A savvy student has revealed how she saves £1.8k a year - including paying herself 'pay packets' to stop overspending.<br /><br />Emma Cutler, 21, has adopted some cost saving measures to "plan for the future" and ease the burden of university costs.<br /><br />She gets three £3,000 student loan payments a year - and separates the money into pay packets when it drops into her bank account.<br /><br />The third year Media and Communications student at Loughborough University has a packet for bills and rent and splits the rest between food shopping, nights out, self-care, and miscellaneous spending money.<br /><br />She uses online saving pots and cash to stop herself from overspending.<br /><br />As well as dividing up her money, Emma batch cooks all her meals and completes online surveys to top up her income.<br /><br />Emma, who does content creation for the university's social pages, originally from Birmingham, said: "I'm probably saving a good £150 a month.<br /><br />"My rent and bills are £550pcm and then I put aside £120 for food shopping, £30-50 for going out, £30 in my miscellaneous spending money pot and £50-£80 in self care.<br /><br />"It stops unnecessary spending and it makes you think twice before you buy something.<br /><br />"I've definitely gotten better at it over the span of three years.<br /><br />"In first year it was more about making sure I could afford rent but now I'm thinking about the future and longer term plans.<br /><br />"I've developed my own way of budgeting and knowing how to save for things coming.<br /><br />"I always look at what in my income is going to be for the month from the loan and my work as well.<br /><br />"It can be difficult as you get it in three instalments so I work out what the average will be for each month.<br /><br />"University throws you in at the deep end and you have to start paying for things.<br /><br />"At that age, a student loan is a big sum of money for the first time."<br /><br />After working out how much she can spend a month, Emma splits up her money, allowing her to carry it over to the next month if she doesn't spend it.<br /><br />She said: "I prioritise bills and rent and then break it down into the four categories.<br /><br />"After that I have longer term things like luxury items and holidays.<br /><br />"It gives me a budget on what I'm spending on and even for things like Christmas I know I can put £10 away for that and it doesn't feel like I'm spending a lot when it comes to buying presents.<br /><br />"It takes away the pressure and guilt of spending a lot of money if I know I've saved for it - it's more controlled spending.<br /><br />"I used to use cash more often but now I use Monzo and put everything into pots and it rolls over to the next month so you can make up for quieter months."<br /><br />Emma also cooks all her meals in batches, something she says she learnt to do throughout university.<br /><br />She said: "A lot of the meals that I do - spaghetti bolognaise and curries I make two or three portions at a time so I can freeze and reheat.<br /><br />"I always meal plan before I go to the shops and I didn't do that in the first year and I'd end up spending £30 and wouldn't have any meals for the week."<br /><br />When it comes to a night out, Emma choses not to buy many drinks, instead she opts to drink at home beforehand.<br /><br />She said: "That's something we always did in first and second year - you don't have to buy many drinks at the club if you pre more at home.<br /><br />"I also take my own coffees into lectures instead of the £4 from Starbucks to save money.<br /><br />"And prepping lunches is a good if you know you're going to be there for the day so you don't need to use the canteen."<br /><br />Aside from her content creation - which she does for her university's social pages - Emma also does yearly surveys and sells her clothes on Vinted.<br /><br />Emma is also thinking ahead to the future, with one of her pots dedicated to life after university.<br /><br />She said: "I do the content creation every few weeks when the uni have a project on - they pay me around £10.40 an hour.<br /><br />"I haven't thought about investing but I've got a help to buy ISA and have one main savings pot aside from the little ones and that's for a house deposit or something to fall back on if I'm renting."<br /><br />Money Emma sets out in her plan each month:<br /><br />Rent - £400 a month<br />Bills - £150 (inc subscriptions)<br />Food shop - £120 a month<br />Going out - £30-50 a month<br />spending (misc) - £30<br />Self-care £50-£80
