More budgeting tips in St. Andrews

• Volunteer for Transitions, for StA Reuse, for the various community gardens around campus (by the Observatory / in St. Mary’s Quad / by the School of English / by Gannochy Hall / by Computer Science / etc.) Volunteering for the community gardens, you will become acquainted with what is growing, with the fresh produce there, what needs harvesting. On the other hand, volunteering for the reuse warehouse (a garage by the Chemistry Department), you will come to have a sense of what previous students are donating. The chances are that someone was unable to fit in a van back to Bridlington or Beijing the exact hoover, microwave, or combine harvester you are plotting in your mind. Everything apart from clothes is free in the St. A warehouse, so you will spend practically nothing on this.
• Volunteer also for the various soup kitchens in town. You will definitely get entirely free food this way.
• Try to avoid buying coffes and teas around town. There are lots of ways to do this. There are free hot water taps available in the Main Library, the Old Burgh School, and the PG Lounge in the Butts Wynd Building. But Greggs probably sells the cheapest and nicest coffees of all, at something like £1!
• If something isn’t available in the Main Library that you need for an academic project, you can secure it by Inter Library Loans: https://libguides.st-andrews.ac.uk/InterLibraryLoans. You can secure practically any book this way. But be sure to return it in a timely fashion as you will be charged.
• Also, you can get practically any book on archive.org.
• Be attentive to what student societies are doing. Since these attract funding from the student union, they’re often able to run cheaper events. There are free yoga classes available with YogaSoc next week, for example, check their Facebook page. Sometimes the Sports Centre also runs free exercise classes. Etc. Blah blah.
• CEX and Cash Converter in Dundee, which I forgot to mention before, sell second hand electronics, bikes, and watches.
• Use Facebook Marketplace and freecycle fairly religiously to find what you need.
• If you are not registered with a dentist, you can get free dental care from the University of Dundee: https://www.dundee.ac.uk/guides/get-treatment-dundee-dental-hospital. During term-time you ring up on the same day.

If you’d like to financially support me, please consider purchasing my book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/poems-sketched-upon-the-m60/sam-hickford/9781912412334.