Durham delivers a bargain Freshers’ Week as first years spend just £30 a night

Freshers this week have blown just £30 a night, leaving plenty over for extortionate balls and club nights later on in term.

While the average fresher splashes out £42 a night on club entry, pre-drinks, taxis and drinking, Durham students can expect to spend less and get more for their money, thanks to Northern value alcohol, club entry and food.

The national average cost is a whopping £400 – compared to a cheap £200 for us.

Before the highly anticipated week began, a compulsory purchase of the coveted freshers wristband set freshers back much less than the national average of £33, with Jobo offering it for free and Hild Bede doing a bulk buy deal for £60 for two massive weeks.

A recent study reckons we spend an impressive £16 on clothing a night.  But in reality, most freshers can throw an outfit together for under a fiver thanks to Durham’s plethora of charity shops, cheap fancy dress stores and sharing students.

Squad Goals

British students may spend £6.30 per night on pres, but in bargain Duzza you can get away with a third/half a vodka bottle for £5 or a perfectly palatable bottle of wine for £3.

Once freshers hit the town, club entry varies from nothing at Fabios to £3 at Loveshack.  Even the special club nights such as the Cosmic Dance at Loft/Studio usually only cost less than £5. Most unis charge £5-10 for standard club entry, meaning we can easily justify going out every night of freshers.

If you’re flagging, the North delivers in Durham, where you can bag a couple of trebles for £6 to see you through till two. This is a huge mark down on the national average of £20.70 for five doubles.

Drunk food in Urban Oven will certainly satisfy your appetite – £5 for a 10 inch pizza or chips for only £1.50. 

In the toy town, taxi costs are also no concern for Durham freshers (unless you go to Butler, but whatever). Most people end up trekking back up the hill munching on their food.

The calories are free, right?

Even with college meals, the urge for hangover food is real.  Various forms of potatoes don’t satisfy the calling for crisps and other junk after a big night out.  Expect to fork out £5 in Tesco for hangover food.

Finally, if freshers can bring themselves to roll out bed for the DSU or college freshers fair, they’ll be surprised by the low membership fees for Durham’s clubs and socs, but the savvy ones will just attend free the taster sessions before trading cash.

You’re probably not going to turn up anyway

So if you add up fancy dress, pre drinks, club entry, more drinks, drunk food and hangover food, the average cost per night out comes in at under £30, which is considerably lower than the typical British fresher spend of £42.

Recently declared by MoneySupermarket to be the cheapest place to be a student, Durham offers students a bargain freshers experience compared to the national average.

But as Olivia from Hild Bede rightly said: “Club entry and drinks are so cheap in Durham that it’s easy to forget how much you’re spending.

“Because we think we can afford to go out all the time, some of us probably end up spending as much as freshers in other more expensive cities anyway.”