Money Saving Tip #2 Clothes Horse

Clothes Horse, Clothes Airer whatever you want to call it.

Get one. They save you a fortune.

The one I have is from Argos it costs only £9.99

Here at Bangor it costs £1.70 to dry your clothes but in many unis it is more. 

It can easily hold a large load of washing, although hag towels on doors as they dry quicker that way.

This thing would have paid for itself in 6 washes.

It folds nicely away, mine lives under my desk.

Now off you trot and buy one! (See what I did there)

Shall you be getting one for uni? Or any other scrimpy tips? Share them here!

Keep it scrimpy
Laura.

Budget Beauty

I got some total bargains last week, I picked up these beauties. Those of you following me on twitter or

Instagram (@scrimpystudent for both)  you caught a sneak preview of one of these products today.

For what seems like forever I have been hunting for some bright red lipstick that had all day staying power. At last I have found it. In poundland. Now, I'm always on the lookout for make up in poundland , I have had many Rimmel London Nail polishes from the place. So when I saw the two Nivea Extreme Resist lip colours and gloss, I couldn't resist. I grabbed a number 10 Scarlet-Red and 22 Pretty Berry. The other one I picked up was a Rimmel London Moisture renew lip gloss in 105 Pink Benefit.

First for the Nivea lippy's. Now, they aren't quite a lip stick, nor are they a gloss, they live somewhere in between. You apply the colour first let it dry for a few mins then whack on the gloss. The tube says it lasts for up-to 10 hours, I was dubious but boy does this stuff know how to stick to your face! Today I went shopping in Manchester  applied it at 8am, got back to Bangor at roughly 10.30pm and although it had faded a lot, it was still hanging in there!

Check out the before and after shots! (Wearing the Scarlet-Red)

Freshly applied

It didn't last well!

The first test of the day came, on the coach to Manchester  all I did was take my snood off, but usually I get bits of fluff sticking to my face, glad to say, no fluffy lips, no red rim on my drinks bottle. However in Starbucks, it did have a mild stumble. Although to be fair I didn't have to touch it up after this, there was still enough colour left on the lips. I really didn't think it could last 10 hours, 5 or 6 maybe if I didn't eat, drink, touch my face or smooch anything, I was so wrong.

Now as much as I do really love this and it will be making a regular appearance in my life, I do have a few faults to pick. As much as this stuff clings to your lips, it also clings to your skin. Good luck getting it off if you slip while putting the colour coat on. Also, it's a bitch to get off unless you have something hot/warm and oily (Won Ton soup). The gloss effect doesn't last as long as the colour, two hours tops. Finally after over 12 hours it left my lips feeling tired, dry and in need of some TLC.

The other product I purchased was the Rimmel London Moisture renew lip gloss in 105 Pink Benefit. I have owned the same product but in 585 Cherry Boost for a while now and they really do look after your lips. They contain SPF 15 do add some protection from the sun (not that we have sun in Bangor). They aren't amazingly long lasting but they do the job. The colours are nice and really do boost moisture levels in those lips. I tend to use these for every day wear and save the Nivea ones for special occasions.

All these for a pound each. Thanks PoundLand! 

Keep it scrimpy.

Laura

Scrimpy Secret Santa

Another Christmas post? Yup, I am spoiling you all!

A group of us had a Christmas meal last night at our local Weatherspoons. I ate so much I think I'm still full. The meal cost £12.25 for three courses and it was all delicious We also threw in Secret Santa, for those of you who haven't heard of it, everyone's name is written on a piece of paper and then each person picks someone at random. I got my friend Tim. So here is my super-scrimpy secret Santa present. The total price creeps in at just a smidgen over a fiver.

I like to call this my winter warmer set.

The ingredients
Spice Jars x3 - Poundstretcher - 75p each or 2 for £1
Large Mug- PoundLand- £1 (or you could use one you already have)
Hot chocolate powder- (I already had Cadburys in my cupboard)
Marsh-mellows- Poundland- £1
Baileys truffle bar- Iceland OR poundland- £1
Liquor Chocolate- PoundLand-£1
Hand warmer- PoundLand- £1
Baileys/Irish Cream- Lidil £3.99

Now I know this comes in over a Fiver BUT you don't use all the Baileys, only about 50p worth, nor do you use the whole bag of marsh-mellows.

Presentation-
Put the Baileys, hot chocolate, and marsh-mellows into the spice jars.
Put the Baileys and hot chocolate jars into the mug, the bar of baileys chocolate fitted beautifully into the mug as well..

Wrap the rest of the gifts separably and place into a gift bag.

If the recipient of the gift is under 18, leave out the Baileys and replace the liquor chocolates with non-alcoholic ones, maybe even some home-made cookies! You could also include some cream, however if you so, make sure they open it before the cream goes off!

Feel free to share any of your Scrimpy Secret Santa ideas

Keep it scrimpy.
Laura.

Chalkboard Mirror Tutorial

Happy 1st December everyone! 

I'm sorry for my lack of posts recently, I have been snowed under with essays and work recently but I'm taking a quick break to show you this...

I know it says Happy Birthday on it but it would also make a great Christmas present. Even better it's really cheap and simple to do.

You need.

A mirror with a large chunky frame (I got these from a charity shop for 99p)
Blackboard paint (I started out with this from amazon)
Paint brushes
Chalk (99p for 50 pieces from the works)

Next...

Simply paint around the mirror with backboard paint, I found this needed two coats to cover.
Let it dry
Write nice things around the mirror (Try sharpening the chalk to make it easier to write with)
DONE!

So easy and it looks really good!

Have you made any Christmas presents? Feel free to share them!

Keep it scrimpy.
Laura.

#Demo2012

I wrote this as I was on the coach trundling back north from London. I've had a good day at #demo2012.

#demo2012 was a march organized by NUS which is the national union for students. Universities join you up automatically when you enroll.

Homemade Christmas decorations

Well I'm fully into the swing of Christmas, yesterday was spent putting a 9 hour playlist together on Spotify. Today I have started decorating my room with some home made decorations.

Usually I like to buy Christmas decorations in the January sales but I failed to bring any to uni with me  steal any from home. Either way I am not paying £1 for 2m of crappy tinsel, yes I'm looking at you Morrisons and Poundland! So this year I'm making my own, unless anyone would like to post me some decorations. Please?

Here is what I have so far.

Paper Chains

These are brilliant, they reminded me so much of my childhood . Simply loop long rectangles of paper together.

 Woven paper balls.

These were hard. This is how they are supposed to look, mine....not so much.
I wont be attempting this again. They look good online but for me, they take a little too much concentration

 Woven hearts.

The tutorial is here for a basket style one, I just followed the first few steps to make a more 2D wall hanging.
I'm going to do a few more of these in more christmassy colours.
(Please excuse the fact the glue is still wet).

 What I plan to make

Pom poms! 
Like these here . Again I used to make these as a kid and I simply adore them.
Pine cones covered in glitter.
Remember making those as a kid? Glitter every where!
Christmassy Bunting
It seems to be all the rage in shops this year
Something that smells nice
I love the smell of Christmas, if I manage to make something that captures the 'smell of Christmas' I will let you know

Have you made any Christmas decorations? Feel free to share them below!

Keep it scrimpy.
Laura.

Money saving tip #1 Toothpaste.

So here we all are merrily brushing our teeth twice a day for two mins. You get through quite a lot of toothpaste doing that.

When you try to get to those illusive the last drags of paste are you a roller or a pusher? I'm a chopper!

It's really simple. Put the lid back on, cut of the bottom but keep the plastic as this is your new lid. Then wiggle your tooth brush in and scoop out some toothpaste. I didn't realize exactly how much toothpaste went to waste until I did this. I feel kind of sorry for all that toothpaste going to waste.

I'm thinking of doing these little tips as regular posts, what do you think?

Keep it scrimpy
Laura.

Use by the best before date (food labels)

Food is by far one of the biggest drains on a student budget. So I find it really annoying when people waste food, just because it’s ‘out of date’ when most of the time there is nothing wrong with it.

There is a lot of confusion about all the dates on food packaging and I don’t blame you, it can be confusing at the best of times. So, here is my quick guide to all those dates you find on your tin of beans.

Use-by date.

This one is self explanatory, you should use it by that date.After that date BIN IT. Although personally if the 13th of December rolled round I would still eat it. Use your common sense

Foods that are labelled with this usually include ‘high risk’ foods such as milk, eggs , and fish

Best before

This label has very little to do with how safe the food is to eat. This is purely the date that the supermarket feel the product is at it’s best. Foods like these do not need to be thrown out after this date as they are longer lasting foods such as pasta or often frozen foods. They are still edible after this date. When eating foods past the best before date use that common sense again. Does it taste off? Has it mysteriously turned green? Yes? Then BIN! If not then go ahead, enjoy.

Sell-by (and Display-until)

Ignore this; this has nothing to do with you. This is for the supermarket staff. See the use-by and best before dates instead.

Keep it scrimpy
Laura

Vote!

I'm feeling totally inspired by the current US election but,  I don't feel enough young people are active in politics. I am really passionate about politics. I studied it at A-level where I studied both UK and US politics. Even before that I grew up watching the news every night so I always knew what was going on in the world. When I was in primary school political education didn't exist, moving to high school nothing was really mentioned until about year 10 in 'citizenship' when it was briefly touched upon. I think this is a really poor show. No wonder young people are apathetic about politics, nobody tells them about it! Lets be honest question time isn't the most attractive program to watch before bed.

Most university's have political groups (Labour , Conservative, Plaid Cymru, and LibDem here in Bangor). These usually take the form of societies, I would really recommend joining them even if you just go along to a few things in the year..I joined one (I'm not going to say which one) not because I vote for that party all the time, I just feel that my ideologies (general ideas and morals) fit more with that party.

Registering to vote is your chance to have your say. Don't know who to vote for? In the run up to an election the BBC tends to have really good briefing of each party's manifesto (what they plan to do). Take a look at these if you aren't sure. Please please please don't think that voting is a waste of time it really isn't. Young people need more of a voice and by simply turning out to vote on election day, you make a big difference.

So here is what I want you to do, while you have a free 10 mins at some point I want you all to do me a favor; pop over to http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk . It really doesn't take long to register to vote but you can really make a big difference.

As a student you can be registered in both your home constituency and your university constituency. You get two votes!

Keep it scrimpy!
Laura.

Homesickness.

Sorry for the lack of recent activity, I've been hit with Homesickness. Again. Most freshers, and even second and third years, will suffer at some point. There are several kinds of homesickness that I have observed.

The one that hits you like a train

This is what I suffer with. I was doing really well for the first few weeks. Then in week 4 it just hit me. Anything and everything would set me off, the smell of bread in Morrisons set me off once and I just stood there on the verge of a breakdown. Then when I got back to my room the photo of my dog set me off again. This kind of homesickness passes very quickly, I found I had a miserable night in, just moping around watching Bambi (boy was that a bad I idea).

The one that makes you seem like a hermit.

With this one people just get really miserable, don’t want to go out, don’t want to eat, or function in any way. If you suffer from this one then try and let at least one person know, flatmates really are understanding when it comes to homesickness, we have all been there.

The one where you just get drunk.

 This one is bad. It costs you way too much to go out and drown your sorrows every night. Plus you feel awful the next morning. If you really must go out and get drunk every night, don’t go on your own, go out with a group and really try and involve yourself in the night out.

The one where you turn into your mother.

I also suffer from this and I am very sorry to all my flatmates who put up with this. My mother is a massive clean freak. This means that sometimes I just have to clean. I can spend hours cleaning. I don’t even know why. I hate cleaning. I also cook a lot when I'm homesick, trying to recreate those homely meals, I make massive portions so my housemates are all well fed for the week after.

Homesickness is totally normal, embrace it, tell your family you are missing them, chances are they are missing you. You need to find your own way of coping with homesickness, mine is to grab a sad film and some popcorn and have a good cry. Although if you are suffering really badly and it is affecting your ability to function normally then don’t suffer alone, most university’s have a phone number you can call just for a chat. Here at Bangor we have Nightline that is run by students for students. You just call them up and they listen.

Keep it scrimpy
Laura.