There are definitely some downfalls to being a uni student. For years we endure countless hours of lectures, tutorials, exams, essay writing and financial instability, and incur massive amounts of debt, all in the name of our future employability.

This would sound like a bad joke if it weren’t for the glorious benefits that come with the student status, like an eventual degree and discounts on basically anything. As I can’t help you out with the former, here are five perks of being a student you should take advantage of while you can.

Buy Your Books For A Bargain With StudentVIP

As if the cost of your degree wasn’t bad enough, most disciplines require you to buy textbooks and subject readers for every subject you take at uni. Those babies aren’t cheap, ranging from $40 to $200 depending on your institution and area of study.

Thankfully, StudentVIP caught onto this injustice years ago and have provided an easy service for buying new and second-hand books at a fraction of their retail price. You can also use the service to find tutors for your course, buy subject notes from previous students (or sell yours) and gauge how awesome or awful a class is from their subject rating section.

Get A Laptop From Apple For An (Almost) Reasonable Price

If you’ve been lusting after the Apple tech every second person at uni has but you definitely can’t afford it, save some extra dosh by utilising the educational pricing Apple offers to uni students.

Education discounts range from around $50 to $150 off laptops and computers, with an additional $100 gift card on selected models. You can also get a 50 per cent off discount on Apple Music which gives you access to every song ever released on iTunes for a measly $5.99 a month.

Layby Flights 

That’s right, your student status means discounted airfares and the opportunity to not even pay for them upfront if you’re not able to.

On top of that, STA Travel also offers free working holiday packages, free travel days on Eurail passes, 10 per cent off Virgin flights and a whole lot of other goodies for all adventurous uni students and anyone under 26 to sink their teeth into.

Buy Cheap AF Clothes Through UNiDAYS

UNiDAYS is like finding water in a desert of low account balances. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your PC, need a new pair of jeans, or want to sign up to a gym when you’re running out of money (see what I did there), UNiDAYS has a discount of around 10 to 25 per cent off on almost anything you can think of.

Save 10 per cent on your Optus and Telstra phone plans, get 20 per cent off a gym membership at Fitness First, receive student pricing at stores like ASOS, Lorna Jane Topshop and Surf Stitch. You can even get 10 per cent off at Amcal pharmacy or on accommodation bookings through Hotels.com.

Get Cut-Price Subscriptions On Tech Software From Student Discounts

Being a uni student today unfortunately means needing lots of different software to replace the classic pen and paper of yesteryear. Computer software is stupidly expensive, which is why Student Discounts offers it for a cut-price to uni students.

Through Student Discounts, you can pay less for things like Microsoft Office, Abode Illustrator and Photoshop. But before you go on a software shopping spree, check if your institution offers it for free while you’re enrolled. Most universities across Australia do, which is another spectacular perk of being a student.

Penny is a Philosophy and Media and Communications student at the University of Melbourne. She enjoys travelling, snacking, and not going to the gym.

(Lead image: Legally Blonde/Paramount)