Even if this year the start of the new school year takes place in a more traditional way than the two previous years, one constant remains: the difficulty for students to make ends meet. The re-entry fees increased by 13.04% according to the FAGE, when the Unef indicated an increase of 6.47% for student life in general. So that the year does not rhyme with depriving yourself, some tips will be very useful for you to dress, go out or furnish yourself.
Think thrift
There are two options for getting dressed for less: second-hand or big brands, even if the first will even allow you to be in tune with the fight against global warming.
For clothes, we first think of sites like Vinted or Le Bon coin, on which we can find what we are looking for. Others complete the concept of second-hand shopping: La Reboucle, Once again or even Gens de Confiance are also places to find the coat we need when winter arrives. Thrift stores, empty-dressing and other flea markets are also the way to do good business if you have the courage to snoop around.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for second-hand or if you prefer new, some big brands offer discounts on presentation of your student card, don’t hesitate to ask the question before going to the checkout. Nike, Promod, Adidas, Asos or Urban Outfitters are among them.
Furnish and decorate your apartment
Like clothes, second-hand furniture, it’s good for the planet, good for the wallet. Le Bon coin is full of desks for 30 to 40 euros, and various furniture and shelves. Same thing on the side of sales consignments. For its part, Emmaüs, which restores furniture recovered from private homes, now has its website online. A 10% discount is currently offered for students. Some stores sell slightly damaged returns or end of stock at more affordable prices, this is the case with Aubaines de La Redoute in the North.
For decoration, you can turn to flea markets, hunt in garage sales: the month of September is generally dense in appointments, it’s the time to find something to dress your walls and shelves with trinkets. Specialized sites like Brocabrac list upcoming flea markets and garage sales. Also, in the DIY section, if you want to repaint a – small – wall, DIY stores sometimes destock pots of paint, often mixtures that have not been used in the end or end of series.
Beyond the furnishings, you can also decorate your apartment with green plants for not too much money. Some brands offer discounts to students on presentation of the student card. This is the case of Plantes pour tous in its stores in Paris and Lyon. You can also collect cuttings here or there.
Go out !
Impossible to list everything in the outings, but be aware that some CROUS forge partnerships with theaters and performance halls in each region. They each have their own ticket office with prices first negotiated with theaters and concert halls and then subsidized by the CROUS. This is the case of the CROUS of Montpellier, that of Orléans, Burgundy Franche-Comté or even Paris.
With the latter, the ticket office
will give you access to nearly 60 partner rooms. Among them, the Comédie Française, Pleyel, the Bastille opera, the Odéon theater, the Pompidou Center, the Chaillot theater and the Bataclan, among others.
Some theaters also have their specific offers, especially for whims and sudden desires to go and see a play: theater kiosks allow you to buy tickets at -50% for a performance the same day. With a small inconvenience, it is a place in category 1, which even on sale may still be inaccessible. Advantage, you will be very well placed.
Other good plans, free places reserved for students or young people below a certain age (-28 for example at the Comédie Française). Often available on D-Day, they are in limited quantity: 95 for the Comédie Française, which also offers offers at 5 euros but whose visibility is limited, 100 at the Odéon theater valid every Thursday and available 7 days before. The best way to find what suits you: look at the theaters one by one to check their offers.
On the cinema side, most major multiplexes offer reductions for students, either by subscription (17.90 euros for UGC, 16.90 at Pathé Gaumont) or at the unit price. Still, you can also buy in batches of 5 if you are more than one or if you do not want to subscribe.
For the museums, think that on the first Sunday of each month, the museums are free in Paris, and that if you are between 18 and 25 years old, access to a large part of the museums and national monuments is free, even outside the 1st Sunday. Also, the night of the museums, the white night, the heritage days are all times of the year when museums and exhibitions or other places to visit are free.
equip yourself
Your student card entitles you to many discounts on computer hardware and software: purchase of a computer from Apple or Dell but also HP and Asus, for example; the BackMarket site offers refurbished and guaranteed devices if you do not want new ones. For the software suites that you will use to write your courses and internship reports, Microsoft offers free access to Office 365 online and there is free software (Open office and Libre office).
registration from September 26 on culture-crous.fr