Top tips to help you with the cost of living crisis
Written by Juan Andres Cuervo, Communications & Campaigns Assistant at Birkbeck Students' Union with the help of Salomé Dore. Communications & Campaigns Manager, and Women's Officer Daisy Kaother Jeanrenaud
The cost-of-living crisis is having a devastating impact on our society, and the situation in the UK is overly dramatic.
With inflation predicted to rise to 11% in Autumn, and housing costs and energy prices becoming unsustainable for a significant amount of people, there is an estimation that people in poverty will rise to 16 million. Furthermore, this endemic crisis is being exacerbated by the fact that the houses prices have risen by 11% in the UK.
Within the context of a world of economic, social, and political turmoil across the globe, this article will try to provide you with some tips to save money in London, a task far from easy to accomplish.
Students and the Cost of Living in London
During the cost-of-living crisis, London became the fourth most expensive city in the world: this means that the people living in the capital struggle to access basic services such as food, heating, or public transport. Itis hardly a surprise that nearly half of the Londoners are facing serious difficulties living in the city. The situation is far from better for students.
According to research carried out by the National Union of Students (NUS), 96% of students are cutting back because of the economic crisis. You can find the statistics of the survey HERE.
Although how expensive life in London is can be a challenging aspect, there are still options to save some money and still enjoy interesting aspects of the city.
1) Food for Sustainability
In January 2022, 5% of the students were accessing food banks. Now the number has increased to 11%. The prices of groceries have increased because of inflation.
Here are some suggestions to eat healthier, reduce the environmental impact and save money:
Too Good To Go: You can see if the restaurants around you have this App to pay a significantly reduced amount for a meal. Some supermarkets are also involved in this.
Oddbox: Sustainable seasonal products, they even deliver overnight to keep their emissions low.
SOAS Lunch: Free hot (vegan) food at lunch time in front of SOAS Monday-Friday all year round. You can bring a Tupperware to eat later.
When grocery shopping, it is always good to try and plan your food ahead and do a big shop instead of multiple small shops.
It’s also always a good idea to think about where you shop and to always get a loyalty card if they have one!
2) Transport: The Student Oyster and Railcard
Bus, Overground, Underground... the public transport in London is efficient and diverse, although it can be quite expensive to move across the city. Going through Zone 1 (Central London) will increase the price of the trip, thus sometimes it might be better taking the bus (£1,70 with the option to take two in one hour for the same price) or the Overground (apart from a few stops, it tends to avoid Zone 1, so the trip will be cheaper).
Furthermore, travelling during Peak Times will cost more money (Monday to Friday, not on public holidays, between 06:30 and 09:30, and between 16:00 and 19:00).
As a student, you can apply for the Student Oyster to save money during your trips.
You can also apply for a Railcard, which gives you 1/3 off trains and can be added to your Oyster card and give you discounts on the Overgrounds.
In addition, think about walking across the city (there are parks in central London nice to pass by), or if you like cycling, take a look at the Santander Cycles scheme.
3) Caring for Culture
Museums and Galleries: London is the fourth city in the world with the most number of museums. The range of options is huge and many of them have free entrance, including the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, the Museum of London in Barbican, the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, and the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.
Theatre: London is the capital of the theatre, and its London Theatreland district contains approximately forty venues with performances such as Les Misérables, The Lion King, Back to the Future or To Kill a Mockingbird.
Even though going to the theatre can be expensive and not affordable for a significant number of people, there are some tips to reduce the expenses buying the tickets the same day through TodayTix or Lastminute.com, and do not forget to check some offers for under 30s.
Meerkat movies: 2 for 1 cinema tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays if you make a qualifying purchase on comparethemarket.com (you can get ‘travel insurance’ for a 1 day trip to Ireland that can cost you just £2 and you will have the discount for an entire year).
4) Reading for Free
Borrow Books: Become a member of your local Library and borrow books. It is easy, more sustainable, and it will encourage you to read more (If I showed you the shelves at home) and the libraries are always a great place to engage.
Online Books: There are some online libraries which can be very useful to download text for free in a legal way, including The Anarchist Library or Project Gutenberg.
5) University Funding
Check the diverse ways of funding your studies at the Universities and keep an eye on the updates. Recently, it has been announced the Birkbeck Summer Support Fund.
You can find more options HERE.
6) Health & Community
Free Prescriptions/Dental treatment/Optician visits for students who qualify under the HC1 scheme (income based)
In some areas of London, care leavers who don’t qualify for council tax exemption due to part time study should still be able to access an exemption up until age 25 (region specific, some local authorities it’s only up to 21)
Community Pantry: Students who are able to donate dry non perishable foods (canned food, pasta etc) can leave their surplus and students who need food can take what they need. No need to sign up to anything, just give and take.
Clothes & Book swap event: Take what you need.
7) Campaigns & Group organising ideas
Place pressure on course convenors to not force students to buy course specific books - to only use journals that students have access to through their institution etc.
8) Other ways to save money
Some FREE activities can be found HERE
Read the statistics about the survey done by NUS HERE
Some other tips to save money can be found HERE
A range of free events can be found at Eventbrite
Save The Student: This website was created in response to the growing costs of university in the UK.
