Kings Student Money Mentors

How to make the most of university life without breaking the bank account

Hi KCL! Now that we are past the halfway point in the academic year, we thought we’d remind you of some tips about how to get to grips with a student budget, especially in the current climate where costs are increasing.

Budgeting

Try to keep track of how much you’re spending from the start! It’s easy to overspend when you don’t actually know how much you’re spending. You could track your spending using a spreadsheet, or alternatively via a budgeting calculator such as this one on Blackbullion. Apps such as Monzo and Snoop are also useful for setting a monthly budget.

A bank account is essential for managing your funding and bills. We recommend having two separate bank accounts, one for your personal income from your job and your savings and one (preferably student) account for the money you receive from Student Finance England or your main sponsor/funder. This will prevent you splurging the money that should otherwise be going towards your rent and will assist you in budgeting each month.

Travel

We have a separate blog post dedicated to travel costs but one big tip would be to remember to link your Oyster card to your Railcard. Doing this will allow you to save one third on off-peak travel prices! Off-peak times are from 9:30am to 4pm and after 7pm. Travel between these times where possible as public transport will be less busy and travel costs will be lower.

Socialising

Socialising is such a big part of your university experience and no one wants to miss out on this. It can be easy to burn through your money during first year but there are so many ways to spend time with people without spending too much. If you’re planning on going clubbing for example, you can pre drink before going out. This is a great way to bond with your flatmates while avoiding the expensive drinks prices in central London. The Student Union (Guy’s bar and the Vault) also generally has cheaper prices compared to other bars and clubs.

In terms of clubs and societies at university, you can see what King’s has to offer during fresher’s fair. There is no obligation to stick with a society till the end of the year so we’d recommend joining quite a few at the beginning of the year and then cutting down. If you’re considering joining a sports society, many of these include access to BeActive in the membership. BeActive offers a variety of recreational activities every week, including climbing, swimming, tennis and more! In general, societies are a great way to meet other students and make friends, both within and outside of your course.

Shopping

Make sure to sign up to supermarket reward schemes such as a Tesco Clubcard and a Nectar card. It’s also worth trying to do a weekly shop at one of the bigger supermarkets, as most items from these are cheaper. All of this will help to save money on groceries, as you will probably be buying quite a lot now that you will be cooking for yourself!

It can be tempting to buy coffee and food on the go, but the costs add up quickly. Try and make your own coffee and packed lunches at home or buy some from the KCLSU cafeterias – they have some of the cheapest and best options you can find around here!

Discounts

Make sure to check out the student discount schemes that are offered by UNIDAYS, Student Beans and Totum as they can be very helpful to save money when shopping! Research and make a list of all the apps that offer good discounts for students before term starts.

Plan for emergencies

When figuring out your budget, remember to save some contingency money each month just in case an unexpected expense pops up! Savings accounts are essential for this. You can have one “easy access” for emergencies and another for large expenses that you’re saving towards, for example a housing deposit. If you have surplus money now, you may not in the future, so get into the habit of saving some in an easy access, or even an Individual Savings Account (ISA) to earn more interest tax free.

Funding

Finally, a note on funding. If you’re a home student, remember to claim all the funding you’re entitled to. This includes completing the means test for student loans in order to be eligible for the King’s Living Bursary. In addition, if you’re a home student parent or disabled student, check your eligibility for welfare benefits.

Being financially responsible for yourself can be a daunting experience, which is why the Money & Housing Advice Service is committed to students making the most of their time at King’s, whatever their budget. Contact the team if you have any queries about budgeting. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy your first year at King’s!

Aanchal Raina
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.

How can Study Abroad affect housing in London?

“Airplane Travel” by Robert De Bock/ CC0 1.0

Hello all and welcome to my first blog in a new series on my preparation and experience as a Study Abroad student at KCL! In this blog, I will give some insights and tips on some of the best practices for when you are preparing to go abroad as well as comparing the different budgetary challenges in London and my chosen destination! I hope this series can be helpful not only to students who are going abroad next year but also those who are pondering whether to apply to go abroad in years to come and who want a clearer picture of what to expect if they do apply.

So just for a bit of context, my name is Tom and I am currently in my second year studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics. I first heard about the opportunity to spend my second semester abroad during an open day at KCL a few years ago and after looking at all of the available destinations for my course, one clearly stood out for me – Singapore. Having the opportunity to study at the National University of Singapore seemed to fulfil everything I wanted from going abroad, which included seeing a part of the world I’ve never been to before, and taking modules that would never be available at King’s.

The first topic I wanted to focus on in this series is housing, as this is an issue that will affect all Semester two outgoing study abroad students. The key issue here is finding housing only for Semester one as most contracts you find are for the entire academic year. However, depending on your contract, there may be several ways to get around this.

Can I sublet?

You may think of subletting, where you effectively rent out your room whilst you are abroad. However, some contracts forbid this practice so always make sure to check this beforehand. If your contract does allow subletting, make sure to get permission from your landlord first. Be aware that by subletting, you have certain responsibilities, such as making sure your subtenants have the right to rent in the UK.

The King’s Money and Housing Advice Service operate a great service where they can check your contract and tell you if subletting is allowed and if so, what your responsibilities will be. You can access their services here.

What about assignment?

Assignment is when someone else can take over your contract through what is known as a deed of assignment. This will then remove your legal liability to your previous contract.

However, there are some caveats here, such as the fact that you may need to pay a fee to assign a tenancy but this should not exceed £50 as per the Tenants Fee Act 2019. The landlord, any joint tenants and also the new tenant must sign the deed of assignment so any flatmates you have would have to agree to this.

Can I use a break clause?

A break clause is when you end your tenancy earlier than the original end date, but different contracts will have different dates for when the contract can be ended so make sure you check this. Note that if you are in a joint tenancy, every tenant needs to activate this clause for it to be considered valid.

How to find someone to sublet or assign to

The first port of call can be to see if any of your friends or course mates will be looking for accommodation whilst you are abroad but if this doesn’t work out, you can use services like the University of London’s Flatmate Finder or the KCL Flatmate Finder Hub to find interested students. You could also advertise on websites such as Spareroom.

You could always become a subtenant yourself or take over someone else’s contract through assignment but make sure that your deposit is properly protected and the landlord is aware of the situation.

There is also the option of King’s Residences or private student halls, who may offer contracts shorter than one year, but this is not guaranteed.

For more advice on how to find short-term housing, this article gives you some more useful information about what to do when you move out of London for a semester.

So hopefully this blog has been helpful in giving you some info and tips on how to find housing if you’re an outgoing Study Abroad student or if you are thinking of applying in the future. Don’t hesistate to conact the King’s Money and Housing Service if you have any questions. I’ll see you in my next blog!

Tom Appleby
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.

A Typical Week of Spending in London

(Photo by Jaanus Jagomägi on Unsplash)

London has to be one of the most vibrant, lively and exciting cities to live in as a student. But it’s also the most expensive city in the UK… so, just how expensive is it really? In this blog, I’m going to explore how expensive living in London is by taking you through a typical week of my spending as a fourth-year KCL medical student. I’d like to preface that everyone’s individual spending will be different depending on a number of factors and your own spending will fluctuate week to week. However, this blog post should give you an idea of what costs to prepare for and how you can think about cutting down on certain expenses.

Accommodation: £225p/w

Utility bills: £15p/w

By far, my greatest cost (and this will be the same for almost every student) was rent. The price shown above is how much I paid for a room in a three-bedroom flat in central London. However, many students will choose to live in student accommodation, especially in their first year, as this is a good way to get to know other students at King’s and make friends. Another benefit is that the weekly rent price includes all utility bills. Make sure to look into the KAAS scheme (King’s Affordable Accommodation Scheme), which offers accommodation at a reduced rate for students from lower income backgrounds if they meet certain eligibility criteria. The weekly rent for King’s accommodation (not including KAAS rates) ranges from £178 to £370.

Grocery shop £30

One thing I started to do (and would recommend to other students) was to pick a specific day of the week for grocery shopping, and to create a shopping list before stepping out. This helped to prevent overspending as I was less tempted to pick up random things I wouldn’t need throughout the week or when shopping. I would usually visit Lidl with one of my flatmates at the weekend and spend around £30. On the weeks where I’d just returned from visiting home, I would spend much less on grocery shopping as I’d bring home-cooked food with me. To reduce the cost of your weekly shop, consider shopping at larger supermarket branches as items tend to be a bit cheaper here and also getting a Sainsbury’s Nectar card and/or Tesco Clubcard. It may also be worth looking into signing up to food hubs such as The Borough Food Cooperative. For each visit, members can pick up to 16 items for £4.50, which works out to be a really good deal!

Transport: £6

I live just a 10 minute walk from Guy’s Campus, where all my inductions were based this week. I used the tube once this week to go shopping in Covent Garden. Note that I normally spend more on public transport (£15 to £20 each week) as my hospital placements are a bit further away.

Social/eating out: £15

I try to bring a packed lunch with me most days but ended up getting one meal deal this week. I also went to Covent Garden with a friend and had dinner there.

Tea and coffee: £5

I’m not much of a tea or coffee drinker, but I got a bubble tea this week for £5. If you do enjoy these drinks, aside from making them yourself to save money, I’d recommend downloading the King’s Move app. This app tracks the number of steps you take each day and you automatically earn points as a result. Once you earn a specific number of points, you are entitled to a reward, such as a free hot drink from any King’s Food venue.

Monthly subscriptions/bills: £14

Disney Plus – £8
Spotify – £6 (student rate)

Total excluding rent: £74.50

Total including rent: £299.50

Just a reminder that spending and costs will be different for everyone and will differ week to week. E.g., I would spend a lot more on groceries if I was trying new recipes on some weeks or spend a lot more on social activities – especially during the start of the year. I myself am still learning to manage my own money and budget, but hopefully, this has given you some insight into what to expect.

So, there you have it – a typical week of spending from the perspective of a student living in London!

Tasniya Aktar and Aanchal Raina
King’s Student Money Mentors
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.