• Plan your meals in advance so you are shopping in bulk once a week and be strict with your shopping list so you're not tempted into buying items you don't need.
• Aim to buy supermarket or value brands which tend to be cheaper than brand named goods and taste as good - if not better.
• Look out for special offers on food or household items such as 2 for 1 deals - just be careful to only buy what you need and not to buy something just because it seems a bargain.
• Lots of shops are removing 'best before' dates on products to reduce waste but do look at the 'use by' dates to ensure you have time to eat the product safely.  Remember that best before dates are about quality whilst use by dates are about safety.  You can read more about this from the Food Standards Agency.  
• When you're shopping look out for the reduced item shelves and know when stock prices are often reduced at the end of the day. Look out for odd shaped vegetables too - they are often sold cheaper. 
• Refresh your cooking skills and get a student cookbook which will have nutritional but low cost recipes. A useful website to help budgeting for food is Student Recipes which has everything from learning how to boil an egg to finding inspirational vegetarian recipe ideas. 
• If you're on our Egham campus, there are lots of everyday value meals for you to enjoy. Find out more here.

 Useful links

• NHS Eatwell guide. 
• Eat well, spend less - food fact sheet from the British Diabetic Association. 
• Supermarket shopping tips - from the Money Saving Expert. 
• How to save money on your food budget - from Money Aware. 
• 55 ways to save money on food - from Save the Student! 
• Student recipes  - from BBC Good Food
• Nosh for students - student cookbook

The energy price cap, regulated by Ofgem is currently updated quarterly and the current situation unfortunately means we'll all be facing a challenging winter for energy costs.   

Tips 

• Only using the heating when you need it is recommended as it saves both money and energy. Utilise the timer and reflect your household heating needs - it you are not going to be in for a long period consider when the best time is to have the heating on. 
• Ask your landlord to look at ensuring the house is as draught free as possible - for example looking at doors, windows, floorboards and skirting and fireplaces.  Draught proofing strips or silicone filled can be used by your landlord to help seal up areas where heat or energy is escaping. 
• Unplug 'energy vampires' - these are appliances and technology equipment that drain electricity when they are not being used.  Anything left on standby is probably using energy you don't need to use - for example chargers, laptops, games consoles, the kettle, televisions and more.  Switching off the plugs or unplugging items could save you a considerable amount of money.  You can find out more about energy vampires here.   
• Avoid electric heaters if you can - they are one of the most expensive forms of heating.  The cheaper way to heat your home is by ensuring your landlord has provided and maintained an efficient gas central heating system with timers and thermostats.  
• It is recommended that you turn off lights when you leave a room and to be mindful of how many lights you have on in the house at any one time.  
• Keep doors closed for rooms you don't heat; closing doors keeps the convection current in a room and stops cold air entering.  
• Consider whether you can turn your thermostat down - but not to a temperature that is too cold.  A USwitch survey in 2020 showed that 2.7 million households are turning their thermostats up to 25°C. The ideal room temperature is between 18°C and 21°C.

Useful links 

You may need to talk to your landlord about some of these suggestions.  

• Top tips to reduce your energy bills - from Which! 
• Quick tips to save energy - from the Energy Saving Trust. 
• Home energy tips - from the Energy Saving Trust. 
• Support with your energy bills - from the British Gas Energy Trust.
• Water saving tips - from Ofwat.

If you are commuting to campus from home or a distance away travel can expensive.  Here are some tips about how you might be able to save on commuting costs, and travel costs if you're going to visit friends, going into London or exploring the UK more widely. 

Tips

• Booking travel early is often a good way to save costs on travel.  Did you know that train tickets can usually be booked ten weeks in advance of travel? Bear in mind that advance tickets do not always allow for flexibility if your plans change so you need to consider this before you book. Advance tickets can usually be bought up until the day before travel but costs will increase as you get closer to the date of travel.
• If you are booking a return journey then look at the costs for both 2 x single fares (there and back) and a return as surprisingly two singles can sometimes work out cheaper.
• Get a railcard (see below) which can save you up to a third on train costs.  There is an initial cost for the card (currently £30 for one year) but if you will be using the train regularly you will recover this cost quite quickly.  
• Wherever you can travel off-peak or super off-peak.  Ticket costs generally reduce outside of rush hour times and weekends are classed as off-peak so if longer journeys can be arranged for these times there will be a saving. 
• Money can also be saved by splitting your tickets and buying different tickets for each part of your journey. For example if you are travelling from Station A to Station C going through Station B you could look at the costs for buying a ticket from A-B and then B-C even when it is on the same train.  As long as the train stops at Station B this is an option to consider.  
• If you are commuting to campus and travel by car is the quickest / cheapest option you could consider whether you can car-share with another student who is commuting from the same area as you.  When car sharing do make your personal safety a priority and only share with someone you know well.  Consider telling others who you're sharing with and when as an added safety measure and don't share with a stranger under any circumstances.  
• Cycling has become incredibly popular in recent years and is an environmentally friendly way to travel shorter distances.  It is also probably the cheapest way to travel and has the added benefit of improving your fitness regime! If you live just two miles from campus and cycle to and from campus each weekday you'll have completed twenty miles of exercise and reduced your carbon footprint. If you are cycling you should invest in a good lock, a helmet and also lights if you'll be cycling in the evening.  You should also register it on Immobilise, the UK national property register. 
• If you are driving then shop around for the cheaper fuel prices both close to campus and at your home.  There can be a quite significant difference in the costs at the pumps and it's good to keep an eye on where the cheapest prices are so you can fill up as you drive past.

Useful links

• National Railcards - including the 16-25 Railcard, the 26-30 Railcard and the Disabled Persons Railcard. 
• Raileasy - for help with split ticket costs. 
• Trainline, Megabus and Raileasy - travel discount sites with options to search for the cheapest tickets available.
• Young Persons Coachcard - saving one third on standard and fully flexible fares from National Express. 

The NHS remains a central Government funded service, free at the point of delivery, but with the exception of minimal patient charges such as prescription costs, dental care and eye tests.  Some patients are exempt from paying these costs but if this is the case you will need to prove your exemption to the NHS - usually with an exemption certificate. 

Tips

• Check whether you are entitled to claim for free treatment or prescriptions.  You can find out if you are entitled to help with health costs on the NHS website.    
• If you know you will be needing to pay for a large number of NHS prescriptions - for example for ongoing medication on repeat prescription - it may be cheaper for you to buy a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC).  The NHS describes the PPC as effectively a prescription season ticket as it covers all your NHS prescriptions, including NHS dental prescriptions, no matter how many items you need during the time of your PPC.  You can buy a three or twelve month PPC based on what you need.
• You may be eligible for free prescriptions under the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS).  If you have a low income (currently under £16,000pa) the LIS could help you pay costs for prescriptions, dental costs, eyecare costs and healthcare travel costs.  
• Look for an NHS dentist to save costs on dental check ups and treatment.  You can search by postcode on the NHS website. 

Useful links

• Help with health costs from the NHS.
• Prescription Prepayment Certificates - three or twelve month options. 
• Low Income Scheme
• Get help with dental costs