Best student bargains

THE BEST STUDENT BARGAINS

By Imogen Donlan, third-year Fine Art student

One of the biggest challenges for every university student is how to have the best experience whilst maintaining economic stability and academic success. There are a million behaviours that you can adopt to do this and money saving tips are littered across the web but here are some I have used to stretch my purse in Falmouth.

Free items In Falmouth and its wider areas there is a fantastic sense of intercommunity sharing of resources and sustainability. As you begin to explore Falmouth and Penryn you'll notice a whole load of useful items and wonderful bits and bobs in front of people’s properties, corners and alleyways. So do explore and look out for free items! Another way of tapping into this is by joining Facebook groups, a popular one is ‘C.R.A.P’, and by utilising Facebook Marketplace where you can find loads of regular posts of old gadgets, useful project materials and offcuts and homeware. This is my favourite way of allowing my projects to be as big and unrestricted as possible while saving money with a sustainable bonus.

Discount codes Online shopping is a tricky guilty pleasure that everyone can slip into especially with the excitement of the first loan arriving in your account. Use website like UNIDAYS and TOTUM to find discount codes. Or, if you are using Chrome, download HONEY on to your plugin bar when you reach the checkout and it will automatically scan for applicable discount codes.

Student card If you want student savings in stores as well as online, you might want to get a TOTUM card, which costs £14.99 a year. There are a whole load of deals available from big brands like Amazon, ASOS and Samsung.

Find out more at: totum.com

Local deals

Movie magic Get a Movie Magic Card from Merlin Cinema and you can benefit from 2 for 1 Mondays, £2.50 off tickets, and 10% off the price of food and drink*. The card is not only valid at the Phoenix Cinema in Falmouth, but in the five other Merlin Cinema cinemas based in Cornwall.

The Poly Whether you enjoy a film screening, theatre performance or a music show, the Poly offers students (with a valid student card) a discount on events and membership.

Baker Tom’s Pick up freshly made bread, pastries and possibly the best cheese scones we’ve ever tasted at Baker Tom’s shop in Church Street. There’s a 10% discount for students, along with daily sandwich deals.

The National Trust Cornwall is blessed with some truly fantastic National Trust gardens and properties. There are also a number of National Trust car parks at some of the best beaches, which cuts down the cost of exploring Cornwall. You can get a young person annual membership for just £36* a year. It’s a real bargain.

Inkfish hairdressers Need your hair to be on point and want to treat yourself? The Falmouth branch of Inkfish offers a 15% student discount on hair and beauty on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The Eden Project Pay by Direct Debit and you can get a Locals’ Pass to the Eden Project for just £15*. With a great range of events happening around the year, plus the chance to see the gardens in the different seasons, you’ll want to visit again and again.

*Prices and offers correct at time of publication