Busy Busy Busy and A Trip To Dorothy Perkins!

Hello Folks!

Good weekend?

I seem to go in phases, nothing on for ages and then suddenly everything is on at once.

Friday night, The Chap and I stayed in, but Saturday I was up and out by 8am. I had a dentist appointment at 9.

Three fillings, a deep clean and £23.00 later (I paid the other half of £25 when I had my check up) and they also took xrays. Luckily nothing else to worry about for another 6months. Thank goodness for an NHS dentist. Getting onto to the list was so difficult and involved basically begging. They are 30 mins away from where i live, but they are BRILLIANT!

Adam, my dentist know how pathetically frightened I am and keeps rubbing my cheek with his hand saying things like "Come on, Open your eyes Abigail it will not be so bad if you open your eyes as the system will concentrate on the pictures and not the sensations". He is very kind, and cheap. All a good combination, and after careful consideration, I would gladly give up a couple of minor toes before parting company with the practice....:o)

I was out and completely numb in the mouth at 9.30am, so I popped up the road to see my friend Emma and her 3 kids, she lives about 200 yards from the surgery. I think I gave them a bit of a shock turning up early and a bit tearful, but she let me use her loo and we had a nice chat for half an hour.

By 10, I was back on the road and 15 mins later dropping my car for it's service (6 months late, oops!). The MOT was fine back in September, but I just have not had the £150 required for the service until now. The beautiful little thing only needed a new filter, 3 new spark plugs and a new registration bulb. Those were all included in the price of the service - Brilliant. Thanks Mr Tyre! As a female who knows as much about cars as I do Quantum Physics or Chainsaws, I am always incredible grateful for a garage I can trust. The Chap was asking about oil changes etc. So I nodded and sagely agreed with his advice before doing exactly what I wanted to do initially. The sign of a happy relationship!

Whilst waiting for the car to pass its physical, I tootled off to meet a good friend Lisa for a drink, she had some exciting news, so we had a good catch up that involved copious amounts of tea and chocolate brownies. Yum!

I then went for a bit of a shop. I really needed some new jeans. My current pairs have started fraying at the hem. I like Dorothy Perkins for jeans, as they fit nicely and come in multiple fits, colours and lengths. My lucky day they were doing 2 pairs for £25. I have two pairs of skinny jeans and a denim boot cut pair, so over the weekend I picked up an indigo and a black pair of boot cut jeans. The fit over the bottom is lush!

Of course, we all know it is rude not to then have a wander whilst in store, and I just fell in love with this jacket.

Really Chanel like, and it fitted so beautifully. It is a perfect wardrobe staple that works well with the black jeans I picked up and can also be worn for the office with a black skirt or dress. Cost £45.

I then picked up a little T-shirt to go under and be worn out on the Sunday lunch 40th we had been invited to yesterday.

I am a huge believer that jeans must be tried on, so I stalked my way to the fitting room with about 15 items. Jeans in every variation of length and size and colour and fit, plus 2 sizes in the jacket and tshirt.

The girls in Dotty Perks are always cheerful and helpful, it is a pleasure to shop there. Not bank breaking, but most items are good quality, and affordable.

But the best thing about DPs??? You should never ever pay full price. As high street shops go they are continually recognising the hardships shoppers face. And offering deals and vouchers. If you sign up online for their emails, hardly a week goes by when they do not offer a % off everything.

Whilst in the fitting room I used the Voucher Codes App and managed to bring my bill down by 20% from £80 to £64. That meant a discount of £16, so basically a pair of free jeans plus another £4.

I got an email today from Dorothy Perkins offering me 25% off everything, which would have been more useful, but it is unclear whether that is just for online ordering and you do have to pay a delivery fee for orders under £75.

Anyhoo, a friend at the same event on Sunday said I looked like a Beckham in my new duds.

Check me out guys!!!!

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

A Little Bit Of Planning, Nets A Whole Lot Of Discounts

I am a big fan of a voucher. Most Frugal people are.

So as I perused my Tesco discount vouchers the other day I noticed there was one for £9 off a £90 shop. That is 10% off your total bill. Normally I would never use such vouchers as spending £90 one shop for two people is just ridiculous.

However, as today is Pay Day I have been planning to go and get some bigger ticket items with my shop.

I have enough stickers to collect a cast iron casserole dish in the Tesco promotion. RRP apparently is £79.99, I will be able to pick it up for £29.99.

Also The Chap asked me to grab him a bottle of whiskey, and I also want to pick up a mattress protector. I was planning to grab another double fitted basesheet too, but the cheapest in Tesco is £4.50, “grubby little shop around the corner from work” are doing the same quality as the supermarket for £3.49, so that was a bit of a no-brainer this lunch time.

I have planned out meals for the next week, taking into account we are out on Sunday for lunch and we always have a pizza mid week.

The freezer is crammed full of chicken breasts, but we do need some mince meat, and I like to eat fish one night.

When preparing for a big shop, I always work out meals for 7 days and ensure that I am buying if possible in bulk for daily use items such as toilet paper.

I also make sure I visit brand names websites to check for coupons. It is rare I am lucky, but it does happen often enough to make checking worthwhile.

Whilst there is a little processed food bought to grace the tables at Southfork, generally I try to keep it to 1 meal per week. Pizza night allows me to have one evening when I get in and slump on the sofa. It was last night as I watched Child of Our Time and Lighfields.

As a rule, I like to ensure TC and I eat a good mixture of meat and vegetables. However this does take a little cunning as TC would consider rice and potatoes as veg and looked at me funny when I fished out a cabbage from the last shop.

A little pre planning can save you a fortune at the shops and I am hoping that today I will return home this evening with a saving of well over £50 (from voucher use).

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Been Dyeing To Do This.

At 36, I have noticed that middle age is trying it’s best to creep up on me. One minute I was in black velvet hot pants clubbing until the early hours. I blink and the next thing I know I am happiest whilst perusing soft furnishings on a Saturday afternoon and know everything there is to know about mortgages. How did that happen??

One of the side effects of “growing up” is that the odd grey colourless hair has started to creep through. Not a lot I hasten to add, just the odd one or two. I last had my hair coloured before Christmas at a discount price of £85. I cannot afford that again for a while.

Recently I have noticed that the grey colourless hairs have started covert action again taking up strategic positions ready for a full head on attack. I don’t think so Sunshine!

So yesterday evening I got home from work and opened Avon’s Advanced Techniques Medium Brown Hair Dye after of course a 24 hr test patch. Price £6. I have not dyed my own hair for about 3 years. It is not a job I enjoy or am any good at. My aim is to hide the grey and try not to change my own hair colour too drastically.. oh and to try and keep the bathroom undamaged.

So what do we think? It does look a bit patchy in this picture as the sun is shinning only on part of my hair.

£6 is a lot cheaper than £85, plus in Brochure 10 (Fergie, Black Eyed Peas on the front) Page 24 they are selling them for £3.50 each on special offer. (I ordered another for stock today.)

So my hints for dyeing your own hair

1)    Take 2 old towels in with you – 1 to stand on and 1 to have for after the rinse off.

2)    Take a big crocodile clip in with you to the bathroom so longer hair can be put up to stop dye getting your neck during the development period.

3)    Have an extra pair of plastic gloves. You need 1 pair (supplied) for applying the dye and I prefer to have another pair for rinsing my hair after.  TOP TIP I ‘borrow’ gloves from the petrol station forecourt.

4)    Have cotton wool and an astringent cleaner (toner works very well) for after application to remove dye from forehead ear and nape of neck etc.

5)    If safe to do so, do it naked. That way no dye gets on anything that cannot be cleaned.

6)    Oh yes and open a window, the stuff reeks!

Frugally yours

Abigail

X

P.S. 48 Hrs until Pay Day.

Some are born to glamour, others become glamorous, or how even I yearn for the good old days.

I am not glamorous.

I wish I was, but I am not.   

I can do glamour but it only last 30 minutes or there about, after which my foundation is by my knees and my mascara has  created smudges that any Chinese panda would be proud of .

I get up so early to get to work, that now after 15 years I have given up being glamorous during       office hours and opt for clean and neat instead.

But I love make up, if there is a new product about, I know about it, I can talk knowledgably       about cream foundations, compared to mineral powder or whether one's skin would benefit from a serum or a primer getting ready of a morning.

One of the hardest changes to occur since my enforced thriftiness, is not buying expensive make up  brands. I cannot herald this as one of my greatest triumphs.

I am a product of a generation that believes that Christian Dior, Estee lauder, Chanel, Benefit and Clinique provide the best and whilst I am changing my opinion, it so far has been a slow process and one I am not entirely sure that I will completely win.

I love the indulgence of a beautifully packaged lotion, the desirable little cellophane boxes that house the pots of loveliness. I love the click of an expensive lipstick and the little freebies that are often given away as incentives. I am a make up label whore…..

However, nowadays my purchases have dwindled at the beauty counters of the department store and alternatives had to be found in order for me to be able to join polite society and to save the sanity of small children.

I changed my £23 Christian Dior foundation to a Max Factor for £12, and the Clarins slowly departed W Towers to be replaced with Simple. However, my greatest discovery has been Avon. They have some truly eye watering products that are still too expensive for this newly frugal dame. But those only take up a few of the central pages. The alternatives are endless in this little magazine. I am currently using their Solutions day and night cream with extract of amethyst, my skin looks clear and clean and it does the job. It was on offer when I bought it two pots for £11.

Their bathfoam is just delicious and frequently on offer – four bottles for £3 (I think) – the lavender and white lily are my favourite. Infact I often fill up my hand soap dispenser with these bathfoams and it is a simple and frugal way to still indulge yourself.

The fact is, I still want to feel indulged, I want to luxuriate. So here it is...

 the W Towers home Spa…

Ok there are no superior women walking around ready to massage your aches and pains away, but in this room with the door closed and only mood lights and candles to illuminate the walls, I can feel the cares and the stresses of the day melt away. I do not indulge every evening, but once or twice a month, I close the door and shut out the world for an hour. I may not be King of the World, but in my little domain, this is the one area where the world is most certainly not admitted.

Saying all of this, when Santa came chortling his way down my chimney this year, he did bring some truly superb and thoughtful gifts…

 The truth is whatever Avon come up with, and however Simple package their products, these delightful little tubes, pots and compacts raise my spirits and make me realise that maybe in better times some sins can be revisited.

But, for the time being when these run out then I will be returning to my frugal ways with a  whimsical smile and an eye on the ultimate prize…..financial freedom and a debt free existence. Which, in all honesty will last me a lot longer than any lotion or potion.

Frugally yours

Abigail

X

P.S I started writing this when I got home, but then I popped out for  a drink with a friend, on the way home I stopped at Tesco to the buy the milk and teabags I talked about yesterday and found these 6 rolls reduced to 25p. Bargain. Straight in the freezer and since I buy these anyway normally in bags of 12 (Warburtons has had a downloadable voucher for ages on it’s website) I know that 30 seconds in the microwave and they are ready to be used for a quick lunch.