My Student Car Tips.
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Prepare our Cars for Winter. Just as we need to get ourselves ready for winter by buying coats, gloves and boots, we need to remember our cars need preparing too. As students and young adults, we all understand that money is an issue. Panicking about budgeting our money for Uni is stressful. Then on top of that if you use your car a lot it’s even more hassle as you have to put money aside for that as well. However, it’s not all bad! There is inexpensive ways to prepare our car for winter. Here’s a few ideas on how to prepare your car whilst keeping your bank card happy. A few things to check first: A very obvious thing to check is your car lights. This is extremely important that this is done before you start travelling in winter. Halfords sell all types of lights for your car. Currently they are doing a buy one get one free deal! Having a spare bulb is always a good idea! Having the correct tread depth and pressure not only makes your journey safe, but it’s also a legal requirement. A pressure gauge which tests both can be brought from Halfords for just under £7. It’s not the cheapest thing to buy out of this list, but it is definitely needed. Screen wash and anti-freeze levels need to be checked throughout winter time. This is to make sure your windows are clean and to prevent them freezing. The cheapest place you can buy screen wash and anti-freeze that I found is from Poundland. A handy tip for winter is the more concentrated the screen wash liquid is, the less likely it will freeze. A few things to throw in your glove box: Ice scraper, a can of de-icer and a cloth or a soft cleaning glove are simple solutions to get rid of the ice in the morning. All can be brought from Poundland. Also, a torch and spare batteries are a great idea. Again, in case you’re stranded or lost somewhere dark, you will always be able to see where you are going without using your phone light and wasting its precious battery. You can buy a torch and batteries from Pound land and will only cost you £2 for them both, bargain!
Prepare our Cars for Winter. Mini necessities that can be put in the boot: This may not be protecting your actual car for winter but it is helping you whilst you’re driving out in winter. Having a blanket in your car is a very sensible idea. This is for in case you are stranded somewhere (I hope that will never happen to you!) but in case it does, it will keep you warm and protect you from the harsh winter cold. On a budget, you may have a spare blanket lying around at home or you could nip down to Primark and pick one up. I’ve seen a few ranging from about £2 to £5 with cute colourful patterns on them. Tow rope and a jump lead could come in handy if you break down not only in winter, but at any time. Both can be brought from wilkos for just under a tenner.
I hope these simple and handy tips will help you when you are on a budget! Drive safely! Becky xxx Twitter: @becky_archer
Best Car Accessories for Ladies & Christmas Gift Ideas. Decorating your car and making it girly and cosy is definitely a great idea – especially if it’ll make you feel more comfortable when driving. If you’ve got a friend or family member in mind, or you’re just thinking of giving yourself a nice Christmas present this year, here’s my list of the top car accessories that would make perfect gifts too:
•Visor organiser: great for storing your phone, pens, sunglasses, cards or CDs and pretty much anything else you can think of. Find it online at tinydeal.com reasonably priced at £7.22..
•Rear mirror chain: FJJ Creations make stunning chains for just over £8, like this blue one with pretty charms. You can find them on Etsy with all kinds of designs to suit your taste.
•Air freshener: keeping your car clean is an indisputable must, if it smells nice as well then all the better! Halfords offers a great range of fresheners, including this adorable plush Me To You bear one for just £3.
Best Car Accessories for Ladies & Christmas Gift Ideas. •Steering wheel glove: keeping your hands warm is desirable when cold weather strikes (or you could just make your steering wheel look prettier anyway). Poppys Crafts do a fantastic range of gloves on Etsy, like this one for £8.25 – bargain!
•Seat covers: your seats need attention too, even if just to prevent them from looking old and boring in their standard lifeless black colour. Fabu-licious.com offers a selection of covers like this cute daisy one going for £36, bit pricey but it covers all your seats (pardon the pun!)
•Seatbelt pads: to go with your new seat covers you can buy these pads from Fabu-licious.com for your seatbelts as well, priced at £4.99. Stylish and comfortable!
•Floor mats: to complete your car interior makeover, Fabulicious.com also offers a selection of both front and rear mats, with rubber anti-slip backing. This girly flower model costs £14.95.
•Sat Nav: not girly but certainly a must-have item. No one likes getting lost! Prices vary on this but the most popular one on the market at the moment is the Garmin nüvi 50LM. You can find it online on LambdaTek for £109.08 with a 2-year warranty.
Best Car Accessories for Ladies & Christmas Gift Ideas. •Windscreen phone holder: make your life easier with a windscreen holder so you never have to worry about keeping your phone in your lap while driving. This one goes for £9.99 on 4gaccessories.co.uk.
•Keychain: last but not least, your car keys need to look pretty too, right? TwinklePinkJewelry on Etsy have a variety of girly chains, with anything from hearts and butterflies to shoes and beads – you name it. This one is priced at £6.
Hope this will inspire you to surprise someone you love this winter season. Happy shopping! Patricia x ‘My Food & Drink’ Sub-Editor.
@PatiGreen
Hot Up Your Car this Winter the Greatest Car Playlist. Track 1: Cosy up Dream along with Michael Buble of a 'White Christmas', imagine yourself already cosy on the sofa at home, a hot drink in one hand and a mince pie in the other with the tree lights glittering. 'Baby It's Cold Outside' - Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer 'The Christmas Song' - Nat King Cole 'It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas' - Michael Buble 'Let It Snow' - Dean Martin '8 Days Of Christmas' - Destiny's Child and of course; 'All I Want For Christmas' - Mariah Carey Track 2: Sing-along How about warming up your lungs whilst you're waiting for the car to heat up with a power ballad? Singing will let off some steam by releasing 'feel good' endorphins for an uplifting feeling, and the best bit is no one can hear or see (until you get to the traffic lights!). Think Bridget Jones and her much loved rendition of Celine Dion's 'All By Myself', desperately clutching a glass of wine whilst swaying dramatically around the room (in no way suggesting wine at the wheel). More for the endorphins: 'And I Am Telling You' - Jennifer Hudson 'No One' - Alicia Keys 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' - Aerosmith 'Survivor' and 'Independent Woman' - Destiny's Child Track 3: Christmas shopping If you're driving along thinking over your Christmas shopping list, then feel inspired with a rundown of the songs behind the John Lewis Christmas TV adverts. 'The Power Of Love' (Gabrielle Aplin) accompanied the emotional journey of the snowman that touched our hearts last year. This year's 'bear and the hare' features 'Somewhere Only We Know' - Lily Allen. 2011: 'Please Please Please' - Slow Moving Millie 2010: 'Your Song' - Ellie Goulding.
Hot Up Your Car this Winter the Greatest Car Playlist. Track 4: Favourite films Get yourself ready for the Christmas films to return to the screens with: 'All I Want For Christmas' - Olivia Olson (Love Actually) 'Somewhere In My Memory' - John Williams (Home Alone) 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' - Kenny G (Miracle On 34th Street) 'Believe' - Josh Groban (Polar Express) 'Santa Baby' - Eartha Kitt (Elf) Track 5: Missing summer If the constant chill is becoming unbearable then it's time to escape winter for a few tracks. The windows are wound down, sunglasses on and your skin is warm from the sun beaming through the sun-roof. Feel warm driving along to: 'All Summer Long' Kid Rock 'Hot In Herre' - Nelly 'Summer Paradise' - Simple Plan ft. Sean Paul' Blurred Lines' - Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell Williams & T.I. 'All Of The Lights' - Kanye West ft. Rihanna & Kid Cudi. Lastly, 'Driving Home For Christmas' - Chris Rea and 'Fairytale of New York' - Progues have to be the favourite tracks on my winter playlist. The first seems to be the only song with the potential to lighten spirits in rush hour traffic, whilst the second is the only song acceptable to sing along to without even knowing the lyrics, perfect! Drive safe this winter and have a Merry Christmas!
Heel behind the wheel? A butler opening your car door as you slide out of the luxurious vehicle you’ve just driven, foot by foot, in your 5 inch stilettos. An image worthy of an Oscar premiere, but with possibly not so glamorous effects. A study conducted by the insurance firm, Confused.com, revealed that nearly 80% of women drive in unsafe shoes. The most risky ones are high heels, with a high 40% rate of women choosing them, followed up by an astonishing 39% in flip-flops and 24% bare foot. If in the United States and most parts of the globe this is just a hazard that women should acknowledge for their own safety, the United Kingdom actually considers it a cause for dangerous driving, thus cataloguing it as an offence. But how does the footwear you’re sporting actually affect the way you drive? 1) Stuck in traffic One of the most obvious causes is the fact that heels and flip-flops can get stuck in the rugs underneath the pedals, forcing you to not only redirect your attention in an attempt to fix the situation, but also slows down your response time.
2) A sole purpose Platforms are amazing and very fashionable. They’re also extremely comfortable. Except when you’re driving. Together with wedges, they become a huge threat when worn while at the steering wheel. The amount of material that comes between your sole and the pedal changes the pressure you feel while stepping it, resulting in either too little or too much stress.
Heel behind the wheel? 3) Just in time However, since there are so many women that actually drive wearing inappropriate shoes, they must be comfortable. They actually become comfy after a while of using them for driving, but that only stressed the great dangers that one’s prone to while getting accustomed to driving in heels. Still, there are many arguments to support the contrary. In a mini show, the Mythbusters prove that there are little to no differences between driving in normal, flat shoes and high heels, wedges or snow boots. And that coming from two men that tried both wearing heels and driving in them for the first time. On a more personal note, I am completely unable to drive around wearing anything higher than 1 inch or with a sole that isn’t flexible. I am great at driving barefoot, though. On the other hand, one of my friends never drives with anything lower than 4 inches. And she hates driving barefoot.
Alexandra Diana Lazar @thestylependant
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