When I got my first instalment of student loan in first year I was ready to splash my cash on whatever I felt like. The loan combined with my overdraft just seemed like endless amounts of money to me and I honestly didn’t see it running out, but oh how naïve I was.
I think it’s pointless to pretend like none of us aren’t going to treat ourselves in the beginning of the year because we’re students and ultimately spending is what we do best. But, you can make wise decisions and I’ve come up with some useful ideas to bear in mind when you feel like treating yourself in September.
Firstly, stuff to aid you at university is an easy excuse to get yourself something nice. The best thing that I bought for uni last year was my IPad mini, only costing around the £250 mark, still relatively cheap for an apple product, it was perfect to take notes on in lectures thanks to handy apps like ‘Penultimate’. It was also perfect for flat parties, by just downloading Spotify it was easy to play music off and portable too.
Which brings me on to the bare essentials; Spotify premium and Netflix. You may already own these subscriptions, but if not I highly recommend paying the £5 a month it costs for Spotify premium as a student (half price, just so you know), which means you can save all your music, it syncs to all devices and you can listen on the go too. I’d convince you to buy Netflix but I think it goes without saying that Netflix is an imperative part of student life.
My next suggestion would be a good set of headphones or earphones, you have no idea how much use you will get out of these, especially if you live in student accommodation where the walls are paper thin. Having a good set of earphones means you can still watch films or listen to music at 2am when everyone’s asleep and chances are you’ll walk everywhere and they’re handy for that too. I highly recommend Urbanears, they come with a warranty too so you know they won’t just break within a month.
Finally, something a little less sensible and highly gender specific. In the MAC store you can book an appointment for a makeover where they teach you how to apply makeup as well, it costs £30 and you’re credited that £30 once the makeover is over to buy £30 worth of makeup from MAC. The whole process is great value for money, really useful and also feels like you’re actually treating yourself. Specifically to the guys, I recommend buying a smart pair of shoes, if you don’t already own a pair. There are clubs in Leicester that won’t let you in with trainers and you don’t want to be turned away while your friends go on without you, a pair of desert boots or brogues will do the trick.
Worried about the cost of university? There are a number of different loans and schemes set up to help ease the financial burden.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/student-finance/11613548/Student-finance-loans-schemes-and-bursaries.html
