I bought some fantastic things on Sunday, mostly for presents. I'll write more about them another time. I did get a copy of Glamour mag for £2 because I'd read it not only had a nail varnish worth £11 in it, but also a £3 Body Shop gift card. Well, not only did I get them, but I also did the spammy scratch card inside and phoned up and I've won a trip to Pontins! It cost me around £21 in call charges, but quite honestly as I was thinking about booking Pontins again for 2014 it's saved me at least £40. Need to send off the card to claim it!
Today I'm going to write about my frugal hobbies. What do I do in my spare time?
I spend most of my time with S when we aren't at work. Together we tend to watch movies, or TV series. We are currently watching Dexter/Trollied at my house, and The Sopranos at his. We both also spend a lot of time online. Here's the good part - we both work for Sky and get our Sky package and broadband free, so while a lot of frugalistas find pay TV is the first to go, it's not so for us! I recently won a 2TB Sky+HD box too, so I have plenty of storage room for downloaded or recorded programmes. I really do appreciate my luck with this as the value of the package I have comes to around £100 a month which is not something I could or would pay if it wasn't free, I just couldn't afford it.
I LOVE reading. I don't have a library card due to, erm, not returning books previously. Oops. But to keep costs down I try and stick mostly to charity shops and sometimes get free or low cost ebooks to read on the Kindle app on my iPad. I don't really like ebooks, though. I also have a stamp card for Waterstones, where I get a stamp each time I spend £10 & then get a £10 gift card when I have 10 stamps. I've already filled one of these in and I have a half-full one in my purse. The first one probably took me about a year to complete and I mainly used it for BOGOHP offers for presents, though some books for myself too.
I enjoy cooking. Since leaving my ex it's now quality over quantity, S and I have quite small appetites relatively speaking and the kids definitely do too. It's fun to try cooking new things. We made a delicious bacon and leek pasta a couple of weeks ago. Tonight I'm surprising him with smoked salmon, chilli and lemon pasta.
Surprisingly for a frugalista, I also really love Lush, bathing is probably a hobby for me too. Purchasing non-Lush bath products is something of a false economy for me, as I've found to my detriment! Ill blog about that another time, too. Luckily, I tend to get a lot of their products as gifts. At the moment I have a Snow Globe soap on my sink from last Christmas, 2 shower gels in my bath from my birthday and a couple of bubble bars from my birthday too. In my drawer I also have a soap from my birthday which will come out soon.
Wednesday 6 November 2013
Sunday 3 November 2013
November.
So, since it's the beginning of November, I guess I'll start as I mean to go on!
1st Nov
We stayed in most of the day as the weather was a bit grotty and I'm under the weather. When I took the kids to sleep at Grandma's, a very kind lady gave L a day saver ticket as they didn't need it any more, which saved me 60p. I thought that was so kind and I left the ticket on the ticket machine when we arrived so that somebody else could make use of it too. Unfortunately, I then went to Newcastle and wasted about £5 in McDonalds on my tea :(
2nd Nov
After work I popped to Wilkinson to take advantage of the half price pick and mix. I got 2 medium cups - because there were no lids for the larger sizes - £6 worth for £3. That's in the Christmas present collection to get put into other containers, probably for my nieces. Then I popped to the charity shops to look for coats for L and I. I ended up with a nice padded black jacket for myself. It wasn't really what I was looking for - I wanted a long coat - but it does have a hood and looks really cosy, just what I need. That was £6.99 and originally from New Look. It's more than I'd normally pay for anything in a charity shop, but it's something I need. Didn't find a coat for L, unfortunately. I did buy a sequinned Gap hoody for R, though, which I was rather happy with for £1. If it's too small for R, I'll eBay it. I also got myself a black and white striped wrapover-style top from M&Co and a teal shirt from Bravissimo, both £2.50 - again quite impressed; I think M&Co is cheapish but I know the top would have been £20-£30 originally, and now I have a couple of nice new tops to wear for work! Lastly, I was on the Netmums Christmas thread and found a voucher for £15 off for new customers of Very. I can't get credit, unfortunately, so S set up an account and I bought the doll L wants for Xmas. It should have been £35 full price, but thanks to a reduction and my voucher code, I got it for £13 which I paid off immediately. Really happy with that bargain.
3rd Nov
I've not been out yet, today. My plan is to get changed (currently in slobby clothes) and go to Sunderland. The Body Shop have an extra 40% off all items, inc sale, when you have a code - and I'm planning to pop in for a few Christmas presents. I want to have a look around town for other bits and bobs for Christmas too. I'll also go to Tesco on the way home, just before it shuts, to get some whoopsies. My cupboards are pretty bare at the minute! Then I'll get bathed and ready to go to S' house. He's at work til 8, so I have plenty of time to get everything sorted out!
1st Nov
We stayed in most of the day as the weather was a bit grotty and I'm under the weather. When I took the kids to sleep at Grandma's, a very kind lady gave L a day saver ticket as they didn't need it any more, which saved me 60p. I thought that was so kind and I left the ticket on the ticket machine when we arrived so that somebody else could make use of it too. Unfortunately, I then went to Newcastle and wasted about £5 in McDonalds on my tea :(
2nd Nov
After work I popped to Wilkinson to take advantage of the half price pick and mix. I got 2 medium cups - because there were no lids for the larger sizes - £6 worth for £3. That's in the Christmas present collection to get put into other containers, probably for my nieces. Then I popped to the charity shops to look for coats for L and I. I ended up with a nice padded black jacket for myself. It wasn't really what I was looking for - I wanted a long coat - but it does have a hood and looks really cosy, just what I need. That was £6.99 and originally from New Look. It's more than I'd normally pay for anything in a charity shop, but it's something I need. Didn't find a coat for L, unfortunately. I did buy a sequinned Gap hoody for R, though, which I was rather happy with for £1. If it's too small for R, I'll eBay it. I also got myself a black and white striped wrapover-style top from M&Co and a teal shirt from Bravissimo, both £2.50 - again quite impressed; I think M&Co is cheapish but I know the top would have been £20-£30 originally, and now I have a couple of nice new tops to wear for work! Lastly, I was on the Netmums Christmas thread and found a voucher for £15 off for new customers of Very. I can't get credit, unfortunately, so S set up an account and I bought the doll L wants for Xmas. It should have been £35 full price, but thanks to a reduction and my voucher code, I got it for £13 which I paid off immediately. Really happy with that bargain.
3rd Nov
I've not been out yet, today. My plan is to get changed (currently in slobby clothes) and go to Sunderland. The Body Shop have an extra 40% off all items, inc sale, when you have a code - and I'm planning to pop in for a few Christmas presents. I want to have a look around town for other bits and bobs for Christmas too. I'll also go to Tesco on the way home, just before it shuts, to get some whoopsies. My cupboards are pretty bare at the minute! Then I'll get bathed and ready to go to S' house. He's at work til 8, so I have plenty of time to get everything sorted out!
Introduction.
Well, this is something I've been thinking of doing for a while! I'm C, and I live in Sunderland and work in Newcastle. I spend a lot of time with my darling S, and my children L and R live with me for 4 days a week (they stay with their daddy on the other 3 days).
I was living with L and R's dad until we broke up amicably at the end of last year. I moved out in January, and I'm now trying my best to pay off the debts I racked up whilst with him whilst maintaining a happy life!
The purpose of my blog is twofold: keeping track of my spending and debt management for my own benefit, and also tips for others. I've been following some frugality blogs for a while now, and I've been really inspired by them. I'd love to do the same for others.
I was living with L and R's dad until we broke up amicably at the end of last year. I moved out in January, and I'm now trying my best to pay off the debts I racked up whilst with him whilst maintaining a happy life!
The purpose of my blog is twofold: keeping track of my spending and debt management for my own benefit, and also tips for others. I've been following some frugality blogs for a while now, and I've been really inspired by them. I'd love to do the same for others.
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