My biggest concern before coming to Copenhagen was managing my money. One of the first things they tell you about Copenhagen is that it’s super expensive to live here. Here are some of the methods and tricks I’ve been using to make this summer worthwhile on a budget!
Food
While DIS is extremely helpful in supplying most household necessities as a part of the housing fee, you still have to pay for your own food. At my school at home, I’m on a dining plan so I rarely cook. The obvious way to combat food costs is to cook most of your meals at home, so I had to adapt to that change. Here are some of my tips.
-Bring your lunch to class!
I know sometimes it’s super difficult to maintain self-control when your classmates are going out to fancy cafés during the lunch break, but those lunches stack up fast. Even getting just coffee or a pastry and then eating my lunch from home is something that has really helped!
-Coordinate Meals with your Roommate
My roommate and I often will cook dinner together and split the cost. It’s a pretty good system. Usually, we make some sort of pasta (super cheap and easy), and I cook the noodles and she makes the sauce. This way, we cut cook time and price in half. It works.
-Too Good To Go App!
Too Good To Go is an app that sells discounted surplus food from restaurants and cafés in the area. This has been a great way for me to try different restaurants without the hefty price tag. It’s also a great way to promote sustainability in Denmark! I’ve had anything from take-out meals from sushi restaurants to leftover pastries from bakeries and cafés.
Experiences
-Free Museum Days
Lots of museums in the area have designated days where admission is completely free! Some of my favorites have been Glyptoteket (Free on Tuesdays), The Museum of Copenhagen (Free on Wednesdays) and the Human Library (always free).
-Green Kayak
Another thing Copenhagen offers to promote sustainability is the Green Kayak concept. Basically, you get to kayak for an hour, but instead of paying for it, you pick up trash around the canal as payment.
-Beer Yoga
Every other Wednesday, I ride my bike to the harbor to do completely free, outdoor Beer Yoga. Basically, you get a free yoga class and can of beer with a pretty view!
-Google Flights
A lot of people utilize their time in Copenhagen to travel to other European countries. This can get pretty expensive pretty quickly, but Google Flights has been my friend in terms of booking cheap flights to my bucket-list destinations. You can set it up to where it send you a ntoification if the flight prices drop as well. I was able to go to Greece and Switzerland last weekend for fairly cheap because of this!
