Everyone looking forward to school starting?

[onlyevertartanjammies]

DD is going into P2

I can't believe this time last year she was just starting. Now she is really ready to go back so am I

We've to pick up the (gosh, I've forgotten the word.... custom? school embroidered) jumper, cardigan and outdoor learning stuff on Thursday. Hoping to hell it all fits. MIL has promised to buy her a lunchbox and then that'll be us!

No chance would (or could) we give DD that sort of money to "live off". She has 2 part time jobs and Student Loan if that's not enough.

She had her fair share of Lidl (shop not her maw) 9p noodles and never wants to look at pesto again. Some of that was down to learning how to budget but was partially due to rankness of kitchen. She's looking forward to her flat share as she is a dab hand at roasted peppers and butternut squash.

This time next year DD2 could be moving into halls, she likes the look of some RGU courses. Halls for one and rent for another

Itsall - we sounded like raving alcoholics in the news books. Every Monday was a tale of wine and beer. We had 3 under 5 at that point and were permanently shattered. Turns out she couldn't be bothered actually writing about what we had done so copied every Monday but altered the location from Thai to Italian to steakhouse. Enterprising I suppose.

Lidl, my DS2 went to McDonalds every weekend for a year. We went once, he wrote about it, got a star and so repeated the same news for the entire P2. The fact that we took hims to parks, castles, the circus, etc etc etc was never mentioned.

Niece was in Aberdeen, SIL says halls there are most expensive in Scotland!

I don't want DD to be stoney broke , but I don't really want her to think that money grows on trees.

I'm not sure how DD will cope with disgusting kitchen in halls , she's not very tolerant of others peoples mess, let alone dirt. She was at a pals last week and they had their cat walking over the worktop while they were preparing food, DD was so grossed out she wouldn't eat any thing, said she wasn't hungry .

So I think halls will be a steep learning curve for her.

We are not that houseproud BTW , I don't know where she gets it from.

< makes metal note to pack disinfectant spray for her >

When I was in halls of residence ( in the last century ) , we had a three 5th students who shared our kitchen and they were very bossy strict about it being kept clean. Our mothers woudl have been proud of us .

Mind you it was all female students . And I suspect that in the olden days , teenage girls were more housetrained

re news jotter - one of our kids wrote nothing except " we went to church " for most weeks. Teacher must have felt very sorry for them .

Wait til you get the class bear home for the weekend . You don't get any notice so you suddenly have to think up an educational but exciting weekend . If you are stuck, my tip is to take the bear to the supermarket to weight fruit and veg. Or bake . Photogenic and good for maths .

The bear went to MacDonalds / nandos / Frankish and bennys with everyone else

Class bear many moons ago. think he went swimming or to visit Granny.

Swimming???? You are brave

Bear sat with Mum in the stands

Might have been DS1 with the swimming - I get very confused! Somebody took it swimming and somebody took it visiting. that's about as close as I get.

Halls are ridiculously expensive and most kids are glad to move out in second year. We never had spare money for dd. We would take bags of shopping to keep her going and she had several part time jobs, including working all this summer. We would help with vital money for books or bills,but socialising or her clothes were up to her. I'm very proud of her work ethic.

I stayed in catered halls for all 5 years at St Andrews (I changed course slightly hence the extra year).

It was a long time ago

Iirc, the Uni used the fact that they could rent the rooms out profitably in the holidays (including Easter, when we had to tidy valuables away) to subsidise the cost.

Back then I think it cost something like £300/10 week term (no dinners at weekends) but it was over 30 years ago

No idea how much it costs now.

£6,302/single; £5,724/shared

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation/ug/fees2016/

I think they've all been upgraded though to have ensuite bathrooms (although the residence I was in had the luxury of sinks in every room) and the fees now include internet access (didn't exist waaaayy back then ) and hall subs.

That's DD dilemma now, to go for halls that are mixed sex but have a sink in the room or single sex and no sink. I'm not keen on mixed sex but the sink would be very useful especially since DD suffers from acne so has lots of lotions and potions she needs to use.

I was in a mixed hall and loved it. They're not mixed as in rooms next to each other - the boys would have one part of the hall and the girls another (eg the rooms off a stairwell/a single sex floor/a single sex annexe)

Since we will likely have two at Uni at the same time, if they go away we are seriously considering buying somewhere as might be cheaper. obviously they may not go to the same place so we are thinking to try and get a two bed flat wherever DS1 goes and if DS2 goes there then fine, otherwise we rent out his room and use the rent to pay his rent elsewhere. When they graduate they can sell up and split the profit (if any after paying off the mortgage). Probably won't work like that but it's an idea.

About a million years ago I was in a single sex hall. Every room had its own sink and showers/loos were shares. Meals were served in the refectory and there was a very small kitchen for snacks etc.
Fast forward 30 years and dd was in mixed halls with an ensuite and a large kitchen. No catering provided. Kitchen quickly became filthy and disgusting. She couldn't wait to move out and shared a flat for 2nd and 3rd year. She has moved back home for final year to save money as she doesn't need to be in every day and can work on her dissertation at home.

MN is so useful! I had visions of DD being sandwiched between a load of males but I've now looked closer into the accommodation and the males are on one level, females on another....plus it's £9 a week cheaper and has a daily cleaner so it makes sense to go for the mixed sex/sink in room option.

If anyone has a spare 5 mins and wants to check out the accommodation at Aberdeen uni and help out a clueless maw, would you choose Grants court or Adam Smith if it was your child wean

My neice has just finished her 1st year at Aberdeen. I can ask her. I know she's moved out this year into private rented accommodation: didn't particularly like the group of people she shared with.

If it was me, I think I'd go for the dorm. If they are in the shared flat with 4 folk they don't gel with it'll be a long year. The dorm gives them more opportunities to only deal with folk they like and ignore those they don't.

...and £10 a week buys a lot of noodles, rice and pasta...

What are all these p1 and p4 things? Is it a Scottish thing?

The clue's in the name Kiki

Yes P = primary

Thanks for the advice, it's been really useful! Definitely going for the dorm option and the extra saving will mount up x39 weeks so that's a bonus.

Haha sorry I've just realised I've hijacked this thread with uni talk