There are so many websites out there which you can find in seconds, all with great deals and money off vouchers, who doesn’t love saving a bit of money? These were my saviour for such a long time, and I do still use them quite a lot. You never know what deal you could find. One I use a lot is StudentBeans. This site offers student discount for so many stores, these include Topman, Burton, ASOS, Boohoo and Gap just to name a few. The discounts can vary, some for 5% or 10% and I’ve seen others with a 20% discount which is a really good saving! On the Student Beans site you can also look for free stuff, like a free Graze box – be careful though as sometimes you have to sign up for things and you don’t want to be paying for something after your first freebie.. Competitions are also great to enter on this site. If you want to get yourself some part time work while studying there is a whole section for that. You can search by location and sector and you will find loads of jobs in retail, bar work and supermarkets. Student Beans also has handy app so when you’re out you can just check your phone, you can also sign up for emails so every week you can be notified of the latest deals.
Another site I love and only discovered a few months ago is Student Money Saver. When I first found this site I ended up getting myself a free beauty box, worth £6.95, a great one for all the girls. Right now they have some competitions going where you could win a week’s holiday, something I’m sure most students would appreciate after exams! They also have discounts on phone contracts, restaurant offers, discounts at Odeon cinemas, there are so many things.
The last site like this is Save The Student. They all do the same thing and have loads of deals for you. It also runs seasonal and timely deals – like in the lead up to Valentine’s Day. On this site you can also get free samples, I spotted samples of hand cream from high end brand L’Occtaine, Estee Lauder foundation, Benefit mascara, this is great for girls who love beauty as you can try lots of new products without it costing you a thing.
Something a bit different to the previous sites and something you might not know about is the site Top Cashback. This is something completely free to sign up to and if you use their site to then go to shopping websites and then purchase something you can get some of that money back. Another site like this is Quidco, it is definitely worth checking them out as you could get a good amount back from your purchase. Before you next do some online shopping, have a look on here first and see if the site you want to shop on is listed on these sites.
A general tip for you if you don’t have the time to go on any of these sites is that when you are out shopping just ask if they have any discounts going! Show your student card and in most places this can get you at least 10% discount, in some stores you could be lucky enough to get 30% discount, this applies with restaurants too. Handmade Burger currently has 30% student discount and Frankie and Bennys has 20%. Other restaurants you can use a student card include Ed’s Diner where you can 20% off your bill, if you sign up to their mailing list they regularly send out emails with 50% off!
In most places a regular student card will be fine, but in others you will need an NUS card. This stands for the National Union of Students and is an organisation which wants to make a difference to the lives of students. If you have one of these you are almost guaranteed a discount in shops and restaurants. Unfortunately you do have to pay for one of these and it does have to be renewed every year but for £12 you do end up saving lots of money throughout the year. If you don’t already have one of these I really recommend it!