Getting a Job After University: Where to Begin

Feeling overwhelmed by the thought of graduation? Check out this blog post where Cheap Students covers how to beef up your resume, and better prepare yourself for graduation.

Grocery Shopping Basics

An introduction on how to grocery shop better, save money and cut down on grocery bills in the future. Contains links to Canadian grocery flyers as well as prices to look for.

Textbooks: A How to Guide

A post covering how to purchase and sell textbooks at the beginning of each semester. Textbooks often cost quite a lot purchased brand new, use these tips to save money on your next textbook purchases.

Learning Tab

Check out the learning tab to view free online resources where you can learn new languages, develop your computer skills and find ways to further develop your resume.

Job Hunting

Check out the job hunting section, filled with resume, cover letter and job interview tips and resources all to help throughout the job hunting process.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Finding a Rental Home


It's almost that time of year when students have to start searching around for a rental home, and it's especially important to plan ahead. The earlier students start to look for rentals the better, since the best and often most affordable rental homes tend to disappear closer to the beginning of January. Unfortunately the time when students should be searching for a rental is right during exams for the fall semester or the first few weeks of school in January.

When searching for a house to rent check out websites like these;
Kijiji-Always a great option, and a variety of properties are posted on here
Craigslist-I know in the Guelph area, less are posted on craigslist, but it still is a great option
University classified website- At the University of Guelph thecannon.ca is an excellent website to find student rentals

There are often other websites where you can find rentals and these can often be found simply by searching on Google

Make sure to act quickly when you find a rental ad online that you are interested in. The best advice is to call the personal who has listed the rental, you will get a quicker response and get priority over those who emailed simply because people don't check their emails as frequently.

Some things to think about when looking at a rental
  • Are utilities included? If they aren't you need to consider the following;
    • Is the heating electric or gas? You want gas since it's more efficient which means cheaper bills
    • Check out my article on saving money on cable & internet to reduce those costs
    • Ask when toilets and other water usage appliances function, if they have been recently replaced etc. You don't want toilets that run, it will burn through cash quickly.
Also check out this article from Learnvest

http://www.learnvest.com/2012/10/how-much-will-i-pay-in-utilities-for-my-rental/

For those that only need a 4 month rental, those coming back for only a half semester etc.

Make sure to check out sublets, they are often excellent and cheaper alternatives than locking into a lengthy lease that you don't need. Often sublets are cheaper, have the flexibility of not being locked into a lease and sometimes have the benefit of utilities being included.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Black Friday Canadian Style

For those that don't know, Black Friday is an American tradition of sorts where stores hold sales with heavy discounts and bargains on the Friday of American thanksgiving. I don't really understand the concept, since Thanksgiving should be a time spent with family instead of fighting people for the newest Elmo, but hey to each their own. We thankfully are now able to benefit from these deals as Canadian retailers are fighting to prevent Canadian shoppers from heading across the border for American deals. Black Friday falls on November 23rd this year.
Check out the hours for malls near year, but it has been reported that Cadillac Fairview malls in Canada will be opening early on Black Friday with the Eaton's Centre opening at 6am while 8 other Cadillac malls will be opening at 7am.

One of my favourite websites (that I have been neglecting lately) is Red Flag Deals. They have a section specifically covering Black Friday. Check out that section of their website here. This not only covers Black Friday deals but Cyber Monday deals as well (predominantly online sales).

Black Friday is a great time to stock up on Christmas presents so it's definitely something you should keep in mind.

Make sure to check the Red Flag Deals page, its a great source for Black Friday sales and promotions and is updated quite frequently. I will also be retweeting deals on Twitter so make sure follow @cheapstudents

Image Source

What deals have you found in previous years on Black Friday? What are your shopping tips?


Monday, November 12, 2012

Giveaway

Since it's been almost a full year since the blog has been around I figured I should hold a giveaway. Starting November 13th until November 23rd readers will have the chance to win a $10 Tim Hortons gift card. Hopefully it will help you a bit so you can make it through exams, midterms and the final weeks of school.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Any questions about the giveaway or how the entries work feel free to comment below.

Thanks again and good luck :) You can also enter through Facebook here..

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Post Bar Foods You Can Make Yourself

I started to realize this year especially that more than 50% of the money I take with me downtown ends up going towards post bar food. This covers everything from poutine to pita pit. I'm not recommending not eating after a night out, because it definitely helps. Instead I'm of course going to talking about a way to lower these costs so you can buy more alcohol or save some cash for your next night out.


So here are a few options for a nice post bar snack that can save you some money and ease the morning hangover.

Grilled Cheese
A serious classic, with a nice mix of carbs and grease and it's easy to make. The less intricate the cooking the better is what always works the best. Go with a basic cheese and bread or add meat, tomatoes, veggies or whatever else works for you.

Nachos
Now these can be made with tortilla chips or crackers if you have them (triscuits often work well too). You can either grate cheese or just cut it up. Throw on some salsa and put it in the microwave for a minute or so.

Mac and cheese
Always a classic option post bar. It's hard to mess up, just try to avoid burning yourself. If your scared just buy kd cups instead, just add water and nuke them throw in the cheese mix.

Mini pizzas
You can make these with any sort of bread but the best options are with English muffins or pitas. Either grate or slice cheese, and use pasta sauce or pizza sauce, whatever you have on hand. Either microwave or put it in the oven to cook. You can add toppings including cold cuts, pepperoni or vegetables. Whatever you have lying around works.

Pasta with Red Sauce or Pesto
Boil up some pasta and then once your done just dump in pesto or red sauce from the fridge and stir, easy and tasty.

I hope these help you save some cash and ease those morning hangovers.

For those who like to plan ahead. You can always save some leftovers from dinner or make something awesome to heat up late at night.

What do you eat after the bar?

Friday, November 9, 2012

Cheap Eats: Part 1

After living in the city of Guelph, Ontario for the last 4 years and being here for 12 months straight I realized that I had really not taken advantage of the wide variety of restaurants available within the city. I had previously stuck to chain restaurants or cooked at home, with the cooking at home always being a great cheap alternative. But I realized I wanted something more, and there definitely is a great way to do it without spending a ton of money (and local restaurants are most often cheaper or have better food at a comparable price to chains). I'm sure many people can relate, but just for another city. I feel almost the same way when it comes to places I've tried out in Toronto (where I'm originally from).

So the only real option was to start testing out local non-chain restaurants within the city and there were a few ways that I did it, and the first, mobile apps will be covered in this post.

There are quite a few mobile apps that are great sources of information in order to find restaurants you may never have heard of and/or find out reviews for the restaurants in order to make a better restaurant choice.

  • Urban Spoon- Has a list of top picks, restaurants that are highly rated in your city (based on your location) as well as a break down of restaurants by price. With a section called "Cheap Eats"
  • Street Food App- If you have an interest in something different than a restaurant, check out the Street Food App, which provides food truck locations for Boston, Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver. Choose your app based on the city you live.
  • Foursquare- It may not be the first thing you think of when someone suggests food. But foursquare is an excellent source for recommendations as well as check in deals when going to some restaurants. Some restaurants even offer special bonuses for location mayors.
  • Yelp-Check out this app for restaurant reviews as well, similar to Urban Spoon.
  • Groupon- and other daily deal sites. You can download the app, or check out their websites but you can often find great deals for local restaurants by purchasing daily deals. 
By checking out these free apps you are able to find deals as well as discover new restaurants and read reviews to get the best bang for your buck. 

What other apps do you use to find great restaurant deals?