For university students, fun and entertainment is a crucial part of socialising, strengthening your friendship bonds and getting to know new people during your time as a student. University is hard work, and for many students, taking time out to have some fun whilst having a break from studying and working is crucial for their good health and being able to manage well. But, when you are living on a student budget, it isn’t always easy to afford fun and entertainment. Thankfully, there are many different creative ideas that don’t involve spending a lot of money. We’ve put together some of the best cheap or free entertainment ideas for students.
Online Gaming
Whether you want to have fun on your own or are having some friends around to catch up, online gaming can be a cheap and effective method of spending a fun night in. Whether you’ve got a gaming console or plan to play on your smartphone or tablet, online gaming allows you to not only have some fun, but also socialise with others through multiplayer settings and more. Whether you’re into first-person action shooting games or want to try and win some more spending money with a game of bingo, this can be a cheap way of entertaining yourself and your friends when you don’t have enough money to go out.
University Societies
Getting involved with university societies isn’t only a great way of having fun, societies are also the places where many students meet some of their best friends. Many universities will have a range of societies that you can join and get involved with, whether you’re interested in playing team sports or want to pursue another hobby, such as a certain genre of movie or even arts and crafts! When choosing societies, don’t just look at the ones that you already know that you’d like – university is a great time to give new things a try and perhaps even find a new hobby or talent that you didn’t know you had!
Volunteering
As a university student, volunteering can not only be something awesome to put on your CV and help you land the work placement or even the graduate job of your dreams, it can also be an excellent way of having fun. Whilst at university, you will probably be presented with a lot of opportunities for voluntary work, whether this be at the university itself or within another organisation. At university, you may be able to volunteer with your Student Union to become a student representative or officer, whilst outside of your studies, there are many charities and other worthwhile causes which are always on the lookout for eager and motivated people willing to donate some of their time.
Movie Nights
As a student, you probably won’t want to spend every single weekend blowing your money on going out and having a few drinks. If the weekend is soon approaching and you know that you won’t be able to afford going out with your friends, why not invite them all around for a movie night instead? With some great student deals on Now TV and Netflix offering a free month for new customers, you won’t need to spend a penny to have access to some of the best movies of all time.
Learn to Cook
Many students arrive at university and find that they have to learn to cook for themselves for the very first time. Even if you’re already a pretty decent cook compared to some of your friends, though, university is a great opportunity to fine-tune your cooking skills and experiment making new, tasty dishes! Along with this, eating healthily should also be a top priority at university as getting the right nutrition can make all the difference when it comes to how much energy, focus and motivation you have for getting your work done. So, grab a student cookbook and spend your spare time having fun with different recipes or even making up your own!
Go Old School
Even though most students these days will have a gaming console, laptop or smartphone that they can play their favourite games on, there’s nothing quite like an old-fashioned board game when it comes to socialising and having fun. Gather together some family favourite card and board games such as Monopoly, Uno, Scrabble, Chess or Draughts and re-live your childhood fun and games! If you want, you could even think up ways to turn classic board games into drinking games for a fun flat party idea.
Having fun is an important part of student life, but as a student, you’ll probably have to think outside the box sometimes when it comes to affording entertainment. These are just some cheap or free ideas that all students can use when it comes to making sure that they play as well as work.
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