General Chat

I don't know if they still do it, but there was a book called grub on a grant by cas clarke which gave some useful recipes, although no doubt you can get recipes off the internet now.

Make sure you send plenty of paracetamol and Ibuprofen as they nearly all go down with Freshers Flu after the first week or two!!!,and are really unwell for a while.
A bag of change for the washing machine and drier.I think we sent our son with about £10/15 in pound and 50p coins.

Kemp, has anyone done a link to that thread?

come on folks.....LOL I,m sure theres more than this !!! last year we had tonnes ...dont forget its nearly mid july

n

the moneysavingexpert site is good & has a good forum. They even have a students thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=25

the old style forum is good for keeping costs down too:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

some people sell their books at the end of the year for a reduced price so they can buy them cheaper than new. they'd have to look into this.

Hi Kemp.
I can't believe it is a year since the last thread on Uni .
Don't send too many pants and socks (boys).The more they have the less often they will do washing.Same goes for other clothes too.I counted 20 pairs of boxers on my line!!!!!!!!!.They don't need that many lol.
They are very grateful to have plenty of nice toilet paper as they will then have to buy the cheaper stuff.
Of course as Kemp mentioned a bowl for the puke.Very important if they don't have their own en suite !

Trust Mike .........

Mike they dont need to know where the beer is they will be shown that in freashers week.......then go home an moan MUM didnt pack the paracetamol!!!!!!...........or a bucket to throw up in ....or clean bed linen after we didnt have the bucket and missed the loo!!!!!!!!!!


Condoms and essential part of gear ..............

and don't forget to pack the condoms !!!!! male and female alike

Good grief!What a lot of fuss!

AllI needed to know was where the cheapest beer was and
how to find Student Health!


xxxxx mick

Our home insurance policy also covered our children when they were students in a shared house, but a tiny clause said that their room had to have a separate lock on it. Some of the houses they had did have locks on the bedroom doors, but others didn't. While they were in those houses, I made a special point of ringing up the insurance company and getting them to agree that they didn't need a lock. If I hadn't, they wouldn't have been covered.

Linda .....My sons house was broken into last summer thay had moved everything in and gone of to their parents homes ......they the so and sos broke in ............OUR home insurance gives our son £5,000 cover as its called Roming....which can cover your uni children


BUT PLEASE check this

The mattress pad has already been mentioned, the best place is Ikea, they have a whole range of inexpensive ones, they roll up so are easy to get into the car, but really do make a difference.

Student digs are prime targets for burglars, so try to dissuade them from taking all their valuable stuff to start off with. In shared digs, the insurance is often only valid if their room door has a lock on it AND THEY USE IT, so check the policy carefully. If they do have a lock on the bedroom door, make sure that they have a spare key hidden somewhere else in the house, so much cheaper than having to pay for a locksmith when they lock them selves out or lose the key.

We bought our one of the cheap digital safes to keep their valuables in

DET...its not daft at all .....they often have fancy dress dos so its a must!!!! even Primart stuff needs help!!

DONT FORGET

basic first aid kit .......they ALWAYS get Freashers flu in the first couple of months ........


check they are up to date with injections my son needed menagitus (sp) before he went ....

and warn about swine flu it may have same syntoms!!

This year my son has had LOTS of medicial cost ........hell its been bad ...we have paid for taxis from uni to hospitals about 10 times and then other medicail cost .....so parents on low income FILL in the forms for exception which will get them free prescriptions and free dental glasses...........and put away money in a "jar" to cover any inseen cost of that ....


Books use Amozen
Food cheap isnt always best
plenty of WARM clothes heating is kept to min
SOME unis will glue a micro chip to the lap tops then they can be traced if stollen


Thanks People keep them coming!!

Make sure they do know the accomadation is likely to be basic, the carpets made of hardwearing material thats so rough they won't walk around bare foot, slippers or flip flops are useful espically if in halls and having the odd 'fire drill' also known as 'drunked idiots trying to cook bacon'.

I would say microfibre/proper travel towels (the ones backpacks use), are brillant, if anyone wants to treat their student this is a good gift as they dry very quickly so you don't end up with stinky wet towels (the number of male students who forget mum's not their to pick their towels up off the floor is shocking), also much lighter than normal towels.

If you get there and they are short on shelving but have room the slot together ones for your garage argos sell are a good solution, take a lot of weight (like an old style 14" tv, books etc) and can be taken apart and brought home and maybe even taken to their new place the next year.

A tin with a home made cake -my son never went back after a holiday without one of his nans and he said it was great for comfort eating! (To be hidden well away from the house mates.)

They WILL need TV licence.

Daughter was able to claim some money back at the end of year because she could prove that the term had finished and they'd all vacated uni rooms.

Gwyn