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Money-Saving Tips for Students

How to Save Real Money During Your Studies

Christmas is just around the corner, 2025 is slowly coming to an end, and a new year full of opportunities is getting closer. And with it, the famous motto returns once again: new year, new luck — and fewer expenses! Right now, many students are wondering how they can enter 2026 with more money in their bank account, despite Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

A lot of students want to finally get their finances in order and truly understand how to save money during their studies. Are you one of them? You’re studying, you have a lot of expenses, and you still want to enjoy a relaxed student life — but also ask yourself how all of that is supposed to work together.

Here’s the answer: with a few real student money-saving tips! We’ll show you how to make it through 2026 much more affordably.

Tip No. 1: Too Good To Go & Foodsharing for a Small Budget

Yes, groceries have become really expensive! Eating at university cafeterias can be helpful, but with Too Good To Go you can eat both cleverly and cheaply at the same time. Simply download the Too Good To Go app and benefit from a wide variety of groceries and meals for €2–5.

Foodsharing is also completely free and saves good food from being thrown away. This will not only help your small budget, but also significantly reduce your monthly expenses. That leaves more for your tuition fees and insurance.

Tip No. 2: Meal Prep & Budget Book

As soon as you start keeping a budget book, you quickly notice where you spend money unnecessarily. This way, you can save a lot of money and at the same time learn how to manage your fixed costs better. Start with meal prep as well—this will help you cut a lot of unnecessary fast-food costs each month, and your budget book will clearly reflect that.

Tip No. 3: Free Movies & Books with Kanopy, Filmfriend & Onleihe

Are you one of the many students who pay loads of money for expensive streaming subscriptions even though there are high-quality free alternatives? Here are the alternatives that help you stay up to date as a student while continuing to save money:

  • Kanopy through your university
  • Filmfriend through the city library
  • Onleihe for eBooks & audiobooks

Tip No. 4: Hidden Discounts with Your Student ID

Never underestimate your student ID, because many leisure activities, museums, cinemas, gyms, or theaters offer discounts—or even free admission. P.S.: Universities also offer campus sports.

Tip No. 5: Used Items Instead of New

Saving money as a student can actually be pretty simple, especially with:

  • Used books from Medimops & Rebuy
  • Used items through classifieds
  • Comparison portals for academic literature and the university library

Tip No. 6: Proofreading & Writing Tools

Many students need good proofreading for their term papers, seminar papers, or bachelor’s theses. You can save money especially with tools like Zotero or Notion, which are free and greatly simplify your everyday study life.

Money-saving tip of the day: Proofreading is usually cheaper than you think. Many proofreaders offer discounted student rates on classifieds. Proofreading and tools for your studies also count as study expenses and are therefore tax-deductible. If you want to learn more about the student tax return, feel free to read our article 🔗“Tax Return for Students: Why It’s Worth It.” So don’t forget to deduct it!

Tip No. 7: Save Properly for Your Studies with Shoop, MyDealz, Unidays, ISIC & Remobile.eu

Here’s where you can save real money as a student:

Cashback for Every Purchase with Shoop

  • Shoop offers not only discounts but real cashback.

Track Daily Deals with MyDealz

  • A platform for real bargains – ideal for tech, fashion, or leisure activities.

Unidays & Student Beans

  • Here you get student discounts for fashion, tech, bus and train tickets, and much more.

ISIC / International Student Identity Card

Much Cheaper Smartphones

  • For example, on remobile.eu you can find refurbished iPhones and Samsung devices – each one equipped with a brand-new battery, sustainable, and significantly cheaper than buying new.

Tip No. 8: Second-Hand Shopping

You can find furniture for less money – and often almost new – on Vinted, classifieds, or the IKEA bargain corner. Especially for a dorm room or your first apartment, this is the ideal solution to save money.

Tip No. 9: Reduce Transportation Costs with a Semester Ticket & BahnCard

Studying and on the move? Keep in mind that with the semester ticket and the BahnCard you can save on travel costs. If you also plan your trip early enough, this helps you find cheaper fares.

Tip No. 10: Pay Less Rent

If you choose your fixed costs wisely, you can save a lot of money during your studies. In furnished apartments or modern student housing, you pay less rent and also save on buying expensive furniture.

Saving Money as a Student = Saving Money in Everyday Life

We hope that with these cool money-saving tips, you can save money as a student in 2026 and enjoy seeing a positive balance in your student account.

Cheers to the new year that’s coming! Cheers to the money that’s leaving!

Your Staytoo team