And why not reflect on the upcoming year with a bit of journalling? I find getting my worries and goals onto the page is great for relieving stress.

Winter

Although the days are shorter and darker, you can brighten up your days by playing online games with friends (big games like League of Legends or Valorant are free). It is also a great time to organise a movie night. If you fancy braving the cold, there are Christmas markets and displays around London – I go to the one by Hays Galleria. Even if you don’t buy anything, the Christmas spirit is really uplifting. To stay fit I normally do home workouts that I find on YouTube; when you want to stay inside all the time it is good to get some movement in!

Sometimes though life gets hard and it’s okay to say you might need some help. KCL has lots of help available to you: check out the Wellbeing Hub or contact someone on the crisis page if you need urgent help. There are also pages on Student Services Online which have great tips on staying healthy both in terms of your wellbeing and spending:

Rebecca Lam
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice

National Student Money Week – Sustainability

Hi KCL! I used to think that maintaining sustainable living habits is expensive – but that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, making a few smart sustainable switches can benefit the planet and your wallet too! Here are some of my top tips on how to make your lifestyle a little kinder to the climate while saving you some money at the same time.

In the home

One of the first things that comes to mind when we think about how to live more sustainably is to reduce our energy usage. This doesn’t have to mean living in darkness – here are some steps you can take that you probably won’t even notice! Make sure you’re not using more energy than you need by turning off the lights when you leave a room and try wrapping up in a blanket or jumper before turning on the heating if it’s chilly. Something that I didn’t know until recently is that when it comes to laundry, a cold wash washes clothes just as well as a hot one does, and it uses significantly less energy in the process. There are lots of sustainable options for laundry products on the market now, and I’ve found that making the switch from laundry liquid to laundry powder has reduced how much plastic I’m throwing away (and it’s usually cheaper, too!). In the bathroom, I’ve managed to make a number of sustainable switches over the years that didn’t cost a lot. Reusable products such as makeup pads, razors, cotton buds and menstrual cups may seem like the more expensive option at first, but they can help you save a significant amount of money over time, as you don’t need to repurchase them so often.

In the wardrobe

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average person spends a hefty £608.40 a year on clothes! It’s no secret that fast fashion is highly detrimental to the environment, and that a lot of us buy more clothes than we actually need. I’ve stuck to only buying my clothes second hand for four years now, and I don’t think I’ll ever look back! I’ve had the best luck with the apps Vinted and Depop, which help you to find items from specific brands, or specific styles, and the clothes on there are often far cheaper than buying new. Charity shops are also always a good bet, and it’s so rewarding to find a piece you really love after a little searching. They are also great for buying household items such as cutlery and crockery at a fraction of the price, as are sites such as Ebay. You can also use these sites to make some extra money from selling the things you don’t need anymore and save them from going to waste in the meantime!

In the kitchen

In my opinion, the best piece of advice to live by when it comes to being more sustainable in the kitchen is to simply buy what you need. Make sure you make a shopping list before you go shopping (and don’t do your food shop while hungry!), and use what you have bought before it’s too late. I find it helpful to plan my meals for the week before I do my food shop, and cook my meals in bulk on the weekend to eliminate the need for impulsive takeaways and buying lunch while I’m out and about. I try and shop in the evening, because this is when items often get reduced. Apps like Toogoodtogo and Olio let you rescue unsold food from restaurants and cafes at a fraction of the price- a perfect alternative to a takeaway when you fancy something different.

Out and about

As I’m sure you know well by now, getting out and about in London can quickly become very expensive! Bringing a water bottle with you when you’re out can help you to avoid buying single-use plastic bottles in a pinch. You can easily refill it when you need to at one of 5000 Refill Stations, which can be located on the Refill app. Using a reusable coffee cup can not only reduce waste but can get you a discount on your hot drinks- you can buy one at any King’s Food venue, and you’ll get a free drink in the process, as well as a 10p discount every time you use it! If you love a night out- I’d recommend making it a habit to use public transport to get home instead of an Uber – after a while, all the rides home start to add up, and it’s not just cheaper to take public transport, it’s kinder to the planet as well. If you have a railcard, you can link it to your Oyster at any tube station and get a third off the journey you’re already saving on!

I hope that you will consider some of these tips in your everyday life, notice a difference at the end of the month, and feel that you’re doing your bit, however small, to look after our planet!

For other helpful money-related information, you can access the King’s Student Money Mentors Blog at: https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/moneymentors/

King’s Student Services Online also has an article on ‘5 Steps to more sustainable living‘!

Iman Chala
King’s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice