Being a Student During Christmas Time In London.

Christmas is the best time of the year for many across the world. Christmas markets, decorations and food are the highlight of the year, buskers singing carols on the side of the street, lights hanging from buildings and glistening in the dark of the evening, it’s a fabulous thing to witness; and London is the place to experience it.

As a student living in London I’m very lucky to be able to experience these scenes whenever I like, going to look at the markets and the lights is amazing and doing it whenever I’m bored is even better. Just having that opportunity to go and experience these scenes is something I’m very grateful for.

Though it is great to go and see the markets and eat all the delicious food they have to offer, it does get extremely expensive, and as a university undergrad I’m already tight on money.

Christmas is a very expensive time for most people, especially this year with everything going on with the cost of living crisis! But as a uni student I am to struggling to keep my money organised and I never seem to have enough.

Even with the help of a job and a student loan from the government I’m still finding it quite tight when it comes to the amount in my bank account. This is a very real struggle for a lot of students, so I know how you feel. I never seem to have enough when it comes to this time of year, with buying food for the week, going out and having a social life, and buying presents for my family, it can get quite difficult.

A lot would argue that I should just stay in and stop spending money on going out, but I am a firm believing in having a social life and the importance it has on a person. I have spoken before in a few previous articles about my views towards going out and having fun with friends, I think it is so important, especially when being at uni. So to take this away from myself I don’t see it making a massive difference, yes I will save more but mentally I won’t be better off.

Living in general is expensive for everyone in the UK at the minute, but with living in London as well it amplifies that. Everything in the capital city is expensive, eating out, going on a night out, the famous Christmas experience that is Winter Wonderland, all of it is draining the bank account. So as a student who hasn’t got loads of money in the first place this is really hard.

Thankfully I have never before had to struggle when it comes to money, my parents have always supported me and I’ve had a job since the age of 14 which helped to pay for the things that I wanted to have. But after coming to university this isn’t so much the case.

I never truly realised how expensive everything is nowadays, I mean I went to the shop the other day and a block of cheddar cheese was £5 like there was no way I was paying that for cheese! Its small things like that that build up and next thing you know you’ve only got £10 in the bank. I seriously didn’t realise that my money would go so quickly.

Although this a time of struggle for many there are some things to do around London that won’t eat away at your bank account, going to see the Christmas lights is one of them. The annual lights that are set up around the city are always a great thing to do when you’re on a budget, not only is it a great experience with the family but going on your own is just as fulfilling, the lights are truly stunning.

Christmas is for celebration and family so although money is tight for a lot of people and families this year, there are always ways to have fun on a budget. So this Christmas try to relax and just enjoy the holidays.

©Lucy Roberts 2022