Planning A Return To University – Stationery Haul Part 1

I have wanted to return to university to complete more studying for a long while now but I have not been able to because of the finance side of it. Well that doesn’t need to be so much of a problem now because they are finally introducing Postgraduate Student Loans here in the UK which work in a similar way to the current Undergraduate Student Loans that the UK already have. I can’t however apply for one just yet as they are not being introduced until the end of June 2016, so in the meantime I just need to decide on the right course and university, apply for Autumn 2016 in take and then work out where I am going to live once I’ve been offered a place.

Before I’ve even applied though, I have begun to collect together some necessities that I know I will need whilst studying! Yes, my excitement has gotten the better of me and I have already got a giant pile of stationery items that I will only need for uni (rather than everyday life right now) – oops. It all started when I was shopping in Tesco last month, they had a Pukka Notebook & Filing Collection on sale so I couldn’t resist getting myself one! I got the blue one as I don’t really do pink. XD

Since then, I have gone a bit mad buying more supplies online, mostly through Amazon as they usually have the best prices and availability, it also helps that I have an Amazon Prime subscription, so I get the bonus of free one day delivery!

I have so far bought the following including the Pukka Notebook & Filing Collection:

  1. Pukka Notebook & Filing Collection – I got the blue version but you can also get it in pink!
  2. Oxford International Activebook 2 A5+ – which are spiral bound but have perforated and hole punched pages that will fit in my Filofax and have great smooth paper that you can use fountain pens, gel pens or a regular Biro on and not have to worry about it bleeding through the page. Yes they were a pack of 5 notebooks;
  3. Staedtler Ergosoft Colouring Pencils – for colour coding my notes, timetable and also for colouring in any drawing I need to do;
  4. Staedtler Mars Micro 0.7mm mechanical pencil with free leads refill – I love these pencils as they don’t require you to have a pencil sharpener on hand all the time and have a nice thickness of lead, I usually choose a 0.7mm pen over a 0.5mm one so why not also in pencil leads!
  5. Staedtler Noris Pencil Set – can you see a theme here? These pencils are my go to standard pencil, no matter what you do with them (well within reason I guess!) you can still sharpen them easily and they don’t just break the second they are dropped slightly – a must for anyone school age and above really as they really do make more financial sense than those cheap ones that snap after they are dropped once making sharpening to use again impossible. They do come with a fairly good pencil sharpener but I already own a metal Staedtler 2 hole pencil sharpener that is my usual choice but I wanted the eraser that came with this pack as it is a mini version of the ones I bought later on…
  6. Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser – I also bought some of these, regular sized erasers as they are one of the best you can get as they actually rub the pencil marks out rather than rip the paper or smudge everywhere.
  7. Post-It Super Sticky Lined Notes Sheets in blue – most people have the yellow ones but I find blue help me read better and are visible but not in a harsh way, you can also get other colours;
  8. Rhino A4 Tinted Paper Exercise Books (blue paper) – again I got these with blue pages as it makes writing and reading my notes much easier for me. A lot of people with Dyslexia will also find these exercise books helpful as they reduce the visual stress associated with traditional white paper. I found them when I was going to buy the Rhino Special Tinted A4 Refill Pad (which somehow escaped my basket) as I have used the Pukka Dyslexia A4 Pad in Turquoise before but the paper is a lot darker than the Rhino one looks so I’m hoping the pages will be more sky blue than the bright blue of the Pukka Pad, although the colour of the Pukka pad is much more appealing than that of a white pad any day!
  9. Bic Matic Combo Mechanical Pencils – you would think I have about enough pencils already from even just the collection above but no, you can never have too many pencils – or can you…? Either way, these ones are great colourful items to have in your bag for when you need to jot something down quickly in your diary and as they are cheaper than the Mars Micro one that I purchased above, if someone needs to borrow a pencil and forgets to give it back, then it is not so bad, well sort of, it’s more the principle of the matter that they should have returned it but never mind…
  10. Coavas Portable Folding Notebook Desk – my old lap tray split and has covered my room in tiny polystyrene snowballs (they feel like rock if you lay on one though!?!) so I thought it was about time I finally bought myself a new tray I could use on my lap on the bed. The tray I am currently using has a lip all the way round top and bottom and my laptop doesn’t really fit but it’s better than having it straight on my lap, this should make things a whole lot better, and I will be able to use it as a laptop table and also write by hand on it as it is flat.

I already have a few stationery items that I won’t need to repurchase before I start uni as I only got them last September such as my Staedtler Highlighters and my Staedtler Whiteboard Pens, or they are long-term things that don’t run out or need replacing like my hole punches.

Just a note about all the Staedtler stuff in this list – I just like these items, over the years I have come to find that they are top quality and last well, I have not been asked by Staedtler to promote any of their products so if you decide you prefer a pencil that is not made by Staedtler then that is fine! I have not posted about it in this post, but I am currently using some PaperMate Comfortmate Ultra Retractable Ballpoint Pens, so I do use other brand products but I will stick to what works for me, even if I do try something else every now and then – if it doesn’t measure up then I just won’t get it again.

I should get items 7-10 delivered tomorrow so I will be adding some pictures of that pile of stuff after it has arrived! šŸ˜€

What essential stationery supplies have you already purchased ready for going to uni or maybe even starting a new job? I would love to see your ideas, I’m sure I will be following any suggestions made and will add more purchases to this haul very soon!

Sx

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