11 money mistakes freshers make and how to avoid them - Debut

11 money mistakes freshers make and how to avoid them - Debut When your student loan arrives it feels like manna from heaven all that dolla and SO  many things to spend it on. Careful. That sweet, sweet cash can disappear in a flash, especially if youve never needed to think about money management before. These money mistakes freshers make may seem obvious, but they happen more often thank you think. Use this guide, and you and your bank account will thank us at the end of the academic year. 1. Live off takeaways and ready meals We get it. If youve never cooked a meal in your life, the prospect of cooking in a tiny uni kitchen can be quite daunting. Its easy to slip into a Chicken Cottage habit, but for the sake of your bank account and health, try making meals in bulk for the week in order to save money. 2. Subscribe to services and then dont use them Yeah. You know that 3-month free trial of Tidal you signed up for to get Beyoncés  Lemonade? Its great if you actually use it, not so great when you forget about signing up and get charged for a service you dont even use. Subscriptions to services like Spotify, Netflix and Amazon Prime do add up, so think about the ones you really need and get rid of everything else. 3. Bring a debit card on a night out Oh man, thats a rookie error weve all made. Keep aside some cash to get home safely, and a finite amount of money for drinks. The later it gets in the night, the  more tempting just one more Vodbull becomes, after all. 4. Not putting aside a certain part of the student loan in an untouchable account Out of sight, out of mind. Set up a savings account and make sure you put aside a little bit of money every month to put in it. Treat it like your very own secret vault of treasure a la Scrooge McDuck. 5. Scoffing at the basics supermarket range We promise, the supermarket value range bits and bobs are just as good as the branded ones. A little birdy once told us that the Sainsburys Basics range is particularly good if anyone can verify this, let us know! 6. Buy textbooks that are not touched for the rest of the year Secondhand = the best hand. Textbooks come at nearly the equivalent cost of an arm and a leg, so definitely wait a bit to get them at your unis secondhand book sale. 7. Not keeping track of weekly expenditure If you dont know what youre spending on, you wont really know which what you should really be cutting down on. Services like Monzo or Cleo help you track your spending by type like Eating Out and Transport, which will help you form better spending habits. 8. Not getting a railcard because the initial cost is too expensive We get it, the initial investment into a railcard is a little steep. But you really cant argue with a third off train tickets, especially when you connect your rail card to your Oyster card.   9.  Not getting a part-time job/side hustle Bar work, becoming a teaching assistant, starting a Depop or Etsy business, writing some freelance articles the list of things you can do to supplement your maintenance loan is endless. As a bonus, this teaches you transferrable skills you can totally talk about in a job interview. 10. Ignoring your bank balance and going deep into your overdraft Weve all winced looking at our bank balance after a night out. The worst thing you can do is to actually ignore it, as you could spiral into debt if you dont keep an eye out. It may be  painful, but force yourself to check your bank balance at least once a week. 11.  Agreeing to the first second-year house they see This may seem premature, but the second-year house hunt commences sooner than you think. Dont reach the OMG, we dont have a house panic stage in third term and start your house hunt early so you get a better, cheaper deal for next years accommodation. Feature Image ©  Fox Searchlight Pictures Download the Debut app and you could totally grab yourself a summer internship  way before anyone else. Follow Brenda on Twitter @brendaisarebel Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter