22 Foxhole East

kerri_gt

I went to Uni in London and remember back then the loans being more and thus the debt being higher (although mine was the old loans system,  the one between grants going out and loans now). 
We had our flat cleaned once a week, they alternated each year between male / female flats to give the rooms a chance to recover 😂
Final term of first year my mum did a massive food shop with me that lived in two banana boxes under my bed, pasta, tins etc. I still had lots left by the end of term.

Laundry powder was one thing I was glad to have a big box of as that can be quite costly, and heavy  to carry from store (it was dropped off in the car at the start of term)

greent

Neither of my eldest 2 had duvets or pillows provided in Halls - we now have an abundance of them as a result of having 2 at uni at the same time   I figure they can hang around for #3 & #4   Both of their unis offered a package deal for international students where they could buy everything in a package, such as duvet, duvet covers, pillows, crockery etc and then donate it to a CS after (arrangement with the unis) - wasn't a bad price, tbh - but obviously they paid for the convenience of no shopping and delivery straight to their room before they arrived

If you don't go down the heated airer route then definitely a 'normal' one. I find Sains in early Sept have lots of handy for uni household stuff in the sale - and A1d1 do a off to uni special week, so I suspect L1d1 may also do the same... Even then, CS and faceb00k mktplace are often fab - we picked up a table and 6 chairs for free which we 'donated' to DS1's student house last year  

f0xh0les

Child Tax Muppets that don't owe me anything just credited my bank account with £1156.42.  for last year.

What if I had actually needed that extra £23 a week?  They make my brain hurt, honest they do.

Hopefully this is our last encounter - with one less child on the account, and DH's promotion, maybe they can go away and be rubbish at someone else instead.

On the plus side, the renovations account is nearly at £19k

in_need_of_direction

For reasons unknown, ds had a constant need for tea towels and tea spoons.

apple_muncher

How are your aches today?

f0xh0les

Absolutely fine up until 4.30pm when they all started screaming again.  Weird!

Busy day volunteering, f/b was busy now we have opened the coffee lounge again, so people grab their food, sit and have a coffee and a biscuit, take another look out over the free fruit and veg again, and take what they forgot to take in the first place because they were too stressed to look properly the first time.  

We shifted a lot of free extras today.  We were able to give away 7.5kg sacks of spuds, onions, cabbages, greens, aubergines, courgettes, asparagus, spring onions, avocado, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cauliflowers, lemons, nectarines, kiwis, peaches, plums, plus lots of wraps and bread and boshed / slightly  past bb date tins.

Sadly the pot noodles and biscuits and packets of angel delight disappear long before the fruit.   We rarely have cakes and biscuits left over, we always have fresh fruit and veg. 

We  do pass it on to another charity that feeds people, so very little gets wasted most weeks.  But sometimes you really wonder what on earth people eat if they don't know what to do with a broccoli.  Don't even get me started on celeriac or bns.

badmemory

What worries me is if they have absolutely no cooking facilities or can't afford to actually turn them on.  But fruit should still be usable shouldn't it.  Maybe they just have no clue as to what out dietery(sp) requirements are.  Themselves brought up on takeaways maybe.  It is no wonder the NHS struggles.

jennystarpepper

Picking up on what has been said about left over fruit & veg, we take excess and also grow extra on our allotment for local homeless shelters.  We get lots of excited Ooo's and Awww's when the residents or people coming for a meal see things like Marrows or Rhubarb being dropped off, I have heard a few times people making ref. to grandparents and food being cooked for them as a child... one person was so happy to see a Marrow and appeared a little sad when they said ' tea will be made for tonight, so we won't get this', they gave the Marrow a hug as they said it.

It feels as if a generation has missed or a gap has appeared in cooking skills.  

Lol, I hate Marrows and Rhubarb.

LadyWithAPlan

I won a frying pan when I was in uni, I still use it today and smile. 

A rice cooker is also a thing of beauty as he can also add passata,  veg and spices and beans   to the white/brown with soy sauce etc and have quick nutritious cheap rice veg dishes cooked in 30/40 mins. Plus it does not burn or need watching.  I have had mine for 30 years - the handle is broken but it still works. 

The NUS on twitter /probably other SM etc are worth following and occasionally have comps and advice.

I am sure you have  made him  look in detail with you with the best offers on student bank accounts - free railcards being preferable to tat I guess you have taught him how to do a budget

Having a job say 2 nights a week at the student union or local  or in a restuarant will also save him money, maybe feed him on the nights he works and is great for the real world experience.

kerri_gt

jennystarpepper said:

Picking up on what has been said about left over fruit & veg, we take excess and also grow extra on our allotment for local homeless shelters.  We get lots of excited Ooo's and Awww's when the residents or people coming for a meal see things like Marrows or Rhubarb being dropped off, I have heard a few times people making ref. to grandparents and food being cooked for them as a child... one person was so happy to see a Marrow and appeared a little sad when they said ' tea will be made for tonight, so we won't get this', they gave the Marrow a hug as they said it.

It feels as if a generation has missed or a gap has appeared in cooking skills.  

Lol, I hate Marrows and Rhubarb.

It think it's partly 'generation microwave' - I still remember my mum getting her first one (actually only one, she still uses it) fitted with the new kitchen. Came with a 'cooking' book and she could honestly do a full English breakfast, ping style. Then throw in the rise of convenience meals, the rise of flats and even houses these days have postage stamp gardens, perhaps people having more income to go out and not want to be at home having to cook, and the cherry on the top is the lack of importance Home Ec (or whatever it's now called) was given in schools and it's a wonder people can still peel a spud. 
I remember looking round local snr schools and one actually had home 'flat' set ups - where pupils in yr 9 (I think) would spend a day or so living in a domestic sitting - I do mean actually cooking for a family etc etc, not sat playing the playstation (hard as it wasn't invented then  ) 

Scary when you think now how little importance basic skills of 'how to feed oneself and stay alive' are given - our cave ancestors would be horrified.