Being at university can be a difficult time financially for a lot of students, so staying out of debt is a must. But what are the best ways for students stay out of debt?

Here’s a look at just two of the ways students could avoid debt and save money at university.

‘Buy cheap’

Although branded products are more likely to have offers on them, supermarket own-brand products are (in most cases) a lot cheaper. Buying cheap doesn’t mean you will get a nasty-tasting product, in fact, value products often taste just as good as the branded ones – and cost a fraction of the price!

For example, let’s assume your weekly shopping list looks like this:

• Beans
• Bread
• Milk
• Butter
• Crisps
• Chocolate
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Frozen meals

If you bought all ‘branded’ products, then this list could cost you over £15, whereas if you opted for the value range, you could pay as little as £6 for these products – saving you around £9 – that’s £36 a month!

Buying cheap doesn’t just have to apply to your supermarket shopping. If, for example, you needed to buy books from your reading list, then why not check notice boards around your university? Past students won’t really need their books anymore and many of them will sell them on for as little as £1 per book!

Buying cheap is a great way to avoid debt at university, so why not try it for yourself?

Share – it’s simple and easy to do

Share everything you can do with your course/flat mates and you could save hundreds of pounds. For example, you could share your shopping, share washing powder, share your food or even share shampoo – you will be surprised how much you could save!

Read more about student debt / consolidation, budgeting and student finance here.