Back to College Stationery Haul

While I was planning this post I decided to research hauls.

I wanted to know why people watch them.

Is it nosiness? Trying to get ideas? Do we just like comparison?

Psychology seems to favour comparison, unfortunately.

People may watch these videos or read posts and compare their lives to the luxury lifestyles portrayed online.

But the articles I read did seem to look at big Youtubers and perhaps that is where the comparison comes into play.

You see you are reading this and I am not a big Youtuber or blogger. I can’t afford to go out and buy very expensive stationery.

I do however know how to spend a little and get a lot and I know how to save money.

I wrote my last post, the anti-haul to show how I was saving money.

My point is next time you click a link like this be mindful of why. Enjoy it for what it is which is entertainment.

I would like you to get a little more out of this article so I’m going to show you what stationery I bought, how much it cost and in some cases, I spent more than I should have, unknowingly of course, but there’s a lesson in that.

I want you to learn something you didn’t already know.

If you haven’t read my Anti-Haul post, I suggest you go back and do that, there are some good tips in there if I do say so myself.

Image Credit: Notebooks by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

Notebooks

This is one that you have to buy every year and I find have to buy more during the year.

I would love to go paperless, it seems so tidy to me but I also find I learn better when writing things down.

Psychology would agree with me on that one, so if you are considering skipping the notebook and downloading an app, bare that in mind.

I have opted to buy two notebooks for now.

The A4 purple one is a project book or lecture pad. It is divided into five sections. I have five modules.

It also has a plastic envelope folder in the back which is why I bought it over the Pukka Pad.

I also liked the colour. It came in blue too.

The pad cost €5.99 in Easons.

The second notebook came from Lidl and cost €2.99

It is unruled, has a pocket in the back and an elastic around it.

I am going to use it as a bullet journal as opposed to buying a planner.

I find buying from supermarkets handy because they are often much cheaper than stationery and discount shops.

Check them out first.

Pens

Okay before we go any further, I did go a bit overboard on pens.

I can put a pen down beside me and lose it in 30 seconds. I lend them to people and never see them again. The ones I do keep hold of I wear out either at college or home.

What I’m saying is there is no waste of pens in my life.

That being said, nobody needs this many pens.

This set with the four colours in one is my favourite kind of pen for obvious reasons. I bought one set of ordinary writing colours and a set of pastels, both Bic.

Each set cost of three cost me €4.99 in Mr.Price.

For my international readers, Mr Price is a discount shop. It usually has some great deals, but this was not one of those times.

Tesco has a pack of four of these pens in the same brand two pastels, two ordinary and one of both kinds is a mini. That pack is €4.99.

As I said nobody needs this many pens so I think Tesco had the better offer.

But it all depends on your writing instrument needs.

The second kind of pens I bought because I liked them, no other reason.

Look, pretty, no?

This set of three was €2.50 in Tesco.

Highlighters

The last thing I bought were highlighters.

I bought two sets an ordinary pack and a pen and highlighter duo set.

I prefer thin highlighters because research papers tend to use very small fonts with lines very close together and thin liners are tidier.

Tip for new science students, if you are having trouble following a paper, print it out and highlight sections.

Don’t print out every paper because colleges charge for printing and it will cost you a bloody fortune.

Anyway. I don’t have colour preferences so I bought both these sets in Lidl. The brand is called Office United.

The ordinary highlighters cost €1.19 and the duo set were also €1.19.

The Grand Total.

In total, I spent €23.84 spread out over the month. I had to buy less than I did last year because I had stuff left from last year.

To finish up here are some tips for buying stationery that won’t cost you an arm, a leg and your firstborn.

Image Credit: Pen Tray by Joost on the Noun Project

I would also like to wish everyone going back to school or college the very best of luck in the academic year.

I would like to especially wish luck to those starting the first year. You will do amazing. Take it one class, assignment and exam at a time and don’t forget to have fun.

Check back with me for more college tips during the semester.

Finally, if you have any questions or your own tips, post them below.