Practical advice

After the first few weeks of university, I put up a blog post of 50 things I learnt in my first 4 weeks. A little further in, I've learnt a little more, and it seemed best to compile a list of actual, practical, things I've learnt. Aside from my course.
  1. Things are cheaper if you book them in advance, particularly trains.
  2. On that note, invest in a railcard. Always carry it.
  3. On the other hand, spontaneous adventures might be more expensive, but they're so worth it.
  4. On that note, have an emergency fund.
  5. Buy a portable charger, and always keep it fully charged (in case of spontaneous adventures).
  6. Carry a hard copy of important phone numbers. When your phone dies at 1:21am on a Thursday and you don't know how you're getting home, you'll be glad.
  7. Always have enough cash on you for a taxi home.
  8. There's no harm in memorising train and bus times, local taxi's numbers, where you can get cheap shots... you know the sort of thing. Local knowledge is key, whatever city you're in.
  9. Always carry a pen and paper. Not entirely sure about my justification for this.
  10. Always carry your ID, and any other cards you need, when you go places. Credit cards, bus cards, that kind of thing. Oyster card, if you're like me.
  11. Frozen veg is cheaper than fresh veg.
  12. You can freeze peppers if you cut them up. You don't even need to blanch them.
  13. You can freeze milk, but you shouldn't.
  14. If you do work as soon as you can, boring as it is, you can prat about in the evening, guilt free.
  15. There's a lot to be said for the following: mini toothpaste tubes; small deodorant cans; fold up hair brushes; compacts etc.
  16. Invest in a camping towel. Best advice I can give anyone. They actually dry things so much better than normal towels, they dry themselves really quick, and they pack up way smaller than normal towels.
  17. Learn to pack light. Apply above tips to help achieve this, as well as finding out which sets of clothes are most versatile and fold up smallest.
  18. Take advantage of student offers.
  19. Have a huge stock of breakfast bars. Same as an emergency fund and a portable charger, they aid with adventures.
  20. Keep a bottle of water with you wherever you go. Neck it at the end of a night out to reduce a hangover. Also, if you feel grim and unproductive, have a swig and at least feel like you've done something healthy (I know you can't afford and don't want fruit).

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