Kings Student Money Mentors

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. Strava also offers a great way to socialise while exercising, as well as providing wonderful running and cycling routes. 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, Hyde Park or Primrose Hill 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 (or a single Session Pass for £3)! And why not reflect on the upcoming year with a bit of journaling? 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 (just off Tooley Street, about 6 minutes from Guy’s Campus). 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. King’s also has a free counselling service, which provides trained counsellors to all students on each campus. 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

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 – 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. Always remember to check the expiry dates on food products before purchasing, supermarkets will always display at the front the items that are about to go off, meaning you might end up throwing a lot of food out if you’re not careful!

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 TooGooToGo 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

The Illegal Money Lending Team

With all the talk about loan sharks recently, the Money Mentors want you to know that if you or anyone else find yourselves in loan shark-related trouble, there are people who can help! The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) is a fantastic organisation set up to combat loan sharks and has been doing so very successfully for nearly 20 years. In today’s blog, I’m going to tell you all about them and what they do.

So who are the IMLT?

Did you know that there are approximately 1.08 million people in the UK in debt to illegal money lenders? Well, the IMLT was set up in 2004 and aims to spread awareness of the risks of such individuals and what they do.

I myself have been lucky enough to attend some talks by one of their top ‘Liaise Officers’ and have seen an example of how they work with communities, partner agencies, and educational establishments like KCL, to help us understand this problem and how it can be managed. They do this by giving talks, showing videos, creating newsletters, distributing flyers and posters, attending campaigns such as our Stop Loan Sharks Campaign, and in many more ways so that we can help identify and tackle this issue.

The IMLT also has resources for students like us. To see just one example of how loan sharking can become part of a student’s life, take a look at this video. You can also download the Stop Loan Sharks App for further information.

The IMLT doesn’t just spread awareness though. Each team of the IMLT has a specialist investigator and a Liaise Officer who has previously worked for the police, trading standards and debt advice services and investigated and help to prosecute illegal money lenders where they appear in England. In fact, since they were set up, they’ve supported almost 32,000 people (including students) and have written off £87 million of debt!

Not only that, but the IMLT also offers a fantastic amount of support to those who have suffered at the hands of loan sharks for as long as they require it, free of charge!

Our December campaign this year focused on a collaboration with the IMLT to raise awareness of the dangers of loan sharking. Called the ‘Stop Loan Sharks’ Campaign, we hope those of you who attended our events know slightly more about this topic, and if you ever want to learn more, King’s Student Money Mentors and the IMLT are always here to help!

If you’d like to contact the IMLT, their 24/7 confidential helpline can be reached at 0300 555 2222; they also have an e-mail service, a text service, and a Live Chat on their website, as well as a Facebook page and an Instagram to contact them on.

Shivam Chotai
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.