These are the best ways to make money as a student

Student budgeting can be pretty difficult at the best of times, we’ve all thrown our revision timetable out of the window in lieu of some trebz or a cheeky Deliveroo.

Those few precious weeks of positive-bank-balance disappear and once again you find yourself living off baked beans and spending more time in Eat4Less than you’d like to admit. Unless you’re like JP from Fresh Meat and your parents don’t mind sending you some “pocket money” to fund your extravagant shenanigans, then perhaps the early launch of your working life is necessary.

Money may talk, but all mine ever says is ‘goodbye’

The extra money you glean from working a minimum wage job can often be just the ticket to wean off the beans and rid yourself of the guilt of buying more trainers. Say goodbye to wincing as you type in your PIN number for the umpteenth time today.

Up to now students would have to scrawl Google in search of part time jobs in the local area, scrolling through relentless options from home carer to shop assistant to office secretary. Searching for part time work is like standing in front of a Pick ‘n Mix where the only choices are boredom, exhaustion, and regret. You often wonder all this hassle is worth that extra £50 a week.

But look no further. The Tab have sifted through all the options open to Newcastle’s students and picked the best based on based on flexibility, ease, sociability and wage…

Bar work

I’ve worked at Soho trebles bar for around a year and a half and can recommend the three-hour shifts, flexibility, and social work environment. I have accidentally shackled myself to this convenient solution to my monetary problems.

I was told about Soho by a close friend who had been working there for a few weeks, with promises of “easy money”. I sent a few Facebook messages and after a succinct interview by Soho Room’s renowned owner I found myself for the first time in my life stood on the wrong side of the bar at 1am on a Friday night.

I had previously worked as an English tutor, stone mason (labourer) and paper boy – little did I know I was letting myself into the world of fast-paced non-stop retail. The first few Bambi shifts went by swiftly and before I knew it I could afford that weekly Nudo, guilt free extra drinks at the pub and I stopped having to watch my bank balance like it was my first-born child attempting the world’s highest tight-rope walk.

The reliability of the shifts and social network I formed with the other student employees meant that I was soon hooked on the late-night rituals of pouring blue mixer into cups for inebriated peers. The music is repetitive, the work is repetitive and the customers are progressively annoying, but the necessity of extra cash each week persists and I can’t see myself trying too hard to find a new place of employment.

I never thought I’d sound like my parents but undeniably employment has made me mature like a nice cheddar cheese. I’ve become more responsible, disciplined, and better at budgeting, my knowledge of bars infrastructure and the ability to serve a ridiculous volume of alcohol to the students of Newcastle is obvious now.

Whether it’s Soho Rooms or any other bar in Newcastle, you can expect to deal with really annoying drunk people, tired feet, and disbelief at how much money flows through the register whilst you remain content with your low hourly wage. But it’s easy money, and what else do you need.

Ticket selling

Ticket selling for promoters is a very common route for students requiring those few extra bob when their mums refuse to send yet another Tesco delivery. From early on in your paper-pushing career you will soon realise you’re the bottom rung on a long ladder of the night-life business.

Just some tickets waiting to be sold

Usually earning a pound off each ticket you sell, you can quickly make as much as an hourly profession would provide. Some big nights might see you selling fifty tickets or more, that’s your next pair of Stan Smiths paid for.

The smart ticket sellers will soon realise that to be successful, they must sacrifice any social media status and become yet another promoting Facebook parasite, constantly posting and tagging your friends in attempts to push those extra few tickets for Stage One’s pleasure.

The promo life chose him

If you can convince your personal circle to venture out for the evening or if you get that early post on Leazes Ticket Exchange for whatever mid-week madness is occurring then you’re quids in. Unfortunately the hassle of dropping tickets, collecting money from stingy friends, and organising your drunk self well enough on the night so you don’t lose all that ticket money starts grinding you down. The more driven ones among you will begin to climb the ladder, working in promotion for the rest of their University career and often earning a lot more than the ticket drones ever will.

As long as students like going out, ticket selling will always be a necessity, maybe it’s just what you need to solve your shopping anxiety.

Deliveroo 

The latest money making scheme for students and everyone who owns a bike is Deliveroo. My friend Charlie cycles for Deliveroo, having personally brought our house multiple Fat Hippos late at night he is a more than reliable source on this modern industry. The pay is £6 an hour and a pound for each delivery made, you also get tips if you’re lucky with your customers, although students are notoriously stingy in this department. You exercise on the job, and can listen to music or podcasts while you work which is rather unique to the minimum wage sector.

Charlie on his pedals, he’s a working man.

Shifts are whenever you want them, meaning holidays are also whenever you want them, no worries in planning spontaneous adventures or waking up just too hungover to work. The problems with Deliveroo include staff relations and communication, you are also self-employed so you have no legal rights in regards to injury on the job; being a zero-hour contract they can cut your shifts if they want to.

Once again you are definitely the bottom rung of a long corporate ladder. So whether you’re looking for some exercise while you work, love total shift flexibility and don’t mind being self-employed then Deliveroo could be for you.

Working throughout your student-hood can be a real chore, but undeniably you’ll appreciate the money no end. Personally I know I would be swimming even deeper in student loans and overdraft if I hadn’t jumped aboard the lifeboat of part-time employment.