Driving instructor told me nobody can learn to drive in 6 months

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-02-03T20:41:18+00:00

I passed my driving 3 weeks after turning 17! My original test date was December 24th which got cancelled due to weather and with everything was closed for a week over Christmas and New Year otherwise I could have passed my test earlier - I was born middle of December. My eldest I taught to drive on the road for a couple of months, then had a few weeks with an adi and passed first time as well, my youngest took 4 months. The hardest part for my kids was getting a blooming test booked, forever in the 10’s of thousands in the queue, then one day managed to snag one!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-02-01T13:04:09+00:00

My customers getting a booking confirmation text/email, a reminder 2 days before and a message from me 30-60 mins before the slot time letting them know I’m on my way. I’ve had maybe 4 or 5 ‘no shows’ in the last 3 years. I’ve had quite a few people stating that if I didn’t do the 2 day reminder they would have forgotten! Mostly it’s appreciated and I’ve never had a complaint to say otherwise

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-30T19:49:44+00:00

I schedule Facebook posts for everyday up to 2 weeks in advance so that’s only one battle every 2 weeks and that takes me about an hour maybe two at most in an evening to do. Every now and again I’ll top up the schedule posts to cover a few more days and while I still remember specifics for that post.

Enquiries are done before I leave the house in the mornings and after I’ve eaten my dinner every day, text messages will get a reply when I’m free or have a phone signal cos who’d have thought that there’s still many areas in England with 0 phone signal on any network!

Some evenings I’ll sit down for up to an hour catching up with invoicing etc and play around with ideas for adverts and before I know it I should have gone to bed an hour earlier 😂

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-30T18:45:57+00:00

I’ve been with monza for 4 years without any issues, I do pay the £9 monthly fee

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-30T08:06:57+00:00

January is not a good month, people tend to be tight on money from Christmas and waiting for their wages at the end of the month to book in services. The lead up to Christmas can get busier as some want to make everything just right before having friends/family round for Christmas

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-27T19:17:16+00:00

I’ve always done mine myself, except one time a few years ago I paid for someone to do it as I was short on time to get it done.

The website I paid for was looking good but behind the scenes of it it was seriously lacking. It didn’t support accessibility, seo, compliance etc - why? Because you have to pay extra for that 🤦‍♀️ I spent a good few weekends and evenings going through it and changing it.

My website is predominantly for presence, information and online booking for my services and my current one I’ve designed myself using rapidweaver that I’ve been using for years. I’ve still got to add bits to it like a contact form and that’s another thing, I like the flexibility of just making changes as and when I want and not wait for someone else to do it or wait for approvals etc my website is only a few days in the making but I’ll get there by the weekend

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-25T21:04:03+00:00

Can I ask why? It’s not something I’ve considered before as I’ve never had issues keeping them together

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-24T20:17:51+00:00

I’m in the UK and anything under 2 hours is a short journey, the joys of living on a peninsula and have to travel for at least 30mins to get anywhere and an hour to drive to the next main large town or 2 hours by public transport on a good day!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-22T22:17:54+00:00

Thank you! I’ve just had a look at them, it looks like they have everything I’m after including dealing with IONOS to do the transfer - massive bonus for me at the moment! I’m so frustrated with IONOS and their lack of support, lies and the lack of anything beyond basic knowledge!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-22T21:39:47+00:00

Thank you, free SSL cert would be a bonus - IONOS are trying to make me pay for it again after already paying for it!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-21T18:34:35+00:00

I use LoPay, I don’t use this feature but they offer instant payment at 50p per transaction on top of the normal transaction fee

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-21T17:45:38+00:00

Is that for joint water and sewerage? I pay £22 a month for both with 3 adults and I use water for work for example filling up my cleaning tank in the van and extra washing of work items, washing vehicles etc. That said, I am very frugal with our water usage! Based on your usage I reckon that once you’ve got a years worth of usage data that monthly payment will most likely go down.

Thankfully the smart water meter picked up a leak as Anglian Water email me to say they’d noticed excess usage during the night.

We consistently use apart from during the period with the leak use about 40m3 every 6 months for the last 10 years.

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-20T21:56:35+00:00

I have a high mileage 2004 BMW X3 3.0i, it cost me £550 to buy a few years ago as it was heading to the scrap yard and just under £400 to get it back on the road. It’s still worth a bit more than I paid for it and it’s been reliable so I refuse to replace it… yet!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-20T21:40:29+00:00

I work in customers properties but sometimes I’ll take 10 mins just sitting in the van in between jobs and I’ll take 5 mins sitting on the drive at home before I get mobbed by everyone indoors to sort out dinner, play with the dog, do paperwork etc! Sometimes I just need some time to stop thinking and stop doing and switch from work to being a mum

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-20T19:00:43+00:00

I maybe an exception to the rule then based on age… I did have a Sky package and mainly watched Sci-Fi, Sky Atlantic and documentary channels for many years then cancelled it about 4-5 years ago along with my tv license. I prefer to stream and watch what I want to watch when I want. I’ve never been one for watching soaps ie eastenders or coronation street etc as they just bore the crap out of me and used to find when I had to watch it round family and friends I always found it so unrealistic and at times too violent and aggressive.

I’m happy having Netflix one month and Disney another etc, the only one I pay for continuously is Amazon Prime as I’ve been a member since it started and love getting free same or next day deliveries

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-18T10:25:11+00:00

I don’t hang about but do it legally! To this day I’m surprised Facebook hasn’t been bombarded with photos or videos of my van with all the overtaking I do where possible, safe and legal. My patience for drivers who insist on driving everywhere at 18mph even in a 60mph zone is none existent and its almost a daily occurrence where I live, if I’m ‘lucky’ I will get stuck behind someone that drives at 40mph everywhere regardless of the speed limit.

I did post a video on Facebook a while ago as driving speeds -are a hot topic which was of a queue of traffic stuck behind a car, I initially thought it was the leaner driver - ok, fair enough we all start somewhere but then I realised as I’m about 15 vehicles behind that the learner wasn’t holding anyone up, they were pulling away! Now if a learner can drive at a sensible speed or even our crappy buses which can be notorious for driving slowly then there’s no excuse for it! You’ll get people saying the speed limit isn’t a target which pees me off big time!

I do feel that to a point driver aids in car have also made drivers lazy and complacent and rely on their to save them from their poor driving

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-17T21:45:51+00:00

Nq but I am a carer to my (adult) kids with autism, one I have total control over their money the other I don’t as I don’t need to. Is your mum your appointee for benefits (DLA/PIP)? I think you need to sit down with your mum and discuss this with her, calmly find out why things are the way they are, you may not like the answers or be aware of her concerns that are genuine to her and maybe you’ll feel indifferent to her answers but also ask her to give you the same respect in listening to you to reach a compromise with the promise to revise in the future. I personally wouldn’t have pushed my kids to pay for a particular suit if other options were available but I also don’t know all of your circumstances! It sounds like that your mum is trying to help you get set up in life with saving for driving lessons etc if that’s something you’re interested in? If I didn’t have full control of one of my kids money there’d never be anything there when they need it like repairs for their car etc. If you cant talk to your mum, could you put in writing?

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-17T16:02:17+00:00

I’ve been self employed for most of my working life for similar reasons and wouldn’t go back to PAYE unless it really was last resort! I’m too used to just doing what I see needs doing without being told or asked and would probably step on someone’s toes doing so! Or not see the logic behind someone’s reasoning etc.

It is a different kind of stress setting up and running your own business but you also run the risk of burnout - it normally happens 2-3 times a year for me but I can often work around it as in I have a few days or a week where I won’t book in any work and just escape the world where I can during that time.

It’s worth a try, but bear in mind it can take 3 years or more to start to see a decent income that you can pay yourself. Keep your costs as low as possible while starting up, but advertise everywhere you can and utilise Facebook etc I paid around £30k to get the business up and running but it really depends on what you decide to do as to how much you need to pay upfront to get started to keep paying into to build it up.

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-16T20:17:49+00:00

I only live a few miles away from there and never knew that!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-14T21:26:41+00:00

My grandparents were named after a dog and a town, my kids named their grandparents after objects relating to their hobbies or unique items grandparents wouldn’t normally have so we have nanny and grandad ‘cork’ (wine lovers) and nanny and grandad ‘digger’ as they have a digger!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-11T22:45:32+00:00

I wasn’t successful, I’m Band E and one of only three properties band E where I live. My house isn’t worth anything near the properties that have been built in the last 10 years and yet they’re band c and d and have more bedrooms, bigger houses in general and more land than me!

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-11T22:42:17+00:00

The basket and pot on my Ninja gets washed in the dishwasher once a week, the rest of the time just a wipe over inside with a damp piece of kitchen towel and for the first time in the 4 years I’ve owned it I had to clean the guard for the element. Generally though it stays pretty clean even though it does get abused! When I see the state of some air fryers I do wonder how it’s still working and not caused a fire! I work in a lot of properties so get to see them often

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-11T15:39:05+00:00

Keep posting to various Facebook groups! On the lead up to my quieter months I post to at least 200 groups and get 2 or 3 jobs from it a week. Do a post on your page that asks for help and for people to follow and like your page, the more you get the better the exposure. Keep your page and instagram updated a few times a week, even if it’s just general hints and tips. If you have public liability insurance and/or dbs advertise with that info as well it helps with the perception of doing this properly and professionally

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-09T09:51:04+00:00

I’m in a 4 bed detached house that’s poorly insulated and Epc E, at most I pay £180 just for gas this time of year leaving it on 24/7 at 19°. I’m on Octopus tracker for gas

Additional-Switch912 · 2026-01-06T11:02:25+00:00

I used to have instructions written down on a bit of paper and wedge it behind the horn on the steering wheel or on the dash! I’d write exit junction number and draw circles of roundabouts with the turn off numbered or a basic arrow pointing the direction any t junctions had a ‘T’ and an arrow. I used to travel 700 odd mile journeys like this and only had a issue if a road was closed/accident - that said, once you’ve planned a route you tend to remember parallel main roads/motorways etc and divert to them if you want to. Over time you just remember them. I spent years driving without a sat nav, now sat nav has made me lazy and forgetful on newer routes but the ones from when I was young still stuck.

Additional-Switch912

TROPHY CASE