Ultimate Budget tips!

We are students and therefore live on a budget. We would like to buy new clothing, going out to eat and party a few nights a week, unfortunately these things cost a lot of money. That’s why we want to share our best Budget Tips with you and started this blog! For our last blog post we created a list with the 10 ultimate budget tips;

Our budget tip Top 10
1. Instead of going dining in a restaurant, you can have a cheap fun meal with your friends. You can set up a potluck where each guest brings one dish (starter, main etc.). You can even make it an evening with a theme. For example Italy or an American style diner.

2. When you want to extend your wardrobe, don’t go running to the shops immediately. Perhaps you can update you old clothing and make them trendy again. Or you can make your own clothing, which is really popular at the moment. You need fabrics (go to the market for cheap fabrics), a sewing machine (second hand is cheaper) and a couple of lessons or a good book to learn how to make your own dresses. Maybe your mother can help you with that, when we were little our mothers made the most horrible clothing for us. But they have got the experience!

3. The summer is coming and we all like to enjoy the sun. An afternoon on a terrace however is very expensive. What we like to do when the weather is good is organizing a pick nick. Pick a meeting place and let everybody bring something to eat or drink and a few mats. The budget afternoon can begin. At the end of the day you have a full stomach and a pretty color on your face.

 
4. Experience your childhood all over again! When we were young we exercised a lot without even noticing it, besides that we paid almost nothing for it. It is almost summer, so start rollerblading and rope skipping again!

5. The best make-up tip we can give: You do not need to buy really expensive labels. The cheaper labels give the same results. Kim is really enthusiastic about the cheap cosmetic label: Essence.

6. Decorating your home doesn’t have to be expensive as well. It is actually really fun to create nice decoration without paying a dime, because it makes you very creative. The pictures show some examples:

Chantal had a neighbor who created her own wallpaper in the kitchen out of recipes from a monthly magazine. It looked really fun and creative.

7. When you feel like partying, organize an American party! In America is it common to bring your own food and drinks when you go to a party. So make an invitation and invite all your friends, your party on a budget can start!

8. Instead of going out with your friends or watching television you can relive old times with board games. We all have played a lot of board games when we were young and most of us have saved our favorites. So wipe the dust of the board games and have a really fun night with your friends.

9. Holidays cost a lot of money, however as a student we have a benefit. We are more flexible in when we would like to go on holiday. Some weeks are a lot cheaper to fly, so avoid the summer and try to book a flight for example the first week of January.

10. Don’t go grocery shopping when you are hungry! And make a clear list of what you need and stick to the list!



It’s festival time!

Spring is in the air!! And of course spring means the beginning of the festival season! In the next few months, we can enjoy the best performances at all kinds of different festivals and parties. Many festivals are expensive but there are some free and some pretty cheap ones to find!

At first, our Dutch and Belgian readers can take a look at the website of Festival Info. This website contains all the free festivals and parties in 2012. The most well-known are Parkpop in The Hague, the Vierdaagsefeesten in Nijmegen, the Gay Pride in Amsterdam and the Free your Mind Festival in Arnhem.

The website of festivals in Europe is Festival Searcher. On this website you can find a variety of festivals. They give information about the well known festivals such as Rock am Ring in Germany and Roskilde in Denmark but they also mention some nice small festivals that are just as much fun and a little bit cheaper.

The atmosphere at festival is so great! Everyone has to experience that. You can just do whatever you want and dress however you like without anyone making fun of you. And we know festivals are expensive but the free and cheap ones are certainly worth the try!

Good luck and have fun girls.

Budget food

Mmmmm we would love to go out for dinner every week! Eat a nice salad or beef with fries and of course a big piece of chocolate cake as dessert. But also food is expensive, especially if you go out too many times. There are some solutions such as going to a student restaurant where you can get a nice meal for just 15 euros but the quality of the food often isn't very high.

This week, we will give some tips for making your own quality dinners or snacks and some cheap but very good restaurants. Also, we share some budget cooking experiences on Facebook and Twitter so keep your eyes open.

You want to have a nice evening or a lovely high tea with all your girlfriends but you don’t want to spend too much money? There are some things you can do to reduce the costs.

• Arrange with your friends that everyone makes a small snack or a small bite. Everyone has different qualities and in this way, you have a lot of different snacks for a great evening. On the internet, you can find many recipes for small snacks. Some examples are:
• For the evening: wine is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be! On the website of ... you can find cheap wines of high quality! You can find the wines in your local supermarket or just order it on the web.
• You don’t have enough plates or glasses? Let everyone bring their own. This makes the table look very funny and very cosy.
• Download some romantic movies, light some candles and your done! This is an evening for the girls, without the boys!! 

Some inspiration: (click on the name for the recipes on the internet)

                                   Applesauce Cupcakes                    Coconut Pecan Brownies

                 

                                   Potato Chip Cookies                    Banana Strawberry Smoothie

Exercising on a budget

Dear ladies. We all like to have our body in shape, but sometimes you also have to pay attention to your budget and a gym membership is very expensive. Today, we will give you some tips on how to stay in shape on a budget, because we have to keep in mind to move over 30 minutes every day!

A budget tip is to go for a swim in the morning before classes or work. Most of the time there is an early bird discount and you will start your day fresh. Exercising gives you a lot of energy especially in the morning.

If you do want to go to a gym, but you don’t have the money for a wellness center, try to look for a budget gym. They are cheaper because they don’t have spa facilities and sometimes don’t offer group lessons. The disadvantage of these gyms is that they are very busy at particular times during the day. If you can avoid those hours it is a good budget option.

Besides low budget tips we also have some tips to work out for free. Tip 1: take the stars instead of the elevator or the escalator. For example, when you have to go to the 6th floor, go up by using the elevator but when you leave take the stars. It is easier going down the stairs than going up and it will burn calories. You will use over 200 muscles and 15 minutes of taking the stairs equals 30 minutes jogging!

Tip 2 is cleaning your apartment. During this activity you will use many muscles and you will burn many calories and afterwards your apartment is nice and clean. For example, 30 minutes of vacuuming burns over 120 calories and ironing almost 80. Cleaning you windows will burn 120 calories.

For our third tip you need a friend  for company and nice weather. You can do many different activities outside which are good for your body and shape. Go for a run through the park and if you don’t like running go for a walk, because walking takes 100 calories per 30 minutes. Or go to the beach, because walking through the sand is much harder. If you have roller blades, you can use them. It is fun, fast and it burns a lot of calories, but keep your safety in mind. Use the right equipment and protection.

The next video will show you a funny way of walking and exercising together.



Do not try this at home, but use it to get inspired!

Later on this week we will give some tips for the woman who like to exercise outside. You can create your own bootcamp!

Budget Tips for facial, hair and nail care

Every woman wants to look healthy en beautiful. Unfortunately, beauty products are often very expensive and sometimes they don’t even work! Moreover, some of the cheapest products work even better and provide us with the result we want. In this blog, we give tips for facial, hair and nail care.

Facial care
Sometimes (and certainly with this cold weather), our faces need a health boost. The cold weather gives us a dry skin and we get a pale face. Face masks are perfect for refreshing your face but why pay for a face mask when you can use basic ingredients to make your own simple, hydrating masks and scrubs? Beauty products don't have to cost an arm and a leg. You can make your own cream or scrub for a fraction of the price. Whether you have an oily skin, a dry skin, a sensitive skin or acne-prone skin, you can make a mask with the best ingredients yourself. About.com.Beauty presents you 20 recipes for 6 different skin types. Take a look at their website for your personal face mask.

For your other facial care such as day and night creams and make up removers, try the home-products of the drugstores. For our dutch readers, Etos and Kruidvat products are also very good for you face and way more cheaper than the A brands.

Hair care
A hairdresser is expensive. Most of the time we just dye our hare in the same color we had for years because otherwise the bill is too high. The solution of today is: the hair-dressing academy! In almost every city, you can find some salons that work with hair-dresser students. All the hairdressers are being supervised so they can’t mess up your hair really bad and you just pay a fraction of the price you normally pay at a profession salon. You can always give it a try!

Nail care
Especially in the winter, you need to give your nails special attention. Nails are weak and with all the thick clothes, our nails need to look beautiful. The best and cheapest make-up brand at this moment is Essence.

The Essence make up is great. The price is very low but the quality is good. Moreover, they know what women want and they offer lots of handy tools for make up and nail art. For the nails, they have a lot of colors and they sell quick-dry drops that work really well. Also, they now have a new nail product that gives your nails the look of professional gel nails.

Another tip is to buy some cheap fake nails and put them on. You can color these nails in any color you like, the color will stay on much longer and your nails won’t break. Perfect!!

Hello ladies!

We all know the feeling of not knowing what to do on a lazy Saturday. Welcome to BudgeTimes! BudgeTimes is a blog especially made for women who want to have the greatest experiences in their spare time. Of course, all these great moments cost a lot of money but this is where BudgeTimes helps you out! On this blog, you can find various interesting activities with low-budget tips. For example, we will give some tips about budget shopping, health & beauty, budget dining and cooking and ways to make sports more fun AND cheaper. We will give you the best tips for budget moments so that you can fully enjoy every minute of your spare time!

Who are we?
This blog is created by three students from the University of Tilburg:

Danielle        Kim           Chantal

We were wondering how we can give women tips and ideas for great experiences on a low budget. In this way, every woman can enjoy their spare time and still pay the rent at the end of the month.

Enjoy our posts and of course like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!