Gratitude

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The past few weeks have been extremely stressful to say the least. I've spent them tying up loose ends at home, moving into a brand new house and spending 4 days completely alone to figure things out. The time alone consisted of a broken shower, a late night call to my boyfriend to come keep me company the first night because I want utterly terrified and spending my days extremely anxious and on edge due to the sheer amount of things I'm meant to be juggling this academic year. 

Finally I'm feeling better after refusing to live in 'ignorant bliss' and sorting everything out. This year finally seems 'possible' and it's going to be bloody tough but I know I can do it even though it's going to be completely different to last year.

I thought I'd take some time to reflect on what I'm grateful for. I made a list when I was feeling down, just to keep myself grounded and realise that in the grand scheme of things, I'm doing alright. 

1. Family. My wonderful, caring, selfless family. They're always there for me and supporting me in whatever way they can. I'm not going to be able to go home to see them as often this year but I know they're only a phone call or skype call away so that's reassuring.

2. My boyfriend, He's also incredibly supportive of my studies and getting a job too. I love how he never fails to make me laugh no matter how crap I feel, how he thinks I look cute when I've just woken up and is always being his silly self.

3. My friends. Both at home and at uni I've got a great support network of friends who are all up for a laugh and there to pick each other up when we're down. They make life at uni ten times more amazing and I can't wait for more memories with them this year!

4. My degree. I'm incredibly lucky to be studying a course that I love and at my dream university. I'm so grateful that I get the chance to achieve my career goal.

5. Accommodation. We've got a good house at a good price and yeah, it's not incredibly and has its flaws but I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food on my table which is so much more than a lot of others. 

Those are the big things but I'm grateful for so many little things too like: the first cup of tea in the morning, my phone, cosy nights in watching the tv, fairy lights, and my comfy chelsea boots which I can't wait to make another appearance this autumn/winter. 

Writing that list has honestly made me feel so grounded and to realise that life for me is actually pretty good. It's rewarding to remember the greater things and obviously I encourage anyone to do that same!

Tips For Shopping On A Student Budget

After living on my own at university for a year now, I'd say I've learnt quite a lot on shopping on a budget and cooking for one person, it's a lot harder than you expect! You'll get portions wrong, have gone off bananas and nothing to do with them and spend far too much money than is needed in the first few weeks but hopefully I can give you a few tips to help you out. P.S This is the first post written from my new house (shared with 4 of my uni friends), hoping to get a blog post up on how I've decorated my room after I have perfected where I want all the furniture to go, so keep your eyes peeled!

Frozen/Fresh:-

• Chicken - buy frozen as it's cheaper and the quality is just the same, just remember to defrost the day you want to use it!
• Mince - bought fresh, split into portions and then frozen for individual portions or cooked into batch to make chilli or spag bol, makes for a quick meal on days where you have late lectures!
• Veg - easily bought frozen which is cheaper and means you can just use it when you need with no risk of it going off before you get chance.
• Berries - Again, buy frozen and use for breakfast with yoghurt and granola or made into a delicious smoothie.
• Natural Yoghurt - Great for breakfast or to cool down a spicy curry.
• Milk
• Frozen Onion - great to add to soups, chilli, homemade sauces and can be kept in tthe freezer for months and used when needed. 
• New Potatoes - can be boiled, roasted, fried or used cold in salads.
• Eggs - A good addition to lunches and salads.
• Fruit - Buy individually if you can to stop it going off before you eat it.
• Stir-Fry vegetable mix - Lasts easily for two meals and is cheap!
• Garlic - An essential for making your own sauces, etc.
• Butter
• Bread

Dried:-

• Tinned Tomatoes - Use in curries, pasta sauces, chilli, spag bol, etc.
• Cereal - Granola is great because it's filling and can be eaten in a variety of ways!
• Herbs and Spices - You don't need all the herbs and spices available, it would cost a fortune, but a good start would be salt and pepper, chilli and stock cubes.
• Tinned Fish - Good for sandwhiches, salads or as a filling on jacket potatoes.
• Rice/Pasta - Buy these in bulk before coming to uni because they'll last all year!
• Cous Cous - Great flavoured as a side dish instead of potatoes or in salads.
• Dried Fruit/Nuts - Raisins and Almonds are my favourite, they're great as additions for breakfast or as simple snacks. 
• Tea/Coffee/Sugar 
• Rice Crackers/Cream Crackers - Great topped as part of lunches or as a snack.
• Preserves - Jam/Peanut Butter/etc, good for breakfasts or as a snack on top of rice cakes. #
• Instant Noodles - an obvious food to list but make a pretty filling lunch and are dirt cheap!
• Dried Fruit - Raisins, Apricots, Cranberries, etc. make a great snack or to go as part of breakfast.

General Tips:-

• Lots of vegetables nearing the end of their fridge life? Make a hearty vegetable soup by simply boiling the veg in stock, you could even add any left over chicken or other meat you fancy. Easy to make and can be frozen to eat at a later date.
• Just because it's from the value range at your supermarket, doesn't mean it isn't good quality. 
• Make sure you write a shopping list before you go, and more importantly, stick to it! It's very easy to spend over your budget on things that are on offer or that you're tempted by when you're walking around.
• Don't go shopping on an empty stomach, you'll simply buy more, and possibly quick snack foods (like chocolate or crisps) that you wouldn't normally buy, just because you are hungry.
• Make batches of food (eg. Curry/Chilli) that you can freeze and defrost the morning you want to eat it - an easy meal if you have late lectures. 
• The reduced section of a supermarket is a fab way to pick up ready meals cheaply, and freeze ready to eat another day. Just make sure you can freeze them before you buy!

Review | Anker Astro Mini External USB Charger

Anker Astro Mini External USB Charger

This little beauty is new to my handbag but something that I feel deserves a whole blog post of its own cause it's just that great. Hold onto your hats, people.

Have you ever gone on a trip out and run out of battery half way through the day? Are you a keen iPhone photographer and are always draining your battery taking photos? Or are you just a tweetaholic who cant make a full charge last all day? Of course you are, well here is the answer to your problems. A very simple device but one which is well worth buying. 

Price

As I bought this from Amazon, I ended up getting a great deal as the RRP is £39.99 and I only paid £13.99, with free delivery! I have no idea how long this offer will last for so I suggest if you consider buying it after reading this post then dive in quick.

Power

I have an iPhone 5 so can only speak on how it performs with this model of phone, but I managed to gain a full charge, 0% to 100%, from this little bad boy but it can cope with 2 to 3 half/part charges before it dies. To charge the charger itself, you simply plug the charging lead provided into the powerpack and then into a USB charger (such as the plug of an iPhone charger) and it charges on its own. It only takes a few hours to fully charge which is great but I tend to charge it overnight ready to go straight back into my handbag.

Size

As you can see from the photo above, it is only just bigger than the average lipstick which is pretty impressive as it can easily be slid into a handbag and not take up much room. It comes with its own little mesh bag to keep it in and this is big enough to fit an iPhone lead in too. Although the iPhone cable was not provided, I'm not too bothered as I can order a cheap one online somewhere just to keep in my bag. 

Overall I am so so impressed with this little charger, it is a permanent item in my handbag and has already proved invaluable. I can only imagine that when I'm back at university and spending lots of time on campus that this will come in very handy. It's well worth the money, especially with the discounted price, and I'm going to get lots of use out of it.