Things are normally significantly quieter, and do not involve going out and getting drunk every night, contrary to what Freshers’ Week may make things look. Your university will also offer a lot of activities and clubs which will not involve regular binge drinking to make new friends!

So if you are feeling unhappy, or like you want to go home as you think university is not for you - hold out! Wait until you meet your department and start doing lectures. You will likely find people there with much similar tastes and outlooks on life to you there than in your hall or flat!

(Just thought I would republish this again for this year, just as a reminder to those not enjoying Fresher’s Week.)

Related posts:

1. Review: The Virgin University Survival Guide
2. Best Student Laptops for University 2011-2012
3. Insuring yourself as a Student?

Remember when signing up for your broadband to do so via Quidco to save yourself that bit extra!

*O2 will discount you quite considerably if you are an O2 customer, at a minimum you need someone with O2 Pay as You Go who tops up more than £10 every three months!

** O2 offer 2 months free at the time of writing.

I have not included BT on this table due to its low download limits and 18 month contacts, which may be unsuitable for students living in a house only for a maximum of 12 months. Sky has also been excluded as you are required to join up to Sky TV as well, the same is true of the cheaper Virgin Media options – If TV is something you are interested in then these offers may well be worth considering. Talk talk broadband similar to BT offers only 18 month contracts.

My Recommendation

My recommendation this year has changed, from Be Broadband who were my favourites last year to O2, even without owning an O2 phone they offer a great value service, reliable and high and unlimited downloads. Their routers are just as reliable as the Be Boxes, the only downside is a 1 year contract, but even factoring this in, on certain packages they still come out cheaper than the comparable Be Broadband package used for only 9-11 months. I would recommend the O2 Premium package as in my experience most houses will not receive much higher than 20megs so you will just be wasting your money to achieve 24 megs, and even if you can unless you are a prolific downloader I see no reason to have the extra 4 megs.

As a second recommendation Be Broadband are still reliable, despite the difference in price.

I would also recommend looking at these websites to help decide what to get, especially if you are unable to receive Be or O2 broadband:

• DSL Zone UKgives good ratings on Broadband ISPs service (Be and O2 do fairly well in this, however AOL and Tiscali do not!)
• Samknow Broadband will also give you a good idea of what services are available in your area and for your phone number.

Related posts:

1. What’s more than chatting in face-book and Twitter?
2. Student Discount Cards 2008
3. Student Discounts & Student Discount Cards – An Update for 2010

Still offering Student discount with the simple production of an NUS card are Staples (10%) and Schuh (10%). Many companies now though require the addition of a second “student” card which you have to pay a certain amount of money for.

NUS Extra

NUS Extra is a £10 card you pay for and pick up from your students union. It offers a wide range of discounts such as a 5% discount from online retailer Amazon.co.uk, as well as discounts as JJB Sport (10 %), Superdrug (10 %). There are also various offers from the likes of McDonalds, Game and Comet. To make the NUS extra card worth its while you would have to spend £200 at Amazon a year or £100 at JJB Sport or Superdrug or a combination of all three… bare this in mind before purchasing! A long list of other places that accept NUS Extra can be found on their website which is fairly clear and easy to follow.

Student Discounts Card

studentdiscounts.co.uk

Cheaper than the NUS Extra card, but searching their website I cannot find what high street stores they offer discounts in. They do seem to have a cashback scheme, but I would still recommend the use of Quidco itself as it has a much larger range of cashback offers and while they also charge a yearly £5 they take this money from your cashback earnings instead. According to the NatWest website the discounts offered by this company are Game.co.uk, STA Travel (15 % cashback), 3 mobile and New Look (7.5 % cashback).

If anyone working for the company Student Discount Card would like to add what high street shops your student discount card works in, in addition to those of the standard NUS card please feel free to email me or leave them in the comment box below and I shall add them.

Student Beans

Student beans is a free website offering a wide range of offers for students and just other general money saving vouchers, such as for popular restaurants and cinema tickets. Its a very good and worthwhile site and unlike the card schemes does not require any cash in advance making it probably the best form of student discount around after the nifty NUS card itself! One of their best offers at the moment is a two for one voucher at Cineworld, saving you up to £5 a time at the cinema!

Apple Education Store

Worth noting that if you login via your campus computer to Apple’s education store  you are already entitled to a significant discount on your Mac (10-12%) with an NUS Extra card this goes up to 15% discount. Likely when buying a Mac the NUS Extra card at £10 would pay for itself with one purchase due to the cost of a MacBook or iMac.

Related posts:

1. Student Discount Cards 2008
2. Students cashback with Quidco
3. Choosing Broadband for a Student House (2011 – 2012)

I know it’s not exactly exciting to think about, but all that stuff you’re taking with you in the shape of phones, computers, clothes and the rest is pretty expensive, and if something disastrous were to happen, would you be able to afford to replace it all? Well, without proper insurance if the worst happens you could be left hundreds or thousands of pounds out of pocket, and I know from my own experience that raising that sort of money when you’re in university isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.

This is where contents insurance comes in to play. What this does is simple – it covers the contents of your room from things like fire and theft, but doesn’t include the building itself, as that’s your landlord’s responsibility. This means that the amount covered is lower, the account is easier to manage, and you’re less likely to claim, which are all things that insurance companies love. Covering everything in your room (even stuff you’re likely to take out with you such as phones or bikes) can be covered for just a few pounds a month, and there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t do it.

If you’re going to cover yourself you’d best do it properly though, so here’s a few hints and tips to get you going:

However, make sure you insure yourself properly; if you’re not covered right, the policy you have could end up being worth less than the paper it’s printed on. Here’s a few quick tips to get you going:

Make Sure You Have Enough Cover
You’d be absolutely amazed how quickly the value of your stuff tots up – laptops, ipods, phones, shoes, clothes, TVs, DVD players, games consoles… the list goes on. You’ve probably got a few thousand pounds worth of stuff knocking around your room, so make sure you know just how much you’ve got there.

Decrease the Amount of Stuff You Have
Look at all the stuff in your room at the moment. How much of it will you really need, and how much of it would you miss if you didn’t take it with you? If you have drawers you haven’t opened in months or years, just tip them straight into the bin, you won’t need them after all. You should also look at selling stuff too: EBay, Car Boot Sales and their ilk are your friends here. CDs you don’t listen to, DVDs you’ve watched to death, games you’re never going to complete: – all these things can make you a few quid and save you money on your premiums.

Another thing to consider is leaving stuff at home, although this would require you to have far nicer parents than mine – but I’m sure that’s no problem.

Make Your Digs More Secure
I know I said that your insurance doesn’t cover the building, and it doesn’t – but if the stuff you own is locked away in a veritable Fort Knox, it’s going to cost you less to protect it. Speak to your landlord about fitting things like a NACOSS approved alarm, 5 Lever Mortice Locks and double bolt windows, as all these things will keep your insurance down.

I know that I said that contents insurance doesn’t include the building itself, but consider this: If the house you live in is a veritable stronghold, then there’s less chance of your stuff being stolen or damaged. Speak to your landlord about fitting things like a NACOSS approved alarm, double bolt windows and mortice locks if they haven’t already; not only will it make your insurance cheaper, his will cost less too.

Many thanks to Moneysupermarket.co.uk for writing this guest post for us. If you are interested in writing a guest post please get in contact with me, via the Contact Me button above.

Related posts:

1. Choosing Student Insurance (2008/09)
2. Students cashback with Quidco
3. To All University Freshers NOT enjoying Freshers’ Week

Renting a house in Crookes

There are many letting agencies in the Crookes area, below are a selected few, if you know of more please let me know. For rent a house in Crookes you should be looking at a price between £50 and £75 a week depending on the level of luxury you are after.

• MBA Lettings
• PJ Properties
• Swots
• Tapton Estates

If you have used one of these letting agencies in the past, please use the comment box below to leave some feedback on them, good or bad!

Alternatively if you do not fancy going through a letting agency then a list of houses with landlord contacts is also available via the Sheffield University House Finder service.

Shops in Crookes

As well as a Co-op store in the centre of Crookes there is a raft of excellent shops along the high street.

• Just Natural: One of the best fruit and vegetable shops in existence, not only does it look impressive but they have a vast array of fruit and veg, all at fairly good prices.
• Fulton Foods: Sells loads of really cheap products, in particular pizzas, bottles of squash, 3 litre bottles of Coca Cola and cans of drink are a favourite of me and my housemates.
• A & K Butler and R Hayman Butchers: There are two brilliant butchers along the Crookes highstreet, both serve excellent meat but R Hayman also do some amazing pork or fresh ham sandwiches!
• There is also a Cooplands bakery and a Threshers in Crookes both fairly useful shops!

Transport

The Stagecoach 52 and First 52 bus both are very frequent in Crookes coming every 7 and 5 minutes respectively, however the Stagecoach buses are much better for students offering a 50 pence single journey to anywhere along the line.  Heading one way down from Crookes you can get the bus to Broomhill, Sheffield University and Sheffield City Center. Heading the other way you can get to the large Hillsborough Morrisons. With a Dayrider ticket (£3) you can also use the Stagecoach trams which you can take all the way to Meadowhall.

The only disadvantage with the Stagecoach bus is that it finsihes running earlier in the evening then the First. However after about 7pm First offer a £1 return service for students on the 52 line. The First 52 line however ends in Crookes and does not go down to Morrisons.

In Part 2 I shall go into the Pubs, Eating Places and Restaurants of Crookes.

Related posts:

1. Student Discount Cards 2008
2. Students cashback with Quidco
3. Student Discounts & Student Discount Cards – An Update for 2010

Let everyone know where you eat and where you date? Stay connected even when you sleep. Say no to chat, stay alone! That’s what teens say, these days. Students are among the largest group of broadband users in the country. Googling, chatting, downloads, music, online gaming has become a fashion for the younger generation. More over schools and colleges encourage the students to be more updated.

There are a number of broadband deals, offers, plans and packages available in the country while only a few are left for the students. Mobile broadband, PAY AS YOU GO broadband and laptop deals stay good for the teens. Mobile broadband service is offered between 2 to 8 Mbps and covers almost 70% of the country. Users can either chose to pay monthly or to go pre-paid. This service is available with almost all the broadband suppliers like vodafone, 3, O2, Orange, T-mobile, and Virgin media etc.,

Before subscription, users have to make an analysis and comparison between the providers to chose the best plan. Here are few Student tips:

• Broadband Speed is what will upset us most of the time. So Users have can use an availability checker or get suggestions from other users to know who provides the  best coverage in the area to be used.
• Its not advisable to sign up for a longer contract period or any bundle services.
• Students can sign up for a low budget plan initially and also make sure if there is an upgrade available later.
• Laptop deals and Bundle packages will be of much use if the coverage is not available or if the signal strength is too low.
• Always choose to go for an unlimited plan, which will be more economical.
• If you wish share your Internet service with the house mates then a cable broadband would be the best.
• Try to apply for group services with some of your friends to get better prices and other offers .

PAY-G services will have a standard bill amount, but when you choose for a monthly billing, do remember to confirm the total amount of download per month, VAT% and other hidden charges if any.

Related posts:

1. Choosing Broadband for a Student House (2011 – 2012)
2. Student Discounts & Student Discount Cards – An Update for 2010
3. Review: Nosh for Students: A Fun Student Cookbook