Christmas and Student Life| Carenza Bramwell

It feels strange to be writing this, but this is my final Christmas as a student. I graduate next summer, which is also strange to be thinking about. As this is my final Christmas as a student, I thought I would share my honest experiences about what it's like to be a student during the festive period. From workload, to finances and packing tips, I think after three Christmas', I've got this nailed. 

You might be thinking that Christmas is no different from any other time of years for students, but I'd say that it's quite difficult. It's a stressful period due to academic and financial pressures. The aim of today's blog post is to share my honest experience and reassure my fellow students that Christmas can still be fun as a student.

Workload

Obviously, I have to preface this with this is going to be entirely based on my experiences as a student. This will link to my course and therefore I cannot speak for other courses. I am going to try and be as broad as a I can. Like most things in life, everything is unique to the individual and this is unique to me. 

Christmas is usually when the first term ends for most students. It can bring a lot of stress with it, as it means winter exams and deadlines are just around the corner. I have found that I have had a lot of work to complete the last two Christmas', but I have also managed to have some time away and spend time with my family. It's highly unlikely that as a student, you are going to be sitting around at Christmas with no university work to do. 

My tip would be to come up with some kind of schedule or set time you can do work. This will mean when you do want to spend time with your family, you won't have that awful workload hanging over you. This is my first year as a student that I don't have deadlines in early January as my workload has been pushed back to the end of the month. This doesn't mean I won't have work to do. As a final year student, I have a lot of work to do for my assessments. I have plans to take Christmas Eve to Boxing Day off and then New Years Eve and Day off. This give me deadlines to meet with all my university work. 

It can be tempting to relax more during the Christmas holidays, but by making sure you get work done, it means there will be less stress further down the line. If you have time to do a bit of extra work, do it! This is something I'm hoping to do this year so when I go back to university in January, I'll have done some of the work that's been looming over, making next term as stress free as possible.     

Finances

Another concern for students at this time of year is finances. Christmas is undeniably expensive. I feel the pressure each year, especially as I have my dad's birthday in December as well. My number one tip, one that might seem fairly obvious, is to set budgets. For my family, I spend around £40-£50 on each of them. My best friend and I, as we're both students, set price limits for each other to make it even and not a strain on our bank accounts. I've done Secret Santa with my housemates the past few years and we've always set budgets. Budgets are really your best friends as students as it's amazing how far you can make your money go while still being able to treat yourself every now and then.

Another tip would be to take advantages of any sales you can. It may only save you a fiver, but that's £5 more than you would have had. Due to the Pandemic, I bought all my Christmas presents a lot earlier than normal and took advantage of the Black Friday Sales. It meant I saved a little bit on my presents, which was a huge relief. 

Obviously, it's a bit different this year for students to go out and get jobs. For some, this isn't an option. I have a part time job that I work on a zero hour contract through my university and due to the current situation, I haven't had many shifts. If you can get work from home jobs and this fits with your lifestyle, then I would highly recommend it. 

I think it's important to remember that Christmas isn't about the gifts. If you can, buy something second hand or make something. It's always the thought that counts. 

Packing

My final section of student and Christmas life is about packing to go home. If, like me, you live away from home for university during term time, then packing is something you dread. This year especially as students in the UK have no idea when they will be allowed to return. 

My first tip would be to pack based on priority. I always pack my clothes first if I can. I'm very lucky that for the past two years, I have been able to steal the families massive suitcase to lug my clothes between home and university. I personally take the clothes I know I'm going to wear, which does end up being the majority of my clothes. Do I end up wearing all the clothes I bring home? No. But it's nice to have the option to if it arrives.

The next section I pack are my university essentials. I study Creative and Professional Writing, which means I have a lot of essential books I need to bring home. I always make sure I've packed those first as I can live without my books for fun as I have ones I want to read at home. I like knowing that I have everything I'm going to need to continue my studies. 

Packing by section makes an overwhelming task manageable as it spreads the work out into bite size chunks. It is difficult working out what you should and shouldn't take home for Christmas. I've always gone home for five weeks at Christmas which means I take a lot of stuff home with me. Each year, I have approached packing this way and made it a manageable task. 

I hope this blog post has portrayed what it is like to be a student at Christmas in an honest a way as possible. It is tough being a student and having work to do while wanting to spend time with loved ones. I hope this helps any students reading this.

Carenza :) x 

How To Meal Prep As A Student| CarenzaOnBooks

One of the first and most important skills I developed at university was how to meal prep. Meal prepping is a great way of tracking what you're eating and how much money you're spending on food. I would say that it is an essential skill that any student should want to develop if they want to learn how to save a few pennies while at university. I've broken it down into my top six tips for how to meal prep at university!

Make A List of Meals You Know You Like

This seems like a fairly straight forward thing to do, but it is easy to forget. This is something I did this year and it has made planning meals a bit easier than last year. It means that when I plan what meals I need for that week before I go food shopping, I can see which ones I've had recently and make sure I have some variety in my meals. Also, if they are meals you know you like, then you are less likely to waste money on things you don't like. A lot of the meals I have are quite basic and they are ones I've tried at home before just to make sure I like them.

Try to Find Ones With Lots of Similar Ingredients

Again, this is something that can seem like common sense, but it is easy to forget. Having recipes with similar ingredients means that you are always likely to have those ingredients in. For example, it is a well known fact that students are partial to anything with pasta. So, I always have some form of pasta in my cupboard. Ingredients such as pasta are also very versatile so you can get multiple meals out of the same ingredient.

Keep on Top of What Your Essentials Are

If you know what your essential ingredients are, then a useful tip would be to make sure you always have them in the cupboard. As they are going to be something you need frequently, it is beneficial to you to always have them in stock. For example, when I know I am running low on pasta, I always pick up a new bag when I next go shopping. That way, I never run out of it. I also try to get a brand that has two for one when it comes to pasta as it's a useful ingredient to have in stock. 

When Food Shopping, Make a List of Things You Only Need

This is probably my most important tip. When it comes to food shopping, make a list. By making a list, you are more likely to stick to it. This means that you will save money. I know that I have saved a lot of money by sticking to what I put on my shopping list. Occasionally I will buy things on my list because I have forgotten to put them on or they're an affordable price, but mostly I stick to my shopping list. It also means I only buy food that I know I am going to eat and not throw away. Throwing away food is one of my biggest pet peeves and it is something I am really against. By making a list, I always have the right amount of food in for me. 

Be Prepared to Be Flexible When It Comes to Meals

It may seem like an odd tip, but sometimes the meal you've planned for the particular day isn't actually what you want to eat on that particular day. My belief is that as long as you eat the meals you've planned, it doesn't really matter. Being flexible is a really useful skill as it means you can eat a meal you would actually like to eat and still not waste food throughout the week. 

  

Bulk Cooking

Bulk cooking is actually a really good way of making sure you've always got meals in as a student. It's not something I've done to the same scale this year as we have limited space, however even making two meals at once is still a good idea. Sometimes I make two meals at once, then when I have a late finish, I can heat up the spare half of the meal and not take a huge chunk out of my day to cook a meal. It's also a really financially beneficial thing to do as you save money in the long run. 

How To Manage Student Finance| CarenzaOnBooks

We all know about the joys of university, but until you actually experience it, the financial side can be a bit daunting. I've been a student for a year now and I feel that I've got a handle on the financial side of things. In this post, I will be sharing five tips to make managing student finance a worry of the past.

1) Stick to a Budget

This is a fairly obvious tip, but it's surprising how many people forget it. When I started university last year, I picked an amount to spend every week. My weekly budget was £60 and that was to cover my food shopping and any other expenditures I'd have during the week. Typically I'd spend around £20 a week on food. With the remaining money, it meant I could go for the occasional meal with friends, go into the city centre and still by the books I wanted to read. If you set yourself a budget, that doesn't mean that you would have to spend that much money every week. Often, I would spend less than half of my budget a week. Having a budget means you are very aware of how much money you are spending and can keep a track if you are close to going over your budget. 

 

2) Plan Ahead

Planning is another key tip to keeping on top of your finances. For example, if you know someone's birthday is coming up, maybe keep a bit of money back to get them something. Another example is that I know I'm going to be in London in December to go to the theatre. So my plan is to keep part of my budget back to treat myself in London. As I know I'm going to be in London, I need to book train tickets, so one week I will spend some of my weekly budget on train tickets. If you have something planned, then make sure you can work around it and then you won't feel guilty about spending money.

3) Be Savvy Where You Can

Something that is worth learning is how to be money savvy. Where I live the nearest supermarkets are Sainsbury's and Asda. Asda is slightly cheaper, but a further walk for me. However, as I know I'll be saving a significant portion of money. It's all about knowing where you can save a little bit of money. Another good way to save money is to do some bulk cooking. I often cook something that I know will last two meals. Also, keep an eye on what's on offer at your local supermarket. If you can buy two bags of pasta for £1, do it because, in the long run, it will save you some money. Try looking at where you can find what you're looking for at a slightly cheaper price. 

4) Going Over Your Budget Isn't The End of The World

While sticking to a budget is a top tip, having the ability to be flexible is also another useful skill. Obviously, if you go a significant amount over budget, then maybe assess your spending patterns. But if you only go £5-£10 over your budget, then it isn't the end of the world. There would be some weeks where I would end up going over budget and what I would do was make sure I would spend less the next week. I would feel really bad if I ended up going over budget but I soon broke that idea down. I would tell myself it wasn't as bad as it looked, and that I would have to spend a bit less money next week. 

   

5) You Can Still Have Fun

It is possible to have fun and be financially smart. For example, I still want to buy the books I want to read. What I did was I made a list of all the books I wanted to read and as the year went on, I reassessed it and took some of the books I was less excited about off it. I also made sure that my weekly budget could accommodate if I was getting a book that week. I'm not saying that you should treat yourself every week, but if you build in a little bit of treat money then you will feel way less guilty about buying something nice for yourself.

I hope these tips are useful and help you manage your student finances. I found that by implementing these tips into my life I was spending way less money and felt less guilty when I treated myself.

Carenza x :)