Source
http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/housing/story/0,,2014940,00.html
Cheap and cheerful
Skint students can still live in style. Emma Jayne Jones tracks down the
best bargains
Saturday February 17, 2007
The Guardian
It is hard enough to budget for food and booze when you are at university,
let alone furnishing your student home. While Ikea might seem the obvious
port of call, there are plenty of other avenues to explore for cash-strapped
scholars.
As well as the traditional bargain-hunting in charity shops and at car boot
sales, there has been a recent surge in internet forums that allow people to
swap unwanted items, or even give them away.
Freecycle, the daddy of them all, is easy and free to use. Established four
years ago in the United States, it has since spread worldwide. Organised by
location, you register with your local group and get emails letting you know
what is on offer.
Elizabeth Hills heard about Freecycle through a friend and says it has been
a great money-saving resource while doing her PhD at University College
London. "It is definitely worth registering," says the 27-year-old. "All you
have to do is sign up to a Yahoo email list. You can basically furnish your
flat for free so it doesn't matter if when you pack up after university you
can't transport stuff as you can just pass it on to someone else."
Although Freecycle is the largest and best-known network, there are other
websites offering a similar service. "I highly recommend using Gumtree but
would suggest seeing photographs of things before you agree to take them,"
says Rebecca Morgan, a final-year University of Hertfordshire student who
has managed to pick up a sofa, desk and kitchen appliances though the site.
"I also plan to offer some old bits on it when I move next month," adds the
22-year-old.
If getting things for free is not an attractive enough reason for being
involved, then perhaps helping to save the environment by recycling what
would otherwise go to waste is. Last year the UK threw out 1.8m tonnes of
bulky household items, mostly furniture and white goods, of which 7% (0.12m
tonnes) was reused through the Furniture Re-use Network and its associates.
Despite the rise of freecycling website, the more traditional routes should
also be considered. By paying a small amount for your furnishings you can
help many worthy causes at your local charity shop.
Sarah Bryans, 20, and Hayley Myers, 21, volunteer at the British Heart
Foundation shop in their university city of Lancaster. As well as giving
something back, their volunteering puts them in the perfect position to pick
up the best bargains.
"There is a bit of a stigma attached to charity shops but you can get some
really good deals," says Bryans. "We have picked up clothes, books and even
a Christmas tree for our flat."
Myers agrees that students should take a proper look before spurning charity
shops. "I thought that way, too, really before I started working here but
actually a lot of the stuff we get in is new or hardly used," she says. "I'd
say just go in and have a look."
Learning to budget while at university is great grounding for life after
graduation. Plus, being able to use your initiative and save money are
strong skills to be able to show prospective employers. It is common for
questions in interviews to ask for real-life ways you have used your skills.
Any innovative examples you can provide will help you stand out from the crowd.
One person who knows all about using his initiative is Pete Riley, 30, who
is studying photojournalism at the London College of Communication. He
believes that one man's trash is another man's treasure and has become a
self-confessed skip-diver. In fact, he has furnished most of his house with
various items he has found on the street.
"When I first moved into my student house it wasn't well decorated and the
living room had a dilapidated old sofa with feathers coming out of it," he
says. "I thought anything has got to be better than this. Most people see
these things on the street and just walk past, so I thought I'd give them a
new home."
Riley hasn't just picked up old chairs and bed frames though. Many of his
finds have been on the quirky side. "The first piece I picked up was a 1950s
cocktail bar that I found under a pile of wood on the street," he says. "It
even has a light on it that still works.
"My housemates weren't too keen at first and I think they thought I was a
little bit crazy, but they've got used to it. The living room is full of
stuff now. I even dragged home a marble fireplace and installed it. It was
hard work to get it home - but it was completely worth it."
For Riley, his scavenging is about more than just getting something for
nothing though: "There is an ecological side to it to," he says. "I hate to
see things go to waste. I think some people just don't realise what they've
got. I have picked up some antiques as well as some great retro furniture."
He has now been doing it long enough that he knows all the tricks of the
trade. For example, January is good month for skip diving - "lots of people
are moving in the new year and also throwing out old things they have
replaced over Christmas".
Riley is keen to encourage people to have a go themselves, but is unwilling
to give up his skip-diving crown just yet. "Leave some for me," he says.
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Salvatore Scifo
Communications,
MeCCSA Postgraduate Network
Communication and Media Research Institute
School of Media, Arts & Design
University of Westminster
Watford Road, Northwick Park
Harrow
HA1 3TP
MeCCSA Postgraduate Network
http://www.meccsa.org.uk/pgn/
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