Olympic Hangover

I am ashamed to say I was totally skeptical of the whole Olympics thing; part of this may be bitterness that we didn't get ANY of the tickets we applied for! However I was so happy to be proved wrong and absolutely loved watching it all. Now it's all over I feel a little lost and have lost my legitimate reason to stay in. I think I will probably be out spending more money now! Bring on the Paralympics!

Sometimes...

...you just have to forget the plans, the lists and the budgeting. 

This weekend a friend had to cancel our plans but as the weather was so lovely we took a little impromptu trip to the seaside instead. It wasn't planned and it wasn't cheap but I had the most lovely day and without wishing to be cheesy, it was priceless.

Weekly Spending Round Up

Friday 3rd August

50p reduced bread, Waitrose
£2.05 his & hers deodorant (Boots Advantage Card points)

Saturday 4th August

£29.42 food shopping Sainsburys

Sunday 5th August

£1.00 book, Poundland

Monday 6th August

£5.99 ethanet cable, Maplins

Tuesday 7th August

£1.75 2 books, bookman at work
£12.00 bag, Select
£6.40 bikini, Select

Wednesday 8th August

No Spend Day :)

Thursday 9th August

£2.50 eyebrows
£5.80 drinks

Basic Value Ranges

As previously noted I do seem to spend a fair bit on food shopping every week. I keep hearing statistics about the rise in cost of groceries so don't feel too bad about this but know it's something I need to keep an eye on. I try and buy organic and UK grown items but it's not always possible and made especially difficult if on a budget. The major supermarkets all seem to offer quite a comprehensive range of basic value items. Whilst there are some things that for me are a definite no-no (toilet paper, eggs, bread) there are some things which I think are just fine. I know Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert, suggests 'The Downshift Challenge' where you buy the cheaper brand than usual to see if you can save money without noticing too much of a difference. So far I know my can-do's are blueberries, plain yoghurt and cordial, all of which I am more than happy with. What are your no-no's and can-do's?

Clothing Challenge

Based on my total spend on clothes, shoes & accessories last year (£290.70 in case you were wondering?!) I allocated myself a £25 a month clothes, shoes & accessories budget for this year. So far this is kind of working as it is balancing out okay, for example I was £30 over one month but managed to buy nothing at all in another month.

My commitment to this is not just based on money saving but also an attempt to reduce waste and consumption. Previously I have spent loads on things I have never worn, badly made things, hideous things that I was duped into buying in the name of fashion...I could go on! And I feel bad about that.

To make things harder I walk through one of the UK's most popular shopping destinations every day on my way to work. For the past week and a half I have been coveting a black studded bag in H&M's window. At £29.99 it's not massively over my budget so I have been convincing myself of it's worth to me to the point of allowing myself the purchase for the weekend...until...

I watched a recent haul by the beautiful moreemilk on YouTube and she had a stunning studded purse from Select amongst her goodies. She stated that it was a shop she'd never considered before but went in with her sister. I agree, it's not a shop I'd ever considered either but prompted by this purse I thought I'd take a look. Whilst I remain unconvinced by most of their clothes I was impressed by their bag selection and ended up splurging just £12 on this little beauty!

Great size, great detail and great price : )

Now what to spend that other £13's on?!...

Wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear?

This always seems the case for me, I have a wardrobe (& set of drawers) full of clothes but never seem to have the right outfit. 

It made me think about Gok Wan and his twenty four key pieces theory. Now whilst I could never commit to only twenty four items of clothing however, there are some simple principles I need to adopt. He suggests that when you buy an item you should be able to think of at least three outfits you could make with it from things you already own. 

Last week I got a gorgeous top in the H&M sale that I thought would be perfect for holidays. The top itself was only a few pounds but then I struggled with the outfits to make and realised that I would need to buy at least two further pairs of shorts to be able to wear it as it went with nothing I already own. Disaster. Dutifully I then went back and exchanged the top for one in a different colour that will make three outfits paired with things I already own. This is clearly where I have been going wrong previously. Must try harder!!

All Change

It looks like the San Francisco plan is definitely off which is gutting but I guess I'll still day dream and there's always holidays. Despite this I have still continued to try and keep up with the savings. I've not updated for a while as I have been mostly hanging about on the MSE Forums. It's nice to find people that are in the same position struggling to keep within budgets and feeling guilty about spending versus saving. 

I thought I should try and keep up with the blogging though, especially after reading Frugal Queen's post today about staying in your starter home. I think I will now rename the San Francisco fund as the deposit fund and plan to buy a house in two years instead. A forever house. Scary but exciting at the time. Here goes...

Get Your House In Order

I have just seen an advert for a new Channel 4 TV Show called 'Get Your House In Order'. This sounds right up my street as despite my numerous to do lists and ongoing projects I always seem to be nowhere nearer the end result of order and harmony.

The San Francisco plan is still somewhat of a dream at the moment but I have vaguely thought that the rough areas are; 

• Financial; getting the money in order to go
• Image; getting that Californian beach body
• Research; getting a real grip on American Life 
• Decluttering; making sure that I'm not holding on to stuff I don't need

Although I am nowhere near amassing a fortune my financial plans are actually quite in order and with a little more will power and discipline I think I should be able to stay on track and within budget. However when it comes to my whole beach body I am way off, despite having a very healthy January the last six weeks have been a blur of eating and drinking and no exercise due to an injured foot. This needs rectifying with immediate effect! My research so far is also below par - I don't think watching episodes of Extreme Couponing counts?! And as for the decluttering, well, yes I need some help so next Thursday at 8.00pm I will be all ears as I tune in to 'Get Your House In Order'.

(3) Weekly Spending Round Up

Friday 10th February

25p donut (NOT good for the Californian beach body)

Saturday 11th February

£11.35 cinema
£7.00 ice cream at cinema

Sunday 12th February

£30.36 food shopping, Lidl

Monday 13th February

£1.25 meringue, local bakery
£1.74 Tesco

Tuesday 14th February

No spend day :)

Wednesday 15th February

£10.00 Charity sponsorship

Thursday 16th February

£4.95 nappy cream (for boyfriend's tattoo!)
£1.19 biscuits for work
£4.60 restaurant tip

Friday 17th February

£4.00 bracelet White Stuff (gift)
£2.70 Tesco

Saturday 18th February

No spend day :)

Sunday 19th February

25p Charity change donation
(£8.56 paid with advantage card points - 2 x shampoo & 2 x showergel, Boots)

Monday 20th February

87p Sainsburys
£1.00 DVD, Poundland (gift)
£1.00 herbs, Tesco
£2.50 5 pais socks, Primark

Tuesday 21st February

18p onion, Sainsburys

Wednesday 22nd February

No spend day :)

Thursday 23rd February

No spend day :)

Friday 24th February

£2.00 gift bags Poundland
£1.50 chocolates, Thorntons
£2.50 eyebrows threaded. local salon
49p cookies, Sainsburys

Saturday 25th February

£24.99 coat, New Look Online
£1.00 book, charity shop
£1.00 rabbit toys, local pet shop
£3.00 DVD, Blockbusters
£8.50 Subway sandwiches

Sunday 26th February

£29.75 food shopping, Morrisons

Monday 27th February

£1.00 dustpan & brush Poundland

Tuesday 28th February

£1.00 4 x Pepsi Max, Poundland
16p paracetamols, Boots

Wednesday 29th February

No spend day :)

Thursday 1st March

No spend day :)

Friday 2nd March

£80.00 hair cut, colour & tip, local salon
£4.30 food shopping, Lidl
£2.50 deodorant, Boots
£2.99 book, Oxfam (gift)

Saturday 3rd March

£14.99 Game, Amazon (gift)
£5.00 6 x Easter Eggs Tesco
£8.60 rabbit food & hay, Pets At Home
£7.78 Subway Sandwiches

Sunday 4th March

£2.20 drink & crisps, Boots
£6.18 fish filters, Pets At Home

Monday 5th March

32p, Bananas, Sainsburys

Tuesday 6th March

No spend day :)

Wednesday 7th March

£1.24 bread & bananas, Sainsburys
£2.45 spread & 4 x chocolate bunnies

Thursday 8th March

£2.00 Easter Eggs

...Phew! What's really evident is all my bits & bobs food shopping. Is it better to do a daily shop and take advantage of the store bargains or plan a thorough weekly shop? Clearly I am doing both which is good for neither my bank balance nor my waist line!

MIA

Missing for a whole month due to technical difficulties, I expect there will be another flurry of posts followed by a bit of lull again but here goes..

Weekly Spending Round Up

Last week the batteries in the Sky remote control and smoke alarm both went, I'd like to say I'm organised and had spares but I didn't!

Friday 3rd February
25p cake mix, Sainsburys (bit of cheat baking!)

Saturday 4th February
No spend day :)

Sunday 5th February
£24.31 food shopping, Sainsburys

Monday 6th February
No spend day :)

Tuesday 7th February
£1.99 batteries
35p chocolate (stress of no Sky TV!)
99p bread, all Lidl

Wednesday 8th February
No spend day :)

Thursday 9th February
£3.36 battery, Boots
£12.00 two bottles of perfumes heavily discounted picked up in Boots whilst looking for battery, there's no excuse, my shopping habits are hard to quash, in my defence I will be giving them both as gifts!
£1.75 ring, Peacocks (in the sale a little treat for me!)

Oh and what did I say about technology and me, it appears I have deleted my last Weekly Spending Round Up post?!

hAPPy

I think I'm a bit behind technology wise so when our laptop suffered a terrible fate last week I thought my blogging days would be over just as soon as they were getting started...until I found the blogger app on my phone, for free, marvellous!
I don't know if it will look any different and reckon that by typing it on my phone will ensure I don't ramble on!

Project Ten Pan Update

This morning I used up the last of the Next Pure perfume AND the CoverGirl Mascara, strangely very satisfying, so that's two down, eight to go!

American Studies

Getting to grips with American Culture might be a little more tricky than I thought. Last night my boyfriend & I stayed up to watch The Superbowl.

Me: How many quarters are there?
BF: Do you want to think about that?
Me: Er?!...
BF: Quarters?
Me: Oh 4?
BF: (peeing himself laughing) yes 4!!
Me: (trying to redeem myself) but there's only 2 halves in football?! (I swear the words just tumbled out my mouth before my brain caught up!)
BF: (still laughing uncontrolably) that has to be the stupidest thing you have ever said!

Fail. Must try harder :(

 P.S. Thought Madonna was ace though!

California Dreamin' on a Winter's Day

-9 & snowing here, a sunny 20 degrees in San Francisco, enough said!

Project Ten Pan

Trying to use up what you already have can turn into a bit of a chore so I really like the idea of Project/Product Ten Pan where you make a conscious effort to use up/hit pan on old products before using their replacements or buying new ones. Rightly or wrongly I am trying to use up my cheaper items and things I am not so keen on first. My logic for this is that using their replacements will feel much more like a treat.

Left to Right:

1. Bayliss & Harding Body Lotion: Part of a Christmas gift set nice enough scent, not a very thick consistency though, is getting used up quite quickly!
2. Gucci Guilty Perfume: Almost there on this one, love the scent but have lots of perfumes still that I want to use up before they start to go off.
3. Next Perfume: I always think they manage to do quite a good job of ripping off the major branded perfumes with both packaging and scent. This smells lovely but doesn't last so well, is a great everyday/work perfume so am getting through it pretty well.
4. Cowshed Hand Cream: Free with a magazine nice consistency but am not a fan of the scent I'm afraid.
5. Collection 2000 Face Powder: Actually a very nice product for the price, bought ages ago on a 3 for 2 offer with item 8.
6. Nails Inc Pink Nail Varnish: Great for everyday/work wear but would like to replace it with something a little lighter (particularly coveting Bourjois Rose Lounge Nail Lacquer at the moment)
7. CoverGirl Mascara: Got this in America just over a year ago. Stocked up on a few different CoverGirl mascaras after all the hype but must say was quite disappointed.
8. Collection 2000 Eye Shadow Trio: A real lazy choice with all three colours complimenting each other perfectly for a complete look. Impressive for the price.
9. Oriflame Concealer: Bought from a friend who hosted an event as she is an Oriflame (similar to Avon I believe) consultant. Is fine but I don't think it reduces dark circles as well as it claims.
10. No. 7 Eye Shadow duo: Again part of a Christmas gift set, two easy to wear colours which last pretty well, easy to wear for working day.

I can't wait to finish them all up as I find them quite messy now and have lots more cosmetics lined up in wait!

Fantasy Spending

If money were no object these Marc by Marc Jacobs Mouse Pumps would be mine!

Starting from around £160 for the basic elastic ones and going up to around £220 for the stud or glitter ones I doubt they will be mine any time soon. However I continue to justify their purchase to myself quite convincingly, so is it worth saving up for them, are they worth investing in?!...

Financial Order

Money is not something I am naturally good with. I am a spender for sure. This time last year I had...

• £1250 overdraft
• £1000 maxed out Christmas Credit Card
• £2000 balance transferred Credit Card

I also had absolutely zero savings and was about to find out that I'd been overpaid by £1400 from my previous job. It was around this time I started reading personal finance blogs and found the book 'In The Red' by Alexis Hall. Taking inspiration from these I am happy to say that this year I have...

• £0 overdarft
• £0 Christmas Credit Card
• £0 Balance Transfer Credit Card
• £3000 Emergency Savings Fund

The things I found most helpful seem so simple and obvious now but when you're caught up in spending habits common sense finds it hard to prevail!

On pay day I would immediately transfer debt payback money and savings money and then transfer a monthly 'allowance' into another card activated bank account that I had no overdraft facility on. I then did all my spending through this account leaving my regular account with money to cover all my direct debits and payback my overdraft. I took packed lunches to work. I meal planned and tried not to spend more than £30 a week on food, taking advantage of loyalty card offers and vouchers. I didn't buy any new cosmetics until they ran out, turns out my stock pile was so massive that I only ending up having to buy shampoo, toothpaste and foundation! I tried really hard to stop buying clothes but couldn't do it, what I did buy however I considered thoroughly before buying. I wrote down everything I spent on the notes facility on my phone and wherever possible only spent cash so I could keep track of what I had left.

Hardly revelationary I know but I think it might be helpful to know that I did it. I cleared over £4000 of debt and managed to build up an emergency savings fund and more importantly I still had a life.

So for the San Francisco fund I am hoping to save £20,000 and have about two and a half years to achieve this. I think this year however will be tougher than last as the debt is gone. As And Then She Saved found, it appears easier to be on a 'Saving Fast' than a 'Saving Diet'. Discipline is required (something else that I'm not so hot on!) so I am really hoping that this blog will help me that too, here goes....

Dreamer

So today the hoppity dreamer meets blogger...

....the aim being to focus my energy and document my journey.

Basically the dream is to move to San Francisco, California. To make that dream a reality I need to get organized and get busy. I guess I also need to make sure that it is not just a dream so there will be lots of questions to answer and research to do. Dull but necessary I suppose.

I love to daydream and make plans however I also believe all those corny clichés about life being what happens whilst you’re busy making other plans and that life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. I don’t want to miss out so I’m hoping this blog will help. Am very happy for others to join me for the ride.

Thanks x