{"id":913,"date":"2025-02-28T20:24:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T20:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/?p=913"},"modified":"2025-02-28T20:24:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T20:24:33","slug":"national-student-money-week-your-hidden-gems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/2025\/02\/28\/national-student-money-week-your-hidden-gems\/","title":{"rendered":"National Student Money Week: Your Hidden Gems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Coins Money<\/a>” by Negative Space<\/a>\/ CC0 1.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hi there KCL! For the second day of National Student Money Week, we thought we\u2019d make a post focusing on our chosen theme of \u201chidden gems.\u201d London is a fantastic city to live in as a student, but we all know how expensive things can get. In this short post, I\u2019ll go through some of the best current<\/em> deals for students to save money, which you may or may not have heard of.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discounts <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one may seem a bit obvious, but it\u2019s worth making note of the different platforms that offer student discounts. There are three main ones to remember. Make sure to check out UNIDAYS<\/a>, Student Beans<\/a> and Totum<\/a> as they can be very useful to help you save money, whether it comes to buying clothes, technology or eating out. If you\u2019re studying a healthcare-related course, you could also consider getting a Blue Light<\/a> card. This costs \u00a34.99 for two years and you\u2019re entitled to discounts on a large number of brands. All you need is a valid NHS ID to register. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a separate blog post dedicated to travel costs but one tip that I learned too late would be to link your Oyster<\/a> card to your Railcard<\/a>. 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. I\u2019d recommend downloading the King\u2019s Move<\/a> app too, especially if you enjoy walking. You can earn points for walking, running, swimming and cycling and redeem these for rewards such as hot drinks and KCL branded clothing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the student discount apps mentioned above, you could also download the Too Good To Go<\/a> app. This app allows you to buy food and drinks from local restaurants, cafes and bakeries that have extra food at the end of the day at a discounted price! Another great app is First Table<\/a> which, as the name suggests, allows you to book the “first table” of the evening at participating restaurants. In return for securing a spot at the first table, you\u2019ll receive a significant discount on your meal!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activities <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there are so many activities in London that you can make the most of without spending any money. While the Shard offers great views of London, an alternative option is Sky Garden, which offers 360-degree views of London\u2019s skyline, as well as indoor gardens, cafes and bars! Entry is free \u2013 just make sure to book in advance. There are also plenty of comedy nights all around London, which don\u2019t charge an entry fee. If you\u2019re an art or science lover, you can visit the National Gallery and the Science Museum at no cost! These are all great options if you want to try something new with your friends without breaking the bank account.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there you have it! A short guide to some of London\u2019s hidden gems, allowing you to make the most of your time living in and exploring London at an affordable price. Hopefully after reading this, you\u2019ll feel encouraged to try out some of the options mentioned and let us know how you find them!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aanchal Raina<\/strong>
King\u2019s Student Money Mentor
Part of Money & Housing Advice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King\u2019s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students\u2019 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.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi there KCL! For the second day of National Student Money Week, we thought we\u2019d make a post focusing on our chosen theme of \u201chidden gems.\u201d London is a fantastic city to live in as a student, but we all know how expensive things can get. In this short post, I\u2019ll go through some of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “National Student Money Week: Your Hidden Gems”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[71,3],"class_list":["post-913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-hidden-gems","tag-national-student-money-week","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":916,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913\/revisions\/916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}