I need a plan - come and advise me please!!!

[flootshoot]

I have been looking into studying since 2005 when I quit my nursing training. The main thing that stopped me was time and money (although that seems laughable now I have DS/am working part time/paying for childcare ). Anyway, I'm now pregnant with DC2 and working a new job (job share) two days a week, which pays a bit more than my old job did so pro-rata I am earning more.

I really, really want to return to studying one day. I realise that it's unrealistic at the moment (our money situation is not great) but I'm thinking that once DS is at school it might be more doable. Has anyone else come up wth a long term plan and stuck to it? I'm a bit of a 'now or never' person so the idea is a bit alien to me, but I really want to achieve a degree before I hit 40 (am 30 this year).

Advice would be great!

Hi, Prolesworth, no, I'm not planning to go back to nursing. I quit because I was fed up with shift working (had been doing it for years) and wanted a more 9-5 existence.

I've been considering the OU for years but can't afford it (we earn just slightly too much for financial assisatnce). But really I'd love to go back to a 'real' uni IYSWIM - for me it's the whole experience. Not sure what I want to study yet though!

Why don't you get a few prospectuses and see what sort of subjects you are interested in? Do you want to do something that is in the same vague area as the nursing - science, psychology, social science or something completely different like medieval history or computer science? That would be my starting point.

I like the OU because you can spread the cost and it is hugely flexible but obviously it doesn't give you the same experience as a "real" university.

You should also consider what you might able to get help with from student grants etc if you are starting a new first degree. I know there are some student parents in my university nursery who get some cover for the childcare costs (lucky them, I don't!). So perhaps your youngest ds could be in university nursery and be slightly subsidiesed while your older ds is in school. Frankly, studying must be about the most flexible you can be while raising children (you can be with them when they need you) even if the money is tight for a few years. Good luck

thanks for your advice. We live in brighton and not planning to move so it'd be one of the unis here I guess (lucky enough to have two!) . I'm still considering the OU though. Decisions, decisions.