Tips for Young Drivers

My niece is learning to drive at the moment.  Learning to drive these days is an expensive pastime, not only paying for the driving lessons after you pass, the cost of your car insurance and road tax.

There are some importance choices that you have to make when you choose to learn to drive and the first of those is choosing your driving instructor.  When I first decided to learn to drive, rather than getting recommendations, I choose someone from the Yellow Pages who had a cheap hourly rate.  Big mistake.

I was a very nervous driver in the beginning and for the first and second driving lesson; I did not even manage to proceed beyond driving on the car park.  What I needed was encouragement and patience.  What I got was ridicule and being told that there was little point in carrying on because I was wasting my money and his time.  He told me that I would never be able to do it.

That is a harsh thing to tell a seventeen year old that is nervous behind the wheel to begin with.  Whilst I was nervous, I was also determined so I decided to not listen to him, but instead fire him.  I got a new instructor; this time one who came highly recommended.  It may have taken me 18 months to pass my test, but I got there. 

The other importance choice that you have to make is selecting your car insurance provider.  There is no getting away from it; insurance for new drivers is expensive.  Thankfully though, if you do your research, you can find some great deals.

Companies like More Than have policies specifically with young drivers in mind that can assist with the cost of insurance by monitoring your driving by way of their Telematics Driving Style Score. 

When you buy their young driver policy they arrange to have a small Sm>rt Wheels Box fitted to your car which monitoring various aspects of your driving such as speed, smoothness and usage. Over the course of the year, you can earn back up to 10% of your premium by way of cashback.

By having the Sm>rtBox monitor your driving this will not only save you money but also encourage you not to take risks, speed or brake excessively because you know that the safer you drive, the more cashback you can get!

Do you have any stories from when you learned to drive? 

*Post written in collaboration with More Than however all opinions are my own

Home Start St Albans City and District

I spoke to you a couple of months ago about a new monthly feature that I wanted to implement on my blog.  I have had so much joy from this blog and I want to, in my own small way, give back some of that joy by helping others.

My idea is to promote those smaller charities that you have not necessarily heard about before.  The large charities, although very important, get a lot of press and donations whilst the smaller ones, which need help just as much, can sometimes be unnoticed.

Today I want to feature Home Start - St Albans City and District.

Home Start support families in need who have children under the age of 5 by way of volunteer visits.  All of the volunteers at Home Start have parenting experience and they assist families who need practical help and assurance, breaks for parents as well as practical support with local services.

I spoke to Home Start and asked them to share a paragraph with us:

"Being a parent can be hard at the best of times, but imagine parenting when you have a mental or physical illness, a child with a disability, no family or friends there for support; or when you are living in poverty or debt.  This is the reality for many parents.

The weekly support provided by Home Start's fully trained volunteers has been described by families as a "lifeline".  Our early intervention reduces family breakdown and crisis and helps parents five their children a positive and settled start start in life."

Home Start is a nationwide project but I wanted to promote the St Albans City and District Project in particular as I have learned that they have recently lost all of their Council funding and as a result they are in dire need of funds.  Home Start need to raise the sum of £40,000.00 over the next 5 months in order to continue with this much needed support for families.

Here is where you can donate to Home Start, either by a single or monthly donation