Fees and funding

Money management

Find out how to plan, budget and where to go for advice

National Student Money Week (NSMW) 2025

This campaign will run from 3 - 7 March 2025 and the focus this year is to support the students to “Survive and Thrive: Building financial resilience.” You will be able to find us throughout this week across all three sites:

GreenwichMedwayAvery Hill
Dreadnought Atrium (10am - 3pm)

Medway – Pembroke P319

1130 -1500 (Monday - Wednesday)

1300- 1600 (Thursday - Friday)

The Dome (10am - 3pm)

What is NSMW25?

National Student Money Week 2025 is a week-long event which aims to help students develop better financial habits, become more money-savvy, and make informed decisions about managing their finances during university and beyond. For many students, university is the first time they will manage their own finances.

You need to ensure you are budgeting as best you can while trying to tackle all the challenges this new adventure can bring! NSMW is held annually to ensure we do all we can to promote the information, advice and guidance needed to get the most out of your money and time.

Survive and thrive! Building Financial Resilience

To financially Survive and Thrive at university can be challenging for anyone, and you may find it quite daunting or difficult to figure out where to start from, so to support you there are a few areas we would recommend thinking about:

Money & Physical Wellbeing

We should all focus on our physical health, but this is not necessarily the easiest item to manage or focus on. There can be several factors which may prevent us to do so, including time, cost and other similar factors.

This below section will provide you with information and guidance about the activities you can undertake to improve this area.

Gym

At UoG, we would recommend that you take advantage of the fantastic gym facilities we have across our three campuses. All out gymnasiums are fully air-conditioned and caters for all your fitness needs.

It has a full range of cardio-vascular and resistance machines and a range of dumbbells with personal trainers available. All at a very low price compared to what’s available in the high streets!

Click here to find out more information on our Sports webpage.

If you have not already signed up for Spectrum Life, we recommend you do so. Spectrum Life give you access to a range of content including live and on demand fitness classes and much more! Click here to find out more information.

GUS Clothes Fair

Who doesn’t like dress to the nine’s or just even looking smart for your day ahead.Well, look no further, you don’t need to spend big to look good!

Many of our students will take advantage of the support our fantastic GSU Team provide. The GSU Team regularly hold clothes fair where you can walk away with some excellent threads. To find out more about when and where these are held, please click here.

Food

There is nothing quite like a home cooked meal. We know some of you may be missing a proper home cooked meal and may opt for take outs or delivery from time to time. But remember you don’t always have to go for a takeout!

While at university you can really hone some of your culinary skills while having the opportunity to taste different delicacies and create a fusion of culinary delight. So do make the most of this opportunity. A great place to start for any meal is the ingredients, so remember to make a list of the items you need at home to make that amazing dish for you and your friends.

If you're not 100% sure of how to start this, we recommend visiting the beginner's guide to meal planning webpage.

Remember to check your cupboards, fridge and freezer before you make your next trip to the shops. We also strongly recommend joining up to point schemes such as the ones highlighted below, where points can mean more savings:

We also recommend visiting the webpage for Save The Student. This is an organization that provides free, impartial advice to students on how to make their money go further and can tips and tricks to make your online shopping go further.

If you would like to talk to us further regarding any of this information, please do not hesitate to submit a self-referral to The Student Finance Advice Team.

Money & Mental Wellbeing

There are a few items a student can fall victim to while at university. Here are some of the areas you should be aware of and direct links to organisations that may also be able to support your physical wellbeing.

Gaming & Gambling

Many of us enjoy gaming in one form or another, but unfortunately when gambling gets incorporated into the activity it can leave individuals in a vulnerable place.

But there are organisations out there to help you should you come across any challenges. We would strongly urge you to review the information provided by Ygam and Gam Care. This information is free and has useful guidance about how these issues can be supported and managed.

Avoid falling victim to scams

During challenging times, students may believe options such as a pay day loan or get quick fast cash schemes or even money muling may be a solution, but often it’s a scam. For these exact reasons, organisations such as Loan Sharks or Pay Day Loan lenders prey on and target the people most in need of support.

What is a Loan Shark?

If you can answer yes to one or more to the questions you might be borrowing from a loan shark:

  • Did they offer you a cash loan?
  • Did they not give you paperwork?
  • Did they add huge amounts of interest or APR to your loan?
  • Have they threatened you?
  • Are you scared of people finding out?
  • Have they taken your bank card, benefit card, passport, watch or other valuables from you?

Watch this short video from our partners at Stop Loan Sharks to find out more.

Please be aware of becoming a Money Mule

There has been a rise in cases relating to students becoming a victim of money mules. In extreme cases, a victim may find themselves acting as a money mule by allowing the fraudster to use their bank account to transfer dirty money.

In 2023, nearly two thirds of bank accounts with mule behaviour belonged to people aged under 30, according to the fraud prevention service CIFAS.

We strongly recommend not taking part in such activities. Becoming a money mule is a serious offence so your awareness of this issue will help keep you, your information and your funds safer. Find out more from the National Crime Agency.

Making Choices

As consumers we are all prone to impulse buying. Supermarkets and clothes stores put a lot of work into how to entice you with special promotions and limited time offers to try and encourage you to spend now!

But for all purchases, no matter how big or small, we would always encourage you to consider if it is the best step for you right now. To help you make the right decision, take a look at these 25 supermarket money saving tips.

Please see here for more information regarding how supermarkets make you spend your money.

Coercive Control or Manipulation

Unfortunately, at times the decisions we make are not entirely our own. And this may be down to unhealthy behaviour from others that directly impacts your ability to make the best decisions for yourself. This in turn can put you in a negative place – if this sounds like you, please be aware there is help.

Please see the links below to useful information that will be able to provide you support and guidance:

If you would like to speak to someone at the university relating to these issues, we would recommend you reach us Report and Support Team.

The Report and Support Team at Greenwich are here “If you or someone you know has experienced or witnessed any form of harassment, including bullying, discrimination, hate incident, or sexual misconduct, you can report it anonymously or ask to speak to a trained advisor to get information on reporting options and support available so that you can make an informed decision on what happens next.”

Due to the nature of these issues, we would recommend reaching to our Report and Support Team, but you can also visit our Wellbeing Hub or even submit a self-referral to the Student Finance Advice Team if needed.

Debt

There are a few ways where a student can incur debt. It is vital for all students to have an understanding not only of what borrowing is, but also what is legal. And credit card organisation or retails may make very enticing offers.

Understanding Borrowing, Understanding Credit & Illegal Lending

Most finance related conversations while at university focus on your student loan. While this is technically debt, there’s other more serious debts you could take on as a student that can have dire consequences if used incorrectly.

Please click here to read more from the Money Saving Experts!

But the most important thing is to get help and advice from any of the FREE debt help charities out there such as Citizens Advice, StepChange and National Debtline.

And remember, you are not on your own. If you would like to talk to us further regarding this information, please do not hesitate to submit a self-referral to The Student Finance Advice Team.

Budgeting & Planning

Every year the National Student Money Survey (NSMS) takes place, but due to some of the challenges highlighted above it is noted that last year’s survey achieved the highest response rate in 20 years! You can read more about this survey by clicking here.

We wanted to highlight two areas from this survey:

  1. 74% of students in this survey said they wished they had a better financial education before coming to university. So, if you are unsure how to budget you are not the only one!
  2. In fact, 67% of surveyed students said they skip meals at least some of the time to save money – this up from 64% last year.

Don’t let this be you. Please do talk to us and visit our Budgeting workshops. During this workshop we will share how you could budget better with access to further information and tools.

Please visit our Budgeting and Resource webpage by clicking here to find when the workshops are available and how to join.

Budgeting tools

  • Budget planner
    Our budget planner is a great resource to help you plan ahead
  • Funding Checklist
    An introduction to some of the funding you may be entitled to. Use our guide to help plan your funding entitlement.
  • The Money Advice Service
    Provides impartial information and financial tools, including a credit card calculator
  • The Money Charity
    Helps people manage their money better through resources, tools and training
  • Budget builder
    A free, easy-to-use interactive tool which will help you create your own budget and keep track of your day-to-day spending

Student essentials

Money Management and Budgeting Advice Workshop

We are pleased to offer workshops on Money Management and Budgeting Advice, designed to help you manage your finances more effectively during your studies. In these sessions, we will cover a range of tools and information to support you in budgeting and money management.

Workshop Dates: Please see the available dates for the workshop below. If you're interested in attending, please click on self referral form to select your preferred date.

Once we receive your selection, we will send you an invite to attend the session via Microsoft Teams, which will be sent one week before the workshop.

March 2025

Friday 7th March 1500-1600

Wednesday 26th March 1430-1530

Other sources of funding

The Student Finance & Financial Support Team cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy of content displayed on external sites.

Further information for alternative funding

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