Hey guys!

One post a week! What is this consistency? Are you okay Kat? I’m good, just up to my eyeballs in assignments and exams and looking to do literally anything other than study. I’m serious though, whoever thought economics exams were a great idea was seriously disturbed. On a lighter note though, I managed to get an article out this week about great (and cheap) student dates in Dublin which you can peruse here. On top of that I got my Pancake on on Tuesday and it was wild. Not that I needed anymore excuses to cover things in chocolate. By that I meant vegetables mam and dad. Promise.

I figured this week I’d take a look at my student essentials given that we are halfway through the second semester and everyone is just about broke. I have created this list by compiling my 4 years of experience of attempting to be an adult and selecting what worked. Everything listed is aimed at a student budget. You won’t find any notions here!

1. Pasta for days. Literally.

Did you know Tesco do 3kg worth of pasta for less than €3? I know 3kg of pasta sounds ridiculous and for all intents and purposes does mean carrying a sack home. But you’ll find potatoes become the height of luxury eaten only by the bourgeoisie of students. Save yourself the trouble of popping into the shop several times a week by grabbing about enough pasta for 2 weeks of meals in one go for a smaller price!

2. A spare phone charger for your bag.

I don’t know about you, but I spend half my life on my phone. Sad but true. That means my phone is constantly dying on me. I have a head like a sieve too which doesn’t help the situation. If there’s one thing I don’t lack consistency in it’s forgetting to bring my phone charger with me. This is why my highly rated essential is to purchase a spare one to shove in your bag so you’re never without.

3. A warm blanket

Student Houses are cold. That’s just a fact of life. And even if the heating does work, it’s too expensive to have it on for too long anyway. My recommend is to go buy yourself a giant fluffy blanket (usually €16/18) from Penneys and bury yourself under it. It’s also great for muffling the sound of your crying after an exam or assignment.

4. A set of lunchboxes

Cooking meals in bulk is a great way to save on food costs. Posh students cook more than two types of meals a week. If you’re like me and happy to eat Bolognese for 5 days straight, then lunchboxes are your friend. It also helps when you’ve got housemates so you’re not hogging the cooking pots for storage in the fridge.

5. A portable coffee cup

I picked this one up from a pal a few years ago at a particularly grueling late evening lecture a.k.a past 3pm (That’s Arts degrees for you). Non-transparent coffee cups are great for two reasons:

a) transporting your coffee around from lecture to lecture and

b) Pre-drinks.

I spend most of my days in college heavily caffeinated so it’s genuinely useful and keeps your coffee hot for much longer than paper ones. Duh. With regards to the pre-drinks I’m totally not condoning this 😉 but we used to have a lecturer last thing late on a Friday evening before going out who had a habit of going off topic which makes for a great drinking game. What’s in the cup? Vodka? Coffee? Who knows!

That’s me for this week!

Chat soon -Kat x