Catch-up

I'm sorry for my week long hiatus from the blog world. I've been pretty busy the past week and rather than do my usual weekly round up/ picks of the week I thought I'd share  few things I've learned in the past week with you...

I didn't ride a camel, but I wish I had done! From pinterest

- Flying makes me feel rich. In other words, time spent in airports makes me spend money I don't necessarily have in duty free shops! I purchased my first ever MAC item (!) along with a very swanky Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream lip protector.

-Being a western woman in the Arab world is a lot harder than in the UK. I appreciate being able to walk down the street without drawing stares, propositions and catcalls which certainly isn't the case in the Arabic country that I was visiting my friend the past week. I wasn't showing any skin from my neck down. I was not particularly comfortable there because of this which is such a shame as otherwise it was a beautiful country!

-Always check your flight details. Seems obvious right? Well.. apparently not for me! When I arrived at the airport to come home, I had a very confusing few minutes where I couldn't understand why my flight wasn't on the board. Turns out my flight was the following day. Doh!!

-Parents are sometimes heroes in times of need. Because of my flight debacle I had to miss loads of house share viewings in the New Town I'm moving to. My mum, bless her, picked me up from the airport and drove me straight there to stop me missing any more! I think I better order an extra big bouquet for mothers day this coming Sunday!

-Free things are not always worth taking. Notably the full English breakfast option when staying in B and Bs. Far too big, far too fatty, I always regret it. I need to remember, just say no! (I used to really like these breakfasts but I just can't stomach them any more :-().

Right... I'll try and post more regularly from now on!

Cheerio!

Picks of the week/ Weekly roundup

Fashion
My fashion pick of the week is this wonderful cardigan that we found when sorting through my mum's wardrobe. It was knitted for her by her aunt ages ago and she's given it to me! It's really cosy and great just to throw on!

Beauty
I've been striving for a dewy/  iridescent skin look lately- I think it looks very youthful. I want to buy a powder that gives me this finish (any recommendations?) but for now I've been using my clinique colour rub and the highlighter that comes in the sleek contour kit. You can see both these items in this post.

Books
Before I started my reading challenge I actually finished two books this week. One was a chick lit book called RSVP. It was okay, classic chick lit. The other was a Poroit 'Peril at End House'. I really enjoy Agatha Christie books. They're so easy to read and very entertaining!

Read more about it here

Music
I've added this section this week. Mostly because I've become obsessed by this song by Emili Sande. I think it's kinda a through back to big 90s tunes by Whitney Houston and people like that. I love it!

Film
My film this week is One Day. I'm a huge fan of the book and I wasn't keen on seeing the film because I thought it might spoil it! I saw it last night however and I enjoyed it! I thought Anne Hathaway's accent was truly awful but it didn't take all of the enjoyment away. Jim Sturgess is sweet!

From Pinterest

Money
I've been fairly good. I bought some cosmetics but nothing extravagant. I need to keep it up though!

Food
I made another banana loaf. Because I've given up chocolate I made this one with hazelnuts and rum soaked raisins! It looks crumbly in this photo but that's only because we we impatient and wanted to taste it before it cooled!

Health and Fitness
I've been swimming and cycling this week. I'm still not 100% (come on immune system, start working!) so I'm happy with what I've done. I've also given up chocolate for lent although I had an ice cream today (with chocolate in and didn't realise until about an hour later!).

So... aims for the week ahead.. pretty much the same as always, spend and eat less and exercise more!!

Hope everyone's had a good week :-)

Money Monday

I think when it comes to money that there are certain types of people. Take my friend, she accounts for every single penny that comes in and goes out. I bet that she could tell you at any given time, exactly how much is in each bank account she has . Now with this, she is not a penny pincher. Indeed she lives a much more extravagant lifestyle than me but she manages her money very well.

All the moolah! From Weheartit

Quite opposite to this friend, I'm ashamed to say is me. I would call myself an ostrich. I spend money without thinking what my balance is with my head stuck firmly in the sand. I don't add expenses up and then I am surprised when I finally read my bank statement (having avoided it for a week). Now I am an intelligent person (without blowing my own trumpet lol!). I have a masters degree. It can't be that hard to change my habits can it?!

Well I'm going to try!! I know it may be slightly over the top, but I'm going to be strict with myself for a while to try and beat some good habits into me. I don't want to carry these bad habits into my adult life when my financial responsibilities extend to scarily responsible things like houses, pensions and so on..

-When I'm aware of how much money I have I don't knowingly overspend so therefore I will check my current account every day.

- To practise some self control I am starting a spending diet. I found out about this idea from the blog and then she saved. I'm giving myself £75 a month to spend.

-To make sure I stick to my spending diet, I will track everything I spend on an excel spreadsheet. I spent loads of time earlier in the year, making an all singing, all dancing one and never really filled any of it in! Not this time though!

What my spreadsheet should look like! From Weheartit

And of course I shall let you all know how I get on here. Wish me luck!

Cheerio!

Picks of the week/ weekly roundup

Fashion
This week I'm going to pick a combination of clothes. It's my H and M top (see below) paired with pale pink jeans. The weather has warmed up a bit and so paired with a cardigan and coat, this combination reminds me that spring is just around the corner!

Beauty
I dyed my hair this week. I have dark blonde/ light brown hair naturally that lightens in the summer. The past few years, I've had occasional highlights that have built and built and following a trip to South East Asia a few months ago became very light and golden. I decided to go back to my roots (literally!) and I used Clairol nice n' easy non permanent in 91, dark blonde. I left the tips untouched to give a slight ombre effect and I really like how it turned out! It was very easy (as the name suggests), my hair feels in great condition so I am one happy customer :-).

Films
I saw Crazy, Stupid Love on Valentines Day. I really enjoyed it! It was  different to standard chick flicks and it had Ryan Gosling in!!It's centered around a couple who decide to get divorced and the people around them. Definitely recommended!

From pinterest

Books
I still haven't read any books- dammit! Need to change this!

Food
I made this chicken with a red thai and peanut sauce  on Friday. It was very tasty but I forgot to put the corriander (cilantro) in! Ooops! Never mind, it was still nice, but I guess it could have been better! We had it with brown rice, broccoli and carrots.

Image from Kalyn's kitchen. I forgot to take photos.

Money
Not too bad. Bits and bobs here. I've decided however that I'm going on a spending diet. More on this to come later in the week!

Health and Fitness
I'm feeling a bit better now and I've been swimming a few times and am planning on running in a few hours. I really need to step my fitness up a bit if I'm going to do a triathalon (which is on my 30 by 30 list) in the next few months, even if it is a beginners one!


Now for some weekly goals:
- Be on a spending diet.
- Focus on triathalon training at least 5 days next week.
- Continue trying not to snack between meals (haven't been doing very well on this one!).

Even more 3D than 3D cinema..

Last night I went to a local theatre to see a modern adaptation of a Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's more accessible plays, just because of how well known the story line is. The language is always challenging to start with for me, but after a while, I don't notice any difference. I really enjoyed it!

Weheartit

There is something special about live theatre that you just don't get in cinema. You can see physical things that get cut out of films, the tears (The girl that played Juiliet was wiping tears off her face all through the curtain call showing the true emotion that the final scenes brought out of her), the sweat, the humanity that makes it much more life-like which is often cut out of Hollywood blockbusters. 

Sure, there are things you get in cinema that you don't in live theatre but I 'm not one for crazy special effects!

And.. all this amazing, tragic live action for only £7!! This is actually cheaper than it would be to go to a 3D movie! I think my friend got some kind of group booking, student discount but still!! Now I realise that good seats at The National Theatre or one in the West End may not be so cheap but I think it's definitely worth checking out regional companies. I know I certainly will from now on. Plus it sounds so sophisticated when asked what you did last night when you can reply, 'Oh I went to the theatre dahhling'....

Cheerio! And as I'm in a Shakespearean mood... 'good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, that I should say good night til it be morrow'!

Picks of the week/ weekly roundup

I'd like to get into more of a routine with my blog and thought that I'd start doing a weekly roundup of sorts, picking my favourite items of the week and so on..

Fashion
I'm going to cheat on this and pick two items. One for comfort and one for style. I bought this shirt from crew clothing in the sale and love it! It's very me- Floral, girly and comfortable.

Second is my new Rab generator jacket. It's super warm which has been a godsend in the frozen climes that has been the UK recently but isn't bulky at all. I've barely taken it off. It's not a fashion statement and I think I look a bit like I'm wearing a bin bag but there a plenty of times when I just don't mind looking like a bin bag!

Beauty
I haven't bought anything new this this week which is good. I've had a nasty cold and so I've been trying to moisturise lots. I've been using Johnsons baby lotion as I'm trying to use my way through my lotions and potions. This is frugal too as I think you can buy these for about £1. It's not the most luxurious of products but it does the job!

Films
Muppets Treasure Island!! I'm excited to see the new Muppets movie and they were selling all the old ones in Tesco for £5. This is one of the standout films of my childhood and it just gets better with age! Amazing!

TV
I'm still really enjoying call the midwife (see more about it here) although I was sad last night when she rejected Jimmy. He's so sweet! I also watched the Baftas last night, I'm so pleased The Artist cleaned up!I loved it when Colin Firth helped Meryl Streep with her shoe when it fell off- what a gentleman!

Books
I haven't read any books this week..

Food
The only thing I've really made this week are these. They're super tasty though, passion fruit cupcakes.. yum! It was a good food recipe, I can't find the recipe online but I can type it out if anyone fancies it!

Passion fruit cupcakes on my new cake stand mentioned here

Money
It hasn't been a great week. I had a filling at the dentist, bought a few unnecessary bits and bobs.. Must try harder!

Health and Fitness
I've had a bad cold so I haven't exercised much at all. I haven't been feeling great about my body recently, I need to start eating less!

Considering the above I thought that I'd set some challenges for the week ahead..

- No snacking between meals apart from fruit

- Don't buy anything unnecessary (ie. clothes, make up, DVDs etc)

- Promote my blog a bit more and try and get a few more readers :-)

..isms

Lately I have been struggling with my inner self and my views on consumerism vs. minimalism. I can go from vowing to throw out all but 30 of my most prized possessions  to 30 mins later doing some sneaky online shopping...

From pinterest - Would I want this?... Yes.. or Maybe...Hmmm

The result of these battles has favoured consumerism and I am the owner of various shiny new items! All my purchases have been in the sale and have been what I consider a really good deal but they have undoubtedly taken me further away from my 30 piece fabulous capsule wardrobe. You know why I think I want to buy things? Well it's mainly because I spend quite a long time browsing blogs and youtube channels watching hauls and looking at outfit of the days etc. I spot things and think.. Oh..well I neeed a pair of studded boots! This is what I think I have a problem with. A while ago, I was about to buy a leather mini skirt for £20 just because a. it was a 'good deal' and b. because it was fashionable. I know the chances of me actually wearing this mini-skirt would have been slim. I lack confidence and I rarely go to events where a leather mini-skirt is normal. I normally put things in my basket then falter for a while deciding whether I really need something. Sometimes, by the time I've decided to buy it, it's sold out which is probably quite lucky!  However, I bought a really pretty floral blouse that I know I'll get a lot of wear out of. I don't mind buying things like this that I know I will get my wear out of! I also bought some red jeans for £9.99 from Zara and a long sleeved mustard coloured top from New Look for £3. I also did some online shopping for potential work shirts from Crew but they haven't arrived yet so if they're terrible, they might go back!

Enough with the justification... I've picked up a few good tips from minimalism blogs to try and work out what I actually wear in my wardrobe to try and slim it down a little to make up for the extra few items.

On another note, I find it really funny when people are doing hauls and they say I 'picked up' this and I 'picked up' that.. Does anyone else think it sounds like they just wandered up, picked the thing up and then wandered out without paying.. or is that just me !?

Free things!

So this post goes along with the thrifty and frugal-ness of my previous post in a way, but it must be said that I love getting free things!! Lets be honest though who doesn't!? Stuff for free, brilliant!

I graduated a few months ago and it has taken a while to find a job. I'm pleased to say that I'll soon be able to join the ranks of the employed but for all the time that I was job searching I had a few plans of action of how I was going to entertain myself.

My first plan was that I was going to win competitions. I thought that surely if I entered enough, I was bound to win some of them. I think I read somewhere of someone that did this and made loads of money. Anyway, this didn't work. I haven't won a single one yet! Maybe I didn't enter enough.... I  think I gave up too early. I wanted instant gratification!

Anyway.. The second plan which has actually worked was to get loads of free samples! Well I did this and here I proudly present my hoard of free things...

Ta da!!

Now you may think I'm a little strange getting excited about this but here are some reasons why they are so great..

-Samples of shampoo/ conditioner are soo useful for travelling for a few days or taking to the gym. It saves either taking big bottles or transferring liquids into little bottles. Same goes for all the other beauty samples!

-I have got 22 cups of tea and at least 5 cups of coffee worth of free tea and coffee! That's quite a lot of cups!

I found most of these by putting 'free stuff' into google and going through the websites that it comes up with! Some of them are also from magazines (the bottom row in the photo).

Thrifty and Frugal..

Another type of blog that I enjoy reading are personal finance blogs. Now I wouldn't say that I'm the best person with money. I'm not very good at being strict with myself and I'm quite good at just not thinking about money when I spend it and then avoiding bank statements. I know.. I know.. not very clever!

I'm just about to start a my first real job and so this will be the first time I'll have been paid a real salary (other than from the bank or mum and dad!). I'm really going to make an effort to be good with money and am trying to turn over a new leaf. Here are some ways that I am being or I'm going to try and be thrifty and frugal and better at managing my money. . .

From pinterest

-The other day I'd realised that I'd been subscribing to a credit rating website for TWO YEARS (!!) having not read the small print. This may not have happened if I'd been more eagle-eyed when checking my bank statements but I don't try and account for every transaction, I just looked for abnormalities. Well I cancelled this as soon as I found out about it but it really showed me that I need to check my statements more closely! Now I'll be £6.99 a month better off! Doh!

-I have made an excel spreadsheet to track my money! It has colours and code and everything :-) Now I just need to remember to use it!

-I have opened an ISA. Having a salary for the first time also means paying tax!

-I have claimed back some tax from a savings account that I shouldn't have paid last year.

-I was also majorly overcharged on my mobile bill, but after about 30 hours on the phone to orange, I think I'm one small phone call away to reclaiming my money. I had to get authoritative. It was scary!

-I have spent lots of time making greetings cards before I actually start my job and get really busy. This may save me a few pennies! Has also kept me occupied!

-Not buying clothes/ shoes/ make up. I haven't bought any in January. It was a close call with the topshop website but my conscience won. I also have a black tie dinner and I haven't bought anything new! These types of events in the past have always solicited a new purchase of some sorts!