Wednesday 12 September 2012

Flying the nest

Hello Beans

I would tell you to slap me on the wrist, but beans dont have wrists....
I've been away on a bit of a budget holiday and have been a little bit neglectful. But im back! Today marks one week till I move into my house at Universitiy. BOM,BOM,BOM. Theres so much to do!! Im also well aware some of you Uni student will have already moved and some of you will be enjoying your freshers week! So I'm going to try and do a few different posts for everyone this week.

So a bit of a catch up. I'm about to go into my second yeat at University of Winchester studying drama. I live with two fantastic girls in a little flat near the uni, when of course im not with M+D in Yateley. The boyfriend has been kind enough  to take me up to Winchester over the summer so A. I can keep my university job and B. To move some stuff in a little early. Studying drama I am near depresssed to find out iwill only be studying 6 hours a week for the first semester so I have spent this summer starting budget projects to continue in my "study time". I'm a bargain hunter, a homemade princess, I've had to be tight on the purse strings... how else will i find the money for my expensive shoe habit! So now I'm trying to pass down a bit of knowledge, some i got from  M+D and other stuff I've learnt from First year Fresher mishaps! But all I hope, will help you have a great first year at University, withoutspending a fortune!

Enough about myself. Lets be on with the blog. Today im going to give you my little tips to help you in your first week of halls, without blowing the budget

My top 5 Tips of Moving into halls!

1. Feeding the Five thousand
For alot of people first time away from home means the first time you will be doing all your food shopping... how exciting!....... Some fo your parents will stock you up and other let you fly the nest and fend for yourself, but dont blow your student loan in one week! Cheapest places to shop are of course supermarkets. Unfortunatly not all universitys have them in walking distance, my nearest big supermarket was 45 minuteses walk away when i lived in halls. A bit of a bitch if you have a lot of bags.. or ice cream XD. Im lucky enough that my boy used to take me and my housemates to stock up occasionaly, but when he wasnt around i used to get the free bus. My supermarkets operate these buses once a week to take you too and from the store for free. Fab! If you either dont have one in your area or its not on the right day, dont assume that the regular bus will be cheaper. If your going in a group of 4 or more the bus would cost you over a £10 in some areas, and take you all around the houses. Sharing the cost of taxi may not only be quicker but save a little cash too.
I have suddunly reaslised how much i could write about this shopping malarky, so i think tommorow may have to be a bit of a guide to the likes of Tescos!

2. Making a halls a home
For me, the strangest bit about halls was how bare the room is when you come into the room. YOu really have to try to make the room feel homly. But dont blow the budget!! Next year you may be in a house with a double bed or furnished so dont spend a fortune on a duvet that you may end up just having to store the next year. I am very guilty of this!!! I just used a tesco value duvet and blankets if i got cold. Brought a reasonable duvet cover from primark and already the room felt a bit more liek mine. I covered my walls in pictures at univesity. But all those photos can be pricey!!!! Print them off yourself and your going to drain your printer. So if your printing over 10 pictures pop to your tesco, boots or asda and use their photo service. The more photos you print the more the price of each print goes down. So ask your friends at home too if they want anything printed,. Dont give into the instant print either. At tesco this will cost you sometime 150% more!!! Be patient and you can save yourself some cash.

3. Meet and Greet
Meeting new people is daunting enough. My current housemate for this yeat was greated by my mother, who practically attempted to adopt her the moment she saw her. First of all, get mum out the way!!! And what i found really worked was a little girt from home. Some people just brought a tin of sweeties but a batched of homebaked cookies of cakes will do the trick too! If your crap at cooking, tesco do a chocolate cookie mix for 80p! No-one wil ever know!

4. Bills, Bills, Bills
Don't be ashamed to admit we all mis M+D now and then. We can end up on the phone for hours with friends and family but watch that phone bill!. Skype is an excelent free alternative and if you get yourself a webcam you can see your friends too!! The boy has even got skype on his phone so i can call him off my laptop to his phone at any time of the day for free. So it makes all the I love yous a little bit cheaper

5. Playtime!
Bonding with your housemates can be so tricky. Go to the pub and theres so many new people you may just end up in silence the whole night. My and my housemates just used a simplae games of sticky face. Pack of post-it notes and pen is all you need. Write the name of a person that they will either know or have heard of. My favourite was always fireman Sam... or Jesus. and stick the post-it note to their head. You then go round each asking a question about the person on your head and let the hilarity begin. A girl in my house last year had Obama and when we told her it was the presdient of the USA she sat dumbfonded for a while before proclaming the BAMA BAMA BAMA. Was his name. Don't worry, she isnt studying politics.

Hope your all settling in well
Much Love Beans

xxxxx

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