It’s always been the case that students generally find it hard to make ends meet during term time. With the current recession, things are even harder now, so here are 10 money savings tips that recognise that students also need to have some fun along the way.

1. Drinking
Drinking always has been a popular ‘pastime’ for students, but just think about how much you may be spending each month on alcohol alone. Consider visiting cheaper pubs or having a beer or two before you go out and cutting down what you have later. Also, if you like the club scene, then turn up before they start charging entry.

2. Eating Out
Student life doesn’t mean that you have to exclude meals out from time to time. There are simple ways of saving money here. Look out for student specials in local restaurants or go online and search for vouchers offering 2-for-1 deals or other discounts. Also, look out for BYOB restaurants where you only have to pay corkage.

3. Nights out at Cinema
More and more cinemas are offering great deals, you just need to find out what they are. Go online to your local cinemas’ sites and check them out. Also if you are an Orange customer don’t forget about their 2-for-1 deal on Wednesdays.

4. Spending on campus
Avoid buying your lunch each day on campus. If you spend say £5 each day, this could approach almost £1,000 a year! Consider taking in a packed lunch and you could save £100’s of pounds.

5. Food Shopping
Make sure you try out discount stores like Aldi or Lidl. They will be significantly cheaper than other stores and you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality as well as the extra pounds in your pocket.

6. Clothes
Try and avoid jumping onto the latest fashion bandwagon at the earliest opportunity, it will hurt your pocket. Also, have a look at your local charity shops where you will find the quality and range of clothes may be more than you thought and the price much less!

7. Shop Online
Buying online can be considerably cheaper than buying elsewhere. Technology, books, even clothes, are much cheaper to buy from sites like eBay.

8. Travel
If you live far from university you need to ensure that you get the best deal when returning home. To do this, book as early as possible with budget airlines, train companies and others.

9. Mobile Phones
Mobile phone contracts can be very costly if you must have the latest version with all the extras. Ask yourself if you really do need this before your current contract is up for renewal. Then shop around and make it clear that you are doing so. You can potentially make huge savings here by being realistic and doing your homework.

10. Stick to a Budget
Figure out how much money you are likely to have coming in each term and then decide how much you would like to save. The difference divided by the number of weeks in the term is simply how much you have to spend each week. Try and stick to these amounts.