One university student is revealing how she is able to save an extra £720 a year during the cost of living crisis.
Households have struggled with inflation-hiked prices and soaring energy bills over the last two years.
Isabella Drake, 22, is one of the many having to deal with these issues and is in the third year of her business management and marketing degree at Leeds University.
As it stands, Ms Drake pays £9,250 annually for her course, and £650 a month for her rent and bills.
In order to get by, she has taken on various money-saving hacks which has seen her save £60 a month.
These include cooking all of her meals to last the week and looking for the best discounts at supermarkets.
She explained: “I was really broke in second year and I got to the end of the semester and decided to learn how to make oat milk.
“I soaked the oats in water and blended and strained it. I don’t drink as much milk anymore but when I used to drink loads of tea, I would make it all the time and using it for cereal is good.
“I think it helped me save quite a bit month-to-month. Around £6 a month is saved on buying milk, which is the price of a drink going out.
“I come from a single-parent household, so I’ve always known how to budget, and I buy enough food to feed four people and bulk make meals by batch cooking. I think I save around £60 a month on meal prep and using alternatives.”
One of the best ways she has been able to save money is by not eating and going out as much as most other young people.
As well as taking advantage of deals and concessions, Ms Drake also recommends people buy equipment such as air fryers which help in cutting costs down.
The young woman added: “I go to different shops as well, not just the one, I shop around. Home Bargains has packets of coffee with milk already in for 75p and across the shopping centre in Morrisons they were much more expensive.
“It’s also going to cost more going to a smaller local shop than a bigger supermarket. Morrisons had a certain pasta sauce on a good deal too, so I’d always go there and buy that instead of just getting all of my bits from one shop.
“The Too Good To Go app is also really helpful as you’re saving food from going to waste and you can get a whole back of food for £3.
“One thing that I do that makes it cheaper is I don’t buy chips, I cut potatoes and put them in the air fryer.”
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