Hi! Everyone likes free stuff, be it thousands of complementary university pens (which are a lifesaver when the only thing you forget to buy is a pen), or some free photo prints. We have a few tips to get yourself some free goodies big and small, from the fresher fair to product testing…

1) The first stop for a haul of free things is the university fresher’s fair; every uni has one and it’s the perfect place to enter competitions and stack up on vouchers for Wetherspoon’s and the local clubs. There’s loads of local organisations and businesses turning up and offering freebies, for example at our fresher’s fair ZaZa’s bazaar had a stall and were giving away hot food all afternoon (can’t knock a free lunch).

2) An essential uni accommodation decoration are photos. A great way to get these on the cheap is by signing up to PhotoBox online, as they give you 50 free prints to start yourself off. They get delivered to your halls and it’s a nice way to start making your room feel like yours.

3) Get yourself on Twitter and follow your favourite brands and companies, you never know when they are going to have a giveaway or competition. For example, over Christmas Cadburys held a ‘snowball fight’ which involved tweeting a friend a snowball, and you got yourself a free bag of Cadburys snowballs posted to your door.

4) Sign up to the newsletters or clubs of your favourite restaurants. It’s usually free and members often get perks such as free drinks, discounts on whole meals and offers generally not open to other customers.

5) Another way some people make a bit of money and get some free things is to sign up online to become a product tester. The company you sign up to then sends you items to test and trial for them. You then write a small review of your experiences of the product, and you get to keep it! Although we haven’t tried this ourselves, we’ve heard it’s a great way to get some good freebies.

Hope this helps!

E&S