SAVE don't SPEND #15

Hi guys, another Monday another installment of my spending diary. I hope wherever you are you've had a lovely weekend, and if you're in the UK you've managed to make the most of the bank holiday weekend! My plans for today involve lazing around in the sunshine and a quick trip to the supermarket - rock and roll.

(source)

Monday

12.00 -  Boots (who knew stamps were so expensive?!)

£12.00 - total

Tuesday

2.50 - Marks and Spencer

£2.50 - total

Wednesday

6.90 - lunch

£6.90 - total

Thursday

4.95 - lunch

£4.95 - total 

Friday

NOTHING

£0.00 - total

Saturday

20.00 - Topshop (denim skater skirt)

15.00 - Marks and Spencer (boring underwear - yawn)

15.27 - Whole Foods

£30.27 - total

£20.00 - naughty total

Sunday

24.00 - Primark

17.45 - Muji

£17.45 - total

£24.00 - naughty total

TOTAL: £74.07

NAUGHTY TOTAL: £44.00

FINALLY! I'm under my £80/week budget for normal spends, hooray! I'm so happy this week I'm under my limit, despite the £44 of naughty spends on a skirt and some summery shoes (2 pairs, in both colours of course...!) They were technically unnecessary spends but I'm in the midst of a crazy clear out which will eventually involve flogging most of my unwanted stuff on eBay (again..) so I am trying not to feel too guilty. Plus the shoes I originally wanted were £40 so getting two pairs of shoes and a skirt for just over that amount is pretty nifty! I'm hoping to continue my winning streak and take my own lunch to work this week. Wish me luck!

Are you trying to save money? How is it going for you?

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #14

Hi everyone! I haven't quite had the spends-free week I had hoped for - le sigh. I need to start saving money soon otherwise I won't be able to do some of the exciting things I have planned for the rest of the year!

(source)

Monday

NOTHING

£0.00 - total

Tuesday

4.95 - lunch

1.12 - Boots

£6.07 - total

Wednesday

4.95 - lunch

4.50 - Holland & Barrett food shop

13.00 - takeaway

£22.45 - total

Thursday

4.00 - lunch

£4.00 - total 

Friday

30.00 - Boots (contact lens solutions and birthday present for the bestie)

20.00 - Boots (nail polish and lipstick, woops!)

£30.00 - total

£20.00 - naughty total

Saturday

20.00 - Nandos

20.00 - M&S (underwear and tights, yawn)

£40.00 - total

Sunday

12.00 - Sainsburys food shop

100.00 - train tickets

£112.00 - total

TOTAL: £214.52

NAUGHTY TOTAL: £20.00

This is the THIRD week in a row that I have spent way over my £80 budget, and it's so annoying that yet again it's because I've had to buy train tickets! In my family we have a cluster of 4-5 birthdays in June/July that I've had to buy train tickets to travel home for, which has obviously cost a small fortune this week. Add to that my naughty Boots trip on Friday (I went to collect a prescription and left with a lighter purse - haul post coming soon!) and I didn't have the spending-free week I hoped for! I'm going to try my hardest to bring in my lunches this week at work, and reign in other spends to hopefully bring down the total for next week. Finger's crossed! 

Are you trying to save money? How is it going for you?

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #13

Hi everyone! I seem to be spending a lot of money lately, a lot of it is unavoidable and it's quite frustrating! I'm not looking forward to seeing what the total from the last week will be...

(source)

Monday

12 - takeaway

£12.00 - total

Tuesday

3.50 - lunch

2.00 - Boots (bottle of water)

£6.50 - total

Wednesday

2.33 - Boots (toiletries)

3.70 - Holland & Barrett tea haul

£6.03 - total

Thursday

4.95 - lunch

53.00 - train tickets

£57.95 - total 

Friday

3.50 - lunch

£3.50 - total

Saturday

77.00 - Debenhams (Chloe perfume, boring work underwear)

9.00 - hiring Zipcar

35.61 - food shop

£44.61 - total

£77.00 - naughty total

Sunday

NOTHING!

£0 - total

TOTAL: £130.59

NAUGHTY TOTAL: £77.00

This is the second week in a row that I have spent £50 over my £80 budget, and it's so annoying that for the second week in a row that's because I've had to buy train tickets! Hopefully the need for me to make impromptu journeys will end very soon and I will be able to share with you what this has all been about. You might also notice I've technically broken my beauty spending ban because I purchased some Chloe perfume from Debenhams, but it was 10% off and I am going to put it away until the end of May. Overall there's nothing I could have done to spend less this week due to circumstances, but I'm hoping there will be a dramatic change next week.

Are you trying to save money? How is it going for you?

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #12

Hi everyone! How absolutely gorgeously glorious has this bank holiday weekend been?! I have been lucky enough to be away for the weekend in Leicester with my boyfriend, perfect timing! As we were away I have spent a little more than I ordinarily would, but I can forgive myself because we're not going on a 'proper' holiday this year.

(source)

Monday

1.15 - Boots

92.00 - train tickets (sob!)

£93.15 - total

Tuesday

4.45 - lunch

£4.45 - total

Wednesday

6.00 - lunch

£6.00 - total

Thursday

4.45 - lunch

7.00 - Sainsburys food shop

£11.45 - total 

Friday

7.00 - Tesco food shop

£7.00 - total

Saturday

62.00 - Wardrobe (3 blouses, haul post coming soon!)

4.30 - Yankee candles from House of Fraser

8.00 - Internacionale jersey skirt

20.00 - Topshop jersey dress

5.00 - takeaway for tea

£5.00 - total

£94.30 - naughty total

Sunday

10 - black cab

£10 - total

TOTAL: £137.05

NAUGHTY TOTAL: £94.30

I've definitely overspent this week, but I really don't mind. I am sticking to my spending ban (note no beauty buys - WINNING!) and I picked up some real bargains on my Saturday shopping trip. It's not often I find myself in my old Uni city with my boyfriend so I don't feel bad for spending there. The rest is pretty minimal, with the exception of extortionate train tickets which couldn't be avoided as I had a last minute job interview. All in all not a bad week I don't think.

Are you trying to save money? How is it going for you?

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #10

Oh gosh I am tired!! to be perfectly honest I'm typing this at 7.30pm on Sunday evening and I've plenty still to do before I can grab an early night and head to bed! It can be pretty tricky juggling Bee's Knees and a full time job, especially when that full time job becomes increasingly demanding and stressful... but I'd like to think I usually do a good job of balancing the two.

(source)

Monday

NOTHING

£0 - total

Tuesday

5 - Boots (toothpaste and water)

£5.50 - total

Wednesday

20 - Cocktails with friends

£20 - total

Thursday

4.45 - Wasabi lunch

£4.45 - total 

Friday

NOTHING

£0 - total

Saturday

23 - Lunch out with my sister

4 - vegan ice cream at the theatre for Viva Forever! (bought from Whole Foods beforehand!)

20 - Boots (two Models Own polishes, two S&G make up items)

18.75 - Primark (a dress, some sunglasses and socks!)

60.97 - New Look clothes (haul post coming soon)

£126.72 - total

Sunday

5.50 - Sainsburys mini food shop.

£5.50 - total

TOTAL: 152.17

Although this week's total spends are quite a lot, I'm not actually that fussed! I knew this week was going to be an expensive one because I went out for drinks with friends on Wednesday after work, and my sister was visiting in London so we did a bit of a big Spring shop together that only happens once every so often. I can forgive my over spends this week, so long as I don't keep it up every week. I have to remind myself that I'm 24, don't have children or a mortgage and I'm allowed to spend money on unnecessary things sometimes as long as it's all in moderation. Plus I'm starting a month long spending ban in April.

Are you trying to save money? How is it going for you?

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #9

So this week's SAVE don't SPEND will be 6 days long, not a full 7 day week. I have been doing really well with sticking to my £80/week target but yesterday I ended up spending quite a lot in just one day! I didn't go crazy and buy lots of unnecessary things, but I did rent a car (I'm a member of Zip Car) because I had to stock up on things like cat litter, a new suitcase, and heavy supermarket food. All in all this meant I spent way over £80 just in that one day, so I haven't counted in my overall total for the week as it was such a one off.

(source)

Monday

5.99 - Boots (water, Pepsi - the usual!)

7 - Wasabi

£12.99 - total

Tuesday

5 - Wasabi

2.50 - Paperchase (mothers day card)

11.98 - WHSmith (books)

£19.48 - total

Wednesday

7.72 - Sainsburys food shop

£7.72 - total

Thursday

NOTHING!

£0 - total 

Friday

7.50 - Paperchase (Mothers Day card & make up brush holder)

£7.50 - total

Saturday

35 - Primark

25 - Holland and Barrett (food shop)

£60 - total

Sunday

Not included

TOTAL: 107.69

I'm not very pleased with how things have gone this week - admittedly I haven't been as strict with myself as I should have been but I have done a big Sainsburys shop and will hopefully remember to take in my lunch every day this week and save pennies in the process!

Are you trying to save money? How is it going for you?

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #8

Happy Monday guys! I can't believe how fast February went and we are now in merry old March! March is one of my favourite months of the whole year, as it's still nice and cold and wintery but the days get much longer and the sun comes out a little - both things which boost my mood immensely! Despite this, I still managed to break my spending ban AGAIN last week, and decided to restart today instead of keeping breaking it... If you follow me on Twitter you'll know I went to Milton Keynes to visit some Uni friends at the weekend and we did a little shopping, so I really have fallen off the wagon again but I solemnly swear this will be it at least for a month..

(source)

Monday

8.63 - Holland and Barrett food shop

£8.63 - total

Tuesday

4.50 - Superdrug (Rimmel eye pencil and chewing gum)

£4.50 - total

Wednesday

4.99 - TK Maxx (Dainty Doll cosmetics)

14.00 - Superdrug (Gosh lipstick, 2 Barry M nail paints, shaving gel etc)

4.99 - cinema ticket (This is 40)

8 - Nandos

14.75 - Paperchase (presents for colleagues)

£46.73 - total

Thursday

6.85 - Sainsburys food shop

£6.85 - total

Friday

12.00 - Marks and Spencers (flowers for my supervisor at work)

£12 - total

Saturday

5.60 - Nandos (twice in one week! Goodness!)

2.50 - WhSmiths

20 - H&M (dress)

50 - New Look (2 cardigans and a dress)

10 - alcohol

£88.10 - total

Sunday

15.00 - takeaway

£15 - total

TOTAL: £181.81

EEK well I've certainly not done so good this week, have I? I knew from the start that this would be an expensive week as I had to buy presents for a few colleagues at work because I'm moving departments, which adds up. I also knew that a bit of shopping would be done in MK on Saturday, but I did restrict myself and only purchased 2 dresses and 2 cardigans, - all for work and totaling a mere £70... Nandos twice in one week probably wasn't the best idea, along with the total disrespect shown to my spending ban whilst in TK Maxx  and Superdrug  on Wednesday. Never mind though, today is a new day and it's a new week, I'm determined to get back on track and down to £80 per week and restart my spending ban. Wish me luck!

Are you on a spending ban? How are you getting on? I hope you're doing better than me!

xx

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SAVE don't SPEND #7

Hi everyone. So, it's another week.. this year seems to be flying by and it's already almost March and we're onto the seventh post in the SAVE don't SPEND series - how has this happened? This week has been one of ups and downs for me - I've been a bit all over the place but made a firm decision on Friday to start over and focus on one thing - being happy. Then hopefully everything else will fall into place.. this may explain my blatant spending in spite of my spending ban...

(source)

Monday

8.13 - Holland and Barrett food shop

3 - Boots (water, Pepsi - the usual!)

£11.13 - total

Tuesday

8.50 - Paperchase (thank you cards and some stationary)

12 - Boots (present for my secretary)

£20.50 - total

Wednesday

12.70 - lunch at the Hare and Tortoise

£12.70 - total

Thursday

5 - Wasabi lunch

6.99 - Superdrug (Revlon Nearly Naked foundation) - breaking my spending ban!

800 Boots Advantage points - 2 Models Own nail polishes - breaking my spending ban!

£5 - total (I haven't included the stuff I bought breaking my spending ban as it was funded with my £150 put away for a spending splurge when my ban is over)

Friday

11.98 - Superdrug (B. Micellar water & B. Gel Cleanser) - breaking my spending ban!

£0 - total (same as above)

Saturday

23.97 - H&M (I will post about what I bought later this week!) - breaking my spending ban!

£0 - total (same as above)

Sunday

19.38 - Sainsburys food shop

£19.38 - total

TOTAL: £68.71

This kind of makes up for going over £10 last week. I haven't counted the things posted in blue because I had £150 put to one side for when I finish my spending ban, and I have decided that my minor lapse this week (it could have been a lot worse!) will come out of that pot. This makes breaking my spending ban feel a little less catastrophic! I don't know how the boyfriend & I ended up on Oxford Street on Saturday afternoon but I did make a couple of bargain purchases from H&M that I will post about later this week. I'll also do a mini haul post sharing what I purchased from Superdrug in more detail..

Here's a quick peep at the Models Own polishes I picked up from Boots using my Advantage Points (2 for £8!)

Are you on a spending ban? How are you getting on? I hope you're doing better than me!

xx

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