Save money and make student budgeting easy with TopCashback

If you’re a student, you know full well how far your money has to stretch. It's a unique financial situation, and might be the first time you’ve been left to handle your own funds.

There's plenty of guidance out there from websites, universities, and worried parents. Getting a part-time job, finding the best student bank account, setting up a weekly budget, and buying from charity shops and supermarket own brands are all excellent pieces of advice, but you can go one further.

At TopCashback, we help dedicated members save hundreds of pounds a year. Whether you're getting extra money from a job or just using your maintenance loan, we can help your student budgeting stretch further than you might expect.

From food shopping and household bills to course supplies and takeaways, TopCashback covers almost every aspect of student life. We're not just for the essentials or the little treats, but most things in between as well.

Day-to-day living costs

Most of the time, you’ll have to spend your money on the day-to-day expenses. Most people can't avoid buying food, bin bags, or cleaning supplies, no matter how bad their money worries or how stretched their finances are. That also means this is where most of your cashback opportunities come in.

You can follow a student budgeting guide or boost your income with a job, but another way to help with these is to shop through TopCashback.

We partner with many of the UK's biggest supermarkets to provide cashback on online shopping. Go to our page for a supermarket like Tesco, Sainsbury's, or Morrisons, click through to their website, and shop like normal. Once they confirm your purchase and pay out, you get some of that money back at no extra cost.

We also have Waitrose, the Co-op, and Iceland, covering almost all of the major names in the UK.

If you want to get cashback on your next shop, follow the link below and sign up for a TopCashback account. It comes with extra cashback perks on top.

Cooking, alone or with your housemates, is already a great way to cut food costs. Getting the fresh food to do so with cashback on top only makes it more affordable.

Browse online to make sure you're getting their best deals, plan ahead by buying a couple of weeks' worth of essentials, and then get money back in your pocket with TopCashback.

If you prefer to go in-store rather than browse online, it's worth shopping using our TopGiftCards. You can buy these ahead of time and then use them to pay for your food shop while still getting the benefits of cashback, sometimes at better rates. Browse our TopGiftCards and see if they include your favourite supermarkets.

It's not just about how you cook meals and clean the kitchen, however. We have plenty more tips for many other walks of student life.

Transport, from cars to train travel

One day-to-day cost that can bite students hard is transport. If you don't live within walking distance of your university, it can be a hidden cost, something you don't factor into the weekly or monthly price of your living situation until you're already there.

Once you’re there, you then need to think about going home at least a couple of times a year!

At the same time, it's non-negotiable for students to attend lectures at least occasionally (ideally more!).

Whether you drive or prefer to take the train, we have cashback options to make either more affordable. To go all-out on train savings, we give money back when you buy a Railcard and enjoy 1/3 off train journeys for one year or three. If there's a quick fix for transport costs, it's this!

We can also give you cashback when you book train tickets through Trainline or with specific rail networks like ScotRail, Transport for Wales, or TransPennine Express. Play your cards right and you might get money back on almost all of your train travel.

If you drive, there's cashback in that as well. The TopCashback Compare car insurance tool helps you find a better deal for you on your car insurance and throws in some cashback on top.

We also have a well-stocked motoring cashback section, putting money in your account when you buy parts from a brand like Halfords or Euro Car Parts, or even when you learn to drive with PassMeFast.

Don't get caught out by the costs, however you get to university, back home, and anywhere else you need to go.

The boring bits of student housing

Moving, if you don't drive or know someone who does, can be both pricey and stressful. With cashback on professional movers like AnyVan, you can cut down on the cost – even if the stress is a little harder to reduce.

If you're looking for a great deal on utility bills like energy and broadband, check out TopCashback Compare for these as well. You can compare tariffs on your electricity, gas, and Wi-Fi from different providers and get a great deal. Unlike many other comparison sites, our offer comes with added cashback.

As your choices here will affect your finances all year round, it's worth making the best choice for you first time.

University learning essentials

Sometimes, as a student, you really do need to attend lectures and workshops. You usually can't just turn up with yourself and nothing else. You need supplies, ranging from tech to pen and paper and everything in between.

Browse a vast range of pens, notepads, and other stationery at Ryman or TGJones, or even go for something more fancy or personalised with Etsy. These brands are all TopCashback partners, and we can get you cashback at no extra cost when you shop with us.

That's not where the cashback ends on your uni supplies. These days, a laptop is more essential for learning at most universities than ever, and we can help you get a great deal and money back when you shop through Currys, Argos, HP, and more.

If you'd rather shop second-hand and avoid unnecessary spending, we can get you cashback on eBay purchases as well.

Your student loan is also meant to cover textbooks for your learning, and these can be expensive. You can take some of the edge off the cost here with TopCashback partners like Pearson Higher Education, Hive Books, and AbeBooks.

When you're done with them, you might even be able to sell your books online with added cashback at World of Books.

Clothing and cosmetics

Just because you have so many essentials to buy at uni, that doesn't mean you can't treat yourself to new clothes. Depending on your course, you might even spend an academic year in the workplace, where you'll need to dress professionally.

Whether you're buying clothes for fun, for work purposes, or even for exercise, this is yet another area you can save with TopCashback.

We offer cashback on gymwear and sports clothes from brands like Gymshark and JD Sports, on fashion from partners like River Island and Shein, and on formalwear at Marks & Spencer, John Lewis & Partners, and more.

You can even get a great cashback deal on footwear at brands like adidas, New Balance, and Foot Locker.

It's not all about clothes, either. The TopCashback website also covers plenty of beauty, cosmetics, and skincare brands. We offer Boots cashback, as well as tracking Boots £10 Tuesday deals, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

If you prefer LOOKFANTASTIC, Superdrug, or even Holland & Barrett, we have them on site and plenty of others besides. Just take a look at our website and see if your favourite brands are on there.

Recreation and other fun bits

In the vein of non-essential spending, very few people go through university without indulging in a lot of fun.

Whether you're enjoying Freshers' Week, hanging out with other students, or treating yourself to something nice, it's a core part of the experience. You just want to make sure you have money left after you're done!

You can use your TopCashback Reward Wallet to get money toward a day out, a restaurant meal, and much more. Reward Wallet lets you convert your cashback into vouchers. These vouchers get a bonus payout depending on the brand, giving you even more money to put toward a fun activity.

With Reward Wallet, you can get bonus cashback toward Red Letter Days, Nando's, The Dining Out Gift Card, Ticketmaster, and the National Trust, among others. If you prefer slightly more low-key entertainment, there's always Xbox, Waterstones, or even Starbucks and Just Eat.

That's not the only way you can save on takeaways, a pretty essential part of the student experience. Do a bit to protect your bank balance and look at our cashback deals for Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats. You can also order directly from individual fast food restaurants, like Pizza Hut.

You can also look at TopGiftCards to see if they have the specific takeaway app you prefer. For optimal money-saving, you can buy a gift card for the exact amount your meal will cost and enjoy a chunk of cashback without anything left over.

We're also partnered with brands that sell beer and other drinks, on top of well-stocked supermarkets. Take a look at brands like Beer Hunter, Majestic Wine, and Master of Malt and get cashback on pre-drinks or house parties.

Please drink responsibly.

 Other types of fun

Having a good time isn't just about days out, great food, or having a drink. Whatever your idea of fun might be, you can probably enjoy it with a bit of cashback courtesy of us.

Do you like to read? Try our cashback pages for Waterstones, TGJones, or Bookshop.org. Are you a gamer? Check out GAME, PlayStation Direct, or Loaded. You can even get cashback on tabletop or board games with Magic Madhouse or Zatu Games.

University is several years of your life, and you'll want some fun along the way. Whether you're sporty, a gamer, a reader, a party animal, or however else you like to pass the time, you can make it a little more affordable with TopCashback.

First-class honours in student budgeting

At university, you may well spend more money than you ever have before. However, that comes with the opportunity to make more cashback than you might think possible.

Almost every aspect of student life has some way that TopCashback can make a difference, and we want to make it easier to get than ever.

Whether you use your cashback to top up your savings account, keep it in a rainy day fund, or just enjoy spending a little less on the things you need and want, it's all a great way to cut down on costs. Making money while you shop doesn't have to be a challenge.

Of course, this isn't to the exclusion of other well-worn student budgeting tips.

Using student discounts, working a few hours if you can manage it, and exploring university bursaries and hardship funds will get you far. Check out things like the 50/30/20 rule of budgeting. Using TopCashback alongside these is one of the best ways you can save at university.

Worry more about your essays and less about your bank statements for some of the most exciting years of your life.