Moving out is all fun and games until you own no more than a mattress. Furnishing an apartment can be tough when you don’t have the funds to purchase an entirely new living room. When seeking out furniture, remember that it will only be in your student house for a maximum of four years. Don’t break the bank for furniture! Here are some tips on seeking out affordable furniture. 1) Furnished Apartments This option is super simple. Your cost of rent will be a little higher because the entire apartment is furnished unless of course, you join us at St Cathy's Montreal Student Residence with furnished apartments at the fraction of a studio apartment price. Nonetheless, furnished accommodations are ideal for students who are unable to move some of their own furniture to their new house. It is also ideal for students who aren’t looking to add the stress of furnishing a home. Furnished apartments are definitely super fun but take into consideration your budget for rent. Click here to learn more. 2) Multi-Purpose Furniture Multi-purpose furniture is super convenient because you’re getting two options for the price of one! For example, if you’re purchasing a couch, look for a sofa that doubles as a pull-out couch. You will be getting both a bed and a couch for the cost of one. While it may not be ideal to sleep on a pull-out couch, you won’t have to spend money right away to buy a bed also! 3) City-Wide Garage Sales Specifically, in the summer, seek out city-wide garage sales! Not only are they fun, but you will definitely find lots of furniture and decorations that you can afford. Be prepared to spend more than you expect because people have so many things to sell and you’ll just want it all! 4) Kijiji Is Your Friend It may feel sketchy or unsafe sometimes to purchase furniture, appliances, or decorations off of someone online, but Kijiji is by far the safest out of all. Use the search engine to narrow down the type of items you need, the preferred location, and the maximum budget. You will be surprised with the amount of options you have! 5) Old Tenants = New Friends If you’re lucky enough to meet the old tenants of your potential new home, you are truly blessed. When moving, getting rid of a lot of things becomes part of the game. There is a good chance that the previous tenants are looking to sell some of their items that you may need in your Montreal student residence room, such as an ironing board or a kettle. Ask them about their move and hopefully they’ll give you a good price on some of the things they’re getting rid of. 6) IKEA Wild Night Sale Most IKEA's will participate in an annual student night sale. This sale will be your lifesaver when buying furniture. IKEA will drop their prices quite a bit for this specific night because of the amount of students that participate in the event. Do everything in your power to not buy everything you see! While it is new furniture, this will be a benefit when and if you decide to sell it in the future. If you are staying in a Montreal student residence, this can be a great chance to spice up your room with some art and decorations. 7) On Campus Residence Move Out Sale Most universities and colleges host an event where students can sell the things they don’t need. While it might not be couches and beds, you may be able to find bookshelves and smaller appliances such as toasters for cheaper! Moving into a university off-campus Montreal student residence is all apart of the experience. No one said the experience had to be more expensive than it already is! Take these options into consideration and you will end up with a beautiful room that you’ll be proud of.

Goodmorning Sunshine! You know those crazy student's who show up to 8:30 class early and look alive? Well, you can become a morning person too. Students can get tasks done easier by waking up early before their peers and the online world. Waking up early can also allow you to prevent missing daily tasks, increasing student success. There are numerous times I did not wake up early for the walk-in-clinic or sent an email too late for a response that same day. Keep reading for tips to maintain this early morning habit.  1. Beat your alarm Put your alarm across the room to force yourself to get out of bed. Student's love to hit the snooze button and this prevents that. If you are someone who listens to music before you sleep, you can also set an alarm on your computer and place it across the room. Putting a glass of water beside your alarm and chugging will also help you wake up. Water fires up your metabolism and rehydrates your body which will improve your alertness. 2. Stay warm Similarly, winter can make your room an icebox so if you don't like waking up in the cold prepare the night before. Put a sweater, sweats and slippers (or socks) beside your bed so you can put them on while you're still under the covers. Taking a hot shower can have the same effect. Prepping your coffee and tea the night before can also decrease the amount of time it takes to make your hot caffeinated drink and warm your body up. 3. Wake up at the same time Plan to always wake up at the same time, despite the time you go to bed. If you have trouble doing this the first night, its okay. The less sleep you get the first night will make you more tired the next, and you will be able to regain the lost sleep. Tracking your sleep cycles will allow you to wake up without feeling tired. Tools like Sleep Calculator are a great resource to track what time you should go to bed. Even if you pull an all-nighter the night before you can plan to sleep for one full sleep cycle and somewhat make it through the day. 4. Plan a to-do list Write a to-do list the night before. Minimize the amount of time you need to get ready and eat breakfast if you have a heavy workload. If you need a big long breakfast to wake yourself up then plan your time around that. Extra time needed for serious tasks can be saved by doing meal prep for lunch and choosing the "right" outfit the night before. If to-do lists stress you out try doing a rolling-list which breaks up your projects into steps. Instead of completing a full assignment you can divide your time to focus on your readings, studying, and completing a portion of your assignments. 5. Prepare your work If you have certain readings you need to do, have them saved and open on your laptop. For textbooks, just have the right chapter open. For assignments, have the rubric, objective, citation guideline and any research you have already done, open. Structure your work by what you are most excited about or the easiest to the least exciting. When you get to the harder and denser work you will already be focused and in the zone. 6. Eat a healthy breakfast Last but not least, eat a well-balanced breakfast. Some days I could get away with a typical student diet of coffee or leftover pizza but if you have a lot of stuff to do, feed your brain! Fruits have natural sugars that will wake you up and eggs, oatmeal, peanut butter, and yogurt will fill your stomach so you can wake up and focus on your tasks. Check out other brain foods to boost your focus on our blog here. Starting your mornings right can help you accomplish more tasks than you would complete during the entire day. Plan your days right and boost your productivity to finally beat mornings and make it to class on time. What are you favorite tricks to achieve student success by waking up early? Let us know in the comment section below.

Get on track! Naturally, during the busy school year, it’s easy to push things off until a calmer time rolls around. With midterms coming quickly, take this opportunity to organize important parts of your life that may get neglected as your time becomes increasingly occupied. From your health to financial management, check out these 5 great tools that will help you be your best self! Achieving your goals has never been easier. FitnessPal Track your steps, exercise and eating habits with this goal-centric fitness mobile application. With a simplified experience that involves searching or scanning your food items and exercise, Fitnesspal is easily the best app to stay on top of your health! Mint: Money Manager Save for your future house, retirement, or even just that clothing item you’ve been dying for with Mint Money Manager. There’s no better way to achieve your financial goals than beginning to track your finances and spending. Trello Track your to-do’s, commitments, and goals, by using the new application Trello. This app is perfect to map out your schedule or track your workflow, no matter where you are in life; school, work, or aspiring to/running your own venture, among others. Best of all with mobile, tablet, desktop and Mac applications, this platform is always accessible. Last Pass Okay, this one isn’t exactly free – but is sure to free up space in your mind! Last Pass is a mobile and desktop application that controls all of your passwords, automatically inputting them for each platform you choose to use. This way, logging in is as simple as the click of a button, while simultaneously only requiring you to remember one password. Cram Cram is hands down the best study tool available today! This web/mobile application allows you to create countless flashcards for different subjects, that are shared between your web account and mobile application. This way, you can study on-the-go, while enjoying easy creation through their web-based platform. Did we miss your favorite productivity app? If you have any awesome life hacks or tools to help with productivity, that we’ve failed to mention, educate us in the comment section below!