Fancy stopping in for the night?

Fancy stopping in for the night? Had enough of going out and drinking? Need to save money? Well there are plenty of ways to pass the time and have great fun when you stay in, you needn't be bored ever again! Some of the best times I've had at University so far have been spent in my flat with my friends, just having fun watching films or playing games, when you are at university you have to be inventive and make fun for yourselves out of the simplest of things.

The simplest way to pass the time is to watch a film, it is something you can do on your own or with a group of friends, staying in and watching a film with your friends is always great fun. Also, between you and your friends there will always be a wide selection of films to watch, if you are living in student halls you will find that there will always be someone that has a film that you have not seen before. Between our flat last year we had almost every current, chart film released, so finding something to watch wont be a problem. Watching a film that someone else recommends is also a very good idea, I watched some really good films that I wouldn't have even thought about seeing, you might find that you don't like it, but if you've borrowed it from them, you haven't even lost any money and it still would have passed the time.

 If you don't have any films that you want to watch, you can always rent them, in Birmingham there are plenty of film rental companies such as Blockbuster, but my recommendation is to use a company called Love Film. They are an online, DVD and games rental company, who have over 65,000 films, TV series or games available to rent, ranging from the latest blockbusters to old classics, you will always find something you want to rent. They are an online subscription company, so you pay monthly, and depending on what subscription you get, you can rent up to 3 DVD's at a time for as little as £9.99 a month! How it works is, you chose the films you want to watch online (http://lovefilm.com) they post the DVD's out to you, when you've finished watching it, you send it back to them (free of charge) when they receive the rental back, you then chose your next ones. I found it to be a really good system and if you are quick enough to send them back, you can realistically rent 4 DVD's a week for a month which works out at about 65 pence a rental, which is much cheaper than going to somewhere like Blockbuster, which can charge up to £3.95 per rental! Even if you only rent 6 DVD's or games a month is still really cheap.

If you have a television available, an even cheaper form of entertainment is choosing a television series or soap that is going to be on for a long time, something like Lost, Heroes or Hollyoaks that you and your friends are keen to see, and watch every episode. Series like Lost, Heroes are 24 are great, because they are guaranteed to be of around 20 episodes, so you will always have something to watch at least once a week, plus it gives you something to talk about with your mates.

If you are into sports computer games, then one thing to do is to hold tournaments for you and your friends, if you get a group of friends and some beer you could run a competitions to see who is the best Pro-Evo, Fifa or Tiger Woods player, this always creates hours of fun, it is also I good way to make friends and introduce yourself during the first few weeks of university. You can also make things a little more interesting by betting money, if everyone pays a certain amount to enter the competition and the winner takes all of the money, then it's a sure way to make it more interesting and competitive.

One of my favourite things to do when you are stuck inside for the night is to simply talk to your friends, make some food (or snacks) get a few drinks in and just talk and have a laugh, it's a great way to pass the time and have fun! You will also learn a lot about your friends by doing this, and hopefully make your friendship better.

Games are a good way to pass the time, everyone's got a board game or a pack of cards somewhere at home, so bring them with you, and spend the day playing games that you used to play when you where little, games like Monopoly, Jenga, Twister (if you have room) Snakes and Ladders etc. You will be surprised how much fun you can have playing games if you are a little bored one day, perhaps have a few drinks and you will find things get much more exciting. Card games are another way to pass the time and socialise, enjoy playing poker? Then invite some of your friends over for a poker game, it's a great way to kill time and have fun at the same time, and if you are good a poker and you are playing for money, then it is a good way to get some extra cash!

There are endless things you can do to keep you amused if you are staying in, but the most important thing in my opinion is to be with people you enjoy spending time with and have fun with them, if you are with people that you like and get on well with, then you will always find something to amuse yourselves and pass the time (however crazy it might be.)