Saturday 17 December 2011

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

Wednesday 14 December 2011

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!