Beyond the student union building

As soon as you start at university you will be bombarded with information about finance, accommodation, and study skills. Every local pub will be vying for your custom, every local clothing shop fighting to get you to spend your money with them. The student market is huge with millions of pounds being spent in the UK alone. Students can easily use more than £2,000 a year on living costs alone, without even thinking about accommodation. With over 1 million full-time students in the UK at any one time, that is a lot of money up for spending. 

A lot of this money will be spent within the university itself, through its official accommodation agency and its various shops, bars and services. But on-campus businesses are not the only ones to cater to the needs of the modern student. There is life beyond the four walls of the student union building, or indeed beyond actual bricks and mortar. These are just some of the independent services that I have found over the last few years which could be of interest to you.

Job Shop

Forget about the university careers and job centre. Some employers can take advantage of your student status to get cheaper labour, which is fair enough. However, you should consider selling your services and skills to someone through StudentGems.com. This is a site where you can register your skills and talents (such as copywriting, photography, or web development) and find someone to pay you for one-off projects. Yes, they’re still wanting cheaper labour, but you’ll probably earn more than working in a local take-away and you can build up your portfolio in the meantime.

Accommodation

Official university accommodation is usually better quality than private accommodation, mostly, though it can be more expensive. There are alternatives to both university and private accommodation though. Through UniHomeSwap.co.uk, you can find another student to swap your rooms in your family house with. This won’t suit everyone, but is worth a look and could save you and your financial sponsors (i.e. Mum and Dad) thousands of pounds a year.

Art

If your university projects have the potential to earn you money, then you need to look further afield than the university campus. Although some universities have business development and start up facilities and resources to help you kick-start your fledgling business, these sometimes tend toward business in the science and technology sectors.  If your potential lies more in the art production industry, then take a look at BuyStudentArt.co.uk, who help sell your products to the general public on a commission basis.

Textbooks

Most universities have a bookshop and very handy they are too. They always have a good stock of the exact books your lecturers have recommended for your course. But textbooks are not cheap and honestly, you won’t use them that much, though it’s always better to have them than not come the essay deadlines. Try using a site like us, TheBookPond.com to buy your books from another student first. Or check out your department noticeboard for buying used books and other essential course items. 

Careers

Your university careers service is going to be one of the best on-campus resources available to you, even if you don’t realise it until the very end. Please use them. Don’t forget though that there are other companies to help you in your graduate job search. Most of us will have heard of milkround.com, but what about newer and smaller companies like giveagradago.com? Always worth a look to broaden your reach. 

What independent companies have you found useful that you would recommend to other UK university students?

The battle between e-books and traditional textbooks

I have said it before. I am a huge fan of traditional printed media. I think that certain publications will weather the storm that has been whipped up by the introduction and development of e-books, indeed some publications will thrive on it. However, I am more cynical about the application of technology to university textbooks.

This infographic below (totally borrowed by the way - Source: http://www.onlinedegrees.org/e-textbooks-vs-print-textbooks) shows how university/college textbooks fare against their up-and-coming e-book rivals. 

The one thing that rings true with me, and the biggest driver behind my development of www.thebookpond.com was the fact that real books can be re-sold. If you look at the price of buying a new book and then selling it at a reduced price, more often than not, it's a better value alternative to e-books or textbook rental. That's my thinking anyway.

What do you think? Do you agree with the facts on the infographic?

Saving money on student accommodation

Advertorial:-

Here at the Book Pond, we love things that give students choice. We appreciate the diversity in the student body in the UK, whether this is by gender, age, life situation or any other thing that means that one student is totally different to the next. 

Because of this diversity, not every single service designed for students can suit everybody. As a mature student myself, I found that a lot of the societies and activities for students at my university did not fit in with my schedule or needs. That's not to say I was unusual. Around 50% of the students at my university were mature students, many of whom had children and a family life. Traditional students (18-25) are always well catered for, which is understandable, but we know that these arrangements don't suit all.

It's the same when it comes to accommodation. As a student starting university for the first time at the age of 26, I was glad I didn't have to live in halls or shared housing. I had lived in my own home for six years by then, and could not have coped with the inevitable activity and hustle and bustle that comes with sharing with lots of young people, as fun as it may have been. 

Even some traditional students don't like this arrangement and would prefer something a little more like back home. This is why I like UniHomeSwap.co.uk.  This is a website where you register your details and look for another student to 'swap' accommodation with. You get to move in with their family near your university, and they stay with yours. For the right arrangement, this can save you thousands of pounds a year. 

The obvious downside is that your parents have to have someone just like you in their home, when they could have been looking forward to having some us-time (dread the thought), but as it's probably their money that will be paying for your university accommodation, they will likely be more willing than you would expect. It's a solution that could work for many, not everyone, but it's certainly worth looking into. 

If you are looking to save money while studying at university, swapping your place in the family home with someone else is worth investigating. It might not be the right choice for you, but what's to lose in checking it out?

Earning cash from your hobby

A good way of earning money to help you through university is to turn your hobby into cash. Of course, it helps if your hobby is doing something that someone is willing to pay money for, but if you can get money for something you enjoy doing and will be doing it anyway, then great!

There are specialist websites that can help connect you with customers happy to pay students to undertake work for them, such as StudentGems. The other option is to go it alone. One such student to have already started this process is Hayley Spiers, a third year English and Drama student at The University of Hull.

She says….. “Like many students I have a part-time job to help support myself financially, but I’ve also managed to turn my hobby into something that makes a little extra cash. I’m a self-taught photographer and I recently started advertising via my Facebook page, my website and on free advertising websites such as Gumtree, Friday-Ad Ltd and VivaStreet. I’ve had a great response with people asking for everything from headshots to family portraits to event photography such as parties and fundraisers, and it’s great to be able to enjoy my hobby and make some extra money at the same time.” HayleyMariePhotography

Hayley’s hobby is great as she can build up her experience by helping her fellow students by taking their portraits for their drama portfolios, and it’s something she can fit around her studies and part-time job. The advantage of having all the equipment in place already means that after a bit of advertising and a free website and you’re ready to go.

The work that you do as a result of your hobby will also provide valuable business experience, such as marketing, sales, customer service, and accounts which you can add to your CV. This could make the difference in helping you in to that important graduate position.

Remember if you start making money from your hobby, you should check with HM Revenue and Customs to see if you should be paying National Insurance and Tax.

If you are interested in a cheap photographer in the East Riding area, then you’d do worse than contact Hayley via her Facebook page or her website, but be quick, she won’t be this cheap forever! You never know - her hobby may take her far, as could yours.

Are you making money from your hobby whilst at university? Get in touch and you could be featured too.