Chloe Goldthorpe Blog

For years, the LGBT community has been discriminated against. In the past being LGBT lead to forced medical trials and even death sentences. In many countries, gay marriage still is illegal and many of the LGBT community are discriminated against daily. 

Pride is a stand against discrimination and violence towards the LGBT community. In many countries Pride marches are banned. I find this extremely horrific that many people can’t accept others for who they want to be in 2019. Together by supporting the Pride community such as by attending the marches and supporting the LGBT community we can lead by example to other countries, to love and care for everyone as equals no matter who you love. 

#loveislove 

Personally, I have always been interested in politics. I found the Brexit debate extremely interesting at the time of the referendum and I never usually watch the news however, I began to watch the news and the politics channel at the treadmill at the gym instead of listening to my music. 

My Flatmate Ben who is also on my course at university is a strong Labour supporter. I know about the parties and what each stands for but now as I am able to vote and will be able to vote in the next election, I have took it upon myself to dig deeper and learn more about Labours values and core principles as Ben is extremely passionate about the subject. 

Through my research mainly on social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube as I enjoy watching videos the most, I have discovered how Labour value equality and social justice to help build society as a whole and together ensuring that nobody is left behind. Ben is a very understanding and open minded person who is willing to help anyone and i have found he is very supportive. He holds and practices the same values that Labour has; equality. Learning about Labour has changed the way I view politics and has even lead to some very interesting conversations around the dinner table. I encourage everyone to ask their friends about politics and have open-minded discussions with their peers as it is extremely important that us young folk use our vote to make ourselves heard!

 

Hi all! Today i’m sharing my top tips for a cheap night out for those who are on a budget yet love having the odd drunken night with your friends. 

1) Garments

Everyone loves a new fancy frock for the special occasion however as students and the younger members of society we can’t always afford to splash out on new clothing, especially for drunken Jimmy to accidentally pour his drink all down your back and ruin your new favourite piece of clothing that you’ve splashed out on. My favourite websites for affordable clothing for a night out are missguided and pretty little thing. Here they have their own sections on the website for all occasions such as a “night out”, “chill day” and a “jeans and a nice top event”. My top tips for saving money on clothing whilst always having a fresh outfit is to MIX AND MATCH. My favourites are skirts and bodysuits. If you purchase just one good skirt such as a black leather look skirt, you can get so much use out of the one piece of clothing!  You can wear a skirt with a top or a bodysuit or even took another dress into it so it looks like a top and a skirt. This saves you half the money as if you wanted a new top you don’t need to worry about your bottom as it is covered with your classic skirt. If your wanting a dress, these sites also have figure flattering dresses for literally £8, you can’t go wrong with a red or black dress. If it gets ruined after 3 times wear, so be it, that’s only £2.60 per night out, cheaper than a double. If you’re really struggling for an outfit, repeat one! Do you pay that much attention to your friends clothing and are traumatised if they repeat an outfit… NO, so they aren’t going to be if you do either. Save yourself the cash and repeat! If worst comes to worst and you really hate your outfit, I always think to myself “it will be dark in the club” so no one can even see! 

2) Prinks, also known as “pre-drinks” 

If you have a prinks to go to, this is where you can really save money on alcohol. Go to your local supermarket and buy the cheapest strongest spirit you see. To save even further buy an “own” brand cola or orange mixer instead of splashing out on the official Coke or Fanta brand. If you have someone else’s house or student flat available to host, get your friends round, put some classic singalong tunes on and dance your hearts out whilst laughing about all the money you have saved in comparison to grabbing a cheeky cocktail before your night out. If you’re feeling rich this certain week and do fancy hitting up a cocktail bar, look out for the 2 for 1 offers, most bars have them a certain night of the week or even buy yourself a Revs card at Revolution for £5 where you can get money off food, drinks and 2 for 1 cocktails anytime any day all year round!

3) The Journey 

You are blessed if the club is in walking distance from your house or place of residence however, not everyone if this lucky and has to travel to their nearest nightclub. If this is you pay close attention:

If there’s enough of you to fill a taxi, your onto a winner. If there’s four of you in a taxi, the cost will probably be maximum £4 each. If the numbers are a little low, BEG your parents for a lift to town. If the parents say no.. time for the public transport. You may feel silly getting on the bus or train in your fancy frock but you’ll be the ones laughing about all the money you’ve saved. If you get the bus to town, this may be £3, even cheaper with a student card. If your someone who can party all night, you can even catch the first bus back in the morning. The train is also an excellent option as this is often faster and warmer. The key is to plan ahead and to look at the timings of busses and trains before your night out as you don’t want to plan to get the bus and then be stranded in the bus station in the early hours of the morning getting judged by members of the public heading out to work whilst you’re heading home from your night of fun. 

4) The club itself

The best way to save money in a nightclub is responsible drinking. Don’t enter the club and see £1 jager bombs, buy 7 and not be able to remember the night. Space out your drinking. Definately find the offers that will save you the most money but don’t go mad when you first walk through the doors, take a step back analyse your current state and think do I really need to consume this alcohol or should i perhaps wait until the alcohol I have already consumed has faded off a little bit. You don’t want to become the ‘responsibilty’ for the night. Know your limits! 

Next, the number of clubs you go to. Only go to one or two clubs. Know the best ones and go there, don’t bother paying for entry into 7 medeocre clubs for you to have already spent £15 on entry before hitting you’re favourite one. Just go to maybe one bar and then one club as this will save you money on entry. Also look out for students nights and select these as the nights you are going out as then you have the discounted entries and the discounted drinks! 

5) Food on the way home

This is the biggest error most people make! WHY SPEND £8 ON A MCDONALD’S WHEN THERE’S FOOD AT HOME?? My personal tip for this is to pre-make a meal for when you get home, something hearty like some pasta or my personal favourite, a baked potato and gravy is my personal favourite, sounds bizzare but you should definately try it. It is extremely unneccesary to waste money on takeaways and fast food at the end of a night out when you can literally wait 10 minutes to have your freshly prepared meal waiting for you at home. 

These are my top tips for saving money for a night out as coming to uni, i have discovered the cracks where many people overspend and it can be so easily resolved! There’s no need to have a large overdraft just because you don’t have to pay it back for a few years and it’s interest free. Don’t get yourself in these debts in the first place!

Hello fellow bloggers! 

Today I am going to share with you my easy and cheap one pot recipe for curry rice. As a student I don’t really have the time nor the budget to make delicious meals. Therefore i created a one pot curry rice that has all the nutrients you need and as it is only one pot, there’s hardly any washing up… even better!

Ingredients; Brown rice (or white), Salt, Pepper, Curry Powder, Frozen Vegetables, Condiments of choice ( I prefer soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce) 

Now very straight forward, add the rice, vegetables, desired amount of curry powder, salt and pepper of choice to a pan. Then fill with water, i usually use around 500ml to 750ml because I cook my rice for longer and the excess water turns into a kind of creamy sauce that’s delicious. This meal is also extremely cheap as rice is one of the cheapest foods on the planet, especially brown rice which is packed with nutrients to fill you. I often intend to bulk make this meal as I add so many vegetables it fills a huge pan however, at university I often make it at lunchtime then use the one pan for my lunch, tea and snacks throughout the day.

As I am vegan, I stick with the rice and vegetables however meat eaters may choose to add a meat of their choice on top of the rice, e.g chicken breast, but I don’t believe this is neccessary as the curry rice is flavoursome enough especially with the flavours of the vegetables also. For an extra source of protein you could add quinoa to the pot or chickpeas or your

 favourite beans. One great thing about this recipe is that you can totally tailor it to you, add whatever vegetables are on offer at the supermarket or about to go out of date in your fridge. I love adding onions and mushrooms however, as im on a budget I tend to stick with mixed frozen vegetables and peas. 

As vegans don’t get the vitamin B12 through natural sources, I also add nutritional yeast to the top of this as it adds a nice cheese like flavour however, not everyone may like the sound of cheese and curry! 

 

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