Postgrad Room Tour

Hey dolls,

Thought I'd let you have a nosey at my current university room.

For my postgraduate accommodation I put a deposit down on privately rented house with some friends earlier on this year. My place on my MSc course had not been confirmed yet so I took a risk and assumed I would get onto it, since there's no bloody way I could have afforded on-campus post grad accommodation! Ridicul-arse prices.

Also, a lot of the decorations and storage will be the same as in my previous room tours because I'm poor and really can't afford or be bothered to buy new things every year.

Storage boxes - B & M

Blanket - Matalan

Love heart fairy lights - Amazon

Mirror - B & M

Black storage drawers - ASDA

(Not sure where either of the heart hanging decs are from as they were gifts).

Hanging flower vine - Amazon

LOVE Ornament - B & M

Coasters - B & M

Candle - ASDA

+ various toiletries and perfumes

(Photo is pretty dark but FYI the bed has a leather headboard and a memory foam aka best-thing-on-the-planet mattress).

Blanket - ASDA

Quilt Covers - Amazon

Lamp - ASDA

Woodwick Trilogy Candle - Boots

Slippers - Next

Coasters - B & M

Butterfly Ornament - B & M

Bits and bobs storage box - B & M

Pearl fairy lights - B & M

Canvas - B & M

Tray - B & M

Raspberry Candle - The Range

Elephant candle holder - Amazon

Photo frames - ASDA

White love heart hanging decoration - Amazon

The wardrobe is built-in in the corner next to my desk and big chest of drawers, but I didn't think a couple of white doors would be very interesting.

So there's what I did with the limited decorations that I've owned for years that you're probably sick of seeing. My fave part is definitely the foamy mattress. 

x

Room Tour: Home

Since I've been at home ill for the past two weeks and don't have anything interesting to write about, I thought I'd do a little room tour.

(Details at the bottom of the page)

Wooden Storage - IKEA

White Drawers - IKEA

Lampshade - Argos

Table Lamp - Argos

Mirror - Argos

Rug - Argos

Curtains - Argos

Headboard and Cushion covers - Handmade

Quilt and Pillow Covers - Tesco

Bulldog Cushion - Tesco

Grey Blanket - Tesco

Magnetic Pin Board - Home Bargains

Daughter Photo Frame - Clinton Cards

White Hanging Heart - eBay

3 Piece Hanging Hearts - eBay

Candle - Eadie & Wallace 'Sweet Tangerine Burst'

Candle - Yankee Candle 'Fluffy Towels'

Faux Flowers - Wilkos

Jean Paul Gaultier Coke Bottle - Covent Garden

Name Painting - Somewhere in Disneyland, Florida

xxx

New Year - Jan 2015

2015

Year of the green wooden sheep/goat.

Whatever that means. 

Being honest, I'm not one to make new year resolutions; they're never fulfilled and you can set goals at any time of the year. So the answer is 'no'. I don't have any.

What I do want from this year however is to be happier than the last. Last year was a bit up and down for me; this year seems appropriate to promise myself to create my own happiness, rather than relying on someone else to make me happy. 

Instead of creating goals for myself that I definitely wont keep, I thought a better idea would be to think about positive events I have to anticipate in 2015.

Here's what I came up with:

1. My 20th birthday on 26th Jan.

2. Being reunited with my Flat18 bellends at the end of Jan.

3. Finishing 2nd year of uni, hopefully with at least a 2:1.

4. Summer - no stress of exams or coursework; actually having time to work to save money; fingers crossed travelling somewhere to get my tan on.

5. Starting my 3rd and final year of university. Hopefully at the same place this time. 

6. Moving into a house with my top two bitches in Canterbury - more of Anna's delish cooking.

7. Thinking about what I'm doing with my life after uni: Where the shit am I going to live? Do I get a job or apply for a masters course???

8. Not being fully skint from spending all my dolla on student accommodation. 

9. Driving more often when I'm back home in Nottingham.

10. Obviously, coming home for Christmas again. 

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2015. All t' best.

x

Freshers days 3 and 5 - Foam Party and School Disco

'iya

I planned to blog freshers' week as I went along but as you can tell, that didn't work out. So now I'm sat here racking my brain because I can't actually remember what I did for the rest of the week. All I know is:

Day 3 - foam party

Day 5 -  school disco

As for day 4, 6 and 7... your guess is as good as mine.

The most helpful clubbing advice you'll ever receive:

1. Don't wear contact lenses to foam parties.

2. Do take a jacket - the cloak room is worth £1.

3. Don't leave the queue to a club to wee - you get kicked to the back.

4. Do laugh at your friend when they fall flat on their arse. But then pretend you pushed them so they still get in.

5. Don't leave the queue when you're at the front because you're fed up after 3 HOURS of waiting.

6. Do buy queue jump tickets.

That's all for now.

Cya!

x

Freshers Week

'iya

Since the majority of people going to uni will either be there now or will be in the next few weeks I thought I'd share a few of my freshers' week experiences.

The main events at my uni were bar crawls, a UV paint party and a foam party.

UV paint party: This was the first night of our freshers week events. I actually didn't drink at all on this night because of medication I was taking, and I had a really fun night! It was so entertaining watching everyone else getting drunk and being completely aware of all the idiotic dance moves they were cracking out. I couldn't look at some people in the same way again. So from experience, you can have a good night out if you're not drinking; if you don't drink then still go to the night-time events!

Bar Crawls: Ok, sober me lasted for one night. Priorities. In contrast to everything I said above, the only thing I'll say about bar crawls is - still make time for prinks! Usually bar crawls start earlier than other events but if you're stingey with money, like me, then make time for predrinks. The amount of nights I've been sober because I don't want to buy drinks is unreal!

Foam party: Don't wear shoes that you wear frequently - they will be wet for about a month. Don't breathe in foam - you will choke. Other than that these are the best nights ever.

Be prepared to hear 'DOWN IT FRESHER' and the Yaya/Kolo Toure chant around 200 times a night.
And just for the record, don't get so wasted that you go back to your fresher rep's house and throw up in their bed and all over another person's bathroom. Definitely not from personal experience.

 

Cya!

September

Welcome to the BER months!

SeptemBER,
OctoBER etc.
(I saw that online somewhere and thought I'd rob it).

Probably nothing to do with the 'brrr' kind of weather but fitting nonetheless. As you can see below my family have already started on the bonfires...

To me, September signifies not only the transition into the colder months of the year but also new starts. Mainly because I've never not been in education so September has always just been the start of the school year for me. This September is especially exciting because I'm moving, again!

Here's 5 things I'm looking forwards to in September:

1. Freshers' week! August was pretty rubbish for me because I was working a lot and didn't go abroad because I was saving - all so I can blow every penny I've earned during freshers! I'll basically be getting drunk every night with people I hardly know for a week. It's kind of like being on holiday: you're stress free and feel like you've escaped from reality and I can't wait.

2. Winter wardrobe. I do love a pair of denim shorts and a tan, but I'm pretty excited to crack my fluffy jumpers and boots out. Winter fashion is my favourite and there's nothing I love more than being very very cozy.

3. My electric blanket. I think I finally stopped using my electric blanket in May this year and quite frankly I miss it. I feel the cold very easily so in Autumn/Winter I tend to sleep with my electric blanket on and with the quilt over my head. Yes I like being ridiculously hot.

4. Moving cities. Travelling is one of my passions but our family holidays were always abroad so I never actually saw a lot of England. So here I am moving to Canterbury when I've never been there in my life. I can't wait to experience living in the South so I can make the most of being nearer to London, seeing my brother and being near both the countryside and coast.

5. A new start. Obviously with moving universities I'm pretty much starting all over again - a new city, a new uni, lots of new friends. I can't wait to start this adventure!

Let me know in the comments if you're up to anything exciting in September.

TTFN

x

I'm Poor

'iya.

It's been a bit of a hectic week! Over the past 7 days I have been told:

1. I have to completely reapply for student finance 

2. I wont be entitled to any money from the university that I'm going to because I'm entering at second year.

Long story short, I'm probably going to receive my loans late and will have to take out an emergency loan to pay accommodation fees and I'm also going to have £2000 less than I thought I would. Good. Good.

So, I've been sat staring at my computer screen writing an updated CV, emailing various people looking for jobs and filling out applications online. SO MUCH FUN. I've not heard back from any where yet, but fingers crossed! Otherwise I'll be sat starving in my flat for 40 weeks straight. Good diet plan I guess...

If you're worrying about money either for uni or in general, my advice would be to do some maths and work out how much you have and what you will need. 

My money plan:

STUDENT LOAN - ACCOMMODATION FEES = TOTAL AMOUNT LEFT OVER

TOTAL AMOUNT LEFT OVER/40(amount of weeks in the academic year) = AMOUNT PER WEEK

I then listed what I have to pay for, for example:

Phone contract

Contact lenses

Gym Membership 

I worked out how much these things cost me weekly rather than monthly so I knew how much money I had left for food, drink, toiletries and going out. As you can imagine, not much. But I worked out that working a couple of shifts a week will do me fine. Just taking any shifts I can get before I move next month, for example 3.45pm-1am on Saturday. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT.

I hate working which is why I didn't get a full time job over the Summer, but now I'm kinda wishing that I did! I didn't have a job at university last year because I had enough money to live on, and was able to do everything I wanted to do without one. However, this year seems to be a completely different experience! But I'll figure that out. 
University will be one of the best periods of your life so if you want to join societies or go out a lot then make sure you have the money to do so. Not being able to afford to do the things you want to do will put a downer on your time at uni; ensure that isn't the case!

My tips for saving money:

1. I find having an overdraft really useful at the start of the year - you receive a larger amount of your student loan in term 3 rather than term 1 and 2. Most students need an overdraft so if you do think this is the right thing for you make sure you aren't being charged for it.

2. Look for perks when setting up a student account. For example, I received a free railcard for 4 years which saves me a lot of money when travelling home from uni, or to uni from home.  

3. Share products with flatmates. So, take turns buying milk, bread, washing up liquid etc. When I moved into halls last year we all brought washing up liquid with us; we had 8 out at a time and nobody shared, it was completely ridiculous. 

4. If you drive don't take your car to uni or get insured on it for that period of time. Yes it's nice to be able to drive into town if you live on campus or the other way around but it's money you don't have to be spending if you are struggling. 

5. Invest in a NUS card. They usually save you 10% at a variety of places so check out where you can get discounts.

Hope this helps a few people out!

TTFN

x

The First Post

'iya.

Thought I'd just write a general post today to tell you a bit about myself and to let you know what to expect on my blog.

1. About me
As you've probably guessed my name is Charlotte Emily Howard, I'm 19 and I'm currently a university student. Born and raised in Nottingham, lived in Lancaster for a year and will be moving to Kent in September.
Typical interesting facts: I'm a quarter of an inch off 5ft (so close!) and I'm a quarter Greek.
I never know what to write in these 'About Me' sections because I'm literally just a normal teenager with nothing extraordinary to tell you. Most of my time is spent doing cliché student things (sleeping a lot, watching crap TV and spending money I don't have) and I like it that way. Uni and the lifestyle that comes with it is expensive so I work in a bar when I'm home for a few extra pennies. I might start doing something more productive when I'm no longer a teenager, but that can wait until January 2015 when I no longer have that excuse.

2. What to expect on my blog
UNIVERSITY:
My university journey so far hasn't been what you'd call 'straight forward' which is why I thought blogging about it might interest and help a few people out.
I applied for university in 2012 ready to start in September 2013. 5 universities (all in the South of England) offered me places to study either English literature or Comparative literature. However, 2013 came around and I realised that even though I've always loved reading and writing, studying literature was not what I wanted to do anymore. So, I declined all of my university offers.
UCAS have a system where you can apply for one more university after this so I applied to study psychology instead. And for some strange reason I ignored my main plan to move down South and applied for Lancaster. I have nothing against Lancaster, it's really high in the league tables and I enjoyed the first half of my first year there, but it just isn't the place for me. I wish I did stick to my original plan of moving South because that was all I wanted to do, but at least I'm doing it now! It would have been easier to stay at Lancaster but I know that I would have regretted it in the long run and I'm so glad I had the guts to move.

FASHION/BEAUTY:
One of my habits is online shopping, even though I am particularly skint at the moment! So I own a LOT of clothes/shoes/jewellery - a lot meaning I have to use my brother's and my mum's bedrooms to store my clothes; it just wouldn't be possible to fit it all in one space. I may not blog about fashion items or cosmetics frequently, but if I find anything that I'm loving enough to write about then I just might!

LIFE:
Lastly, whatever thoughts are worth sharing I'll write here. So if you're interested in finding out what I get up to then keep an eye out. Expect low quality photos.

Feel free to tweet me any questions you have about university or about anything else.

TTFN

x