National Student Money Week – how to de-stress for £less

John Hain via Compfight

The Student Advice Service is supporting this year’s theme of ‘Students, Money and Mental Health’ by teaming up with colleagues across the university and the wider community to promote better financial wellbeing for our students.

For the duration of this week we are having a campus-wide roadshow where the Advisers are out and about at all the sites talking to students about their financial wellbeing and asking you to share your tips on how to de-stress for £less.
How many times have you heard someone say  “I was a bit down, so I went shopping and felt much better”?  Perhaps you’re the one saying it? This is an all too common reaction to feeling low and needing a pick me up, but the Student Advice Service is here to give you some suggestions on how you can feel better and more positive without breaking the bank. We have devised a short Money Personality quiz which can help you identify those triggers unique to you which might lead you down the path of unnecessary spending. We’ve also got some suggestions on how to swerve these triggers and turn negative actions into positive ones.

You can pick up some freebies at the stand and there’s a wellbeing related prize for 1 lucky winner at each site who comes up with the best ‘de-stress for less’ tip of the day eg asking a friend or partner for a foot rub?

 Ok, perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea!

We have also produced a ‘Students, Money and Mental Health’ guide which you can pick up at one of the stalls. This will also shortly be available as a pdf download, so watch this space for more about that.

You might not be aware that the Counselling and Wellbeing team runs workshops which address specific issues we know our students need support with eg procrastination, anxiety, resilience. Whether you’re putting off an assignment or opening a bank statement, the same barriers apply. You can find out more about the workshops here and throughout the week the Student Advisers will be promoting these sessions across the campuses, so come and pick up a flyer at a Money Matters stand or pop along to Student Services at your campus www.brighton.ac.uk/ask-us

Intrigued and want to find out more about Mindfulness? There’s an introductory session running today at UBH – Priory Square room 204 between 12 – 1pm. Just come along

The following list is a links of local activities and courses which might appeal to those of you thinking about making more long term positive lifestyle changes:

http://www.tcv.org.uk/ – The Conservation Volunteers, http://bhfood.org.uk/gardening-for-health and http://brightonandhovecityinbloom.co.uk/about-brighton-hove-city-in-bloom/ – if you like spending time outdoors, being active in your community and meeting like minded others, these could be options for you.

The Friends Centre, Buddhist Centre and Sussex Recovery College all run courses and mental health related activites open to all: http://www.friendscentre.org/course-info/free-mental-wellbeing-courses/, http://www.brightonbuddhistcentre.co.uk/meditation-and-buddhism/university-of-sussex/, https://www.sussexrecoverycollege.org.uk/. We will also have some information about these at the stalls.

Look out for tomorrow’s blog which will focus on getting active for less

Click here to find out where we will be for the rest of week

Student Advice Service