Students living away from home

Feb. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- If you have waved your parents goodbye you’ll now be looking at your new digs with excitement and possibly a little bit of trepidation.

This might be the first time you have lived away from home, shared living space with strangers, managed your own housekeeping budget and, horror of horrors, cooked for yourself.

So where do you start? Do you check out of your digs and into the first available hotel near Cambridge, Oxford or Norwich? Considering you are on a student budget you are unlikely to do that unless you are of independent means.

Firstly, it’s a good idea to know your budget – you don’t have to have an A* at mathematics to work out that if you spend your annual student loan in the first term you’ll be running up a rather hefty overdraft from there on in.

So you’ll need to work out what your weekly limits are and stick to them – if you can. No one expects students to feed themselves like Henry the VIII’s Royal court, but it helps to know what food and drink you can afford.

If you are close enough to shop at a budget supermarket such as Aldi you’ll find it around 40% cheaper than the likes of Tesco or Sainsbury. You won’t be buying the top brands but you also won’t be paying top dollar prices either.

There are many ways to make your budget go around. If you have access to a freezer in your house share, and large pots and pans, it’s worth cooking one-pot meals and doubling the quantities so that you can keep portions of the meal in the freezer.

Spaghetti bolognaise and chilli are true student favourites coupled with rice, and frozen peas mixed into your rice. These are relatively inexpensive meals to cook and tasty too. You’ll find that if you add more tins of tomatoes and peppers or mushrooms that the meal will go further – so it’s also a good one to share with others.

You could also get into a cooking rota with your housemates, which means you’ll always know that for only one or two designated nights of the week you will be slaving away in the kitchen, which takes the headache out of the “what shall we eat tonight?” merry-go-round.

If you want to splash out and eat out, don’t seek out the restaurants of Bath, London or Cambridge hotels or your student budget is sure to bust! Instead, look for the deals – sign up for Groupon vouchers. There are many restaurant outlets that offer discounts. It’s a matter of being savvy. Gate crashing Cambridge wedding venues as weddings are in progress are not a good idea, though!

If you want to go to the pictures, if you or a friend has an Orange mobile telephone take advantage of the Orange Wednesdays or see if your Student Discount Card will get you the discounts you need.

One of the other top tips is to look after your health, after all you are not at home where mummy can bring you cups of tea or make you your supper. You might be lucky and share with other students who will look after in the same way room service might at Hotel Cambridge, but there is no guarantee.

Most of all, enjoy your time at university. Remember that it is a privilege to be there, a great learning environment not just academically but socially, too.

Visit : http://www.bedfordlodgehotel.co.uk/

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