Talking Money

My name is Jana, i'm from Estonia and i'm studying Modern European studies at Nottingham university.

(Jana sings in Estonian)

That's the beginning of our hym.

One of the best bits about being at Nottingham or being at university in general is the breadth of opportunities - it's amazing you can everything!

Ballroom dancing, belly dancing, hiking, mountain climbing, jogging, swimming, guitar lessons - that's all I tried!

The more new things you try, the happier you get!

What, where and why, part 2

Jana: I'm studying German, Spanish and Politics and my degree is called Modern European Studies.

You can try all the things that you've always wanted to try but never had the chance. The UK is definitely the best place for international students to study, it has some of the best universities in the world. For students it's perfect, because it has nature, and it has clubs, it has culture.

The academia is very strong, if I compare it to my country then it's..., you can't even compare it.

Living in halls

Naz: If you're thinking of going to university and living in halls of residence it's most important that you get to know who your neighbours are - so get into the kitchen, make yourself a cup of tea and get to know who you're going to live with for the rest of the year.

Rosie: Whenever you walk into the building you can hear music coming from behind all the doors, til about 10 o'clock at night people will be practicing scales and things so there's music all around.

Jana: Aaaahh, aaahhh, aaaahah (singing)...we've won lots of awards

Sarah: The thing with my halls is they're really secluded, you do just end up living with the people that you're set with. My flat mate gets particularly annoyed when I have people over so I always have to turn things down.

Naz: All the bills were included in the rent I paid. There was definitely a culture shock moving to university and living in halls of residence, erm I'd have to wake up and make my own breakfast for one.

Naz: Living on campus meant that I saved money on taxis and bus fares.

Raz: If you're living in a halls of residence which is 5 minutes away and your lecture finishes at 5 o'clock, that's a 5 minute walk back to your halls and then you can study and do whatever you like.

Naz: If you have a bad..uhh...if you..uh....if you've had a hard day at university you can come back to your halls of residence, knock on your mates door, chill out, listen to some music and rock out for the evening.

Budgeting top tips

Mike: Budgeting is a really important part of managing your money.

Ursula: Use student deals for restaurants and living and eating out.

Mike: List all your income and all your expenditure.

Aaron: Don't buy what you don't need.

Lucy: Err.. I can't remember what number 3 was! Err. There's that one where if you go to the supermarket late in the afternoon they have all the marked-down food.

Jemma: Get to like jacket potatoes. They're really cheap, they're healthy and you can have lots of different toppings on them.

Jana: There are loads of things that you can do for free - walking, hiking, borrow books or films, if you want to watch DVDs you can borrow them from the library. Take advantage of the many discounts that are offered to students.

Jemma: Jacket potato fillings - butter, tuna, mayonnaise, egg?!

Lucy: No!

Jemma: Prawn

Lucy: Yeah!

Jemma: Chicken..

Lucy: No

Jemma: Chili!

Lucy: No

Jemma: Salad..?

Lucy: Yeah

Jemma: Fish! ... that's it.

Top tips

Umut: OK...Umut's tops tip, Umut's tops ti...(laughter)

Vinit: Vinit's top tips are, 1 learn how to cook.

Alex: No 2 is to be friend's with your bank....no that's rubbish.(Laughter) Keep on top of your finances, the more you keep on top of it the better.

Jana: Don't be afraid to try new things.

Jemma: Get to like jacket potatoes, they're really cheap, they're healthy...

Jana: I haven't thought about it really, I have to think about it sorry. No 4....

Alex: is to keep your ear to the ground, there are so many opportunities out there while you're at university and the time goes so quickly so take advantage of that time and go for any opportunity that you possibly can.

Jana: Study more.

Mike: My top tip would be, if you are a smoker, stop smoking now.

Jana: Erm...make erm, make new friends.