Almost every student, at some point during their university life, has had worries about their finances. It’s a common issue. With the cost of living rising every year, and with a maintenance loan that most students would agree is almost impossible to live off alone, financial stability is an impossibility, even when you ignore the debt from tuition fees.

But is it possible to earn more money while at university? Of course, the answer is yes. Many students have part time jobs to bring in extra income, but with the job market still so difficult to get into, are there any other ways of earning?

When asked about investing, most students merely scoff at the prospect. Proclaiming they don’t have enough money to invest in things. Investments are for people with massive houses, flash cars and their own business who can throw a six-figure sum into something to gain that return.

This certainly isn’t the case though. While investing has the greatest return on large money investments such as buying houses, cars and business shares, they also come with the largest risks, and small investments are easy to make work, low risk, and often overlooked.

So how can you invest with such a small amount of disposable cash on-hand, and will it ever be worth it?

Callum Raybould certainly thinks so. After digging through the odd antique store and car boot sale, he’s been able to make an astonishing profit from comic books. He says to “do some research before-hand and see if anything might be made into a film” after explaining that’s exactly what he did with one comic of Batman vs Superman. He paid just 75p for it, and has since sold it for £50.

So what’s likely to rise in value then? Callum suggested that an early Avengers comic featuring Ultron would be a good bet, but these are already starting to rise in value. Meanwhile any Deadpool or Suicide Squad comics would be a worthy investment, with the films likely to come out within the next few years, as well as an Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy crossover. Just remember that early comics tend to sell far better, so to get the highest profit search for the earlier pieces.

Comic books aren’t the only investment to go for however. Old toys often become highly collectable, and rarer pieces can have stratospheric values. Toy cars have always been popular amongst collectors; with some pre-1970’s models going at auction for thousands of pounds. Post-70’s cars are still fairly cheap however, but they’re beginning to rise in value quickly.

The 1970’s is being fondly remembered recently, so values will rise with 1970’s toys. Corgi Whizzwheels,

Dinky Speed Wheels, Matchbox Superfast and Hotwheels are already collectable, but no-where near as expensive as their pre-70’s counterparts. Find original models in good condition with the boxes, and they’re bound to rise in price over the next few years. And remember, the fewer that were produced, the higher collectors will pay for them.

It’s not only toys that are 40 years old that have their value though. Even toys from the 1990’s and early 2000’s have become collectable. Original Pokémon trading cards have started to rocket in value, so if you can find any that are going cheap they’re worth buying to make a quick profit on. This also means there could be a similar trend for early Yu-Gi-Oh cards as well, they’re still extremely cheap to buy, meaning it could be worth hanging onto them for a couple of years and see if their values rise.

Beyblades too, were an enormous hit, and some of the rare examples, such as the Black Dranzer that was a very limited production, have begun to rise in price. Any examples still in their original box are almost certainly going to become big money in the future.

Search around in antique stores and car boot sales for anything that could be collectable, but remember to do the research on it first. Dolls and toys often find their collectable status, but commonly produced variants don’t sell for a high price. Don’t throw all of your money into one item either, and remember that it’s always worth liking the item before buying it. That way if it doesn’t rise in value, you’ve lost a lot less.

Money

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INVESTING AS A STUDENT Richard Geary explains how you can invest and profit on a

shoestring budget

Toys have always been a popular collectors item

Old Corgi toys can fetch thousands of pounds now

Toys with a famous TV tie in are often very collectable

Pokemon cards have become hugely collectible, with some being wroth a small fortune

Yu-Gi-Oh cards could follow Pokemon with collectors