Financial update

Last night I asked my BF to put some body lotion on this very small patch of dry skin at the bottom of my back. I handed him a tube of body lotion which I had cut the top off to get to the lotion which just will not squeeze out the tube no matter how hard you try. And he says to me 'Are you on some kind of super-saving spree?' So I replied, 'I just don't like waste' hehe. He's only just noticed.

On another note at the weekend my mum gave me cash for my Bluewater Christmas vouchers, despite protesting slightly. I have also re-ordered a new card and pin number for my personal Barclays account which I haven't used in years. When it arrives, and payday is finally here I plan to work out my disposable income for the month after putting any money into my ISA and putting the spare money into the account so I know exactly how much I have to play with. I have been having to account for the weekly direct debits which leave and go into our joint account as well as taking into account the regular standing orders which are going out such as rent and mobile phone bill. This way should be much easier. I am also intending to start my pension plan through work but am a little concerned that people have lost thier money when companies go bust...what to doo? I have to decide by the end of the week.

I have also set up a saving account which £20 per month goes into from our joint account. Its flexible so if there is more fundage available I/we? can just transfer this in as and when to put some money aside for our holiday towards the end of the year (hopefully!).

Finally, I was reading a blog earlier and saw that one blogger recommended placing a dishwasher tablet into the toilet cistern so that every time you flush it cleans the loo. Does anyone else do this? After sitting on our downstairs loo seat and cracking it in half (eek! didn't realise they were sooo flimsy and yet so expensive to replace!) I don't want to break anything else in the house that I would have to replace if I were to damage it. We have a whole bag of dishwasher tablets sitting underneath our sink not doing anything as our last flat had a dishwasher, and this one sadly doesn't.

Oh, while we are on the subject I have been reading everywhere that landlords are not renewing rental contracts in the months running up to the Olympics and are planning on doubling rents in some parts to cash in on the games. Our contract is up for renewal at the end of May, and so the seed of worry has started growing in my mind that we may have to move yet again....*sign*.

Besides the financial cost of having to cough up yet more money to cover estate agent fees our furniture has tripled in the space of a year and the location is so good for me, just a three minute walk from the station with a direct link taking 35 minutes into London Waterloo. I'm seriously hoping we can stay put, even if the rent does go up just a little bit.

 In an ideal world myself and my BF would just move back to my parents to save for our own place, but this would involve some major disruption to our lives as he would have to transfer his place of work and I have no idea where all our furniture would go as I have fitted wardrobes in my bedroom and no place for a double bed. I seriously hope it doesn't come to that. Watch this space folks.

Friday the 13th....

Happy Friday the 13th readers- does anyone have anything nice planned for the weekend?

This week has gone by quite a lot quicker than last week, even though I've been at work an extra day. I stumbled across this interesting article on one of my favourite websites about money management and shopping which makes for some interesting reading.

http://www.handbag.com/relationship/your-life/sheconomics-how-to-manage-your-finances

And this is also worth a quick skim http://www.studentbeans.com/student101/channels/99-ways-to-beat-the-january-blues2191.html

I have also been pondering some New Year's resolutions, and better late than never here they are as well as some commentary on the last few weeks.

1. Save and reach target of £10,000 in my ISA account and look into putting this money into a fixed account with a higher interest rate. I want to achieve this by around July time ideally.

2. This year I want to go on a 'proper' holiday towards the end of the year. In our four years together we have never been on holiday on our own either so I want to make sure this happens, which means regular stashing of joint account money as and when to take the financial edge off when we come to book.

3. I want to keep my job for at least a year. I passed my probation period this week too (helloooo private healthcare, but sadly no contribution pension scheme for new entrants :(). Last year I had three different jobs which messed up my stability and my pay somewhat as it was just too tempting to take a week off between jobs unpaid (one week wasn't my fault though!) Finally I am in a job where I can actually see myself staying all being well so I hope this one happens this year.

4. I wanted to include Zumba dancing into my exercise routine this year, however there is only one class on at the weekend and it seems everyone is getting up at the crack of dawn come Friday morning to clamour for a place. Two weeks into the new year and I'm yet to secure a place. Note to self, call the gym as soon as I open my eyes next week.

5. This one is a little odd but I want to get my hair cut asymmetrically properly. I had this done once by a bit of an inexperienced hairdresser and it just looked a bit wonky. My hair appointment is already booked at a salon I went to once before and was really pleased with it for the end of the month.

6. Another one which seems to be going okay so far, cutting down on cans of coke. I've substituted the fizz for sparkling water but treated myself today as a little Friday treat.

7. I want to start drinking more water again, which I have been trying to do whilst at work.

8. I want to make the most of my annual train ticket and see more of London and make the most of it. I wanted to go to a fashion photography exhibition today at Somerset House but it closes at 6pm and I won't make it in time. May have to be shelved until a day off. I do intend to be in town to experience the Chinese New Year celebrations at the end of the month which I haven't seen since I was little.

9. I want to go on a short break to Bath as I have never been before.

10. And finally I want to keep my blog up over the next twelve months as its a great way to learn from others, practice my writing regularly and reflect over the year. 

January blues

I think I, like most people am experiencing the post-Christmas January blues. You know the feeling when payday seems sooo far away, and there's less going into your savings at the end of the month because of the festive period.

Rather than getting on with it like I have been doing for the last year and enjoying the little things I keep getting preoccupied with buying stuff, stuff I don't really need and that I know won't make me happy. Stuff like Kindles and touch screen e-readers, iPads and getting my hair cut and coloured even though I only had it cut in late December. It's not that I'm feeling particularly unhappy as such, it just seems that because of buying the computer which ate up £440.00 and having to pay out for some of my annual season ticket (just over a couple of hundred) and the BF still owes me £200 it kind of seems at the back of my mind its like to hell with it this month, in for a dollar in for a pound.

Then Miss Sensible comes along and explains that its silly to think like that, and once the £200 is repaid to me, I get my season ticket loan from work and my sister gives me cash for my vouchers things will probably be ok and I can stash away a couple of hundred into the ISA at the end of the month- eeking me nearer to a total of £7,000. Not a huge sum of money but I'm kind of pleased that its making progress, slowly but surely.

Whats making me feel a bit better is that most people seem to be in the same boat with many of my co-workers discussing plans for the weekend involving nothing too exciting, complaining that they're broke. Last night one of my best friends came over and I cooked home made nachos with cheese and salsa to start and then home made, from scratch chicken and sweetcorn pizza. We chatted on the sofa eating away, and even though my dough didn't rise for some reason, making the pizza extra thin and crispy we ended up feeling sleepy, stuffed and happy.

Today I had plans to get up bright and early to go to a Zumba class at my gym, but yesterday I forgot to book and it was full at 8am this morning. Instead, I started a lethally addictive game of Simms 3 (borrowed) which I sat glued to for the whole morning. I forced myself to switch it off as the bedroom needed sorting out, and other house bits needed doing.

When everything was done I made another big batch of soup, which made five portions. Considering the whole bag of carrots cost 75p I think that's pretty good going.  All I needed extra was a couple of sweet potatoes, a stock cube, half an onion and one roasted pepper (from the jars). So that's lunch sorted for the next week. I also picked up some pretty good bargains (I think anyways) in the Sainsburys local opposite my work. The big Christmas boxes of Jacobs crackers were reduced to £1.20 so I bought two, the carrots, four or five apples which were pretty nice for £1 and a six pack of McCoys crisps a snip at 94p.

At the moment I feel a bit like that fish from the Disney film Finding Nemo who is told 'just keep swimming... just keep swimming..just keep swimming...' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmyUkm2qlhA

If anyone else feels the same feel free to let me know.....xx

Welcome 2012

Last night I spent the evening working in the pub where I used to work when I was a student a couple of years back and where my BF still works and our two housemates and friends drink. After making the decision to swerve the 02 Islington with its £25.00 entry fee, expensive drinks and endless waits for night buses home I was told the bar was short staffed for NYE and asked could I help out if possible. I figured that I would only be on the other side of the bar come midnight if I turned the offer down anyways, and the BF was working as well as his cousin and one of our close friends.

The evening started off fine, then as 10pm approached people started to get drunker and more annoyingly rude, one of the staff members who was working had a particularly bad personal hygiene problem and I was hungry! However, disappearing for half an hour to tuck into some homemade soup (1KG carrots a snip at £1-Asda made five jars of soup, four of which are tucked away in the freezer) and a chunk of homemade bread (I was lucky enough to be given a bread maker for Christmas :)) a few deep breaths and peace and quiet I returned to the bar much calmer. That and most of the clientele had left for the evening leaving just the regulars and our friends at the bar. We shut about ten to midnight, had a few glasses of (free) champers to see in the new year and then returned to work for 45 mins. We cleaned up and were finished at about 2am when we all sat down and had another free drink.

 Though it was hard work at some points (why do people feel the need to speak to bar staff like they are stupid when they're actually in the wrong I don't know, and I don't know how people have the patience to deal with them full time- it certainly makes me appreciate my job) I think it was worth it, I didn't spend a penny and people were flinging cash around left right and centre last night, I have no hangover today and even earned a little extra cash too.

Today I plan on going for a little relaxing swim and steam room session, and then will be trying to make my own sweet and sour sauce seeing as I have most of the ingredients in the cupboard (note to self, buy white vinegar) with king prawns, vegetables which need using and rice and making the most of my time off before going back to the grindstone on Tuesday.

Mission accomplished

Today I managed to buy my season ticket for the year as I refuse to line TFL's pockets any more than I have to. I am a little concerned as to why my loan hasn't come through from work though, but my manager said it was easier to do it another way to the way I was told it would happen where the money is put in your account in one go so maybe that has happened instead and it isn't because I haven't passed my probation period.- eek! fingers crossed. 

My finances are a little up the wall at the moment....

Hello to the people who read this blog and I hope you all had a very enjoyable Christmas- with a not too bad financial aftermath to deal with in the coming weeks. This year Christmas seemed to pass by in a blur and I can't believe it is almost New Years Eve already.

I last posted before my work Christmas party just over a week ago, which was a very enjoyable night and surprisingly I actually tried to alternate my alcoholic drinks with soda water and lime and even drank a bottle of water in the cab home and took some painkillers too- I was very proud of myself as usually I never know my limits and end up in a bit of a pickle :S. The next day I was one of the first in the office at 8.30am and was feeling pretty good- just really hungry as I hadn't had much for dinner the previous evening, only some canapes. 

The past week I seem to have fallen a little off the frugal bandwagon, and whereas before I would have carefully thought about what I was buying there hasn't been much of that going on. Nothing too reckless, but there has been food bought which has gone mouldy and unused which has ended up in the bin which I usually try to avoid at all costs, clothes and make up bought that I wanted and didn't exactly need and meals out in close succession with the reasoning that hey-ho its Christmas. 

Also, what has really thrown me into the red is the all-in-one computer I bought outright with built in freeview television. It was a planned purchase, but as the BF gets paid weekly he still owes me £200.00 which I'll probably get in four £50.00 installments. It has a nice big screen, which is such a luxury compared to the crappy cracked screen laptop I've been using the past few months, and is perfect for photoshopping my photos and watching TV in our room. 

And on top of that my annual season ticket loan money still isn't in my account, despite the finance department saying it would be there the week before Christmas. Therefore, I have had to transfer money from my ISA into my current account to pay for all £1,880.00 of it. Eek! I tried to buy my season ticket today to start in the first of January so I pay for this years train fares and consequently avoid the ridiculous 5.8% increases but the ticket office was closed at 1pm. I'm hoping I can buy it easily tomorrow instead without too much hassle, but my sister said they make the process so over-complicated it took her three attempts to try and buy hers. Fingers crossed. 

All being well I will be able to buy the season ticket tomorrow and that will be my travel costs paid for the next year. Once that's all paid for I will have around £165.00 in my account plus £55.00 cash which I need to pay in  tomorrow whilst carrying out my mystery shop at Santander (£10.00 payment for asking a few silly questions and filling out a form-more on that later!) totaling £220.00, I'm hoping to get around £60.00 next Friday for the bar work I've done this week taking that up to £280.00, plus the £200.00 I'm owed from the BF £480.00 and I should be selling my Wii for £100.00 making that a grand total of £580.00 to last another 25 days. Most of this will go on bills; £220.00 rent, £150.00 into the joint account, £42.00 gym membership and then £33.00 phone bill= £445.00, leaving £135.00 to spare. 

It feels good to finally work all this out as for the last week or so its been a bit of a head in the sand situation. I think my head cold has knocked the stuffing out of me a bit and I'm almost (I said almost!) looking forward to getting back into the usual routine- hoping to shake the cold before returning to work. 

I hope you all have a great evening tomorrow, whatever you have planned and hope next year is a happy and successful one for all!

PS. Does anyone have any resolutions yet? I haven't given too much thought to it yet I must say.  

Just a quick post, it was payday yesterday finally so I've updated my ISA and ticker. It's the work Christmas party tonight, lots of free alcohol which is super scary with festivities going on right up until the big day. Hope everyone's having a Merry Christmas and will be posting a more lengthy post in a few days time.

Money money money....aint it funny?

Over the past few days I've been watching a BBC documentary series titled 'Money'. The series explores peoples different attitudes towards money and it makes for some very interesting watching. Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b018grzr/Money_Forty_Grand/- enjoy the rest of your weekend. x

I've just shifted some money around in my accounts so that I wouldn't be tempted to spend it anymore and now have the grand total of £6,662.00in my savings account so the little turtle has made some progress. This last few days I've been itching to shop for myself as I recently cleared out my wardrobe and draws of items which had seen better days and think I needed to replace a few bits.

I managed to resist popping down Oxford Street at lunch (mainly due to it being so cold) but last night after having my hair cut in Wimbledon I was left waiting for the BF, so naturally headed to the shopping centre to keep warm. I caught the last 15 minutes of H&M being open, hit their sale section and found a set of black fur trimmed mittens and black bobble hat for a fiver. This purchase I do feel was actually pretty necessary as my one pair of mittens were beige and falling apart (they'll go in the bin today) and my one bobble hat was a cream bear hat with pom-pom ears which were starting to come off- neither of which went with my new elegant black coat. My hands were also getting really chapped from the cold spell we are experiencing at  the moment, and the hat will help to keep my body heat in.

However, I also spotted a sparkly silver jumper I had eyed on a colleague at work that had caught my eye (the human-magpie effect!) which was priced £15.00 so I gave in and took it to the till- I thought it would be nice to wear on Christmas day.

Then, I was really hungry by this point and needed something to eat. All the available options didn't seem to appealing; the usual fast food outlets, supermarket pre-packaged sandwiches etc. so I opted for quite a bad choice on reflection- a Gregs steak bake. However, you had to spend a minimum of £3.00 to pay by card so I wound up walking away with a steak bake, festive bake and a mince pie...hmmm. Fairly annoying as I had already preprepared my dinner of steamed fish and green veg which was at sitting at home in the fridge-but such is life.

Myself and the BF went for a few drinks, but the pubs were crowded there was nowhere to sit/stand without being in someones way so around eleven made our way home. I thought that as our joint account is back in the black this week we would use that but we shared the cost between our personal accounts, so that was another £9.00 I hadn't planned on spending- think it might have been nicer to share a bottle of wine at home!

So the excess money is in my savings account, there is £100 left in there at the moment and half of my recent purchases haven't yet come out. I've also just remembered I need to buy another weekly travel card at £47.00 for the week- eek.

Left to pay
47.00-travel card
£25.00-hair cut
£20.00- H&M clothes (jumper is going back as looks awful on!)
£20.00- National Geographic subscription
£9.00- drinks out
£10.00- dinner out today
£3.00- Gregs

That's £15.00 (well it was if I was keeping the jumper!) over my budget which is what I originally anticipated so that's fine. I've also got a few shifts lined up at the pub over the week I'm off including New Year's Eve which I was umming and ahhing what to do, whether to work or go out. However, tickets to where I was meant to be going was about £20-£25, plus all the travel and drinks on top, plus I didn't fancy having to wait for two night buses in the cold. So I should have a little extra in January to cover these little overdraft inducing treats.

Right that's enough of me going on, does anyone have anything nice planned for this weekend? x

Happy Hump day folks

Santander finally came through and managed to send both my debit card and pin number to the right address- it took almost two months needless to say I have been less than impressed with their 'services'. It's been so long since I could just pop across the road to Sainsburys for food at work it was quite a luxury to scour the shelves today.

I've given myself £75.00 to last until payday next Wednesday, and so far this week I have spent almost £25.00. Yesterday I ordered my Dad a 'National Geographic' subscription for the year which was a reasonable price of £19.00, included in this price is a fleece, ideal for wearing to work on cold days and out walking/cycling at the weekends as well as a world map. I thought it was an unusual and much more thoughtful present than the standard Next jumper I usually buy him, although I'm not sure if he'll actually have anything to open on Christmas day- I think I'll probably have to print something out to put in his card.

Today I spent almost £5.00 in Sainsburys on, well snacks..... I felt like I needed some nourishment to fend off the winter snuffles and general 'urgh' feeling as was pretty sleepy this morning- more so than normal! So I bought some peppermint and nettle tea which is meant to be cleansing etc. some mixed unsalted nuts with raisins for some good fats, vitamin e, a small bar of Green and Blacks organic dark chocolate (it has antioxidants right?) a bag of cherry tomatoes to go with the cheese and crackers in my packed lunch and a jar of very mini gherkins to also go with the cheese (a bit of an odd craving). I thought I would be needing to keep my strength up over the holiday period and really want my skin to clear up and improve as much as possible before the work Christmas party. Therefore, as well as the unsalted nuts I've also been guzzling water at my desk, eating avacado and peanut butter wholemeal sandwiches and making an effort to eat my fruit. Does anyone have any blemish fighting tips om foods to avoid? I've heard dairy is bad but I'm not sure.

So left in the budget I have £50.00 left, out of which I need to get my hair cut (again before the said office party) as my bob has completley lost its shape. I'm hoping I can get a stand by appointment after work on Friday which is £25.00. I also need to buy a small present for the BF around £20.00 approx. I'm also meant to be going to Richmond on Saturday and will probably end up having lunch or dinner out.... I doubt it will come to a fiver so may eat just a little into the overdraft once I've put the £400.00 into my savings account.

Overall I don't think that's too bad considering I've also completely paid off the car repairs too. Fingers crossed no disasters strike before the 21st like last month!

Image courtesy of  'We heart it'

Hope you're all having a good week so far- Happy Humpday x

PS. do you remember this time last year when there was non-stop snowfall? I'm quite happy its bright and nippy outside today!

Cheapy easy cheesy pasta

Inspired by some of the recipes floating around the frugal blogosphere this weekend I decided to try and make my own cheese sauce. Though this is a fairly simple task to do I'm too impatient to follow recipes and weigh out my ingredients, preferring instead to wing it.

So into a saucepan went some margarine from the fridge, some milk and flour which was heated gently over a low heat, whisked and then I added half a ball of mozzarella some garlic powder and black pepper and whisked a little bit more to make a smooth paste. I set this aside while the pasta finished cooking, microwaved a cup of frozen peas, chopped a few leftover cherry tomatoes lurking at the bottom of the fridge and combined all the ingredients which was then poured into a casserole dish. I then placed this into a warm oven to bake for half an hour to make the top crispy.

 When I sat down and had a mouthful it tasted like I had gone a bit overboard with the flour, and the mozzarella had a very weak taste. But it literally cost me pennies to make, and filled me up for the afternoon. The next day, I had the leftovers after returning from a spot of Christmas shopping. This time I melted some smoked applewood cheese over the top which gave it a flavoursome taste- much better! I'm planning on practicing my easy cheesy sauce again this week.

On another note there's just ten days to payday, and less than two weeks to Christmas Day- can't wait! I cleared out all the rubbish in my wardrobe I never wear and utilised a top organising tip from A Thrifty Mrs whereby you place all your clothes on hangers facing the "wrong" way; i.e so that the hooks are all facing you, and once you have worn the clothes you turn the hanger around again. It's an easy way to see exactly what you wear and what items are taking up precious space in your wardrobe.

And I have also made a list of a few items I think I do actually need to stock up on- including a flat pair of pale ballet pumps (oh-so-chic, versatile and most of all comfortable) I'm planning on throwing away my tan coloured ones which have been worn to death, a new black cardigan as my current one is looking somewhat worse for wear and lots of new socks (say goodbye to holy socks!)

Now all I need is for my pin number to come through from Santander......though it's been pretty annoying being without my debit card it has made me consider my purchases much more than normal- which is always good for the piggy bank. 

Weekly round up

Today was a mini payday for me, a little sum of £32.00 was deposited into my account from the three and a half hours bar work I did a few weeks a go- not too bad. I deposited that, and a little extra to round it up to £50 which I tucked into the savings account to make the little turtles journey a tiny bit shorter.

It's payday a little earlier this month due to Christmas, four days early so just eleven days away. I've worked out that after taking my rent and joint account money away from the sum in my current account I should be left with around £475.00. I'm going to give myself £75.00 to play with up until then (including a small token Christmas present for the BF- were keeping it small this year as we're planning on buying a decent desktop computer in January. I'm tired of trying to read around the crack in the screen on my laptop, and the keyboard is definably on its wayy out too (what a fabulous excuse for the typos!) I've also almost sold my WII with some games for £100.00 too, which will be going towards the computer, so all round a fairl good week- though after last week I'm not catching my chickens before they've hatched!

Today everyone made a trip to Gregs the bakers and the chip shop for Friday chips, I was a little envious sitting there with my mozzarella and tomato home-made sandwich and a couple of satsumas, but was quite glad come 3pm when a box of beautiful cupcakes from a bakery in Primrose hill arrived. I had a red velvet glittery cupcake (it didn't taste any different from a normal cake- I was left wondering what all the hype was about. After 20 mins I had sugar overload and had to prop my sleepy eyes open until I was able to nod off on the train. I'm cooking a chicken breast which needed using before tomorrow, sliced in half and seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic along with some pan fried potatoes, Brussels sprouts and peas which were left overs that were frozen a few weeks ago- some gravy will complete my thrifty dinner. xx


 

A small surprise windfall...

This lunchtime I braved the chilly London winds and the Oxford Street rabble to go to the bank to try to sort my debit card out once and for all. After discussing my ongoing problems with the cashier she shows me that I was meant to receive a new debit card in the post as well as a pin number. Well, the pin number turned up a few weeks ago but no card.

She shows me that my new card was sent to my old address, yet they managed to send the pin to the right address....I know go figure, where is the sense in that? She hands me a leaflet with a phone number to call 'stage two' complaints, great I thought.

Returning to my desk I rang the number and after explaining all my hassles over the last six weeks and threatening to move to another bank (calmly and politely of course)I'm put on hold to wait for my second apologetic gesture.

 After some time listening to 'Greensleeves' he says that he will credit my account with £100.00! Whoooo!! Tonight it has gone straight into the savings account, along with an extra £14.00 to make the amount nice and even, rounding the total up to £6,200- the ticker is moving along slowly I'm pleased to say and I'm planning on stashing away a little extra when I next get paid too. This week's spend £0 (Not much choice with no bank-card!) TTFN x

I'm trying out a ticker....

To help keep me on track during the silly season I've installed a savings ticker both on here and on my iGoogle desktop to help keep my end goal in sight. It should be possible to save this amount over the next year and a half all being well. I chose a little house motif as this is what the cash will one day go towards....


 

Dealing with 'The urge to shop'...

This week, sans payday and with most of my Christmas shopping done (go me!) - which never usually happens The urge to shop came over me. On my morning commute a girl stood in front of me who seemed to be wearing the exact same blazer I had lost last week (sob!) and after logging onto the H&M website I realised that a) my bank card STILL isn't working as it should, and b) I had left the joint account card at home, preventing it from taking another battering (which it really doesn't need!). I had a few quid in my purse to buy food shopping at lunchtime, so said clothes shopping was put on hold (phew!). However, after a turn of events in the office someone piped up that they had my little black blazer at home, after picking it up at the end of the night, and this morning I was reunited with one of my wardrobe staples- happy days!

This week, so far has been fairly frugal (didn't really have much of a choice!) I have only spent money on food for lunch supplies from Sainsburys across the road including;

1. A mini loaf of bread (will keep in the freezer and take out as and when) 
2. Six pack of McCoys crisps (on special offer £1, two down, four to go- around 16p per bag!)
3. A packet of crackers (nom..nom)
4. A punnet of plums (loads left- will take to Centre Parcs this weekend)
5. A packet of cherry tomatoes (again, loads left but should last in the fridge until next week)
6. A bag of satsumas (two left, which will be eaten today)
7. A bag of spinach (last handfuls will be wilted in pasta tonight)
8. A budget ball of mozzarella (finished; made four sandwiches 11p per sarnie)
9. Six pack of diet coke (also on special offer £2.50, 41p per can opposed to 65p two left for the picnic) 
10. Two sausage rolls (52p) 
11. One mini french stick baguette (50p)

All of this came to around £11.00, which really is the equivalent to a couple of lunches from a posh coffee shop, and this should do me for lunches for the rest of the week.

 Last night we were also taken out on another media night, this time to Byron a very posh burger chain which has just opened up around the corner from the office near Centre Point- all expenses paid of course. I tend to be like a kid in a candy shop at these events, and last night was no exception. I ordered the Byron burger with blue cheese and bacon, accompanied by courgette fries (yummy!) and a HUGE Oreo ice cream milkshake- delicious, but somewhat of a bad idea, followed by a full fat coke. I had been sooo hungry all day I had eaten loads, and by the time I had made it to the tube station I was feeling more than a little sick.....

Anyways, enough of that, this weekend I'm off to Centre Parcs for four days with the BF and the family which should be nice, and relatively low cost too (M&D paid as a VERY late part 21st present for me, and part 21st present for my sister) We've both always wanted to go since we were little, I think mainly due to their clever advertising campaigns, so looking forward to it. M&D want to keep the cost down as I think it set them back a fair bit, so it will be a weekend of relaxing in the spa, being forced to do Zumba and cycling about, spending the evenings having a few drinks (probably non-alcoholic as I think alcohol makes my skin worse!)......

Is anyone up to anything nice this weekend? .. x

Budgeting

So payday has finally arrived, and due to the car repairs putting me back in my overdraft I now (sadly!) have a very similar budget to work with as last month- around £1100.00. I put the odd £13.00 into my ISA to make the number nice and even to remember and this is how I reckon next months finances should (hopefully- fingers crossed!) pan out:

£220.00 rent
£200.00 into the joint account to pay for bills and food
£33.00 phone bill (am thinking of downgrading at the end of next year to save the £££)
£42.00 gym membership (again I think I will be cancelling my membership when my year is up at the beginning of March)
£94.00 x2 weekly travel cards (due to my week off over Christmas)
=£589.00
+30.00 approx. additional money from working at Twickenham rugby match today
Leaving £541.00 disposable income

This weekend I have spent/plan on spending very little. Last night I was tired and feeling a little worse for wear from the night before so I went for a swim and steam session before zonking out on the sofa. And tonight a friend was holding a house warming gathering, so I took round some soft drinks and posh crisps to share as me and my other friend were both driving and generally had a little natter and discussed the reality tv show strictly come dancing.

Tomorrow, the BF is off work so I plan on sorting out the mess which has accumulated on top of our wardrobes which has started to annoy me, finishing off my Christmas shopping online (hello Amazon!) going to the gym and finishing off the day with a cosy evening in watching a film and eating a nice dinner. 

Grr....

Things don't seem to be running as smoothly as they should be on the finances front.

Firstly there was the surprise trip to the garage earlier on in the week, then last night there was a media night out at a bar near Carnaby Street in Soho.

Now one day before payday and in the run up to Christmas free food and drinks all night was perfectly timed. However, after succumbing to the pressure of jäger bombs I ended up leaving my new black blazer in the bar and will probably never see it again- sadly proving the age old saying true 'there's no such thing as a free lunch'. Hmpffff.

Then after getting in I picked up our joint account bank statement from the mat in the hall and discover that virgin have charged us £75 for our tv and Internet- it's meant to be around the £40 mark. After their constant f*** ups earlier on this year it doesn't really come as a big surprise.

I would call them but learned the hard way not to call those numbers last month when my phone bill came in £20 more expensive after having to call tfl.
I'm hoping that these annoyances come in threes and that's ours over for a good couple of months.

On a more positive note, just enjoyed another free lunch courtesy of google at one of their marketing events, plus now own a whole bag of google goodies- even cufflinks!

How has everyone elses weeks been? Xx

The wonder of the humble bean

Around six weeks ago my housemate came back from his mum's house with two tins of kidney beans and one can of chick peas. Knowing my food tastes he said 'I won't be eating them, you can have them if you want them'.

So I stored them at the back of the cupboard, knowing I would probably use them one rainy day.
The tin of chick peas I made into a whole tub of hummus, complete with some roasted red pepper and chili flakes. This made dozens of healthy sandwiches/pittas for work when combined with grated carrot and courgette.

Then last night I really fancied doing a spot of cooking, so I whipped up some kidney bean burgers using the left over tins of kidney beans. One and a half tins made six burgers; two for dinner with some left over salsa from a fajita kit and coconut rice, two for today's lunch with leftover coconut rice, and two are in the fridge ready to be eaten as a pre-gym  snack tomorrow evening- seeing me nicely through to payday!

Here's my improvised bean burger recipe:

Ingredients (All items you can probably find lurking at the back of the cupboard or the bottom of the fridge)

• One and a half tins of kidney beans
• One mushroom
• Half a yellow pepper
• Half an onion
• Garlic powder
• Olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• Sprinkle of stuffing mix
• Flaked almonds (for added crunch)
• Flour 

Method

1. Pour all ingredients into a saucepan and leave to heat until beans are soft
2. Mash all ingredients together, use flower to thicken the consistency
3. Spoon out onto a baking tray into little round patty shapes
4. Grill/oven to cook as desired 

One step forward, three steps back....

So there I was yesterday feeling sort of smug with my month- £70 squirreled away and half my Christmas shopping done- all on about three weeks pay,and with three days worth of lunches packed into the fridge and just a few days away from my first full pay check in a couple of months and well, things took a bit of a turn for the worst on the financial front.

I woke up early to move my car as I had the day off and can't park out the front of the flat during the day as there are restrictions. After turning the key for about five minutes it was clear that Mary the micra as my sister says was not going to start. So I called the rac guy out, and spent the following hour in my pink fluffy sleepsuit, coat and boots watching him trying to get my car started. I thought it would be a simple case of me not using it enough which combined with the cold weather was making her an unhappy lady. And that the miracle mechanic man would we able to work his magic and I would have my little car back. However, after 60 minutes of failed attempts to get the ignition to work he gives up and says he'll have to tow me to the garage.

Alarm bells started ringing about the cost of the repairs and I thought about £70 would cover it- a bit annoying but I could cope with it.

After a few hours I get a phone call from the garage, waffling in technical car jargon and informing me I now owe them somewhere in the region of £270- I nearly fell off my chair :(.

So I went to the bank (Santander just to warn you!) for another complaining session- this time lodging an official complaint and I tell them I want a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience of then failing to send me my new pin number three times! Four weeks I haven't been able to user debit card (a right royal pain in the ass in the lead up to Christmas, going away for the weekend and the final straw- the car breaking!). I tried to withdraw the money for the car repair from my savings account but the woman couldn't do that so my overdraft took a battering- luckily it's interest free for another three years! I guess it's better to do that and pay it off about £50 per month then lose money in interest from the savings account. I was so looking forward to a full paycheck on Friday too, and have even got some part time bar work lined up on Saturday and over Christmas in which I hoped I could piggy bank away...

Anyways after a bit of a shitty day yesterday I was on an excel course today. I took left over fajita wraps with me, to find out lunch was going on expenses! So I had a nice pret lunch, diet coke, edamae beans and a prawn noodle salad courtesy of tmp, I got a text from my housemate telling me I had had a beautiful bunch of flowers delivered from Santander with an apology (makes me laugh how they get my address right to send flowers, but have failed three times to send a pin number!) and arrive at work to find my desk and chair decorated, with a card and two presents neatly stacked on top of it. Even the wrapping paper had been customised which I thought was nice seeing I have only been with the company about six weeks. They gave me some new reading material for the train, because they wanted to improve my choices! Hehe, so my bookcase will be happy for the latest additions to the shelf.

What a couple of days! X

Winter stew

Inspired by Frugal Queens most recent post I decided to make a warming soup/stew in the slow cooker, ready  to be divided up into individual portions which will be eaten over the course of the next week. I was half following a recipe from a cook book, half improvising- so here is my final recipe.

Ingredients 

1. One tin of smart price chopped tomatoes 
2. Teaspoon of tomato puree
3. Sprinkle of Italian seasoning, garlic and paxo stuffing powder
4. Handful of pasta
5. Some roughly chopped green beans
6. Mushrooms
7. Sweetcorn
8. One carrot
9. Half a tin of kidney beans
10. Half a white onion
11. Vegetable stock

Method

• Chop all ingredients which need it 
• Make stock
• Place all ingredients into slow-cooker, sprinkle seasonings 
• Cook for approximately five hours
• Serve with some chunky bread/baguette 

This little lot made four portions; one for tea, one for lunch tomorrow and two are in their plastic tubs ready to be taken to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Simples.