Becoming social life savvy

Come Dine with Me: Student Special

Every student loves Come Dine with Me, mainly because it’s played on a loop around Channel 4’s various platforms all day every day, but also because it’s the kind of thing we’d all love to do: snooping round people’s homes, getting three-course meals cooked for us, downing bottles of wine. So why don’t you grab a few friends, it could be your own housemates or people you know that are spread around Fallowfield and Withington, and start your own dining experience? Agree to a small budget for each meal, club in for a small (probably alcoholic) prize for the winner, and away you go! You get a week’s worth of good nights with friends, food and booze, for no more than £10- sounds pretty good to me!

Game night

As students who are all, let’s face it, geeks at heart, we can never say no to a wonderfully mentally-stimulating board game. So why not get together a few people and start playing one night a week? You could make up your own games to exercise your creativity, or purchase some of your family favourites. They don’t have to be in mint condition either; you can easily pick them up from eBay or a charity shop for just a few quid. Brace yourselves for some tense disagreements though- things can get tough in a room full of intellectuals.

Start a home workout class

This kills two birds with one stone, as you’re not only staying in, but you’re also keeping fit. Rob a few exercise routines off YouTube, clear your living room and you’re all set: a gym class in your own house. You can do anything you like, and mix it up whenever you want to by doing yoga, pilates, Zumba and even boxercise. The possibilities are endless thanks to the Internet, and you’re having a free night in with mates- cheaper than that monster bag of crisps you’d buy to consume during film night, that’s for sure.

Sleepover club

Take it back to the old school and channel your inner 13 year old by arranging a sleepover. I’m talking sleeping bags/mattresses down in the same room, pillow fights, face masks, scary stories- the full works. You’ll have forgotten how good it is to the cram into the same space and talk to one another, which is often impossible on nights out as you have to sort out one mate crying in the toilet, another one that’s pulling a zero, and a third who’s pulling you along across the dance floor. Ask everyone to bring a little bit of food and something for entertainment, and that’s your night sorted for probably less than a couple of quid.

So there you go, proof that it is actually possible to see your friends and have a social life without pissing your money up the wall on a night out that you’ll live to regret in the morning. Having fun at uni without hangovers! Who’d have thought it, eh?