Money Saving Tips on a Student Budget

I’m trying to win an iPad 2 in the iSave, iWrite, iPad competition from PlayPennies.com!

As my student days are coming to an end I thought it would be a good idea not only to share any tips for saving the pennies for others but also put them down in writing so I remember them post-university.

One of my top tips for saving money on food is to buy when things are on offer and stock up the freezer. What may cost more one month will save you money the next if you do it this way and it also pushes you to be creative with what you have in.

I also swear by packed lunches especially when I am out of the house around lunchtime because it is so easy to buy a Boots meal deal but before you know it you've down about £20 by the end of the week after buying lunch on the go each day. With a packed lunch you can not only save money but also opt for a more healthier option than sandwich and crips with a chocolate bar. I often instead buy a pack of wraps and individually freeze them and take one out each night to defrost and make up my lunch before going to a lecture.

Buying fruit from the market will also save you a small fortune. Supermarket fruit and vegetables are often very expensive which means we often spend lots in an effort to eat healthier but by finding a dependable fruit stall who stock good quality fruit and a low price will really help you to watch the pounds (both in terms of your pocket and your waist!)

Finally, a tip my house mates and I live by is to pay bills monthly. Not only does it save you money it is also a more accurate way for you to keep track of your metres which means you do not rely upon gas and electric companies estimates as much.

Not Much to Say...

Although I don't really have a lot to say at the moment, I've been feeling like this blog has been neglected for quite some time now. And I did promise myself I was going to make more of an effort to blog in 2010!

So where to begin? Well I've practically finished uni for the year now. (I know!) And it's only April. I do have a couple of things to crack on with, and when I say crack on with I mean assignments and revision which I'll probably leave until the day before the deadline. But no more lectures, no more 9am starts - nothing. And if I'm being honest, it has got me rather down. I used to relish summer, it was the magical time of year where we had no school, no teachers and we could watch TV during the day! Now, gone is the magic and I have to look forward to is September when uni starts again. Which thinking about it is quite funny actually because I hate (really I HATE) my course but enduring a few hours of nouns and phonology and grammar and syntax a week sounds a lot more pleasing than having to move back home to a tiny little tiny tiny town where NOTHING happens!

Four months of boredom, here I come!

At least Doctor Who is back on the telly...

It's been a while

It's been a long time since I posted in this blog, but it's been summer so I've been to busy to post, and at other times to bored to have anything decent to post about.

Anyway...

Earlier this month I did a week at a newspaper, my local The Whitehaven News. It was actually a lot of fun, and it was good experience which I was in total need of. I got a few things published (which I'll post links to at the bottom of the post) which my Dad is very excited about. Every time someone comes round, he gets the clippings out! But I've hidden them now, so he won't be able to find them next time :)

But it did make me realise that perhaps journalism is something I might want to go into. The original plan for uni was to actually do a journalism degree, but after freaking out in case I didn't want to be a journalist, I settled with the more useful and less scary English Language. But now I'm thinking I want a bit more experience in that field, so hopefully something will come up this year. I know I'm doing creative writing as one of my modules which may include some article type assignments, but truth be told, I'm just excited to get away from grammar for a bit! I still don't know what a transitive verb or an adverbial clause is. I mean, probably I could make a guess, but it will be no where technical enough for it to be right :D So that's why I'm excited for creative writing, there's a bit more freedom. And hopefully, there won't be too much, let's share with the rest of the group sessions.

So yeah, summer is coming to an end, less than a month until I'm back at uni (it's welcomed! I'm so bored with home now!). Oh, and as promised those articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

When did I sign up to this thing? Hold on while I check...

2007! WOW! I didn't think it was that long ago. Well it's by time I put this place to good use. Not that I expect thousands of readers or anything, but it's a pretty nifty place to post my thoughts from time to time even if it does end up just being for me. Well, where to start?

I really haven't been up to much lately, I think the most excitement I've had in the past week was the American Idol final. Sad Adam lost, but whatever, he seems to be doing okay. I have been back at home since my uni term ended (my first year is almost over - scary huh?) and my first exam is tomorrow. Nervous? No not really, despite doing like ten minutes of revising. It doesn't matter though, I have three hours alone on a train in the morning I can do some then. But apart from that nothing. We are moving house soon, back to our old house. I actually can't wait, our garden up there is much bigger and we actually have grass and a patio, yes I said grass and a patio! Hopefully it'll be a nice summer so I can spend some days in the garden with a book, how heavenly does that sound? Pretty heavenly I'd say. Although I do burn easily, so I'm going to have to make sure I have sun cream, and my hayfever needs to be under control as well. God I sound like an old woman!

I guess that's it for now, I just wanted to put this place to good years after having it since December 2007, that's what just over a year? Or a year and a half? I know my maths sucks!