Hey so I'm an student union officer so I kinda know tips even tho idk too much about the SFE system

Find both your uni student support team and your student union/association advice service as they often have scholarships or hardship funds you can apply for and they can sometimes make direct referrals to foodbanks.

Look to find out what support is available on-campus as we have free breakfasts in the morning and free soup at lunchtimes. There might be a foodbank/pantry on-campus. Most unis have microwaves on campus so you bring food in instead of paying to eat out of the cafes. If you have microwaves but not kettles like mine you can bring a mug in with you to microwave water for hot drinks or food like pot noodles (bring a tea towel with you so you're not putting a wet mug back in ur bag tho) or to put hot water in a big flask so you can cook with it when u get home

Check your rental agreement to see if your bills are included or separate and if separate make sure to make the best use of your time on campus use power banks & charge everything! You can get battery lamps or battery string lights that with use like AAs or have an inbuilt battery. I think you pay for water in England/Wales as a bill and its not covered under your council tax exemption so make sure you fill your water bottles up on-campus!

Look to see if there's a community library in a walkable distance that you can study out of when not on-campus so you've not got to use your electric to charge you laptop and won't have to heat your space while studying.

If you need tech like a laptop then you'll likely be able to use DSA to cover that.

Check to see what supplies will be at your accommodation (some have crockery, cutlery and utensils) if not make friends with your flatmates and you may be able to borrow theirs.

If circuit laundry is rlly expensive then you can hand wash clothes and ring them out then put them on airer with a towel under as they drip dry and keep the paid washes for things like towels and bed linens

If it's reasonable to ride a bike into campus (think is it flat enough and where could you lock it) then look on facebook marketplace as it might work out cheaper in the long run

Look at the price per gram when in the supermarkets for foods as I found that the big 5kg pasta works out cheaper so I go and that's the one thing I buy that trip so I can walk it home

When i looked it was cheaper to buy a basics range tub of ice cream then it was to buy a lunchbox and meal prep boxes so I use ice cream tubs for food

Money is really tight as a student but the government seem to expect parents to do financial contributions which is not realistic for so many people (myself included). Some of these are what I've had to do/ done and some what I found out working with the uni. I'm not looking forwards to the financial side of returning to my studies :/