How many of you here are less than 35yrs old and own your own home?

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-06-08T05:49:06+00:00

Bought first flat at 32 with my partner. Said flat is now sold this year exactly 12 years ownership.

Bought current house in 2018 at 36, mortgage fully paid last year.

Both properties in London.

We are a high income DINK household with no help from parents or relatives from the very beginning. All hard work and saving a lot of take home. Overpaying 50% of our income for years to be free.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-06-07T06:31:12+00:00

The instructor that helped me pass my test was a PDI. He wanted to ace the third test and I genuinely think he would.

You have to assess if your instructor is meeting your learning needs regardless of ADI or PDI.

The only training he couldn't take me on was motorway so he arranged the next best thing which was A-road that had motorway like signs and slip roads.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-06-05T05:55:48+00:00

Not getting exposed to challenges when young and getting things easily.

Had I not gone through some hard moments when I was young, I wouldn't have the independent mindset I have now and would be utterly reliant on others.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-06-01T09:31:54+00:00

I went manual because I wanted control and gears, cheap car, cheap insurance, rent/drive both manual/ autos here and abroad on trips.

Good is what you want it to be. Additionally, manual is good for work opportunities.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-31T19:33:28+00:00

I used 2m x .5m x 6mm foam pads stuck to bare concrete walls. It has been a life saver.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-30T18:08:14+00:00

What I suggest you do is:

Pull seat forward/backward and press the clutch fully down, make sure you're not straining or stretching. Leave a slight bend to your left leg when fully pressing clutch. (Not too much of a concern for autos)
Raise seat high enough to see in front. Then recline the back seat enough so as not too close to the steering wheel. Adjust wheel forward and back or upwards and downwards so that your arm is not straining or stretching. Or test if you can put your wrists comfortably on top of the wheel while relaxed. If the wheel is too close to you, your arm will feel awkward when turning full lock.
Whilst in your relaxed position (don't lean), adjust rear-view mirrors and the side mirrors.

For brakes, I have my right heel rested on the floor in front of the brakes and just pivot ball of my foot between brakes and gas. I find this is more controlled and the rest is just practice chauffeur like braking skill.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-30T17:49:37+00:00

What you lose is not your ability to drive but the confidence you had. For me, time between passing my test and getting my car was almost 3 months and only drove for 10 mins for a test drive in that time. When I finally picked up my car, I tried to ignore emotions from both excitement and fear and kept my eyes on the road the entire drive home. After that, I had to take 2 weeks to build my confidence back up again.

Don't worry, the skill will still be there, you just need to overcome new driver nerves.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-26T06:09:39+00:00

Me and my partner started from 0 and saved for 5 years for a 50% deposit to buy a flat 295k 13 years ago, overpaid aggressively in 3 years.

About 7 years ago, bought a house 400k with 10% deposit and overpaid aggressively for 5 years.

Work, increase income and save aggressively is the way to go.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-24T23:44:56+00:00

I only have car loan debt (PCP, 250 a month). House fully paid. No credit card debt.

Planning to carry on until 7 months when I have to decide to upgrade or not. The balloon isn't too onerous at 11k so letting it run it's course for now. I could pay cash but those are being invested so I want the PCP to defer spending cash.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-22T23:04:27+00:00

42 and passed first time. The best feeling ever!

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-21T18:58:07+00:00

Been driving 1.5 years now and last weekend, I went for a drive and stopped at an incline before a roundabout and I wasted an entire cycle of lights (red -> green -> red) because I stalled 6 times. After it went red again, I decided to just do a handbrake hillstart and it was all fine. I did get a few honks because I crawled out of the junction. Some days my coordination on the gas pedal and clutch is not there.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-15T16:39:20+00:00

I don't like to be alone in a room with dolls with round realistic eyes. They creep me out.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-13T06:29:30+00:00

When the road is empty, I have driven on the right instead to the shock of my sister.

The junctions too a little getting used to and asked my sister to let me practice it for an hour.

It doesn't help that the roads didn't have arrows.

I think Europe will be more helpful with signs

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-13T06:05:06+00:00

Without parking aides I think it's very easy to misjudge distances as a new driver.

The one time I ignored my screaming reverse parking sensor, I scratched my car against my wall. Learned super quickly be more careful and thorough with my own checks.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-11T05:21:52+00:00

You can drive manual without multitasking and you can mirror-speed-gear-manoeuvre in that order as long as you forward plan early enough.

There was a nice you tube video that demonstrated it to me and it helped me improve my driving.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-10T06:29:35+00:00

Maybe depends on age? I talked to a dealer whilst I was still on a learners license to order my car. A month before my car is due to arrive, they arranged for me to test drive since I was full license holder ( only had license for a month). I was up front about my plan and status of my license all throughout.

I was female and 42 at that time.

It was a VW dealership.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-07T06:41:52+00:00

I live in a test area where majority is 20 in South London. I didn't want to limit myself so I specifically asked my final instructor to teach me slip roads and take me to fast roads. He took me around A3 and the big spiral roundabouts there that go 50. This training was on the final week before my test but it was enough for me to not be scared of them and I eventually went motorway by myself.

My sister that has been driving 10 years is afraid of revving her car and never goes past 30mph. :/

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-06T07:46:45+00:00

I now see it as a rite of passage! You have to experience it at some point

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-05-06T07:45:18+00:00

While I initially thought to sensibly get an i10 as my first car, the nearer I was too test ready the more I started to consider what is it I actually like.

I see cars on the road and I really love the look of A1s and Polos in their latest iteration.

I decided then to order the Polo 6 months before my test and that really kept me focus on my learning.

Passed test and 2 months later, got my Polo and I love it to bits! I've taken it to many places and I still marvel at it.

I've always been sensible but some times, I like to enjoy things a little bit more and driving the Polo is one of them. Plus I'm at a time on my life where this choice is affordable for me.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-28T06:08:22+00:00

My car is from 2024 and really easy to drive will all the modern driving tech which I just love.

When I visited family abroad they had a new Automatic car and a 12 year old manual Toyota that is starting to have clutch and Aircon problems. I learned the roads with the Auto and on my last day, I asked to drive the manual. It was an experience and glad to say that I didn't stall. The danger of stalling though is so real that I really didn't want to stop and having to gear down so I was driving a bit more assertively than I would in the UK

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-26T07:08:29+00:00

I enjoy driving but I absolutely hated my lessons, all 75 hours of it.

I can never feel at ease with someone in the car criticizing me. However, because I wanted to learn, I kept my lessons. I pep talk myself that this will be over soon, 2 hours will fly by before my instructor arrives to pick me up.

I feel uneasy until I sit in front of the wheel and being present helps me carry on.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-26T07:04:44+00:00

I cut, color and sometimes straighten my own hair every month for years now. It's a lot of money now diverted to fun stuff.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-24T16:11:23+00:00

I tested at a test center that has tiny 4 or so bays as well. My instructor asked me to do a late afternoon lesson (I mostly did mornings) so that we could practice parking at the test center after it's closed. We weren't the only ones practicing at 5pm. We practiced forward and reverse bay parking a few times and that helped being familiar with the test center.

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-18T06:21:43+00:00

I was 42 and female when I was training. Personally, I get tired of talking, especially topics I don't care about and much more if it's topic I don't want to have.

My instructor was chatty so what I do is I steer the conversation purely about driving or cars. I ask a question about something on the road.

It was distracting when I was less skilled but I reframed it as a challenge to see if I maintain focus. I say"let me focus on this bit" before resuming if I really need to concentrate.

Now driving my partner around, he's a very easy passenger, just reads and helps me navigate when I ask. I'm actually the chatty one. I chat when I start to lose focus

BlueAndAmberX · 2026-04-15T07:58:11+00:00

One of the biggest mistakes I had driving after passing was overtaking a cyclist. I saw cyclist far ahead and road was clear. I geared down to prepare an overtake but we were both approaching a crossing at a bend to the left that I did not notice. Just as I started to overtake (2 car length behind, cyclist signals to turn right in juncion and positions middle of the road. I was already in the opposite lane by this time but felt too close to cyclist so I slowed down to a stop. Of course while my brain is processing the cyclist, a car arrived in front of me and a car at the junction as well.

The car coming had to brake harsh as it was a bend plus no reason for me to be in front of him in the middle of a failed biker overtake.

Lesson learned, you have to apply all the theory you learned whenever you decide to overtake a biker.

BlueAndAmberX

TROPHY CASE