A Guide to Beating the New Year's Blues

It's that time of year again where your timeline is filled with "new year, new me"-esque posts, Christmas and New Year's celebrations are nought but memories and your bank balance is lower than Paris Hilton's IQ. Never fear, here's a simple guide to getting you through the coming months with a smile.

1. Ignore the bullshit

At this time of year, people tend to get extremely self-righteous and disingenuously humble. Fortunately, this is often contained in the realms of social media. However, you will meet people that have got a New Year's resolution that cannot be questioned such as stopping talking about people behind their back. Very honourable. These people will then tend to force their new life-affirming lifestyle choice on everyone they meet. Not very honourable. Well done for making the amazing change in your life but remember you needed to make the change in the first place. Chances are these people won't stick to their resolution for more than a couple of weeks anyway. 

2. Enjoy saving a bit of money

We all love spending money to get new and exciting things that we want but, for most of us, that just can't continue after the binge-provoking Christmas season. As my Mumma taught me; if you make bargain-hunting a sport, your food shop will be much more exciting (you can also read my Guide to Food Shopping below for more tips). Go food shopping just before the supermarkets are due to close and get all the reduced things at an even lower price. You may think this is a well-known thing; maybe it is but more people still need to know! Try and appreciate the money you've saved when you've bought yummy food rather than a shiny new Apple product. Try out other websites such as everything5pounds.com - this is one of my absolute faves and their footwear is some of the most durable on the market for that price - amazing value! Use cashback websites, voucher codes, student deals - there are so many things out there to help save money and enjoy it! Just get searching. 

3. Look forward to the year ahead

If you're not a NY resolutions person, don't make one! Thinking about your year ahead and how you'd like it to turn out isn't making a resolution to "be a better person"; it's a pragmatic way to think about your life and a good way to make sure you achieve all you want to achieve. Maybe make a Bucket List and try and do some of the things on it. However, you can do this at any time of the year and New Year's shouldn't make you want to change as many advertising campaigns dictate!

4. Enjoy Winter and remember that Summer is coming!

Yes, it's cold. Yes, it's grim. Yes, it's winter clothes time. That means gorgeous coats, boots and as much knitwear as you can handle and we all love a comfy chunky knit! If you can't deal with Winter and are pining for the Summer sun and laissez-faire vibes, make some exciting Summer plans. 


















The moral of the story is not to let the time of year dictate how you feel. The above ways can help you combat it. GO AND HIT THIS YEAR IN THE FACE!

The Morning After the Night Before: A Guide to being Hungover

Good night out? If the answer is yes then you're probably hating life today. Am I right? Well, never fear, help is at hand to get you through this tough time in your life. 

Firstly, there are several types of hangover:

1. A slight headache (congrats) 

2. Headache and extreme tiredness (zzz)

3. Headache, tiredness and nausea (grim)

4. Headache, tiredness, nausea and fear of death (savage) 

You will know what category hangover you have as soon as you wake up by how your body feels. The category will also directly correlate to how you look. For example, if you wake up in last nights clothes or in nothing but your shoes, you're likely to be a category 3 or 4. If you still don't know how bad the hangover will be, check your phone. Categories 1 and 2 certainly won't have sent any embarrassing texts or tweets to angry flatmates or crushes whereas categories 3 and 4 will have confessed their undying love for their tutor over Twitter. Fantastic. 

If you are classed as either category 1 or 2 hangover then drink some water and eat salty food - you'll be fine. If it's 3 or 4 or you class it to be any worse then you are in a dire situation. Of course, it's made worse because it's self inflicted and therefore nobody feels remotely sorry for you. 

Categories 3 and 4 mean that movement is extremely limited due to the nausea. This also means you won't be able to tell hunger and nausea apart and from fear of being sick, won't eat or want to drink anything. I urge you to try and drink and eat something. You'll feel much more human, I promise. Carbs are always a good bet (pasta always gets me through it) but I'm sure I should be telling you to eat fresh fruit and veg (much healthier but the nuclear option is to choose carbs). 

Before food is consumed if you are nervous about vomming then I would try (I know it just be sooo hard for you) to get up and stand in the shower for a few minutes. You'll wash last night off you so you won't at least have to smell the alcohol anymore. 

The one positive to a hangover for a student is that you don't feel quite as bad lying in bed all day watching films. You're "ill" and therefore have an excuse. Also, you will be cheered up throughout the day when flashback memories from last night visit you. These usually involve you doing or saying something very stupid and embarrassing but you can always blame it on the alcohol! 

Just remember, you're not going to die evenif you feel like it. Just stick films on and eat some chips. In fact, that's a panacea for any problem you'll encounter in life. Keep calm and eat chips. 

Going to University (Part 2)

So, you're thoroughly sick of waking up with Alcohol Amnesia and wanting to vommit the entire day. You're also about to regret how much lovely parent-bought Waitrose food you ate when you were hungover as you will need tolive on supermarket own label basic everything from now on. You may have ambitions of this not happening, in fact, you may actively vow to never ever stoop that low but you will when you realise you've spent Brazil's yearly budget during Freshers. Savage. Don't worry, Sainsbury's offer a decent basics range although I'd avoid any frozen ready meal from them (cue horse meat jokes). Most else they offer is extremely  good value for money.

Now you feel likea proper student (constantly queezy and tired), it's time to go to your introductory lectures. Just a warning, you'll hate everyone giving the lectures because they're so fresh-faced and seem not to rate a hangover as a serious medical condition nor acknowledge that going out is more important than learning to First Years. Conversely, you are sitting there having had 3 hours sleep for the last 4 nights and have to not only listen to the fairly important information the lecturers are giving you but have to participate in the mad scramble for friends to sit with for the duration of the year. All looking like a painted turd wearing all the new 'uni clothes' your parents bought you and smelling like a tramp. Glorious. These are the kind of problems you will face now, not 'I wonder what I want to eat out of this over-stocked fridge' or 'No,Mum, I want the crusts cut off'. However, it is likely that 90% of the people in that brightly-lit lecture theatre is feeling just as bad as you are and looking nearly as bad (because nobody can feel as bad as you can or understand the pain you're going through).

Introductory lectures over, the next week brings excitement (for the coolest people among us) as you can use all the fresh, new notepads, pens, highlighters that comes with a new year of education. Obviously, this time you don't openly compare pencil cases with the person next to you as that would be immature but you clock them as a potential buddy or deem them unsuitable on ground of stationery clashes. You will soon lose interest in taking neat lecture notes when you realise your lecturers actually don't care whether you understand or not. You pay them your £9,000 for them to sweep your questions aside for third years and give you less attention than a mother ignoring the incessant cries of 'Mum,Mum, are we there yet?'. This will allow you to complain all the time and if it isn't a hobby of yours already, take it up and quick because you're soon to bea proper student. You'll also need to consider Twitter (if you don't already tweet every detail of your day) and Instagram (so you can upload photos of your amazing home-cooked spaghetti bolognese and pretend you're Nigella/Jamie). And if you've Instagrammed your bedroom but still need a few more useless pieces ofpaper then it's off to Freshers' Fair we go...

Freshers' Fair is one of the weirdest events of the year. Unless you knew people before going to uni, you end up going with flatmates or people you've only just met which means you have to censor what you join to fit in or escape endless questions about aweird hobby or interest. For example, if you join Pole Dancing Society,you are automatically judged to be a slut and if you join a sport, everyone assumes you've represented at least your county or school's 1st team at it. Also, there are more stalls than there are rainy days in England all trying to get your attention using bright colours, music, videos, posters, free gifts butmost of all, food. You'll come back with more sweets than a fat child trick-or-treating and you'll throw most of them away. You'll also throw away 80% of the stuff you get there and wonder why you joined the Trainspotting society (after finding out it's not about the film). It is fun though and was one of the last times I remember actually being motivated this year by so many enthusiastic 70%+ 2nd and 3rd year students (that's a very good percentage now by the way). If you are losing out in the battle for a close group of friends then a society or sport is a greatway to meet people. I joined Hockey and enjoyed the first 'Come and Play day' where we drank on the astro, (how wild, yah?) and played games. Joining a sport also fills up your first year because actual university work will fill up very little. Be prepared to stoop down to Jeremy Kyle audience level, every single day as you'll have nothing better to do. Also, if you actually do join societies and sports, which cost you yet more money, you will feel much more fulfilled and less full of regret at the end of your first year. First year is all about enjoying yourself as you have no responsibility (most firstyear work doesn't count towards your final degree classification and only haveto get 40% to get into the next year).

Congratulations,you've done Freshers week(s), Freshers Fair and some lectures. You are a fully-fledged university student. Go and have some experiences you can't tell your parents about (if you're that way inclined). 

Going to University (Part 1)

Congratulations or commiserations, you're going to a University.

You are about to enter a world of mature students, serious students, childish students, stoner students, raver students, cliquey students, lazy students, eccentric students, slutty students, students that are more alcohol than water and so much more (most of those adjectives can also be extended to the academics you'll encounter). I aim to give you a comprehensive guide of everything you need to survive going to university (I write this on the day of my la

st lecture of first year). So, whether you've had a Gap Yah (highly recommended) or not, you are bound to think that university is about being drunk all the time, not going to lectures and napping and to a large extent, you're right. 

I can only speak for those who landed in their insurance university and not those who were fortunate enough to go to their first choice. I must say, I was looking forward to going to uni but the fact I missed out by one UMS mark and therefore grade was not filling me with confidence about going somewhere I didn't originally want to go. Thankfully, I have subsequently discovered the city I'm in is much more interesting, fun and exciting than my first choice and it's all gone rather well (so keep the faith). For both the lucky ones who did get into their first choice uni and those who are there through circumstance  I bet you can't wait. The excitement begins even before you pack up all your earthly possessions and move into your shoe box you'll now call 'home' (much to the disgust of your parents). You can find all your new friends on Facebook who you'll clash with when nobody wants to tidy up their dishes and assorted mess from predrinks (this only gets worse during the year). You can therefore make immediate, inevitable judgements about your flatmates based on that tiny passport-sized Facebook profile picture they think sends a good image of themselves out to the world. Now it's time to meet them...

OK so you've packed up your entire life into your parent's car ready for them to take you to your new home and leave you all alone. For me, it was only a 1 hour drive to my independence and subsequent, total responsibility which meant I wasn't nervous for very long. You then have to find a place near your halls in the pedestrianised-zone for your parents' car. My Dad insisted on taking the only space available blocking the entrance to the door to my block. Don't worry, it was actually quite a good idea and not that embarrassing (people don't refer to me as the girl who blocked the door on the first day - these people would have very good memories and sad lives). My Dad is a very practical man and brought a trolley-type-thing to transport my abundant amount of stuff I thought I needed. Yes, say goodbye to this level of practicality, enthusiasm and ingenuity as this will be long gone by the hazy first morning you wake up wearing nothing but your shoes and last night's face and are too lazy to boil the kettle. Picking up your room key, however, is the first obstacle. You will be in a small reception room in a long queue, trying to work out the system faster than your parents to prove your independence. Room key obtained, you are now sitting in your new empty room with your parent(s) and your life in boxes. Part of you wants your parent(s) to leave so you can look like a proper adult in front of your new friends and part of you wants them to stay forever and look after you so you can be lazy. Unfortunately (or fortunately), they do leave and there you are with your biggest challenge yet: decorating your bedroom. Once all posters and pictures from what you regard as your childhood but was, in fact, 2 months ago on a family holiday, are all up on the wall, it's time to socialise. This may mean something different before you go to uni but here, it means getting drunk (blotto, bladdered, gazeeboed for my more vocabulary-laden readers).

If you're one of those lucky buggers that took a Gap Yah, it's likely you've already done some serious drinking (you will take drinking far more seriously than anything else in first year by the way). This may mislead you to believe you can drink people under the table and will undoubtedly result in not making out after predrinks where you played Ring of Fire and downed several half-vodka half-lemonades to the soundtrack of "Weeeeee like to drink with......". This is also a dangerous probability for you little nippers coming straight from school having only ever, at most, had half a bottle of wine to yourself at Christmas lunch and now feel you must prove yourself. It's a right of passage and you won't even miss out on that much on one night of Freshers (just make sure it isn't the first night, eh?). Also, if you are so inclined, you can begin to fill up your slot on the 'Chunder Chart' and gloat about it to all visitors to the flat (except your parents who will never see said tally).

Read Part 2 of this guide, including Freshers’ Fair and the inevitability of supermarket basics-level food