A perk of living in a big city like London is all the services available and free discounts to try. I have found many freebies throughout my time in London, which is great as a student on a budget. Therefore, I will now introduce my favourite services that can be trialled completely for free and are definitely worth taking advantage of as a student.

1. Pret a Manger

If you’re a current student at LSE, you have probably heard of Pret’s coffee subscription. You get 5 drinks a day for £20 a month, which is a great deal if you drink a lot of coffee. However, the best part is that the first month is entirely free, which certainly saves a lot of money.

Pret is also great since they have several branches around LSE’s campus, for example at Holborn station or on Kingsway. Getting a free hot drink in-between classes is the best pick-me-up when you need a break from studying.

2. Hello Fresh

All students can probably relate to being tired at the end of a long day and not having the energy to cook a nutritious meal. Yet, it should not be underestimated how important it is to eat well and take care of yourself when at university.

Even though I was sceptic at first, I have found that Hello Fresh’s subscription is a good solution to this dilemma. With every delivery come all the ingredients for a healthy meal, alongside the recipe with easy-to-follow instructions. There is a range of dietary options to choose from and recipes that vary in terms of preparation time. I have found this to be a great option when I wanted a nice meal without the stress of planning and going to the supermarket.

Granted, the service can be a bit pricey. However, Hello Fresh offers introductory student offers through Unidays and Student Beans, as well as a referral system.

3. Amazon Prime Student

Amazon offers a generous free trial of 6 months of free Amazon Prime deliveries for students. Even though I don’t regularly order from Amazon, I would say this free subscription is a must-have for students. Especially when you have just moved to university, there will be lots of things that you will need so the subscription might come in useful.

Honourable mention: Smol

Doing laundry is another one of those annoying chores that every student has to get used to at university. I stumbled across the company smol online and noticed they had a trial offer. Smol sells sustainable cleaning and household products, including laundry detergent capsules. When you first sign up for their subscription-based service, you can get a box of laundry pods for free. Even if it is not much, I was quite excited about doing a few washes for free.

Overall, I don’t necessarily recommend sticking to any of these paid services. All of them can be cancelled after the free trial and don’t run on a contractual basis. But it is worth being on the lookout for similar free trials which can bring you some savings once in a while.