This is the final post of my mini series of University life posts, which I hope have been of some use to anyone who's starting university. The final piece of advice I wanted to give was on budgeting and student cooking, two things in which some may not have done a lot before (haha).
As I lived at home with my parents throughout my time at school you could say I had it pretty easy when it came to budgeting because I didn't have much to pay for. Don't get me wrong I had a part time job so I could afford to buy my own clothes and go out with my friends but apart from that everything else was pretty much sorted for me. This is probably very common, which is why I thought it would be good to give a few tips on how I budgeted myself with this new sense of freedom and responsibility.
Before going to university I did a lot of research on things that I would be spending money on in which rent, food, books and social activities topped the lists. From my experience your student finance loan may cover most or all (if your lucky) of your rent, so when it comes to that all you have to worry about is paying it on time. However, when it comes to food shopping there are a few things you can do to save a few pounds.
Luckily I was placed with a group of people who quite liked the idea of shopping and cooking as a group, which saved so much money. On average we spent £15 a week each (at most) on a group shop, which is pretty damn cheap for seven days worth of meals. But of course there were a few things that we would individually buy which would mean that I tended to spend around £25 a week on food/drink at the most. Compared to some fellow students that I spoke to this was extremely cheap compared to the £50 they were spending!
Cooking as an eight also had its perks too!
Doing this meant that we would all eat at the same time and socialise rather than eating dinner in our rooms or on our own, which in the long run bought us much closer. This also meant that those who didn't know how to cook (*the boys*) could learn. It really did shock me to find out that some people didn't even know how to cut up a piece of chicken.....I'm not even joking!
We also were able to enjoy a variety of recipes that each of us had picked up at home, which were lovely to try. Having communal milk defiantly saved a lot of arguments about who stole who's milk as well!
When it comes to buying course books I'd say leave this till your lecturers advise you on which books are recommended to buy. The reading lists for many courses are huge and most of the books are available for free from the library, which also place copies online for students too. My advice would be to only purchase the books that you are likely to use throughout the entirety of your degree, rather than for just one term. Doing this saves a lot of money, as I learnt that university text books are rather expensive!
In your first few weeks go and check out the library and browse their online resources to get to grips with the systems they use, and to see which books are relevant to your course, you'll be thankful for doing this later in the year.
You'll quickly learn as a student that pasta is your best friend. It is such a versatile ingredient that is super easy to cook and doesn't break your poor student bank account. However, to save yourself from boredom of eating plan pasta and cheese seven days a week take a look at some recipes online and build up a bank of them to get some variety. My favourites have been chicken pesto pasta with tomatoes and Parmesan, roasted pepper and spinach penne pasta and a classic lasagna. It's defiantly worth taking a look at the TASTY page on Facebook for recipe inspiration.
To save money on healthy ingredients such as fruit and veg take a look at frozen options. Now some may have certain views on frozen goods being not as healthy as fresh however, this is defiantly not accurate. Frozen fruit and veg can often have greater quantities of those important vitamins and minerals than fresh due to the methods of transportation and storage conditions that fresh goods are stored in. Whereas, with frozen foods being frozen virtually as soon as they are picked their nutrients are locked in, and are retained for a greater length of time. As well as this frozen veg is very often much cheaper....what more could you want! Using frozen fruit on your porridge or yogurt in the morning is a great way to get some of your five a day without paying a fortune. A student diet doesn't have to be an unhealthy one, even thought there are many tempting student offers in takeaway shops. Remember its all about balance.
Finally, nights out. Lets face it going on nights out is a built in feature for many students, and why shouldn't it be while the drinks are cheap and everyone is up for it. Make the most of it while you don't have many deadlines and you are able to stay up till the early hours!
Throughout first year I learnt that you really don't have to spend that much on a night out to have a great time. Most nights I rarely spend more than £10 while out, which means you can maybe afford to go out more often than those who spend much more....or or studying materials, whatever floats your boat. If you are on a campus university like me many clubs and bars are in walking distance of the campus which means that you may not even have to get a taxi or bus, saving even more money! Since being at university I have learnt to love walking, its a great stress relief and hangover cure trust me.
I hope this advice was helpful, and that these posts have given you a slight insight into what to expect at university. You are going to have an absolute blast and I'm so jealous that I can't start first year all over again, but the next chapter is calling!
When it comes to buying course books I'd say leave this till your lecturers advise you on which books are recommended to buy. The reading lists for many courses are huge and most of the books are available for free from the library, which also place copies online for students too. My advice would be to only purchase the books that you are likely to use throughout the entirety of your degree, rather than for just one term. Doing this saves a lot of money, as I learnt that university text books are rather expensive!
In your first few weeks go and check out the library and browse their online resources to get to grips with the systems they use, and to see which books are relevant to your course, you'll be thankful for doing this later in the year.
You'll quickly learn as a student that pasta is your best friend. It is such a versatile ingredient that is super easy to cook and doesn't break your poor student bank account. However, to save yourself from boredom of eating plan pasta and cheese seven days a week take a look at some recipes online and build up a bank of them to get some variety. My favourites have been chicken pesto pasta with tomatoes and Parmesan, roasted pepper and spinach penne pasta and a classic lasagna. It's defiantly worth taking a look at the TASTY page on Facebook for recipe inspiration.
To save money on healthy ingredients such as fruit and veg take a look at frozen options. Now some may have certain views on frozen goods being not as healthy as fresh however, this is defiantly not accurate. Frozen fruit and veg can often have greater quantities of those important vitamins and minerals than fresh due to the methods of transportation and storage conditions that fresh goods are stored in. Whereas, with frozen foods being frozen virtually as soon as they are picked their nutrients are locked in, and are retained for a greater length of time. As well as this frozen veg is very often much cheaper....what more could you want! Using frozen fruit on your porridge or yogurt in the morning is a great way to get some of your five a day without paying a fortune. A student diet doesn't have to be an unhealthy one, even thought there are many tempting student offers in takeaway shops. Remember its all about balance.
Finally, nights out. Lets face it going on nights out is a built in feature for many students, and why shouldn't it be while the drinks are cheap and everyone is up for it. Make the most of it while you don't have many deadlines and you are able to stay up till the early hours!
Throughout first year I learnt that you really don't have to spend that much on a night out to have a great time. Most nights I rarely spend more than £10 while out, which means you can maybe afford to go out more often than those who spend much more....or or studying materials, whatever floats your boat. If you are on a campus university like me many clubs and bars are in walking distance of the campus which means that you may not even have to get a taxi or bus, saving even more money! Since being at university I have learnt to love walking, its a great stress relief and hangover cure trust me.
I hope this advice was helpful, and that these posts have given you a slight insight into what to expect at university. You are going to have an absolute blast and I'm so jealous that I can't start first year all over again, but the next chapter is calling!
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