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» About Save the Student |
Save What Student?
You! We save students of Manchester time, money and even boredom. The aim is to make our student loans go further. Sell those old course text books and share valuable advice about student life in Manchester with other students.
And remember we are all students ourselves, in Manchester. What better place to get the most out of your exciting but often short years as a student in Manchester?
Save the student also helps you make the most of your student finances in practical ways. As the cost of university education continues to grow, and the economy recedes, we believe that an awareness of your (often borrowed) money situation is as important as ever!
This is a community website, fuelled only by other Manchester students who are in the same boat as you. Following our student money saving tips doesn't cost you a thing, and will raise your bank balance. In our eyes, that's the closest to free money you'll get (aside from penny picking around Piccadilly Gardens). And we like that.
Register and get involved with save the student to really boost your cash flow:
We're here to share our student life experiences to get the most out of our time in the fantastic student city of Manchester. We'll start you off on the money diet right now, because joining in is free! Do it now.
So, get on the Ark and keep the good times & finances afloat!
How it all started
The original idea for a student website was sparked back in October 2007. I was a new student at Manchester, and to give me a few more minutes in bed each morning, I was on the hunt for a cheap umpteenth-hand bicycle that I could pick up locally. The internet seemed like a good place to start, and it seemed obvious to search for "second hand bike manchester". A load of generic eBay ads came up, but not much else. I could not find anywhere to buy a cheap second-hand bike in Manchester. In the end I bought one off eBay, shelling out an extra £25 just to get it delivered!
Then I thought of all the other students that do have bikes at uni, and where they get them from. I'm sure most bring them up with them, or buy one in Manchester. But that begs the question how they manage to transport them back and forth. And if they do, it must be a hassle! I do have a bike at home, but it didn't really fit in the car..
Thousands of students come and go every year, and I'm sure some would rather sell their trusty bike than attempt to haul it home... especially if the student had to fly home! And of course there's the environmental aspect, recyling unused bikes is much better for everyone than buying loads of new ones (except for the bike shops).
Anyway, I got the idea of a student bike exchange. Students of Manchester can sell a bike they would rather not have to take home, earning a few notes, and other students get a cheap bike that works and is in the same city!
Then I realised it applies to a lot of other things too - especially expensive course books. Around my first term at uni, I noticed ripped notes advertising course books, hanging off a small noticeboard in my department building. It was then that I was surprised to find no real student market set up for selling old books, in Manchester. So that's what I set out to do.
After mentioning my revolution to a few flatmates, we had a brainstorm of ideas that radiated from the market into other money making ideas, then money saving tips and ultimately establishing an online community for Manchester students. Somehow I came out with the name Save The Student (as in saving students from debt, by saving money.. a stroke of genius, I'm sure you'll agree). I liked the fact that it invokes a strong sense of emotion and curiosity, and how it could be interpreted as a political statement. Even better than that, it's calling to students to save themselves.. so a bit of self-preservation thrown in too! With that, I threw my first chunk of cash into buying savethestudent.org and savethestudent.com.
Well anyway, that was all a quite a long time ago now! Initially I dived into it head first, coming up with an initial website layout the very next day of our little conference. The enthusiasm did tail off a little in the wake of nightly drunkenness leading up to the Christmas break.
Then there were the January exams, which meant revision and a lot more Pro Evo than normal. Since the start I have created four separate websites in my quest to build up savethestudent.org into an large, interesting resource for Manchster students. Unfortunately I can be a huge perfectionist, as well as making a few spontaneous diversions (such as inter-railing for three weeks two days after planning it). Therefore it's taken a long while to get to this stage. Finally, I'm more than happy with this fourth-time-lucky site, I think.
Right now, barely anyone knows of the site. That's partly because I like the idea of a big launch, when there is actually a lot of half-useful stuff on the site for students. But this has meant so so so much work, that admittedly I over-estimated. It also hasn't helped that I have attempted to immediately pursue every new idea I've had since. Now, though, my motivation is beginning to suffer a little and so I am on the path out into the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
Hopefully, the site and idea will get the interest of other students to contribute and get involved in the site. At the end of the day, it's all for them.. they're the endangered species we're protecting. Over the next few days I'm gonna try and tie the main sections up, flatten out a few bugs (they have been such a pain in my arse, and head) and then do a little launch by getting some other people on board.. then for the big one as freshers' week eventually comes.
I didn't intend to write this much.. and I wouldn't usually. It's a strange form of procrastination as I have a lot of other content to write up for the main site.
But before I stumble along with that, I should belatedly welcome you to save the student. This is where the magic happens, and I look forward to updating you with more developments in the quest to save the student!
For now, take it easy.
Fred
(BTW, that's not my 'real' name!)
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