Cardiff Students Spent Nearly £12m During the Freshers Period

B - Original Content Cardiff South Wales

Rachel Jones , 14th October 2019

Amid the usual spate of negative headlines surrounding freshers week, new research conducted by Yolt, the smart thinking money app, has found that students in Cardiff have spent up to a combined £12m during the freshers period.

As they settle into their new lifestyle, the average student from Cardiff’s universities will have parted with £292 to participate in freshers activities, with spending predominantly focused on groceries, followed by university course supplies and then socialising with friends. This is comparable to the UK-wide average of £283 spent in freshers.

Additional stats from the Yolt research shows:

£235m is the combined amount UK freshers will spend during the freshers period
£418 is the average monthly budget for a student in the UK
60% of students in the UK still use a pen and paper to budget
50% of students in the UK use a banking app to manage their finances

It’s no surprise that when looking for tools to help them manage their money, students are turning to digital solutions, with over half of the students surveyed using an online banking app and one in three using a money management app like Yolt to help them manage their finances.

Cristel Lee Leed, CMO, Yolt, commented:

“Freshers is a long-standing tradition at many universities across the UK and is a great introduction to all that student life can offer. Whilst the average spend during the period may seem quite high as a proportion of the average student monthly budget – it’s encouraging to see that most students are already recognising that budgeting is a life skill. Many students are starting out well before university and actively taking control and prioritising their budget to cover their living costs whilst at university.

“The driving force behind Yolt is to help people stay on top of their money and budget with ease, providing easy and efficient access to their finances by harnessing the power of Open Banking and the greater control it gives people over their financial data. The benefits of this are significant, particularly for students at university.”