These are a few tips I learnt throughout freshers last year and I thought they may be helpful to those of you hoping to go to university this September, I'm hoping I haven't missed anything out. These tips are based on my experience of surviving a night out during Freshers and remember to have fun! 

1. Before you go out make sure you have the numbers of everyone you're going out with, this way you'll be able to call someone when you're in an unfamiliar club and probably in a new city too.
2. Have a few numbers for local reliable taxis before you leave.
3. Leave a glass of water by your bed for when you come in - okay I say glass but I find sports bottles/plastic water bottles are a safer bet incase you knock it over!
4. Put your keys in a safe place like the zip pocket in your bag so if you do fall over whilst out (it happens to the best of us, especially in freshers!) your keys will still be safe.
5. Never go anywhere alone, we all know girls go to the toilet in pairs anyway, but even to the bar, smoking area, different room in the club make sure you have someone with you!
6. Never leave your drink unattended and don't drink someone else's drink that they've left on the side - both of these seem obvious but trust me, it's important to remember these.
7. Do not leave the club alone if possible and get a taxi if you're going to be on your own, it's much safer! 
8. This one really isn't a tip as such, but if you've lost your friends look in the smoking area, even the non-smokers gravitate there usually for a bit of air!

If anyone has any other tips feel free to leave them below!

Always remember to drink responsibly!

I'm really enjoying my University series and I hope you are too! Today's post is about university preparation tips, as always these are just what I've found helpful for me and are based on my own experience and I'll soon be going into my 2nd year!

1. Find a Facebook group for your university and join the freshers one, I'm sure a lot of you have already done this or will do this as soon as your results come out, but it's so helpful to join these groups! A lot of the posts are asking what halls everyone's in, what course everyone is doing and there may even be a separate one for your halls so try finding and joining that too.

2. Find a supplies checklist on your university's website. Some university's advise you not to bring stationery for example as they know you'll be given a lot of freebies at the fresher's fair, so finding out what your uni provides in your halls and rooms is vital so you don't waste money.

3. Talk to your flatmates and get to know them whilst doing this you can also figure out if there's any communal items you can all bring, for example a toaster.

4. Find out which freshers events are best by speaking to older students. They'll be able to tell you which freshers tickets to buy and which are the best nights and which are the clubs to avoid.

5. Don't buy expensive cutlery, okay this seems a little odd but trust me it will go missing! I'd suggest going to Poundland and buy it there, it does the same job.

6. Don't take your entire bedroom with you as tempting as it is, you won't have room. I made this mistake and my room was far too cramped and messy but take what you really need and some decorations and photos from home too.

7. Enjoy yourself and don't panic too much. You'll have the time of your life, embrace it!

Does anyone else have any tips they'd like to share?

As you can see I get my photos printed out quite regularly but always forget to put them into photo albums, oops.

A massive congratulations to everyone who got into university this year, I hope you're all really excited! I have a University Guide series I'm doing which I will be posting over the next few weeks so if you have any specific questions or topics you want me to address, just let me know!

Anyway, today I'm talking about one way of decorating your new room. Most universities don't allow you to use blue tack on the walls, but I used white tack last year and had no issues.. If your uni is really strict and won't allow anything on the walls you could always put these photos up on a pin board!

Last year I had photos all over one of my walls and it made my room feel so much more like home, the best part was I got free photo prints. 

I chose to get mine from Photobox which is a company I love. I paid £2.99 for delivery and I had 50 free prints. Also if you refer a friend to join up and they use their free prints you also get 50 free prints for referring them so it's a win win situation for you and your friends!

Snapfish also offer 40 free prints if you sign up and you only pay £1.99 for postage. I've also used Snapfish in the past and they're a good company too.

Jessops Photo is new to me, but if you register you will be sent a voucher code for 100 free photo prints. You read that right 100 free photo prints! You also pay postage which is £2.25. I'm about to place my order using my 100 free prints so when they arrive I'll update you all on how the photos are!

There are a few websites you can get free photo prints from and there's nothing stopping you from signing up to each website and claiming your free prints from all of them!

Oxford A4 Notebook £2 // Oxford A4 Refill Pad £1.50 

Bic Cristal Biros £1.50 // Tesco Biros 30p // Record Cards 80p per pack

I absolutely love buying stationery and I've spent most of my day watching back to school stationery hauls on Youtube so I thought I'd share with you the few rings I picked up in Tesco yesterday. I only bought the basics as I was in a rush and I still have some supplies left out from last years stationery haul and I've bought plenty throughout the year so I may do a whole post on everything I'm taking back with me. 

The Oxford notebooks and refill pads were on offer which is why I bought them now as the paper quality is amazing and I'm really quite fussy when it comes to paper. I just bought some basic biros as I always use black ink and having new pens is always nice. Finally I bought some record cards for only 80p per back, absolute bargain. When I was coming up to exam season last semester I couldn't find cheap record cards anywhere and ended up spending almost £10 on 3 packs so I'm stocking up now!

Do you love back to school/uni stationery or is it just me?!

I finished my first year of university a couple of months ago so I've learnt a few money saving tips along the way and I thought I'd share them with you. I'm also creating a University Series so look for more posts coming up soon! 

Anyway, today I'm sharing my favourite student discount websites with you and how to get the best discounts as a student. 

Amazon Student
Amazon Student is definitely one of the best things you can take advantage of as a student. Amazon Student basically gives you a 6 months free trial of Amazon Prime, which is free next day delivery on millions of items listed on Amazon (it will say Prime next to the price of the product). 
All you need to sign up is your .ac.uk email account and then follow the steps, it's so easy to do! However, do be aware that if you don't cancel your membership before the 6 months is up, you will be charged £39 for another year of Amazon Student - although £39 is still 50% off the regular price!

NUS Extra Card
An NUS Extra card gives you discount in over 160 shops, including 10% off in Superdrug, Co-op, Megabus, Missguided and so many other places. The card itself is £12 for a year and so you will instantly save the money you spent on the card. 

UNiDAYS
I found out about UNiDays after I'd moved into halls and I'm so glad I did. It gives you discount codes for online stores and emails you about their latest discounts available, and the best thing is it's free to sign up. You can also down their app for iPhone and Android which means you can use some discount codes in store.

Photobox
Photobox isn't exactly a discount deal just for students, however I have been using Photobox for years but even more so when I became a uni student. When you move into your room it can look bare and not cosy and home like at all, so printing off some photos to make settling in easier helps. Photobox will give you 40 free prints when you sign up and you only have to pay for postage which is only about £3 if I remember correctly. If you refer a friend they also get the free prints for joining and Photobox give you some more free prints when the friend you referred makes their first order. It's a win/win situation for everyone!

Do you have any more discount deals available for students?