Fighting our way through 1st year uni (starting Sept 17)

[HSMMaCM]

Continuing the previous thread.

Exams, assessments, essays, etc.

Support, or lack of it.

Will they all get accommodation for next year and can they cook a balanced meal yet.

DD reapplied for finance. I thought that was what we were supposed to do.

DS might be outed by tuna melt toasties

I nagged DS to go on SFE to renew, & when he logged in, I think he got notification to wait for a letter which arrived yesterday and that said it had auto renewed. Must admit, I haven't looked at the detailso no idea how much he's got...

Horse, Just wondering if they do that for those on minimum?

Need to get DS on to student finance though we had a letter here yesterday telling us what he’d got this year but not mentioning next year.

I think maybe they do bTM.

Got my boy back.
Easy journey down to Southampton to find him not packed.
Left 5pm, something fell off underneath car, green flag, sorted, stop twice to clear windscreen, skid on snow a bit and home!
Back to shopping at Aldi for a month (been using Ocado when just me and DS2).

I get DS back tomorrow, DH collected him Fri and they have gone away for the weekend.

Looking forward to having him home.

Next weekend in theory for us but ds has announced he has a sport tournament that weekend so when he'll appear is anybody's guess. I'm counting down

Hello again.

I'm really sorry for students affected by strikes. DS isn't. He has found three people to flatshare with next session. Whew, I'm relieved, even though they haven't got anywhere yet. Plenty of time though, as London. They haven't talked about their budgets yet.

He's coming home on 2nd april. When he went to book a train ticket at the beginning of January the cheap seats for the easter weekend had all gone, though some popped up in the virgin west coast flash sale last week Priority for the easter hols is to apply for continued help from the charity which currently supports him and Scottish student loans. Our finances have taken a tumble as DH hasn't been in work for a while now and I can only work part time. Quite scary.

He managed to damage his double bass. Repair was £1800 Thank goodness it was insured.

He's enjoying the social side of things much more this term apparently. He has had some gigs, mostly very low paid (almost literally singing for his supper). But they're fun. It's kind of like having a free night out.

Have a lovely easter everyone. Enjoy the time with your young peeps.

Hello all! I've been having a break from MN, I have to go cold turkey occasionally when I get too addicted. hard to believe it's the end of the second term already - DH is off down to pick up DD tomorrow.

Same Errol. Maybe we should start a thread about compulsive mn-ing. On no wait. 😁 I didn't intend all those bottles of gin on my post btw. I

Rogue I'm relieved to see someone else's dc hasn't got accommodation sorted for next year, dd has done a few viewings, but they get snapped up before her group have a chance. I'm feeling quite anxious.

DDs term doesnt finish till next weekend, and she's not coming home till the Easter weekend (though she was back for a few days last week) - DS is going to stay with her next weekend. She twisted her ankle on Fri night so attended her "formal" with a splint and a crutch instead of heels

BTM I hope she recovers soon!

DD doesn't come home until next weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

She doesn't have accommodation for next year sorted yet.

Does anyone know about cars?

We are hopeless. We only own a car to be able to visit elderly DM, and even that is an ancient hand-me-down. We have never actually bought one. However DD will need one at some point to get to placements, so it seems sensible to organise this for next year rather than the year after. Even this year she has had to get up at 6.30am once a week at 6.30am to get a rural bus from the City centre to a GP placement. And her advice she has had is that though something will be arranged for clinical years, if you dont have a car you are always reliant on others.

She can stay with GPs to do an intensive driving course over the summer. But any tips on small, reliable, cheap to run and cheap to repair cars which we would expect her to hold onto for at least five years, possibly seven if she does her early training outside London. And the best place to look when we know nothing.

Also initially I suspect it makes sense for her to use our address as otherwise congestion charge and parking will be horrific. Should I buy the car and have her as named driver, till she has been driving a year and turns 21, with me using it as well during holidays. Or does it have to be in her name as she will be driving it much of the rest of the time. What do other people do?

I don't know about cars but will ask around as I will be facing the same problem soon!

If you need a good driving instructor in Bristol area then I know of one with a great reputation. Worth having a few lessons in area she will be placed to get to know one way systems and city centre short cuts / speed limits.

Rules for adding other people as named driver - go down to the bit about 'fronting' - need to be aware of this...
www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/named-driver/

Thanks. Telematics looks like the solution, not least because it should discourage her from using the car late at night. The list of their top ten car models is also interesting. My mum's carer's car broke down over Christmas and I ended driving the last rental car in the UK from Heathrow to the South Coast on New Years Eve, so the carer could get to my mum's. It was a Fiat 500 and we loved it. I think this car purchase is in danger of becoming a displaced purchase by parents. The car I woud have loved at her age, or worse still, a mini painted in the colours of DH's football team. (DD supports a different team.)

A Passplus course in Bristol before the start of next term, sounds like a good idea. Not least she will need to be able to do hill starts.

My dd has a corsa, cheap ,( to buy and insure for a new driver)reliable easy to get spare parts
Have a look at ingenie insurance...they're good for new , young drivers and have a black box....if she drives well the premium comes down
However be prepared for insurance to cost about £1500 for a new driver under 25!
We now have her on my admiral multicar Insurance with my car as the premium for ingenie was not as competitive after first year

Check out Tesco black box insurance, that was cheapest when we insured DS on his car. As DoLittle says, be aware of 'fronting'. If she drives it most of the time she will need to be the primary driver but it will probably bring the premiums down if you are named as a driver too

All useful. I feel slightly incompetent not knowing how or where to buy a car. But I am enjoying looking at pictures of cute cars. Parking in our part of town is £4ph, add in congestion charge even at a residents rate, and driving is rarely first choice when I need to go somewhere. It will probably make sense for the car to stay down there and for DD to take the train when coming home.

Her DB should be going to the US in the summer to study for a PhD. He too can't drive, and doesn't seem to believe me when I suggest he should learn. His problem.

DH is adding DD to his car insurance for a few weeks at a time in the vacations so she can keep her hand in (she did the Pass Plus course during the Xmas hols). But last week he was investigating whether he could get it insured for her for the duration of the 12 week summer placement she's just got - really not doable as she won't be living at home, short of actually transferring ownership to her.

Do2little. We live in Bristol and my daughter has failed her driving test on a number of occasions. She is now at Birmingham uni and given up for now but realises she will have to go back to it when she finishes.
Could you let me know the name of your recommended driving instructor. Thanks x

Needmoresleep ds will be needing a car for the same reason as your dd. We happen to have a small second car (Toyota Aygo) which is very economical and cheap to run. We have decided that for ds's first year he is named driver on my insurance without fronting because he doesn't have the car at uni with him and it's my car first. It cost us about £800 to add him onto mine. (Advantages of this is it was the cheapest option to get him insured and I am genuinely driving it more than him. Disadvantage he doesn't build up a no claims bonus in his own name).

When he eventually needs the car there himself for getting to placements we will transfer it to his name and I will become the named driver for use of car when he's home. The insurance to do that cost more like £2500 a year. (I'm hoping it will be less after his year on mine but that may be wishful thinking.)

I've PM'd you the details Teenagedream so let me know if they don't get through to you.