Student budgeting

Find out how to budget for student life and read our top tips on saving money at university.

Do a budget

You should check our living costs and work out how much you'll need to cover these costs and other expenses.

This may include student loans, a part-time or seasonal job, scholarships and money from family members.

You can then check MoneySavingExpert's Student Budgeting Planner, create a budget spreadsheet or use a budgeting tool such as a student budget calculator.

When you're here, contact our Student Funding Team for money advice, and look at services with spending notifications (like Monzo) to check you’re not going over budget.

Save money on bus and train travel

When you get your Sussex student card, you can benefit from discounts on:

• buses in Brighton & Hove with a student key card or the m-ticket app
• trains to and from the campus (Falmer station) with a UniZone ticket.
• train travel around the UK with a 16-25 railcard
• coach travel with a Young Persons Coachcard.

You should also:

• book train tickets in advance, as prices go up if you book them close to your travel date
• look at 'split ticketing', which is where you buy two or more tickets for different parts of a train journey as this can be cheaper.

Buy second-hand books

You can buy second-hand academic books from:

• retailers like Ebay and Amazon
• other students by checking our small ads section or adverts around campus.

Download free software

You can download Microsoft Office for free, as well as specialist software for your course (such as Matlab, SPSS and GIMP). Check which software you can download.

There is also a range of software on our campus computers. Find out more about IT facilities on campus.

Check student bank account deals

Many UK banks offer student bank accounts with benefits like interest-free overdrafts, free railcards or coachcards, and vouchers. To see which account would be best for you:

• check MoneySavingExpert.com and Which?
• go to a bank branch to talk to an adviser.

Banks such as Barclays and Santander also have international student accounts, and you can email international.support@sussex.ac.uk to find out about banking in the UK.

For all bank accounts, check for any charges such as if you go over your overdraft limit.

Save money on food, drink and other purchases

You can save money on food and drink by:

• cooking for yourself. Check BBC Good Food's cheap eats section for budget recipes
• doing a weekly shop with friends. This way you can buy items in bulk and split the cost
• shopping in supermarkets such as Lidl or Aldi or from markets in Brighton & Hove.

You can also buy international food products and halal meats at an international supermarket or specialist butchers, or in supermarkets with international food aisles.

If you want to order takeaways, eat out or buy cheap food, download apps like:

• Uber Eats (which has no minimum order amount)
• Wriggle (which has discounts on cafés and restaurants)
• Too Good To Go (which sells food about to be thrown out by food outlets for low prices).

You can use listings sites like LoveJunk for free furniture. Their aim is to prevent furniture and other bulky items going to landfill.

Use student discounts

You can access students deals with an NUS Extra card including 10% off in the Co-op supermarket on campus and discounts through Amazon, Apple and Spotify as a student.

Always check for online voucher codes as these may work out cheaper than student discounts, and sign up to the Unidays and Student Beans email newsletters.

Find a part-time job

To find part-time work, when you are a student here, you can:

• log into Careerhub (our jobs database) to search for student jobs on campus and in Brighton & Hove. We also advertise seasonal jobs
• follow the Careers and Employability Centre on Twitter to see the latest vacancies
• check for vacancies on the Students' Union website, Brighton and Hove Jobs, Wired Sussex and the Churchill Square jobs' page
• book an appointment at a recruitment agency such as Manpower, Tate Recruitment and Office Angels
• give in your CV to shops, supermarkets and bars in the city.

Check how much tax you should pay on your earnings as a student.

If you're an international student and you're coming here on a visa, you may have working restrictions. Email immigration@sussex.ac.uk to check if you can work while you study.

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Hear from our students

Managing your money while at university can be tricky, Ani is here to give you some top tips for keeping on top of your finances.

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You might also be interested in:

• accommodation costs
• living costs
• loans, scholarships and funding