Where to shop in Worcester, UK

Before choosing the United Kingdom as my study abroad destination, I had to think about finance and whether I could afford it or not. In my mind it was going to be a very expensive semester and so I thought about applying for studying in Spain. Better weather, closer to my culture, opportunity to study a new language, cheaper and stuff like that. Then, I received an email from the secretary in my home University. She was telling me about the University of Worcester. She knew I wanted to study film production and thought this institution would have been the best fit for me, so I was eventually convinced by her and took the offer. I did not think about money that much and I just started to work more to save some money. I can tell you right now, after a full week spent in the UK that it was worth it and I do not regret my choice. For what I have experienced so far, Worcester offers places for all kinds of pockets, big or small.

Poundland

This is basically going to be my best friend for the whole semester. This is the land where ninety percent of the stuff literally cost one pound. Toothpaste, baskets, sweets, canned food etc. I bought a few things in this shop but I am pretty sure I will be spending more time in there in the next few weeks. It is more or less close to The Hive, which is not that far from St. John's Campus, I would say it is not more than twenty minutes of a walk from there.

Asda & Aldi

These two supermarkets are like the cheapest in town. If you buy their stuff (basically non-branded things) you can pretty much come back home with everything you need without having a thinner wallet afterward. I bought three kinds of meat for ten pounds with was a good deal. I bought one kilogram of pasta for one pound, peanut butter for more or less one pound, eggs for a few pennies and so on. Last week I spent nearly two hours inside Asda with my friends. Aldi was the first supermarket I have ever been in since my arrival in the UK and it is quite good, prices are lower than anywhere else, and there is one in the city center but also one close to the UW St. John’s Campus (after Co Op).

Primark

One of the shops that sticks out to students in the Crowngate Shopping Center is Primark. It is an English chain that literally sells everything from clothes to carpets for your bathroom for really low prices. My friend bought a warm jacket for only fourteen pounds. A lot of people do not trust its quality, but I think that it is perfect for students who seek for new clothes but know that they might leave some behind when they have to pack and leave Campus at the end of their University/Erasmus experience. They also sell t-shirts for only a couple of pounds and that is good if there is perhaps a foam party, a color run, or if you have to write on them. You just buy one of those and if it gets ruined it is okay because you know you spent nothing to get it in the first place.

Co Op

This is a tiny supermarket on the edge of UW St. John’s Campus and students with a NUS Card Extra can get ten percent off their bills, so it is quite good. I got around eighty cents off from my seven-something pounds bill. The NUS Card cost me twelve pounds but it lasts one year and I can get discounts all over the country in restaurants, clothes shops, entertainment and so on. I highly recommend it. I will not be in the UK for such a long time but I thought I could really use the discounts so I made it. It might be helpful somewhere in Europe too since on one of the sides there is also the International Student Identity Card.

These are the shops where I have been so far and thought were really good for students and just people in general who do not have the need to buy fancy, branded or simply luxurious stuff. Even McDonald’s feels less expensive here, and I thought it was going to be the other way around. The Danish McDonald’s was more expensive than the Italian so in my mind even the British one was going to be more expensive, but a McFlurry was only ninety-nine pennies.

- Cristian

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