When you’re a student, money can be tight. We all have memories of pinching pennies and living on beans on toast because we’ve spent our budget on beer. Some students take savings above and beyond though, with epic work arounds to avoid big costs.

The Rent is Cheap, but the Commute’s Murder

One of your biggest costs as a student is accommodation. It varies widely depending on where you are studying: University of Huddersfield accommodation can be had for as little as £70 a week, whereas in London prices can stretch into hundreds of pounds.

One way to get a better deal on accommodation in a big city is to live away from the centre of town and live with a long commute into lectures, and many do this, but one student has taken things to the next level.

Jonathan Davey, an anthropology student studying at the University of London could have been paying nearly £900 a week to live nearby. Looking further afield, he found a great deal on a flat. In Poland.

Rather than cycling in to study, he flies 1000 miles from Gdansk to Luton every Monday, getting in at 6am and staying with friends or in cheap hostels through the week. On Friday, he flies 2000 miles home again. Paying only £35 a week for his room in Poland, his entire rent and transport bill comes to only £2100 a year, the cheapest for any student in London.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Train tickets are extremely expensive for long journeys across the UK. Going from London to Edinburgh can cost more than £150, which can make going home for the holidays tricky to budget at the end of term.

Blogger and Student Jordan Cox was on his way back from Sheffield to Essex and found a train would cost nearly £50. A bit of creative googling later, Jordan found he could save money and see a bit more of the world by travelling from Sheffield to Essex via Berlin.

Flying from East Midlands Airport to Berlin, exploring the city and then flying to Stansted came in at £3 cheaper than the train. Obviously this isn’t the most eco-friendly way to economise, but a journey like this certainly gets you some added value if you have the extra time to enjoy exploring an exciting European city into your trip.