Save your money: Transport

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mardi 28 avril 2015

Small tips !

On 11:29 by Mélanie Mottier in bars, clothes, food, freezing, offpeak, payment, street, taxi, Transport, walk No comments

SAVE YOUR MONEY EVERYDAY

In this article I will give you several small tips that you can apply to make small savings!

First, freezing! Freeze your prepared food or food you can not eat before the expiration date can help you save some money on food and on top of that it avoids waste!

Bring your own plastic bag! The bags are not free, of course they are only 5 pennies but buy them regularly can increase the amount and moreover it is better for the environment!

Off peak hours! Especially with the train, avoid traveling during peak hours, tickets are more expensive and in addition there are more people that's less enjoyable. Similarly for taxis, some hours are to be avoided, such as weekend evenings, it is more expensive and more difficult to find a taxi!

Don’t go shopping (food) every day, set yourself one day a week and for shopping and with a budget, it will avoid you to buy everything and anything.

Use your little coins in automatic machines, instead of piling them into a corner the 1, 2 and 5 pennies can sometimes be helpful!

Walk ! Glasgow city can easily be explored by walking from one point to an other if you take the time. It makes you do some exercise and it is nicer than being crowded into a bus or subway full and paying!

Tip 8 : Commitments in the months

On 05:14 by Mélanie Mottier in cards, commintments, Mobile, month, Package, payment, Sport, Transport 1 comment

I'm back with an eighth trick! This concerns the commitments in the months and mainly concern foreign students.

When you arrive in a new place it is like a new beginning. You have a new apartment you have to furnish and equip. You also have new friends with whom you will communicate,work or go out. And you will take new habits and have a new way of life. It’s when you arrive you will start to worry about new subscriptions on your phone, internet etc... which will follow you to the end of the year.

Here are the areas that require subscriptions followed by my advice:

Mobile package:

The mobile package are almost inevitable in our day especially when we are students. The basic packages are usually charge every month on your mobile. It is possible to register for a period of one year with automatic reload or to choose to recharge his package manually every month. This solution is more appropriate, it allows you to change your pricing package if you notice that it does not match your needs and also permits you to make a break and do not charge it if during some period you will not be able to use it. This is primarily for foreign students who return for short periods in their own country.

Sport Package:

Exercising regularly is good for the health. Especially when you are student it helps overcome stress, to change ideas and maintain a good lifestyle. When some prefer outdoor sports, other indoor (maybe Because of the weather). However room access is paying. It is possible to pay each passage (each session), but there are also several formulas. Generally a package of several days is cheaper than a single entry. Just before making a commitment to the year, think about the fact that you will have a vacation, you are going to back home, there will maybe some weeks you won’t be able to go to the gym or you would like to try an other sport or leisure. If you take the package for a month you can decide whether you want to pursue the following month or not, or if you simply want a break.

Transport package:

when you study in a university which is not close to our place of residence you generally have to use transport such as bus or train. You can buy your ticket to each of our trip but there are also cards with packages for travel on a specific period. Some cards may offer package the year but it is wise to take a month or a week. Indeed there may be times when you do not have courses such as holidays or week revision it would be a shame to pay for transportation that you do not use.

Tip 6 : Travel tour companies

On 07:03 by Mélanie Mottier in experiences, landscapes, leisures, Transport, travel, visits 2 comments

This article is especially aimed at foreign students but this could be also useful for Scottish people who wants to travel.

Studying abroad comes from our own motives these are usually professional or personal. No matter the reasons we are here, when we arrive in a new country one of the first things we want to do is to discover our host country.This experience encourages us to discover historical places, monuments, and landscapes or visit museums, cities etc. and learn more about local customs and culture, which sometimes can be very different from ours. For this you need to move, this is feasible when you want to explore the city where you live or study but when you want to go to another place it gets more complicated when you have no car. If you want, for example to explore the north of Scotland, the Highlands, you need to find transports that will take you to the desired location, it is usually expensive and it is often necessary to combine several transports to follow a determined itinerary or reach a specific location that is underserved.

I have a solution for you: Travel tours companies

These companies usually organize trips on a day or few days. There are many types of organization offering this type of service. The Itinerary is determined in advance with details of destinations and the price is up to you if you want to join the trip or not. The trip takes place in a bus or mini bus, a guide is present and gives you information about places you visit or cross.

Advantages :

- You don’t have anything except book (online or by telephone) and pay

- This kind of company know the places which must be seen and they will bring you there

- The guide will give you a lot of information you didn't know

- It’s cheaper than if you go by yourself

- You can meet people

I have already tried two companies:

Isuk tour Glasgow international: it’s big bus especially for student, they organise a trip every week end everywhere in Scotland!

I travelled with this company the 18th of October 2014 I paid 32 £ to go to :

◆ Alnwick, Harry Potter Castle (England)
◆ Bamburgh
◆ Holy Island

If you want to book a tour with isuk tour: go on the Facebook page, all the informations are there.

Go Scotland tour: It’s generally mini bus you have to book in advance on the website. There is a lot of excursions, you choose your trip and your day and they check the availability. The driver is your guide, he stops at different places to take permit you to take photos or visit and he follow his itinerary telling stories.

I travelled with this company the 30th January I paid 38 £ to go to :

◆ Loch Lomond
◆ Rannoch Moor
◆ Glencoe
◆ Fort William
◆ Ben Nevis, Great Glen
◆ Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness Cruise
◆ Inverness
◆ Pitlochry

I really loved the two trips visits and landscapes was very beautiful !

Tip 3 : Hampden Taxis

On 14:53 by Mélanie Mottier in apps, taxi, Transport No comments

The city of Glasgow is mostly accessible by walking, but sometimes you want to travel a little farther away and you have to choose another kind of transport. If you do not have a car four possibilities are available for you:

Train: interesting for the long journey from one city to another
Subway: interesting to move from the city center to the west end, but the metro is closed the night
Buses: serve the entire city for prices generally below 2 pound, do not work all night
Taxi: Transport available anytime, relatively High Price

The bus remains the most appropriate transport, but do you think it is the cheapest?

When you are a group of friends I recommend you to use the taxi: 3 or 4 bus tickets are as expensive as a taxi divide by the number of passengers. The advantage is that it will take you wherever you want and you don’t have to walk after.The taxi is more profitable when you are a lot of person.

Here's my tip to spend less by taxi: The free application for smartphone, Hampden cars

This application permit you to order a taxi with your smartphone, these taxis are cheaper than the taxi you can find in the street!

How to use it?

First you have to register and give user details: First name, Surname, Telephone number and e-mail address
Once registered you can book a taxi simply and quickly.

How to order a taxi, step by step:

1. Open the application

2. Click on “Start booking “

3. Enter the pickup address: click on “Search” and write the correct address or the name of the place you are (It could be a house, a street, a restaurant, a nightclub etc.). The application will display some suggestion select the good one.

4. Enter the drop-off address (The same as the pickup address)

5. Choose your ASAP : pickup date and time

6.Book

7. Check the status of your booking :

- Confirmed : your booking has been made you have to wait for someone to take charge of it

- Accepted : the taxi should be on its way, you have to wait

- Cancelled : your booking can’t be supported, you have to try again later

During this time you will receive a message on your phone and/or an e-mail, two kinds of possibility:

- “The car is on its way” You booking just be accepted, you will find in the message the model and colour of the car, with the license plate.

- “We are sorry, we have no car available …” your booking just be cancelled you have to find another solution or wait.

8.You can track your taxi and follow his route until it arrives

9.The taxi is here, the driver just check your name , and go