Short on cash? There are many things that students can do to have fun without spending a lot, ranging from student discounts and free products to cheap events and locations.
Do you want to see the newest movie without breaking the bank? Triangle Square’s movie theater has $5 movie tickets all day Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and before 6 p.m. on Sundays. Anyone with a free AMC Stubs account gets discount Tuesdays at AMC theatres.
Are the semester’s late-night food runs burning a hole in your pocket? Student Noah Sales discovered a way to get free Chick-fil-A through their app.
“I signed up for a lot of…Chick-fil-As around the area and a lot of the managers will just send out free food randomly,” Sales explained.
If Chick-fil-A is too far, located in front of Vanguard Center, Great Mex Grill serves three different styles of tacos for only $1.50 every Tuesday and Friday. This deal lasts all day until their closing.
And, for those craving something more on the sweeter side, Del Taco has started offering mini shakes and floats for $1 each.
Annoyed by ads when you are listening to your favorite playlist? Spotify Premium and ad-supported Hulu and Showtime cost only $5 a month. However, this is not the only discount students can hunt for. Many stores and brands have student discounts that aren’t advertised, but thankfully sites like collegeinfogeek.com and myunidays.com have extensive lists of such discounts.
Amazon Prime Student is a popular discount at $6.49 per month with a free six-month trial. This is roughly half of the regular price of a regular monthly subscription. An annual subscription, however, is even cheaper at around $4.92 a month. That means the usual benefits like Prime Video and free two-day shipping, but it also comes with exclusive deals just for students. On top of that, Prime Music Unlimited’s collection of over fifty-million songs is only 99 cents a month.
While the university has its own library, another free way to get content like comics, movies, books, and the latest music is through Hoopla. With a library card, students can check out a limited number of items per month, depending on the library.
Are you looking for somewhere local to explore? Every weekend, the OC Market Place takes place across the street from campus at the OC Fair and Events Center. Parking is free and there is a $2 admission fee, but for visitors before 9 a.m. it is free. The event has live music, various booths, and places to grab food. Some vendors even give free samples.
There are also many other free and cheap things to visit. The Noguchi Garden, for instance, is a hidden sculpture garden about three miles away from Vanguard that is free and has high praise from Yelp. The Orange County Museum of Art is also free, and it’s about four miles away. The Lyon Air Museum is an aerospace museum that has a World War II emphasis that costs $12 for entrance.
Exploring nature on a hike or relaxing at the beach is a popular activity among many students that is free.
Back Bay Trail is less than a mile from campus and, according to senior Bryan Shupe, offers beautiful sunsets. For those who enjoy the sand, Crystal Cove is both a park and a beach.
These are just a few of the many opportunities that students can use to have access to inexpensive or free fun.
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