Guest Post- Tips for getting your deposit back

Like most students I'm not winding down for the year and packing my stuff away ready to leave university so when Lets Live Here who are based in Newcastle contacted me with some tips on how to ensure you all get your deposit back I was keen to share! 

It’s the end of another year and you’re ready to move out of your flat. You’re packed up and then you’re out of there – ready for summer! Then the bomb drops – your landlord or letting agent isn’t giving back all of your deposit. You’re now out of pocket and angry.This is a problem many students and even young professionals encounter when renting property. Some student letting agents are notorious for taking away chunks of a deposit for the smallest of things. Here are some top tips to avoid losing out from Newcastle agency Lets live here. 

A big announcement!

Firstly, I'm not pregnant, or engaged! I've kept this quite hushed for a while now but finally, it's all signed, sealed and official so I can announce my post uni plans to you all.

The education bit of my degree is over 100% defiantly over, after three years of lectures I've had enough and need a change so despite literally what I just said, Richard and I have extended our degrees by a year and transferred onto an international experience degree. From 24th July we will be heading to the Czech Republic for a year to work on an organic farm.

Huck who owns the farm, also has a couple of horses and I'm really excited to be getting back in the saddle and really working on my riding skills. I got some experience last week when I went to stay with my friend Jo who works on a horse yard, mucking out, riding and cleaning tack, which was really therapeutic once I worked out how to put it back together!

'Can I have a sugar lump please?'

Also, Huck has sheep, which means lambs in the spring and frolicking lambs are literally the cutest things ever, spring will be amazing!

Flights and insurance are now booked I've started shopping and I'm so excited to go.

If anyone has links to any Czech blogs then please do share!

Keep it Scrimpy,
Laura.

May book haul.

I'm so excited for this post. It seems so long since I actually read a book for fun. I've spent so much of my time at university reading academic papers and they aren't exactly written by J.K Rowling! So now, lectures are done I've been on a few shopping sprees for books and I'm now well and truly addicted to reading again.

This is pretty much all I do now exams are done, although on this occasion I have made the effort to get dressed.

That time I handed in my dissertation.

Yup, I finally did it, I handed in my dissertation on Tuesday, whole 24 hours before the deadline. It has been quite the adventure but I have to say, I am so so glad that it is over now.

A-Z of me (Part 2)

So you've seen part one, here's the next bit!

N- Noodle one

My favourite place to eat in Bangor and best of all nothing on their menu has tomatoes in so it's all safe for me!

O- Organisation 

I love being organised, a good to do list is my favourite, My newest addition to my organisation goodies is my filofax, I love it. I got a Black A5 Metropol and it's a dream, I wasn't a fan of the filofax inserts so I've made my own! Now I can't be without it, my whole life is in there,contacts, diary, blog and even a health section.

P- Procrastination

If only I could get a degree in procrastination! My favourite methods of procrastination is napping, second is making stuff for my filofax.

Q- Quotes

I have an app that gives me a motivational quote every day and it's a great start to the day.

R- Richard

He's rather wonderful and has been kind enough to put up with me for about a year and a half now.

S- Simba

The lion king is by far the best Disney film ever. When I was a kid I had a teddy of simba, sadly when my parents broke up and I moved out with my mum he went missing. I was totally devastated, I still am really. A few years ago I got myself a new one but it's just not the same.

T- Thoday

Thoday is the environment building here at Bangor and pretty much my second home, I'm here most days at the moment working.

U- Unagi!

A total state of awareness* and sushi, both are great.

*If anyone doesn't get that friends reference then we should be fiends.

V- Vacation 

I need one of these now, the end of third year is in sight and we are all getting tired. This time last year Richard and I were in Corfu and I love Greece it's the most beautiful country, the islands are so diverse and the people are amazing! Give me a Greek beach and some cocktails!

W- Washi tape

My new love, it's wonderful suff, kind of papery tape, it features strongly in my filofax but can also be used to decorate other things.

X- X X

This one is witty, X X is 20 in roman numerals. I'm 20. It's the best I could come up with that wasn't X-ray !I spent my 20th birthday with an awesome bunch of people on the tiny island of Malta while doing a placement out there.

Y- Ysbyty Gwynedd

I've spent too much time here in the past 12 months, I've been having various tests for stomach problems (probably related to that tomato intolerance) but the doctors are lovely and they even have free parking! And in case you are still wondering, Ysbyty Gwynedd is my local hospital.

Z- Zzzz

Napping is my favourite. Over the past few months my napping skills have had some serious improvement I can now nap at very short notice and at my desk. Can I put this on a CV?

I've really enjoyed doing this, I hope you've all learnt something new!

Keep it Scrimpy,
Laura.

FREE Souper Booster from Covent Garden!

We all love a freebie don't we? Well here's a good one for you.

1. Head over to the Covent Garden website  
2. Stick one of there new Souper Boosters in your basket
3. Head to the checkout and fill in your details
4. Apply this discount code FSB415
5. Get your Souper Booster delivered to your door totally free.

Credit: Covent Garden website

I think you can wangle more than one if you use multiple email addresses and names, failing that use multiple addresses! So go forth and get your free Souper Booster!

Keep it Scrimpy,
Laura

Thank you to my sister who literally just text me telling me about this!

A-Z of me (part 1)

I've seen this tag doing the rounds and I wanted to give it a go, it's been surprisingly hard to come up with 26 things about me my life and I but here we go...

A- Azkaban

I'm a massive harry potter fan and I just had to get it in somewhere

B- Bangor

The place I've called home for nearly three years now, it's kind of emotional to think my time here is nearly over

Liverpool adventures

Last week we jumped on the train to Liverpool for a postgraduate fair. We decided to make a night of it and book ourselves in at the Printworks hotel.

We arrived in Liverpool a little earlier than our check in time so we decided to visit one of the many free museums in Liverpool, sadly though it was half term and the place was full of kids! Although it was nice to see so many kids in a museum. On our adventure round the museum we saw some pretty cool stuff.

So many little fishes!

Dinner and a Movie with hungry house*

When Hungry House got in touch and asked me to try their dinner and a movie deal to celebrate their 9th Birthday, I was seriously excited! Sadly they don't cover Bangor however a trip to Richard's house was the perfect opportunity to try them out. Disappointingly the website only had one place that would deliver to us in Uttoxeter so an Indian it was, on Chinese New Year.

Now I have to say, I loved the Hungry House website, it was easy to navigate, the menu was clear. If you aren't sure what something is they have a handy information button that tells you what is typically found in the dish which was good for me because I have no clue about Indian food and I fancied a change from the traditional korma 

Semester two, year three*.

So it's time for semester 2, it's mildly terrifying to think that this is my last semester but at the same time I'm feeling quite positive about it. I finally have some plans for next year and I'm beginning to think that it's all going to be okay, more on those post uni plans soon.


The big clean

I like to get a big clean done in January, partly because our Landlady is trying to get tenants in the house for next year and partly because I like the, idea of everything being fresh and ready for semester two.

My floor cleaner of choice is usually a mix of bleach and antiseptic*, the smell is amazing! I love cleaning wipes*, they are great for quickly dealing with spills.