If you're a student or you're heading off to university this year, here are some tips on socialising, finance, essay writing and food shopping which you need to know about. These 5 life hacks will definitely make your life at uni a lot easier.

1) To gym or not to gym?

So many students sign up to the gym when they start university but do most of them regularly go or even go at all? No. University gyms are often overpriced so it's worth looking around for deals if you do want to go. Many students sign up and only go about twice a year which is shocking as all of that wasted money could go on your food shop or could be put towards fun nights out. If you're unsure whether you're able to commit to going to the gym four times a week then why not workout from home. Home workouts are free and you can find many great fitness trainers on YouTube with exercise videos to suit all fitness levels.

2. Save your work

Does the thought of your laptop crashing or deleting all of your assignments give you fear? Make sure to backup all your work in more than one place. Email your essays to yourself, store them on a memory stick and write your essays on Google Docs. By writing your essays on Google Docs, you remove the risk of losing your work. Google Docs is an app which is similar to Microsoft Office Suite. This app allows you to share and edit documents when you're not online. It also automatically saves your work which is great if your computer crashes or breaks down.

3. Write your lecture notes with coloured pens

Not only does writing out your lecture notes in coloured pens look pretty, there's also a lot more benefits to using colour. By using various rainbow colours, your brain allows you to think deeper into a topic. Writing with colourful pens will help elevate your visual memory which means that you have a higher chance of actually remembering what you've written. This technique also works great when it comes to revision. By creating bright revision notes, you have a higher chance of retaining more information which will help you pass your exams with flying colours.

4. Look for discounts

One of the best things about being a student is all the discounts you can get. You'll honestly miss them so much when you graduate and you'll hate having to pay things full price. Once you've enrolled onto your course make sure to sign up to sites like Student Beans and UNiDAYS and get yourself an NUS card and a 16-25 railcard. You can get great discounts in a whole load of places from ASOS, to Dominos, Hotels.com, Odeon, the Microsoft store and so many more. By using discounts on things like travel, days out and food you'll manage to save a fortune for memorable nights out with your friends which will make your uni experience even more amazing.

5. Be smart with your food shop

A big life hack which will help you whilst at university is knowing how to shop well. You can save so, so much if you shop in the right places. Supermarkets like Lidl or Aldi are great for those shopping on a budget. You could get your whole week's food shop for less than £20 if you know what you're doing. Find out when your local supermarket has their clearance offers on (getting rid of stock that's close to the sell by date) and find all of those bargains. One key thing to do before you do your food shop is to create a meal plan. Think of the meals you'll want in the week, for example, pasta, jacket potato and beans and a stir fry and only buy the ingredients that you need. Writing a list before you shop will make you less likely to buy more food than you actually need.

Lauren Buck is a Criminology and Psychology graduate, freelance writer, blogger and Etsy store owner. She writes about a variety of topics including student and career advice for Inspiring Interns, which specialises in placing graduates in the best London roles.