What every student needs!

 16-25 Railcard

My railcard is definitely my most essential card in my purse. I use it religiously when travelling around. Being nearly 200 miles away from home this little card comes in very handy. When I first applied for the card I was very reluctant to pay out £30 for the year. However, I am so happy that I did, it's saved me nearly £300 over the course of the year and as a student, there is nothing you need more than money! This is one of my favourite investments since starting university and I would recommend it to anyone who is living away from home or who likes to travel. If you are travelling regularly,  I would also suggest something to kill time, my DS is perfect for long journeys no matter how old they may seem, I take it everywhere with me - a perfect companion for a lengthy trip. 

Netflix

Netflix is another small investment that I use all the time - its slightly worrying. I originally had Lovefilm but when it changed over to Amazon Prime I thought it really went down hill and my rating towards it is very poor.  There was limited selection of things to watch and series which I originally had access too such a Skins I was expected to pay for - that's on top of my subscription! Since getting Netflix I have never looked back, for £5.99 their range of films and series is brilliant compared to those of lovefilm and I am now officially counting down the days for the release of season 3 of #OITNB. Netflix also announced recently that they are making the f.r.i.e.n.d.s series available from January 2015 - I am sold!  

Photographs! 

I have a keen interest in photography so this may be why it has ended up in my top 5, but I do think photographs help so much in not feeling homesick. Since starting uni, I have had my walls crammed with photos of friends and family, its not only comforting, they look awesome if they are arranged correctly. My ladybird pins are one of my favourite purchases - they're so cute! Every student accomedation has pin boards so you can never have too many pins, I've seen little ducks and bunnies too. If you visit money saving websites there are loads of codes to get 100 photos for free. I managed to grab 100 photos from Jessops and I only had to pay £2.25 postage. 

Skype

Another fantastic online app that saves me so much money. My constant calls home was taken over when I finally taught my parents how to use Skype. Its one of my favourite things in the world, I love seeing my family and I always come offline with a huge smile on my face. My friends rarely use it which is quite disappointing but I value it so much. I still can't get my head round the fact that its free! Below is my little brothers pretending they are cute haha! 

A Good Cook Book 

Cook Books are something I welcome at Christmas, I think they are awesome presents for students. My personal favourite is Goks Wok, which my Mam got me last Christmas. When first starting uni I lived off chips and freezer food and it can be so good cooking something from scratch on a free day - it usually works out cheaper too. If you have no cook books currently, use BBC Good Food, that's an awesome website and you can create an online scrapbook which I find quite handy.