Seven ways to save money as a graduate

University is finally coming to a climactic end for students up and down the country, but a fundamental reliance upon student loans during the past three or four years may also leave many recent graduates feeling lost and financially helpless.

It’s fathomable to feel the doom and gloom of those post-Uni blues, especially where money is concerned, so what actions can you take to get back on your feet?

        1. Get a Graduate Bank Account

Take advantage of those graduate-exclusive deals by switching from your student account to a graduate one. Certain banks can even offer overdrafts with 0% interest for up for three years.

Comparison sites like Which? and Money Saving Expert will also help you find the best deal to suit you and your spending habits – don’t opt for the largest overdraft option if you don’t really need to.

It’s important to never think of it as “free money”, and instead you should use it as a chance to clear any debt if you have already overdrawn your student account.

        2. Student loan stress

Don’t let the burden of repaying your student loan keep you awake at night. You will not be expected to make any repayments until you are earning over £15,000 a year, at which point it will be simply deducted from your payslip with 0% interest.

        3. Settle your bills

Ensure you have paid all your bills in your student accommodation before you have moved out, and inform utility companies that you are leaving. By not doing so, you risk being charged for gas, electricity or water used by the property’s succeeding tenants. It’s also recommended that you provide a forwarding address to your previous landlord in case you receive any important bills or letters after you have left.

        4. Property deposit

Get your deposit back from your landlord when you have moved out of your student accommodation – it’s best to do this as soon as possible.

        5. Fly back to the nest

The prospect of living with parents again may horrify you but it is far more cost effective and will allow you to save up for a deposit for your own place in the future.

        6. Budget carefully

Set up a spending plan to establish what you really need, and stick to it. Using cash rather than card when purchasing items will also make you more aware of what you are spending.

        7. Graduate discounts

You can still enjoy the student life a little with discounts and deals from a range of websites and apps – take a look at Graduate Extra on the NUS website for offers on everything from driving lessons to fashion.

Vouchercloud are ideal for fashion, electronics and mobile deals, while Groupon have great discounts on hotels, restaurants and days out in London.

You can even gain cash back on items by buying through Quidco from a variety of retailers, including Tesco, Amazon, M&S and Boots.

City Sound Project - Review

Exams loomed at the start of May but revision came to a brief pause for the return of the city’s biggest music festival City.Sound.Project, which saw the likes of George Ezra, Gorgon City and Blood Red Shoes storm stages all across Canterbury.

Coco and The Butterfields 

The weekend was kicked off by “colourful, energetic and crowd-stamping” Coco and the Butterfields at The Jolly Sailor, who describe themselves as “pioneers of a newly found musical genre, ‘Fip Fok’”. The Canterbury act, unique in their blending of folk and hip hop, were truly fantastic in creating a lively and colourful vibe, playing covers of Flo Rida’s ‘Low’ and House of Pain’s ‘Jump’  with their own impressive material, their track ‘Five Bells’ being a particular highlight. Check them out on SoundCloud here:  www.soundcloud.com/cocoandthebutterfields

bbc.co.uk

Alphabetic 

The crowd for four-piece act Alphabetic in Bramley’s was much smaller but the band certainly held their own, blending synth riffs with the gorgeous resonance of female vocalist Rebecca and lead guitarist Walter. They could be compared to Two Door Cinema Club in their happy, upbeat indie vibe with an added similarity to Foals in the gradual build-up of each track. www.alphabeticband.com.

Mas Agua

Canterbury and London-based Mas Agua, also featured on the line up of this year’s Christ Church Summer Ball, is a contemporary music project offering a unique mix of looping vocal harmonies and synth sounds. The project, founded by singer-songwriter David Ellis, were impressive in giving a truly captivating performance in cocktail bar Bramley’s on the second day of the festival, an almost ideal choice of act to match the mood of the very hungover 50 or so music fans in the audience. www.soundcloud.com/masagua.

Light Tone Studios

George Ezra

George Ezra, the up-and-coming King of Cool accompanied by a trusty guitar and a vocal range to make you melt, was a top choice of headline act as he took to the stage of the Christ Church Student’s Union on the Sunday. Performing his already well-known hits ‘Budapest’, ‘Did You Hear the Rain’ and ‘Cassy O’’, the crowd fell in love with Ezra’s charming stage presence, that winning smile and sexy, deep vocals (I won't deny the crush while it remains overtly obvious). His debut studio album Wanted on Voyage will be out June 30^th and I speculate it will be a big hit. www.georgeezra.com

culturefly.co.uk

Happily ever after?

(A little piece I submitted for my Creative Writing module at Uni.)

Once upon a time in a land far, far away lived an assortment of famous fairytale characters each battling with a bout of almighty dilemmas. Fortunately help is at hand with the swish of her wand and some mighty sound advice from the one and only Fairy Godmother and her fairytale problem page.

Living in Patriarchal Hell

Fairy Godmother, please, do help if you will,

Seven men and myself in our house on the hill.

I work hard all day to make our home glitter,

But lack of assistance has turned me so bitter.

The misogynist nitwits, they never give thanks.

They never say “cheers” when I scrub clean their pants.

I trek down to Tesco and stock up on tissues

On behalf of the one who has sneezing issues.

I’m always exhausted and feeling so rough,

How can I tell them I’ve had quite enough?

Snow White

For goodness sake, girl, you need to be stronger,

This homemaker’s hell can go on for no longer.

I’d get yourself out if they can’t lift a finger,

The plates won’t stay clean and the dust will then linger.

These men will soon realise how much they did slack,

And pleading and begging they’ll want you straight back.

Down in the Mouth

Help Fairy Godmother, I feel so distressed,

My ugly appearance just leaves me depressed.

I must be adopted, my brothers they tease,

They mock me and tell me I must be diseased.

Their feathers so golden, their bodies much smaller,

Adorned in dark grey, I’m an inch or so taller.

I yearn for self-worth but without friends to care,

I remain so despondent, knee deep in despair.

‘The inside counts more than the out’, people say,

But how can I stop myself feeling this way?

The Ugly Duckling

Those brothers of yours seem unwise and vindictive,

And duck ‘nip and tuck’ I am told is restrictive.

You’re right when you say that the inside’s worth more,

So hold your head high like a swan, I implore.

Don’t duck that head down with such low self-esteem

For your future is bright if you follow upstream.

Breathing’s a bother

Fairy Godmother, please do ease my health fears,

I have been a chain smoker for about thirty years.

My coughing just worsens, I can’t catch my breath.

My lungs, they are throbbing and I’m feeling like death.

I huff and I puff and while gasping and wheezing,

My pains never show any instance of easing.

Perhaps it is cancer, perhaps I will die

Regardless I fear that my chances aren’t high

How can I keep myself feeling alive?

And what must I do to ensure I survive?

The Big Bad Wolf

It sounds as though asthma is causing your pain,

Though thirty years smoking is no doubt to blame.

Nicotine patches will aid you in quitting,

The use of inhalers will keep you committing.

Make an appointment to visit the nurse,

Before it’s too late and your symptoms get worse.

Happy International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day - a day to celebrate and embrace femininity, acknowledge our greatest female role models from the past to the present day, and recognise the challenges and tribulations women have faced throughout history and are still facing in the 21st century.

International Women's Day goes as far back as the early 1900s, before women could vote, legally terminate pregnancy and possessed rights to their own financial income. In the UK, women had only just earned the right to their own property and Marie Curie was yet to become the first female Nobel Prize winner. Today, International Women's Day is recognised all over the world and pays tribute to the vast developments put into place to promote feminism, gender equality and women's rights across the globe.

I for one am not ashamed to admit I am proud to be a woman, and I am not ashamed to admit I am a feminist.

"A feminist?!" you cry in horror. The kind of madwoman who, while swirling a burning bra through the air, protests against misogyny from the rooftops with a photograph of Andrea Dworkin adorned proudly on the over-sized dress she patched together that morning. Indeed, the prospect of it is appealing, but underwear nowadays is too expensive to sacrifice for these particular circumstances.

In reality, "feminism is simply being equal to men", says Caitlin Moran, author of best-seller How To Be a Woman. "I was astonished that the word "feminist" and "feminism" had become unused or even a bad word. If you ask most women if they're feminist, they would say, 'no'. So, you don't want to vote? And you don't want to be able to own property? And you don't want to be in charge of your life? And you don't want to be in control of your sexuality and your reproductive rights? They say, 'yes, of course'. Well that's feminism, it doesn't mean anything other than that."

On the contrary, Lily Allen's comments on disbanding of feminism as an ideology caused something of a ruckus this week. Speaking in her role as guest editor of Shortlist, she said "it shouldn't still be a thing", protesting that "everyone is equal in the modern world" and that women "are their own worst enemy".

She justified her opinion with personal experience, arguing that "I know that when I'm sitting in a restaurant and a really beautiful woman walks in, who's skinny, I instinctively think, 'Oh she's really skinny and beautiful and I'm really fat and ugly.'"

I agree in that women are instinctively competitive with one another, but aren't men exactly the same? Isn't competitiveness simply a part of human nature? Isn't feminism more than just female appearance, female interaction and female mentality?

It is without question that the life of the average woman has improved since the first International Women's Day way back when. However, the fact it is still being recognised and celebrated in 2014 demonstrates that everything is certainly not, as Lily Allen puts it, "equal in the modern world".

Globally, women are still facing the challenge of oppression in all walks of life, and the following statistics underline a few of the many core problems women are dealing with today.

• 1 in 3 women will be beaten or raped during their lifetime.

• 44% of all UK women have experienced either physical or sexual violence since they were 15, and the UK ranks among the worst countries in Europe in relation to violent abuse.

• 99.3% of women and girls in Egypt had been subjected to sexual harassment.

• Over 130 million women living in the world today have undergone female genital mutilation - in one Birmingham hospital as many as 40 to 50 women every month are treated after having undergone this awful procedure.

• Around 14 million girls, some as young as 8 years old, will be married in 2014.

• An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked into slavery each year, and 80% of these are girls.

• 1% of the titled land in the world is owned by women.

• 21% of the world's managers are female.

• 67% of all illiterate adults are women.

• The gender pay gap stands at 15% in the UK, with women on average earning £5,000 less a year than their male colleagues, increasing to 35% with part time jobs. 

International Women's Day is still important, and feminism is still "a thing". Our gender is enormous part of who we are as human beings and we should embrace our femininity and be proud of what women have achieved on our behalf throughout history.

Be proud to be a feminist, and be proud to be a woman!

The BRIT Awards 2014

Tonight will see the 34th edition of the BRIT Awards held at the spectacular O2 Arena in London and hosted for the fifth and final time by James Corden. Sadly, this year I will not be watching - the boys are out of the house and my mother & I intend to sit in face masks indulging in tortellini and The Breakfast Club.

In spite of my animosity towards mainstream tosh and airy fairy bubblegum pop I've always been very fond of the BRIT Awards. They're fun; granted, live performances often mixed, winners occasionally outright absurd and to list the multiplicity of controversially chaotic dramas and scandals calculated since 1977 would have me here all afternoon.

It has further become awash with predictability and painfully corporate with the show's association with MasterCard virtually rammed down our throats at any given opportunity. Certain categories sit with a thin field of nominees, and one reference to Bieber and/or the 1D collective is enough to make you throw your dinner at the television.

Don't let that, however, put you off - there will be top performances from top performers like Arctic Monkeys and Bruno Mars (judge me all you want for the latter, you can't deny the man has moves), an appearance from Prince and a strong likelihood that David Bowie will win Best British Male, 30 years after winning the first time. The BRIT Awards 2014 is set to be a good show, and if it were not for my Breakfast-Club-watching, I would certainly be tuning in.

My BRITS predictions...

See here for the full list of nominees

1. Best British Breakthrough Act - Tom Odell, though Bastille are also a worryingly probable winner.

2. British Video - Naughty Boy (the only other one I've seen in this category is John Newman's in which two people are hit by a lorry).

3. British Female Solo Artist - A very poor list of nominees and I imagine Ellie Goulding will take it.

4. International Female Solo Artist - Lorde.

5. British Group - An infuriating category which defines "band" and "group" as the same thing. Arctic Monkeys are not a group (neither are Bastille), but I think and hope they will win.

6. International Group - Same thing applies. My vote goes to Arcade Fire, a band. (Just saying).

7. British Male Solo Artist - Bowie, I hope.

8. International Male Solo Artist - Justin Timberlake. (I will be equally happy if Bruno wins).

9. British Single - Rudimental or Passenger are deserving winners but I will not be surprised if One Direction scoop it up.

10. MasterCard British Album of the Year - AM, Arctic Monkeys, without question.

Is the UK Top 40 still relevant?

A self-proclaimed Caitlin Moran enthusiast, I am therefore almost obligated to admire her husband, 'Time Lord of Pop' Pete Paphides who regularly graces my ears with his presence on The Guardian's Music Weekly podcast. Very rarely do I find myself disagreeing with the views and opinions of my favourite power couple, but on Boxing Day last year I admit I was shamefully forced into doing so.

Mr Paphides wrote a piece in December 2013 which questioned the demise of Top of the Pops and championed the notion that it return to our screens. The music chart show has made annual appearances on Christmas and New Years Day respectively, but was axed from its weekly slot in July 2006 as a result of plummeting viewing figures, an axe undoubtedly executed with a heavy heart by the BBC.

I am not a Top of the Pops hater, by any means - watching it on a Friday evening with my Dad would quite easily be the highlight of my week. Viewing figures aside, Paphides had me questioning what was stopping the programme from making a comeback - why shouldn't the BBC revive TOTP?

Yet from the perspective of the public, the current relevancy of the Official UK Top 40 in the British music industry is unknown to me. What hit the top spot this week? No idea. The week before? Even less of a clue, and in all honesty, I didn't actually care.

With an increase in illegal downloading, it also seems what the general public is listening to isn't being accurately represented. The inclusion of Youtube hits might perhaps be a more effective way of measuring mass popularity, and yet we still could not trust the statistics entirely - the rickrolling of Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' in May 2007 as an example of what could potentially happen, the video now having had a staggering 73 million views.

Former Radio 1 disc jockey Bruno Brookes argues that the Official Chart shouldn't "just be about buying records", suggesting "a bold and interactive joining of media - a simulcast between Radio 1 and a Top of the Pops-style television show, complete with some kind of voting element," but there again lies the problem of inaccuracy. Surely not every person in the country can be bothered to pick up the phone to vote which song they hated the least that week?

Nonetheless, the Official Chart on Radio 1 still has over a million listeners tuning in every Sunday, not to mention the thousands who watch the countdown across other music channels and radio stations alike. Reggie Yates, presenter of the UK Top 40 from 2007 to 2012, commented that "people still got really emotional about who was going to be No. 1. We'd get thousands of text messages and emails about it every week. It's a real big deal to some people." Let us of course not forget the 2009 Facebook campaign which rocketed Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name" to the top spot in a battle against X Factor winner Joe McElderry.

Telegraph journalist Michael Deacon further conveys that in an age where "we're engulfed by lists...the Official Top 40 has one thing that keeps it unique in that field: it's based on fact (sales) rather than blustering opinion. That's reason enough to let it keep its place - even if that place isn't at No. 1 in the listening figures."

Granted, my own preferred genre is a fair mile away from that of my demographic. My lack of interest might exist as a consequence of individual music taste, you may argue. Perhaps this is an argument weighed down by opinion, and I'm just being a grouch.

Let The Official Chart stay. Just don't count on me to listen to it.

Just in case

This is a little poem I have written for my Creative Writing module at Uni.
Happy January all :) x

-

Just in case,

Keep it in a case,

You might need it again, someday.

Instructions for toys

You no longer own,

Batteries and keys

And mysterious leads,

And where does this lead lead?

And where does this key fit?

And Nan’s old sewing kit,

Which you have to admit

You never really wanted in the first place.

A Maths exercise book

With scribbles aplenty,

And 5 out of twenty,

And for every test

You tried your best,

Your eyes on the clock

For most of the mock,

A pass was pure shock.

A collection of cards,

On top sits 21,

And wishes of fun,

But you can’t seem to throw

Those sitting below,

17, 18, 19, 20,

So they sit in their dust

As mother’s disgust

Grows and she throws

Them in the bin when you are at school.

A Tinkerbell hairpin

A half empty deodorant can

You’re not a Nivea fan

Anymore.

A pen that doesn’t write

But it doesn’t seem right

To chuck it away

It might work again

Someday.

Just in case

Keep them in a case

You might need it again, someday.