Student Finance is usually your first point of call for tuition and maintenance support at university. Welsh students can find out more at studentfinancewales whilst English students should go to gov.uk , Northern Ireland students should visit studentfinanceni.co.uk and students from Scotland should visit mygov.scot.
Both tuition and maintenance loans are available, and in some cases additional grants too, so be sure to know exactly what you have applied for and the amount of money you will be receiving each term.
Having a budget is a must. Luckily, Cardiff has been named the 6th most affordable city for students to live in by Natwest’s Student Living Index. However, it’s always good to have a budget in mind.
You can use the below budget calculator to get a sense of how other Cardiff Met students have budgeted: simply select ‘Cardiff Metropolitan University’ on the drop down and get budgeting!
UCAS Budget Calculator, Which? and Save the Student have budgeting tools for you to check out.
Our students think it is important to have a bank account that makes your student life as affordable as possible. Santander offers some really good student savings including a railcard for 16-25-year-old students santander.co.uk.
Monzo.com is recommended by some of our students and staff for easy and clear budgeting. It allows you to clearly see your incomings and outgoings. Have a look at this and see if this is something that could benefit you.
The Money Advice Team within Student Services offer assistance with any budgeting, Student Finance and money concerns. As well as providing advice on any bursaries and grants you may be eligible for during your studies, such as the carers bursary.
Check out MetHub for more information and to book an appointment.
If you need an overdraft to help you, then a good student bank account will normally offer an interest free overdraft. This is important to ensure you do not incur charges while studying. We recommend using Which?, Save the Student and Money Saving Expert as websites to help you select the one that suits you and your situation.
Cooking on a Budget is a fantastic initiative created by Met Res Life and Student Services which teaches students how to cook for under £2 a meal. There are some excellent sites that give healthy cooking tips such as jamieoliver.com, and studentrecipes.com. Sourcing your food locally through stalls and sustainable food apps like Too Good To Go is also an excellent healthy and money saving method.
It’s often cheaper and healthier to make your own recipes. Even better than that, freshly cooked food cannot be beaten! Here are some of our student’s go to recipes. You’ll be the most popular person on your course if you cook up a storm with these!
Download our Cooking on a Budget booklet