Where has August gone?

I'm not sure where to even begin...the last time I blogged was exactly a month ago. The break wasn't intentional but I just felt I couldn't continue documenting every tiny thing as I was getting frustrated with things not happening quicker, so I'll try to start at the beginning where I left off what's been happening. 

My new toy :)

First of all I handed my notice in at my last job, and despite the team dropping down from three to one they were prepared to let both myself and my manager walk away. Fine. The worst bit, they hardly even bothered to speak to us before our last days, which coincidentally were just one day apart. Then a few days before he was about to leave they said he could come back. 

Needless to say I wasn't very happy about the situation with the management, but the rest of the teams I had worked with over the last eleven months were lovely.  The people I worked with have a collection whenever someone leaves, and they bought me this Kindle case as well as a £10 amazon voucher so I could get downloading and reading straight away which I thought was pretty nice.

So, prior to handing my notice in myself and some of the other 'grads' spent about six weeks orgainising an office Olympics, which unveiled the bossiness in some. Anyways, at the final event we were all given £75 worth of vouchers to spend as a thank you which I thought was pretty nice. I was going to spend it on new work clothes as mine were looking worse for wear and wanted to look presentable when I started my new job. Then I thought, why not spend it on something I wouldn't buy myself... like a Kindle? 

I voiced my thoughts to the BF, to his horror as he was planning to buy me one as a present with the extra money from his new paycheck. I was never keen on the idea of the Kindle, thinking what's wrong with a good old book. But I didn't expect to love it as much as I do, haha. I find I can hold it one handed so read much quicker and I think its actually more enjoyable to read on. So much so I whizzed through the Hunger Games trilogy in just a few weeks. I read the majority during my week and a half off, and whilst we went to Bournemouth for a long weekend. (I'm now saving the vouchers to use as presents instead). 

Beautiful Bournemouth

The weekend away was part of my birthday present to my BF, along with some Lyle and Scott t-shirts and socks- they had a 50% off sale on their existing sale if that makes sense so I bagged some pretty good bargains there. Secondly, the weekend away was purchased through one of those gift websites, but luckily I have a friend that works there who was willing to give me his 30% discount code. 

One day at work the deal popped into my inbox, £100 for two nights stay in a three star spa hotel with breakfast too, which after the discount came to £70. I also made use of the free tickets for SW trains that they gave me when I bought my season ticket so our travel there and back cost absolutely nothing. It was so nice to get away, have some time together, the rain held off all weekend and we even managed a swim in the heated outdoor pool! 

BT Live- London 2012 

We spent the rest of our week off together cycling about, pottering around and generally enjoying each others company. One day though I did venture into central London to meet an old uni friend. We went to BT Live to watch the Olympics on the big screens. She had just got back from holiday and constantly is at her overdraft limit so we thought it would be a nice, cheap day out. 

I packed a picnic but when we got there we were told that we weren't allowed to bring food or drink in. We sat outside along with all the other people cramming ourselves with food to avoid wasting it before heading through security to watch the games and to see some cheesy boy band and Alexander Burke. Once again, despite threatening to rain the sun came out- yay! 

Practicing my portraits 

Hmm, what else.. ok. So the BF got his first paycheck, and enjoyed his first month as the breadwinner, a feeling I think we both enjoyed. He then got £300 a few days ago for the scrap copper they pulled out the air con units, so this month has doubled his old salary. 

He's so excited, has opened his ISA, put £1000 away so far and has paid me back a chunk of the money he owed me for paying his credit card off earlier in the year. He's going to give me the last £135 on Friday when he gets paid and he'll be debt free :) I had to 'borrow' the money from him this month because I had to pay back my season ticket loan, meaning I had to pay for six months worth of travel all in one paycheck. Needless to say, I havn't been able to put any money into my ISA this month, but will be putting my 'travel' money in whenever I get paid to make it up. 

Sunday afternoon photo session x

I think now he's earning more (for now anyways due to getting paid more to work nights) meaning he can contribute towards our deposit a bit he's getting used to the idea of buying a property and that it might actually happen, and he was even looking online the other day too at a property website whereas before it was always me getting excited and planning. 

Finally it was time to go back to work- I've been at my new place for nine days now and I didn't realise it would be so surreal and hard trying to learn all the new processes, finding out where all our log ins etc are kept on the shared computer drive, even the new journey has thrown me. 

I can't get the tube anymore so have been getting the bus, which has been kind of annoying. The queues are rediculously long in the morning, and there is so much traffic. However, today I managed to walk without getting lost which took me half an hour and is quite a good work out too. I tried walking home, but bumped into someone I used to work with and got all confused and lost my bearings :S. 

Coupled with the fact its been horrendously busy due to about ten different university clearing campaigns going live on the same day I've been pretty tired when I get home, especically as I hardly ever leave on time anymore. But the time flies by, unlike my last job which is always a good thing right?

Ok so I hope I havn't bored you too much, I think I'll be posting more regularly again now I'm hoping to get back into my old routine.  

I haven't posted in a little while, it seems my creative efforts are being poured into my photography at the moment; as I seem determined to overcome my fear of using the manual settings on my SLR camera. I mean I was given my camera after bugging my Mum & Dad for a proper camera just over a year and a half ago which they bought me as a combined birthday/Christmas present. Its time to move on from the auto function.

I've been researching settings on the net and trying new things; I've posted some of my personal favourites for you to see. Anyways, I've also been getting these horrible migraine type headaches, I'm not sure whether its the weather or related to the contraceptive pill I'm on but whatever it is I've not been feeling myself for the last few weeks.

On the finance front I picked up about ten extra hours of bar work over the jubilee weekend, which always comes in handy and will cover expenses such as Father's day presents etc and my sister's birthday present. I also did a mystery shop in the week, and my Quidco has updated to confirmed, now I just need the payment run to run smoothly and for the money to actually materialise into my bank account.

I also went to another media music quiz, this time we came second taking home with us a bottle of champagne each which will be saved for possibly my Mum & Dad's wedding anniversary. My name was also pulled out of the hat to win a spot prize- I won a three month subscription to premium Spotify (an online music streaming service) worth £30.

Not much else to say; there's another two weekends left before payday; one will be spent bridesmaid shopping with the family and at my sister's birthday BBQ and one will be spent with an old friend in Kingston. I think I should make it through as I have about £140.00 left.

Another weekend, another update

Things on the blog front are starting to seem a bit predictable right?....

Anyways, this weekend went pretty much as planned and was good on the spending front; I budgeted £20 for drinks out on Friday night, a catchup with old work friends. I really enjoyed the eve and spent just £8.50 as I was so busy chatting away.

Saturday, I worked at Twickenham as there was another rugby game on. I did 10-4 so should get £35 quid (approx.) for this; the game wasn't until five, so we didn't get busy until half two when it went mental. I finished at four, ate my free dinner, abbott ale steak pie, mash, beans and gravy and escaped the madness. I watched some of the Chelsea game with my housemate and snoozed the eve away.

Sunday myself and the BF had the entire day together, which is somewhat of a rarity. We spent it cycling the surrey countryside out in the fresh air which is what I needed. By the time we arrived home it was dinner time; we cooked chicken thighs, drumsticks and wings in a marinade, some rice which was egg fried as the eggs go off tomorrow and home-made guacamole. I've just eaten the left overs at work, which were also yummy! (It's a no-spend day for me today!)

This week will be a little busier and more fun filled than last week, with cinema, dinner and theatre trips planned throughout the week, and a house party this weekend. On Thursday the BF has an interview as such with an air conditioning firm for an apprentice position. It means that if he gets the job he'll be a- working with one of his best friends, b-working normal hours so we'll have a higher quality life together now and in the future, c- once he qualifies he will earn more than what he can if he progresses in retail management d- he'll get a company van which will mean free travel for us too!

On the flip side, for this year he won't earn as much as he would once his promotion goes through at work which means I'll be the one saving- however I had only worked out what I was able to put away anyways, so that isn't too much of a disaster as I hadn'd really banked on help anyways.

He's rediculously excitied, but I can't help but think I shouldn't get my hopes up just in case it crumbles around us again. Tonight I'll be re-writing his CV which he'll need to take along with him on Thursday.

Fingers crossed.

Living on a financial edge

Inspired by this post by Frugal Queen http://frugalincornwall.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/froogs-fearlessly-eats-it-all.html, who has become one of my favourite go to inspirational blogs over the last few months, I whipped up a rather unconventional culinary treat last night.

Out came the big box of fishcakes which were £2 for about 12 I think, I popped five into the oven so as to have some for my lunch at work (today). Realising I had no potato-type foods I scavenged in the back of the cupboard for half a packet of couscous I'd pegged down, and rummaged in the freezer for some peas. I was feeling quite hungry so also used up a naan bread that I had frozen before it had gone off. The combination was fairly strange to see and a few people commented on my random assemblement of food but it filled a hole (twice) for almost nothing. I kind of wish I had taken a photo- but I'm sure you can imagine it.

I cooked my dinner and placed the remaining food into a washed out plastic Tupperware container (recycled from a housemates recent take away) to take to work. I think one of the key aspects to saving as much as possible is being organised- from doing a weekly food shop for foods which will a- last the week and b- make enough filling, healthy meals, to making sure the washing is kept on top of so as not to buy any impulse clothing buys, to keeping a constant eye on bank accounts etc, and finally always looking for the best deals from car insurance to washing powder.

Just one week away from payday I feel quite like Astra from http://www.blogger.com/home who looks forward to her monthly bank statements as its the reward for a months worth of hard work saving. I feel the same and can't wait to have a new budget, plus to see my figures increasing on the spreadsheet knowing we are getting closer to our goal.

I have roughly £4 at the moment once all my bills etc are paid, and I'm off out for a few drinks tomorrow night. However, I figure the money I'll get from Saturday's bar shift should be enough to cover this cost. Otherwise I'm just ploughing on with the no-spend days.

And I've also updated the ticker so that the figures are all proper.

Batch cooking

Our fridge is looking kind of barren, just some cheese, butter and eggs with some veggies in the draw. So last night it was time to put my 2kg bag of smart price carrots (78p) to good use. After quickly eating some left over fresh pasta from the night before I got peeling and chopping, using up half a red onion and stock cube from the cupboard.

The carrots and other bits made six portions of soup which was poured into washed out old food jars. Two were placed in the fridge for lunch today and Friday (I'm off tomorrow) and four in the freezer for quick, cheap standby lunches which should see me through to payday.

This week I don't think any food has gone to waste which is good, and even the BF seems to be on board with cutting down on the food shopping. Tomorrow eve would have been one week on a £47.00 shop (approximately- we may have bought a few bits at work out of our own money).

Tonight is a media music quiz night which should be good fun, its free and there'll be free food and drink so I plan to make the most of it!

Happy hump day!  

Weekend update

This weekend went pretty well on the financial front; we payed a visit to the local funfair with discounted premium tickets which were given to the BF at work. It was something cheap (a total of £4 was spent), fun and a bit different for us to do together- we had a giggle. Then we had a takeaway, eep, but this was from our joint account so doesn't affect my own saving. This came to about a tenner anyways for both of us so relatively inexpensive again.

Saturday, my parents came up and we went cycling around a local country park in the afternoon, then out for a meal with BF too in the evening. As we were chatting away about saving, my mum was a little bit critical and said that I can't put my life on hold because of the saving. But I said that its for relativley a short period of time, my life's not on hold its just a little bit restricted and normal spending will probably resume once our goals have been achieved.

However, what I think I'll take from the super saving game is that it is possible to cut back, I think I'll always be a little bit cautious when it comes to money, I've always been the same, and I will always set a small amount of money away for a rainy day. I said I've always preferred to use my money for one really good thing I want then use it to buy lots of rubbish, such as I saved my part time shop wages at school for a trip to New York, and I squirreled £2,000 away for university- I can't help it I'm a bit of a worrier and a planner, which I think explains quite a lot of my attitude towards my finances, opposed to my sister who is quite spontaneous. Its strange to think that the two of us were bought up the same yet have such different behaviours.

However, what I have picked up from other bloggers is that I just don't need all this stuff; I don't need ten bottles of perfume, ten eyeshadows in my make up bag, or ten pairs of jeans. This is why I'm trying to run all my stuff down, perfumes won't be replaced until I have none left, jeans are being worn until the seams split and then cut into shorts, bed covers are being used even though they don't always match (but are otherwise perfectly fine) and make up is being used up, foundations and body lotions having the tops cut off to get every last bit out, and then only replaced if nesseccery.

I also think its because I wan't to buy new homey stuff once we (hopefully) have our own space, and I also don't want to have to move stuff which I've accumulated that I don't really need or even have space for. To me its just makes sense, but my mum doesn't seem to quite understand.

On Saturday I payed for the dinners (three for £23.00 approx using staff 20% discount- BF decided he didn't want to eat), so my bit was done for the evening. This was within my weekend budget of £25.00.

Sunday we had a lazy lie in, I got up hoovered and cleaned the floors of the house, some dusty grubby shelves in the bathroom that were gathering dust, done some washing and generally sorted our room out.

Then I had a phone call from the BF asking if I could help out at the pub as they were short staffed as someones nan had died. My evening was going to be a fairly quiet one anyways, so I figured I may as well make some extra money. I cycled the mile to the pub and did a 6-11.30 shift, which was extremely quiet and was paid until 1am for helping out. The BF also paid for my dinner too as a little thank you.

The extra cash will pay for my hair to be cut hopefully on Saturday. Just one last weekend until payday with a £25.00 budget which should pay for a cheap dinner and some drinks on Friday night, and I'm planning on keeping the rest relatively low key as I'm out Wednesday and Thursday too.

Last night I didn't have time to pre-pack my lunch as I was at work in the evening, however this morning I threw some instant couscous and vegetables from the fridge to make a healthy, filling salad come lunchtime. I just ate it and it was pretty yummy, much better than a soggy pre-packed sandwich from the supermarket. What's more, it made two portions and my lunch for tomorrow is sitting pretty in the fridge at work- and I still have loads of veg left over too.

Some morning inspiration

Sometimes it's easy to give in and give up on personal goals. It doesn't matter if you lapse as long as you don't give up your dream. Thought I would share....

Also, this morning the grand sum of £0.43 landed in my bank account from Google adsense. So please if you happen to be clicking through my blog please have a little click on the ads- Thanks!! I'm also happy to reciprocate- just leave a link to your blog in the comments. 

Batch cooking

This morning after enjoying a nice lay in I decided to indulge in a spot of batch cooking so as to not let any more of our food go to waste.

I cooked us some breakfast, so had to defrost and cook an entire packet of sausages. I used the left overs as part of a two portion pasta dish and as a topping for my made-from-scratch pizza.

I had the following to use up; four sausages, three peppers, a handful of plum tomatoes, cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. So I dug out a jar of Asda brand tomato pasta sauce and whipped up the pizza for tomorrow nights dinner and some pasta for next weeks lunches.

I made the pizza dough using the ingredients that was already in the cupboard and putting them in my bread maker. Once it was ready I put it in a large bowl, covered it with a tea towel then place it in the warm oven which I had just switched off after cooking the breakfast.

So we have four meals made from food which would otherwise have turned mouldy lingering in the fridge.

Here's some pics of my production line.

Enjoy your weekends x

The 2012 budget changes,,, what it means for me

If what I can make of the reports is true I think due to the increase in the amount you can earn before tax I should be approximately £12 better off per month as of next month, I think. That's a whole £144 per year each and £288 between me and the BF which isn't too bad.

Although the price of cigarettes is going up by 37p hitting BF in the pocket. I want him to give up, but he doesn't want to even though on some days he forgets to smoke lol.

In other news our council tax has also dropped from £164 per month to £135 so we should be slightly better off there too. It all adds up, and as everyone here and at Tesco knows 'every little helps'. I'm hoping the BF doesn't notice the decrease in the council tax so I can squirrel away the excess into the holiday fund without hurting our pockets too much.

The weather is getting much nicer so this morning I caught the early train and walked from Waterloo to Tottenham Court Road. I'm considering refunding my tube train and bus travel card and getting an overground only rail pass as its almost £400 cheaper a year, money I could use for a holiday or car insurance. I also know my walking routes to and from work now so it doesn't seem as daunting as when I first started working in the city last October.

I think I may inquire at the train station at the weekend to see if its worth getting it changed over and I'll have to check with HR too to see if my monthly re- payments can be altered, as I know that they can be difficult in accommodating admin changes outside of the 'allocated window'.

Anyways, its been a fairly good month money wise, I think I've put almost £800 into various saving pots thanks to my interest payment. So here's to limping through to payday, eating carrot soup lunches (only the one jar remains of the batch I made the other week) I think I'm going to have a lovely golden glow come the end of the year from all the carrots I've eaten hehe- who needs a pricy spray tan?! 

Love this

It can be applied to almost anything in life, for me at the moment its my saving journey. 

This morning I took advantage of Starbucks latest promotion. The American coffee house giant has introduced a new policy in that they no longer call out your coffee by its name, instead they will be calling out your name. This marketing stunt is designed to make Starbucks appear more personal, setting it apart from the Costas, Coffee Republics and Cafe Neros. Today they were giving away lattes free of charge as long as you tell the barrista your name. The giveaway has gained loads of coverage on the net and is one of the top topics on social networking site Twitter, to find out more here's the BBC's take on things: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17356957. Having weaned myself off of coffee shop take aways it was a nice mid-morning treat to enjoy one knowing it hadn't cost me anything.


In other news, there's nothing more to really report; enjoyed a fairly frugal weekend of Saturday night drinks (I drove so ended up only spending about a tenner) though I did buy a £10 H&M voucher off my friend as she was given it for Christmas and nothing in the shop fits her. I might save it for my sister's birthday in June to go along with the Marmite set I picked up for her in the Boots sale.

On Sunday we made the most of the sunny spring-like weather and cycled over to Richmond Park and enjoyed a picnic as the sun set. We then cycled over to our friends new flat who have just bought their first home, then back to ours to whip up some carrot soup for the week. I bought a huge bag of carrots for 50p from Asda, chopped them up, threw in half an onion lingering in the fridge along with some vegetable stock boiled it up and blended. It made six portions of soup which should be my lunches for the week. Its been surprisingly filling and at less than 10p a portion great value for money.

Finally, yesterday I really needed to pick up a few bits from Sainsburys so dipped into my Nectar poitns- what would have been a £5.30 spend ended up costing me just 30p. Oh and the water bill has come in for the next year at £80 each, which works out at £6.60 per month, which is liveable. We're paying in two installments the first due at the beginning of April. then the second at the beginning of October. I've picked up another extra bar shift on Saturday which should hopefully cover this half. And lastly its official, our rent isn't going up because 'we've been such good tennants' in the words of our landlord... the same day the oven broke sods law ay? 

Just checked my ISA's, this years interest has come through of £150.00 would have been more if hadn't loaned BF money for CC and my Annual Season Ticket loan from work had come through, but the money saved for BF on interest payments is worth it. I now need to look into what to do with these accounts for the next year. Any advice? x

Rain rain go away....

I'd hoped that we could go marching into March with positivity on the financial front, but its been a bit of an odd week. On Wednesday my mum rang me while I was on the train on my way to work to tell me that my Dad's company has had the financial funding from the Germans pulled and they've all been told they could either receive a letter telling them they're redundant at any time or they could turn up in the morning and the gates be locked and they get nothing in terms of redundancy pay.

She said that a lot of people that work there take the mick by calling in sick lots and being late, and that there is a lot of office staff who do nothing and my Dad has been told that everything to do with him is excellent so he may be one of the last left but it seems like a bit of a sinking ship. I always get the urge to look around to see what's out there in terms of work as soon as the alarm bells start ringing but she said he hasn't looked for anything yet. The thing is, all he needs is some work for the next three years and then he gets his MOD pension. My mum's wages should cover the mortgage and bills etc so it won't be a complete catastrophe, but my Dad has been made redundant about five times and the last time he spiraled into depression so it's not exactly welcome news.

On Thursday I went into work and found out there were two redundancies at our London office, one an account manager dealing with new business. I guess if that's his full time job and the new business isn't there, or providing as much income as the company want that's his job over. The next was one of the creative team on my floor, apparently his role had changed a few times and he was doing bits and bobs so I guess his role just doesn't exist any more. Then Friday afternoon came and news from downstairs told us of an account director had been told he was also being made redundant. The reason for this is because the head of the company wants the younger grads to develop, but he didn't rule out taking another account director on in the future so that suggests they wanted to get rid of him on the grounds of either his performance or that he didn't seem very well liked, I'm not sure.

The strange thing is that this year we had a work Xmas party where there hadn't been one for three years previously as there wasn't the money for it, then over a company call we were told the company performed much better than expected in January...so it was a bit of a shock for this to happen. At the moment our team is making 7% more money than predicted, unlike quite a few departments. I just can't help but worry, especially as my biggest client Loyds Banking Group has put their call center recruitment on hold for quite a while (although things with this account seem to change within the space of a day).

It just seems that no-one is really safe at the moment, and everything has a knock on effect. If clients don't have jobs to advertise, we don't have jobs. With unemployment at a 17 year high (I think that's the latest figures) and with the cost of living ever increasing (I caught site of the cost of petrol today- ouch!) I just don't know how this country is going to get out of this mess. It seems the only real option is upping sticks and moving to another country for a better quality of life.

Anyways, enough of the doom and gloom though the weather certainly isn't helping matters, I guess I can only work towards our goals in the here and now- I don't have a crystal ball so can't predict the future. This weekend has been a good one money wise, I set aside £20 for Friday and managed to squeeze in a pub lunch in aid of the redundant people (kind of weird, what do you say to people in that situation if you don't even know them that well?!) and drinks out, as well as a nighttime bike ride- saves on cab fares! I then did a mystery shop combined with an essentials food shop and pound world trip for toiletries, batching them all together to save time and petrol.

Then in the afternoon after getting our room straight I got a call from the BF, someone at the pub had a family emergency so couldn't come in- could I cover? I had no plans and wasn't feeling all tired so said yes to some extra pennies.

The pub manager also popped in today and wants the BF to have everything sorted for his promotion within the next three weeks so I really hope he gets that sorted out so he can help me with this saving lark- I think then it will feel like we are both in the same boat and it may feel a little easier, even though he is much more blase and laid back about the whole situation.

Today the weather is pretty grim so I think it will be another lazy/organising type of day.

Marching into March....Google Adsense

I just want to say a big thanks to anyone who has taken the time to click on my ads, slowly slowly the click fees are beginning to add up I'm pleased to say :). If anyone wants me to click away at their ads I'm happy to trade off hehe.

Just wondering though, does anyone know how the money becomes real life £££'s in a bank account rather than sitting in the Ad Sense account?

Happy Friday all xx

Payday update

Should be able to squeeze in £800 this month into the saving pot, leaving me with £100 in my disposable Barclays account, and my credit card around £52 (I think). I've got a couple of Saturday bar shifts coming up, as well as another mystery shop so should be alright. This month the gym membership has come to an end, as I've chosen to put the money into my pension instead and the car comes off the road too, which will be another worry virtually eliminated.

Weekend plans consists of drinks tonight (thinking of stretching my £20 budget by alternating alchol with soda water and lime), working at Twickenham tomorrow daytime, out for dinner with the BF tomorrow evening, and gyming/sleeping/housework etc sunday.

Happy Friday to all xx

Occasions

Recently at work there has been one birthday after another, interspersed with Someones leaving collection, baby collection, been burgled collection etc. Litrally some collections have gone round just one day after the one before.

At first I didn't mind putting my hand in my purse to club together for a collective gift. But then it got a little bit much, and it seems I'm not the only one that feels this way. Afterall the management on the six figure salaries aren't coughing up a penny towards the cause. Embarrassingly these large envelopes filled with coins land on your desk for you to fill then write your name on the back so everyone knows if you havnt contributed anything. The last one went round yesterday, I had about 70p in my purse and felt like I had to put it in.

Over the last few months (just after Xmas too!) the amounts people have been contributing have been dwindling as everyone is complaining about a lack if cash. This might seem a bit mean, but if a colleague is a genuine friend surely we would vouranterily shlep to the shops in pursuit of a gift? No... Anyways, this brings me onto another similar topic- valentines day.

Those exclaiming that their bank accounts are grim are simultaneously online shopping for £60 flowers for their partners. Call me cynical, but they're just going to die right? I got bought a mini Rose plant, much cheaper and was meant to bloom and grow rather than wither and die which I appreciated much more. We're planning on cooking a nice meal together indoors this year and putting the 40 quid we save towards our holiday fund.

It's also a good job I didn't count my eggs before they hatched as I had a phone call from my mum this morning saying my dads job may be on the line due to his company performing poorly, so the financial help may not be as easily available as we'd briefly hoped. I think the best thing to do is to keep aiming for my 10k, then a 10% deposit and then see where we stand, after all a lot can happen within 18 months.

I think it's important to live in the now as well as plan for the future. So today I spent £2 on a hot chocolate at the in for a work colleagues birthday, and shared dinner with friends in their home. We all contributed towards the food so came to hardly anything each.

Done my bit for today. Until next time folks, happy frugal-ing x

It's snowtime!

Hopefully this princess will get to go to the ball someday

This weekend has been fairly productive on the saving front. Friday night drinks was paid for by the company, so I decided I was hungry at charing cross and bought a burger king happy meal which was actually quite revolting, so I left 3/4 of the burger, so it turned out to be a bit of a waste of money but hay-ho we learn from our mistakes.

I got the train back from London to my parents house after the drinks and on Saturday afternoon met one if my best friends from work in the town centre. My mum had bought me something from H&M which didn't fit so had to exchange it. I found a lovley cobalt blue lacy dress which was £10 more than the original amount, but using my friends staff discount it cane to £7.50 more, seeing as I had put aside £10 for the previous nights drinks which I didn't spend I thought I would splash out a little. Afterwards we drove over to blackheath for a change if scenery and popped into the pub on the Heath. I'd decided to have lunch before I left to save the pennies, so just had a coffee and a cosy catch up which was nice.

My friend was telling me how she uses eBay all the time and bought up the huge pink vintage gown I bought years ago in New York and how she thought I could sell it on eBay.

So this morning, after popping out to take pics of the beautiful snowfall I enlisted my sister's boyfriends help to put my dress up on eBay. When I left home there were three people watching it already, and I also found a pair of red converse trainers which were hardly worn that I found at a train station about four years ago and an almost full bottle of perfume I didn't like anymore and these have also been put up on eBay.

The auctions finish in 10 days so hopefully will be a nice little money earner to put towards the fund. I'm also hoping to sell my wii this week to someone & stash the cash in my saving account.

I'm thinking that once I hit my summertime target of £10k I'll treat myself to some nice Russel and Bromley boots :).

In other news I got the train home from the work drinks with a girl who had just bought a house worth £144k with a £14k deposit who earns around the same as me and the BF so that's extremely encouraging, and very exciting for me.

I heard my housemates put the central heating up to 25 and put it on overnight on Saturday which I said was stupid, and the BF said he woke up in the middle of the night feeling hot and sick because if it. I mean it's not a wonder they're both in debt, but I don't appreciate being dragged down with them when I have to cough up my share of the bill they've racked up.

Anyways, I guess I can't show it's irritated me too much as it's getting closer to renewing the contract and hopefully all we need is another year there.... Fingers crossed! Time to grin & bear it for the time being- good things are worth waiting for after all right?! :)

Enjoy your frugal Sunday x