To-do lists and why I find them so helpful

Staying organised on a day to day basis can be difficult. Especially when work simply piles up like there's no end and there's so many other things to do!

Food shopping, work, cooking, attempting to maintain a social life, gym (to name a few). There are different solutions to planning it all out but to be honest to-do lists are a simple and easy way to keep on-top of daily life.

Primark sell some adorable to-do list pads and chalkboards so you can plan your week and still keep your room looking pretty - because who doesn't love keeping the aesthetic am I right? Paperchase have a lovely selection too, but they are a bit pricey.

I usually write my to-do list for the week to come on a Sunday night because I feel like I'm in a better headspace and I'm less likely to want to put things off. Work around things that can't be changed like work or lectures and try and find short manageable times you can do things.

Don't try and do everything in one or two days unless you have no other choice. You'll end up putting it off and leaving it so much longer than you have to.

Adding simple things to your list may seem stupid, but remembering to pick out that sexy outfit for a night out, or to clean those heels you never got round to doing last time you went out are important details you need to get round to. Even if it's just small details add them in, it won't hurt!

To-do lists are so helpful because you can cross things off once you've done them. Lets be honest they make you feel 10x more productive!

xoxo

How to stay on-top of a student budget

Before I came to uni I'd never really had to budget or manage my money strictly before. So needless to say when I came to uni this was all a bit of a shock to me.

Sticking to a student budget is challenging to say the least. But either way it has to be done! After nearly 4 months at uni I think I've finally grasped the concept of budgeting, and honestly it's helped me a huge amount.

Budgeting my money weekly is what I find easiest as it gives me short and manageable timescales to work with.

The best thing to do first is take away the money you've got to pay for rent / bills for the year, this way you're left with the remaining money you can actually spend. Divide whatever money you have left after this by the weeks you'll be living at uni - this is how much you have per week for the academic year!

Once you've done that I'd write a list of everything you would need to spend money on. For example: travel expenses, food shopping, nights out & socials, takeaways / maccies trips, toiletries etc. Once you know what you're actually having to spend money on it helps manage your expenses in advance, that way you're not aimlessly trying to track what you've already spent. This has caused me so much unnecessary stress over the past 4 months!

After you've got a list it's important to prioritise. What is the most important thing you need to spend money on? Personally I think food is the obvious choice for many, but then again I can't speak for all! Work your way down the list and allocate the money you think you need / should spend on each item (whilst keeping your overall budget into account of course).

Student budgets can be quite limiting so whilst you're budgeting it can also be a good time to work out some areas you can cut back on.

I've started food shopping at places like Lidl or just looking for cheaper options and deals in Tesco - shopping around and looking for deals can save you some money in the long-term. The money I save in the week from this I can then spend on other things like nights out, or just put aside so that I have a bit of money saved in case something comes up that isn't in the budget!

Superdrug and Boots often have quite a few good deals on for toiletries so it's definitely worth having a proper look around (I managed to get 2 for 1 on TRESemmé shampoos yesterday!) - so I guess my main point here is to just shop around and save where possible.

Hope this has helped some of you! xoxo

Welcome to my blog

Hi and welcome to my lil' blog!

I have to confess that I've been trying to set this up for a while now...eek...as I've got no idea what I'm doing yet when it comes to blogs.

I will try my best (I promise) so please bare with me whilst I get used to this!

My first proper blog post will be up in a few days... so until then I guess!

See you all then? xoxo