A frugal university student from the UK has revealed how she saves money by utilizing hacks such as making her own oat milk.
22-year-old Isabella Drake is a third-year business management and marketing student at Leeds University.
To ease the burden of her university costs—which amount to 9,250 pounds ($11,647) a year for the course and 650 pounds ($820) for accommodation and bills—she’s adopted some effective tricks.
Originally from Shepperton, Surrey, Ms. Drake said: “I was really broke in [my] second year.”
By the end of the semester, Ms. Drake, who drinks a lot of tea with oat milk, decided she needed to learn how to make it herself.
By soaking oats in water, blending, and then straining the residue, Ms. Drake makes the plant-based milk at a fraction of the cost of buying it, and she uses it on her cereal too.
“I think it helped me save quite a bit month-to-month,” she said.
She'd also carry tea bags to her campus instead of spending 2 pounds 40 pence ($3.03) to buy a cup of tea.
Hailing from a single-parent household, the thrifty youngster learned to budget from a very early age.
Ms. Drake cooks all of her meals in batches that last her a week.
“I think I save around 60 pounds [$75] a month on meal prep and using alternatives,” she said.
She makes meals that can be reheated easily and can be used throughout the week, which helps save her from making regular shopping trips.
“When you’re a busy university student you want convenience,” Ms. Drake said. “With spaghetti bolognese and chili, you can freeze that to keep for a few days.”
This she said is also helpful when you don’t feel like cooking.
“It’s so tempting to get a takeaway, but there’s no need when you can just use your batch-cooked meals,” she said.
Apart from meal prep, Ms. Drake also shops for the best price by visiting different shops instead of buying everything from one shop. Through experience, she’s learned that it costs more to buy from a smaller local shop than from a big supermarket.
Another trick she uses is buying a whole chicken instead of two breasts, so she gets more meals with less cost.
Additionally, when it comes to socializing and going out, Ms. Drake said she rarely eats or drinks when she goes out.
“I always eat before we go out instead of going out for food,” she said. “We have some pre-drinks at home as much as possible, so I don’t buy as many drinks when I’m out.”
