Moving back to Glasgow last month and having lived there for a year before that, I’ve managed to pick up a few ideas to do with where’s good for what.
Whether you’re visiting Glasgow, just moved here or even if you’ve lived here a while, check out these suggestions for places to go.
Feel free to comment and leave me any tips you yourself have picked up on your wanderings, as mine mainly focus on the City Centre and West End of Glasgow, as this is usually where you’ll find me.
Food For Thought
Food shopping in the city is pretty fun, as you’ve got a wide choice of places to choose from.
Student price-wise, you’ll want to hit Aldi for your shopping needs – it’s got a massive selection of fruit and veg at very cheap prices and the korma sauce is very tasty. The carbonara sauce is not. Avoid.
Farmfoods is another goodie to discover – fortunately I have one right down from where I live. Unfortunately our rented flat did not come equipped with a freezer. Chaos ensues.
Appreciate your freezer if you have one. Stock it up with cheap and cheerful tasty things. They do a Pepsi Max deal (12 for £3) which is currently my personal favourite.
Snack-wise, eating while out and about is obviously going to be a bit pricier, but not something you can’t do.
The Naked Soup, (above) which can be found on Kersland Street in the West End, does a special lunch deal – small soup served with a sandwich or salad, a piece of fruit and a soft drink or tea/coffee for £4.95. They have a tasty range of soups, such as Lentil, Sweet Potato and Coconut (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!) and a friendly bunch of staff.
Alternatively, the Centre For Contemporary Arts on Sauchiehall Street does a tasty hot chocolate for £1.60 and if you bring your laptop with you, you can use their Wi-Fi.
Drinks On Me
Or not, as the case may be.
Thankfully, you’ll find lots of pubs and clubs which do cheap deals, especially during the week.
Hit Byre’s Road and head onto Aston Lane and you’ll find a cosy little pub called The Lane which offers £2 cocktails from Monday to Thursday. They make a very tasty Woo Woo cocktail.
The Flying Duck on Renfrew Street is another goodie. I was there recently for a vintage fair/few drinks/general merriment type thing, and I really liked the calm, cosy atmosphere of the place. A vodka and lemonade is only £1.60 Monday to Thursday, so if you fancy a few drinks, but don’t want to hit a club, I’d recommend here.
Make sure you check out FireWater on Sauchiehall Street on a week night – from Monday to Thursday their pitchers of cocktails are reduced from £9 to £5. Buy an Opal Fruit one. It really does taste like Starbursts! (Seen in photo above, along with Woo Woo Cocktails.)
Club-wise, JellyBaby at the ABC on a Thursday night is fun and drinks are cheap. My union at the Art School is perhaps a slightly biased one, as it’s free for me before 12.00 but drinks are only £1.50 and there’s always good music playing.
Shop Heavy, Shop Light
I’m quite big on vintage shopping but as my budget doesn’t always stretch to the posher vintage shops like Mr Ben’s and Watermelon, I’d recommend some serious charity shopping. Yes, you do have to dig more and yes, you might not always find something, but you get a real buzz when you do.
My personal favourite is the Shelter shop situated near St. George’s Cross subway, on Great Western Road. I’ve bought a lot of things there over the last year or two, for very reasonable prices. Scarves for £1, dresses for £4.50, skirts for £1.75, the list goes on.
It sells everything from clothes to books, brick-a-brack to comics – for a small shop it packs a lot in.
Also head down to Salvation Army on Dumbarton Road, a massive shop full of clothes and home-ware. Me and Mark are the proud owners of a record player (£9) and a cute little seat (£3) from the shop. You have to get in quick – if you see something you like, pick it up, as chances are if you go back it’ll have gone.
Come Dine With Me!
Nights in can always be good too, whether you’ve got people round for films or chatting. If you’re a bit strapped for cash, chances are your friends will be too, so remember to share.
I was at one of my friends flats the other night and she made us a very tasty chicken chow mein for dinner. We all chipped in for ingredients, so as there was four of us putting money together, it all worked out pretty cheaply. We’re now thinking of doing it alternate weekends at out flats. It’s a good excuse to hang out, plus you get food pretty cheap too.
I’m perfecting my salmon linguine as we speak. Yes, it sounds like an expensive thing to make, but if you split it four ways, it’s just £2.50 that everyone has to put in the pot.
Mark’s also just finished creating a tasty chick pea and spinach curry, which we worked out only cost £2.50 each to make. Very filling and totally veggie for those who don’t eat meat. He used a Waitrose recipe but we actually used ingredients from Sainsburys, as it was cheaper!
Walk It
The amount you can save from not taking the subway is crazy. Obviously if you have to commute from Partick to Buchanan Street and it’s raining like there’s no tomorrow, jump on the tube. But on a regular day, when you’re not in a big hurry and maybe just want to do some West End shopping, give it a go.
Once you know your way around, I’d really advise cutting out the £2.40 returns and walk it instead. Assuming weather permits and you have a friend willing enough to walk with you as you go, it’ll save you money in the long run. Plus you then have more money for clothes/food/alcohol. This is never a bad thing.
Hope this helps, let me know how you get on and pass on any tips you pick up yourself along the way.
Ellis Cameron, Young in Argyll Editor
Photographs illustrating this article are by Ellis Cameron.
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