When you’re a student who’s looking to travel, you will want to have a great time on your trip, but you’ll probably be limited on how much money you have to spend. Finding cheap travel options and cheap places to stay is therefore crucial if you want to have enough money for enjoying yourself while you’re there too.

Search online
Look online for sites that are offering cheap flights for places to go. Look at sites aimed at students such as studentflights.co.uk and look at other sites that are just designed to be cheap for everyone too such as lastminute.com for example.

Don’t be too ridged on your destination
The places that are cheap to travel to may not be your first choice of destination, but there may well still be a good choice of places you can pick from. Have a look at what’s on offer in terms of cheap flights, then look at how expensive it is to stay there before you make your decision.

Can you be flexible when you travel?
If the answer to this question is yes, then you’re more likely to get a cheap flight and cheap accommodation to boot. Hotels, and Airlines will all have peak and off peak prices, and if you’re travelling in August from the UK when everyone else wants to travel, then you are likely to pay more than you would if you travelled in September or October. Of course when you’re a student this isn’t always possible, but if you’re planning on being away for the whole of the summer, you may find that if you can adjust your travel plans by just a few days you’ll be able to get flights at least that little bit more cheaply.

What sort of accommodation do you need?
You’re going to want somewhere to sleep obviously, but do you need a full hotel, or would you be just as happy in a hostel for example. Hostels are available in many parts of the world and offer fairly basic accommodation without all the bells and whistles that you get with a hotel, but for just a fraction of the cost. Search online for hostels in the country you are travelling to, to find out what’s available websites like hostel bookers are good starting places.

Alternatively, would camping be an option you could consider? This again is another cheap option, and campsites are fairly similar the world over, but obviously if you have to buy all your camping equipment and if you’ve got to carry it as well, it may not be a practical idea.

Talk to your friends as well, it can be more fun travelling in a group, and you may also be able to negotiate deals on places to stay if there are a number of you booking at the same time. Don’t forget though, they may have other ideas on where they’d like to go, so you might have to compromise a bit so you all have a great time.

Anyone who has been to Uni will know that the experience is very costly.  Many young adults will be moving away for the first time in September for a life of independence and freedom from their parents, however many will be blissfully unaware of how expensive it is to live in a student house.  Apart from rent, students will be financially responsible for their electricity/gas bills, food shopping, TV license, and other personal bills such as a mobile phone contract, gym membership and credit card bills- it all adds up!  It’s important to be prepared for these costs and to also work out a budget to live off week by week.  Take note of these tips, brought to you by moneysupermarket.com to help you save money on your student household bills…

• Use vouchers.  The vouchers market has grown 50% year on year since the start of the recession.  Now retailers are luring you in by offering your discounts on their products, meaning you could potentially get a discount on everything you buy.  Vouchers come in many forms; printable vouchers which you take with you to the shop, discount codes which you use online, or mobile vouchers which you show from your smart phone.  Vouchers tend to give you a percentage off your final bill, for example 30% off, but on your hunt for vouchers you will come across buy one get one frees and 2 for 1 discounts.  It’s surprising how much money can save if you actively look for vouchers before buying something, whether it is clothing, food, nights out or travel- there is bound to be a voucher available to make you some savings.
• When living at home with your mum and dad it’s easy to take utilities for granted.  You parents are likely to pay the gas, electricity and water bills, so some students end up being surprised when they are held accountable for the amount of energy they use.  You should definitely become aware of how much it costs to heat and light a home, and learn tricks on how to keep the utilities bills down.   You should begin taking simple measures to keeping costs down, such as always switching lights off in unattended rooms and unplugging any electrical equipment when it isn’t in use.   You should also consider turning down your heating by just 1 degree when in the house- you won’t feel much different but it will make a difference to your energy bills.
• Buy from local businesses.  When it comes to food shopping it is always tempting to do it in one fell swoop at a supermarket.  Supermarkets have everything under one roof, but aren’t necessarily the cheapest suppliers.  You’re bound to have a fruit and veg shop and a butcher close to where you live, and you’ll find that you can save up to 50% by shopping locally.  The produce you buy from these shops will be void of any fancy packaging, and will have been brought straight from the supplier, meaning that you can buy the goods for less.
• Buy from second hand shops.  Second hand shops are brilliant for books, vintage clothing and furniture, and are likely to be 50% less than if you bought these items new.  You can also pick up really original pieces which no one else will have, as well as saving yourself some cash.
• Don’t be lured in by ‘free’ goods, like mobile phones, laptops or games consoles.  Even if the company insists that the free gift won’t cost you anything, if you work out the monthly cost of the phone contract (used as an example as phone companies are renowned for offering gifts to lure you into a lengthy contract) and the time it will take for the contract to run out you will have probably paid more than what the free gift is actually worth.  Instead, compare laptops and games consoles online by using a comparison service so you are aware of what is on the market for when you have the money to buy it outright.

A money saving article, written by Rachael Miller, part of the Shopping and vouchers team at moneysupermarket.com

Spain is an ideal summer destination for students to visit on a holiday. Being close to the UK, relatively cheap to get to and rich in tourist attractions in cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Spain should be on everyones holiday map at least once.

Spain is very rich and diverse in its culture. Before traveling to Spain, it is advisable to do some research on the places and services where you’ll be travelling to get travel facilities, ticket and rentals at cheaper rates.

In general, Spain is an inexpensive place to live. Hence, if you are going to spend a holiday in Spain, you can quite easily cut down a large amount in our necessaties and have a larger budget left for spending, or saving for that matter.

Where to go for cheap holidays to Spain?

Andalusia is one location in Spain which has low living. Some of the most popular locations of Andalusia are the white beaches along the coastal line, Granada’s Alhambra Palace and Fortress. The early summer season is the most suitable season for spending a holiday in Andalusia.

Another place in Spain which is recommended for spending a cheap holiday is the Torremolinos. This place is very popular for its attractive surroundings and long summer seasons. Traveling to this area is very comfortable as it is only ten minutes away from the International airport.

The third cheapest area in Spain is Ronda Andalucia. The most attractive things of this destination are the beautiful mountain Sceneries, Black Winged Stalks, flowery fields, white washed village and Beeater birds.

Although a great place to spend your holiday, it is very easy to find out all the facilities like hotels, restaurants, rentals, car hires and services at very cheap rates. Spain is a very good place to relax; offering attractive beaches, especially those Costa Blanca and Costa Brava. Spain is one of the most recommended places for the hikers as well, consisting of both large and small cities that offer a great experience for any budget.

If flying to Spain, or even looking for a low cost all inclusive holiday, remember to compare deals through a comparison site such as dealchecker.

Going to University or College is an expensive process, and it can cost you £10,000 or more per year for your rent, fees, and other living expenses, so it’s important to know how to spend your money wisely when you first leave home, so that you get the most out of what you have and don’t end up leaving with a degree AND a large debt problems

Make a Budget
It may sound like a boring thing to do, but if you draw up an income/expenditure sheet
which details all your incoming money, and all your outgoing money, you will be able to
see easily whether you have enough income to support yourself, or if you need to look for
extra income. The simplest way to do this is to create a table with the dates of the
month in column one, income in column two, and expenditure in column three. Column four
can be used to show a running total of how much money you have left after each amount
goes in or out.

What to do if you require extra money
Most students find that unless they are very lucky, even with help from mum and dad,
and a part time job, they will fall short on the amount of money they need each year to
support themselves. There are a number of different ways you can get borrow money:

Student Loans
Official government supported student loans are the cheapest loan you are ever likely
to receive, and currently they have an interest rate of just 1.5% and this is dropping to
0% from September. There are two sorts, the first is for tuition, the second for living
expenses. Neither will need to be repaid until you have graduated, and only then when
you are earning over £15,000 per year.

Overdrafts
Student bank accounts are offered by most banks today, and these accounts
generally have reasonably good interest rates compared to normal current accounts.
Most of them also come with a free overdraft facility all ready set up for you to
use as the banks understand that you may need this. Many of these accounts come
with perks like free gifts, cashback, etc. but it’s important not to let yourself be
wooed by these perks, but to pick the account based on it’s actual merits.

Credit Cards
As a last port of call, a credit card can be a useful thing, however it is very easy
to become seduced by the ease of using a credit card and saying I’ll pay it off
later. The problem comes when later arrives and you don’t have the money to pay
it off. Credit cards generally have fairly high interest rates which means that the
debt can build far more quickly than you might imagine. If you do decide to go for
a credit card, try to keep it for emergency use only, and remember to pay it off
every month so that you do not incur charges that you can’t afford.

Make use of Discounts
Student discounts are available today in all sorts of places, from online sites selling CDs
and DVDs, to fast food restaurants, and book stores. These discounts are offered
as an incentive to you to buy from that store, and they can save you quite a chunk of
money. However, it is important to make sure that you also check out other places that
don’t offer discounts too, as prices can vary, and you may find some items are cheaper
elsewhere even without a discount.

Look at websites aimed at saving students money such as studentbeans.com and snapfax.co.uk as they keep lists of all the stores they know who are offering student discounts both on and offline. Find out about the NUS Extra card as well, this card does cost a small fee, but there are a lot of shops signed up to the scheme which means that most people find it can save them more money than it costs.

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