Oh hey there summer!

So I have been in the flat for over two weeks now! I am very much enjoying it, even though I feel like I haven’t spent much time there with work! I did get to thoroughly enjoy it over the weekend though!

The summer is 110% here as well! The last few days have been soooo warm and today is meant to hit record temperatures. Luckily now I have a boost in confidence I am far more happy and comfortable about this! No more hiding and overheating in a hoody….. lovely flowy tops and skirts… however still it is exceptionally warm outside!

Last week it was hard to drag my ass back to work and then to the gym Monday too! It is a long drive now to the Gym but I’ve finished up there now and I’ve joined another gym much closer… a couple of minute drive rather than a 20 minute drive. Then Tuesday we went and saw The Terminator at the cinema. It was fab to see the old film the cinema I haven’t seen it in ages!

Wednesday I FINALLY got to relax and just watch back to back Orange is the New Black! (I have now finished this!) and Thursday back to the gym ugh! As you can see my week was busy, but this week I have no plans other the gym, just lots of relaxing and spending time in my flat. 

I have a bit of a wish list going on at the moment…

TopShop Sunglasses bag

Floozie Swimsuit - Debenhams

 Sandals - Asos

H! by Henry Holland top - Debenhams

I might have to treat myself to a few things... we shall see I guess!

I wanted to save for a holiday abroad so much! However I think I am just going to try and save and get some savings together and look at booking a holiday in January for early next year instead! I think it is better to have some savings and be comfortable than try and stretch my money to afford a holiday!

I think we may try and get away at some point this year. Perhaps to centre Parcs as we have always wanted to go there or maybe somewhere near the coast. But I guess we can see how money goes! My plan is to let things settle down for a couple of months and see where we are and how much extra money we will have each month! June was an exceptionally expensive month with moving and I spent more of my savings than I wanted to! But I have high hopes that we should be finically stable now and actually have extra money to enjoy which would make a change as we’ve spent the last few years struggling through. I still feel weird to think that I owe no money and its such a freeing feeling.

I also tried the train for the first time today. That was pretty good to be honest, the drive has varied between 40-60minutes and the last few days in the sun with broken air con has been quite uncomfortable. The walk took around 4 minutes to the station and there was no queue for the ticket machine so I got the earlier train. I arrived into Croydon at around 8:42 and it took about 13minutes to walk to work from there and may have been quicker had I not had to shuffle out the train station because of the crowds of people. It was considerably less stressful and more peaceful than driving. I just zoned out and enjoyed the train ride, and the air con was a bonus!

So I will try the train for the rest of the week! See how that goes and I will continue to enjoy my flat. Thursday we have an induction at the new gym but other than that I have no plans and I hope to enjoy the sunshine and my space!

New home! What a week.

So we are in and it has been considerably more stressful than I thought it would of been.

Friday I packed up at work, headed down with Lisa to my Dad's work and picked up the sofa Lisa very kindly donated to us!

I then came home and headed to Ikea for their sale but to be honest that was quite disappointing and then we were up till late packing all the last things and getting the last bits of furniture downstairs. We got to bed around 1am but I barely slept. It was like we had waited so long and then boom that was it, the room was almost empty and we were about to leave! I really didn't sleep much and was clock watching until my alarm went off, I was up and ready before 8am. We headed straight for Redhill where we enjoyed a very nice Mccy d’s breakfast and then went to the estate agents.

We from there went to the flat and meet the lady doing the itinerary, she should us around and pointed out all marks or anything that was replaced and we took a look around and zoomed off home where I picked up my Dad and we started to load the van up. The flat was nicer than I remembered and the new carpet was great. They had linoed the bathroom which was preferred above carpet and the carpet was a lovely brown colour really soft and inviting. It is amazing once it was empty how much more potential and modern it looked without the previous persons stuff in there!

Didn't take too long to load the van but we didn't fit it all in, in one go. My Mum meet us as we headed over to the flat and I went with my Mum and Matt in the van with my Dad and we started moving in. They both really liked the place. We got everything in quite quickly and then headed back to Matt's mum's house to get the last bits there, pick up Debbie and then to my Grans to pack up the last bits. We all stopped for tea and biscuits as now it was well after lunch time and no one had, had lunch. THEN it was back in the vans and cars and one final trip. 

We started unloading everything again and this time the valuables came in, it was unpleasant carrying the expensive equipment from the cars to the flat. Then I made a cup of tea for everyone and my Mum and Dad headed off to return the van and Debbie stayed washing all the kitchen stuff up while me and Matt started to arrange furniture. 

The first few days we didn't eat when we should of and days kind of blurred into each other. Tuesday I think it all got too much and we bought a second sofa, got it home and it didn't fit the Matt ended up having a huge row over the phone with my Dad and I got very upset so Tuesday was a waste of a day and I wish it never happened... We were however able to return the sofa thank goodness. But I wish I had slept through Tuesday. But things looked up from there.

We couldn't fit the table I had been given in so we bought a cool one from Argos that folds up and stores 4 chairs in it! We also got two leather foot stools instead of an extra sofa which has made the sofa we have 100x more comfy for lounging on. Working through the piles of boxes made it so hard and I felt like there was no end in sight. 

For over a month we had spent a lot of our free time packing, moving things planning. I knew the end was close but it just felt like it was taking too long. We finally got bits put away but it got to that last 'bit' where you have loads of stuff that you don't really know what to do with. 

I wanted to be finished by Monday, that was the plan but we were done on Wednesday night. I was so pleased and it gave us 4 days to enjoy it! 

Hallway and entrance.

Living Room

What I like to call nerd corner 

Bathroom

Kitchen 

Bedroom

It has been a really odd experience. I have this dreaded feeling of, OH GOD I WANT MY MUM AND DAD.... I am only 15-20 minute drive away but I do feel like I already miss them. When they left I got the same feelings of when they dropped me off at Uni on my own for the first time minus the tears. I think it is scary this is the first time I have lived completely independently, but I am really excited at the same time. 

I am so pleased with the flat we found, and I cannot wait to really get to live in it! I cannot wait for my first weekend after a week of work there too, and of course Christmas I CANNOT WAIT to decorate and make it my own! So Exciting!

Wednesday we went to Crawley and got our first foot stool (which we loved so much we bought a second one) and just finished off the flat! The people I work with were so generous and sent us a card and a gift voucher which I ordered a house phone with and bought a really nice fluffy bath mat! Thursday we had to wait in almost all day as they broadband guys came. The first guy came but couldn't do it and so another person came later in the day and it was fine. There was a a panic for a moment we couldn't get fiber broadband but it was ok! 

Friday we took ourselves off to see Jurassic World (which was AWESOME) had a bit of a day out and off. When then had to go back to Matt's mum's on Saturday to get rid of all the furniture that was left. That was a pretty grim job! But I was glad when it was done because that was LITERALLY the last thing we had to do. It did however suck up almost the WHOLE DAY which meant I really feel like we had 1-2 days off.... alas. But it was worth it because I wouldn't be been able to do all this had we not had time off. 

It also meant that when my family came over to celebrate Fathers day  on Sunday I could relax and enjoy having people over.

I was told at the beginning of all of this that moving is one of the most stressful things you can do and after this week I would inclined to agree. I have made lists and lists of things to sort out and although I took a whole week off of work I do not feel like I had any sort of holiday or time off. UGH! Now I really need a holiday.

So my plans for 2015:

1. Loving myself.
2. Working on my design work
3. Debt,
4. Having my own home!
5. Saving for a holiday!

I am proud to say that I can tick 2 of the list which were some of the bigger items! And I am starting 5 and still working on 1! Maybe if i get time this year I can work on 2 ha ha!

I hope everyone has a fab week and I can't wait to get home, the first trip to my new home. 

Final countdown! 5 more sleeps

I am in my final count down before I move! This is the last ever Monday that I will come to work from Matt’s Mums house and I will never spend another weekend there again!

After our mammoth packing fest over the bank holiday and then my back playing up (a mixture of pulled muscle and stress as I found out) we failed at packing last weekend…. In actual fact I’m pretty sure we did nothing all weekend.

This weekend however we were fully aware that this was it and all the last bits and pieces had to be done and we were in full packing mode. We cleaned the upstairs room out, took 10+ bin bags up the tip and packed everything but the bits and bobs we need for the week ahead! I am feeling bare today with no necklace on!

I’ve been on a bargain hunting mission. Most the items I have bought have been on offers or some I even got for free! My barging hunting ways started on the 26^th December (well actually I did get some bits before then too) but in that week between Christmas and New Year’s I got my WHOLE collection of Christmas decorations around 75% off. In House of Fraser alone I think I got about £80 worth of stuff for about £17. I did get rather carried away and I have MORE than enough stuff now to kit my new flat out. I also got a really nice tree for about £35 reduced from £70 odd. I wish I have documented a little better what I got but on the plus side I think it will be a great surprise when I open all the boxes again and get the decorations out!  I also got myself plates and glasses and towels.. and I got a lovely bedding set from Debenhams, that was half price (£70 - £35)

These last few weeks though I have had to really splash some cash on things that to be honest with you are rather boring buys, but essential to everyday life. I am particularly proud of some of my bargains. I have learnt that shopping around means you can get some really high quality pieces are really low prices, and in one case I didn’t pay anything!

My clothes airier, this was annoying me as they were considerably more expensive that I thought! Matt had seen the one below and wanted it, but it was £20 and I said it was too much. However I then noticed Tesco was doubling up their Clubcard vouchers so I thought I would get one with that and I then noticed it was 20% off! I got that and an airier for the radiators. I paid nothing! And spent £10.50 of clubcard vouchers so I was more than pleased!

Pans were something we wanted to upgrade. We had a look round and found in Robert Dyas a Salter pan set for £59.99 reduced to £24.99. Very pleased with these they seem like great quality pans and are ceramic.

I managed to get an ironing board on offer for £12 but was advised to spend a little more on an iron, so I picked out a Morphy Richards Turbosteam Iron which was half price and cost £25 from Debenhams.

We needed new bedside tables and I got two that were listed as never used just sat in a spare room so I got those for £48 which I was very pleased with! And we picked up a second hand solid wood chest of drawers for £50.

I also got a Wok reduced from £25 to £7.50 and some kitchen utensils as well which saved a few pounds on as well as other things I have managed to save the odd pound here and there. I think it is well worth having a good shop around and starting in advance so you have time to wait a see if a bargain will come up! I also got some pillows for £12 instead of £40 and I order a few bits from Debenhams and I got a £5 gift card when I collected my items so I used that on certain things too!

I think I have saved myself a tidy sum of money! It is really helpful working in a town centre. The weather has been so naff lately that I have been happy to wonder around looking for said bargains!

Now the deadline date is looming so closely! 5 more sleeps and then a whole week off. We plan on going and signing the paper on Saturday for around 9am, and then back to mine to load up the van and get moving. Saturday night will be the first night in our new flat and I am so excited!

To end of a cheery note, I have wanted a little backpack for some time. I dislike bags greatly and I find them annoying, they get in my way and they can make my back worse. I only like using tiny ones, but  our trip to London on the bank holiday week proved that I needed something a tad bigger because I couldn’t fit all my belongings in it such as my glasses case… but bring a bigger bag and my back aches and I get exceptionally annoyed. Since going to France last year I’ve wanted a backpack handbag. I love my backpacks but find them far too big, so I found this mini one and it is JUST PERFECT!. I got this in the Debenhams sale. I paid £35 reduced from £49 and it is real leather.

From Debenhams, Mantaray bag. 

I cannot wait to use it properly and get some better photos of it! I probably shouldn’t of bought it as I am moving but I sold some old bits on eBay that more than covered the price of it! It is just the perfect size for all my essentials for a day out! 

Have a lovely week and the next time I update will most likely be of my lovely new flat! EEEEE I DO hope this week goes quickly!

2015 update 1 month in!

2015 update as this is the year when things will be amazing!

Well so far 2015 has been a bit bumpy. I think January is always a hard month, it is dark and cold. The year ahead seems never ending and a pressure to save money and lose weight after Christmas is all a bit over whelming. I have not lost my Christmas weight which annoys me.! However I have managed to save a considerable amount of money. When I get paid in 3 weeks I should be able to pay off my big credit card and also my smaller one. That leaves me with a tiny over draft which is very manageable. This is pretty exciting, but at the same time I have all this money just sitting in a savings account and I know that in a months’ time it will be gone and I will have nothing to show for it. The idea of moving out has always been far away that it’s always been a conversation of, well in the future blah blah blah! But now it’s soo close (5 months tops) and things are moving we are actually buying house things and starting to plan, but it also feels TOO far away!

In April I will start saving money, and that money will be used to rent myself a flat and not plugged into debt. I know it is the right thing to do and wait as this time next year when I am debt free and hopefully have some savings and also have my own flat I will be so pleased I did it. Otherwise I could be sitting here with my own flat, no savings and still having debt hanging over my head!

So after I have moved out I know want to have my FIRST proper holiday with Matt. I have decided I like the look of Menorca. I spent the weekend obsessing and picking a nice hotel. The likely hood that we be able to afford this is October is probably pretty low, but it has cheered me up having another plan and something else to really look forward to. I just cannot wait to have my money to spend in the present and not pushing it into things I bought years ago and most likely was a waste of money.

So this week is my EATING WELL starting point (although I say this every week haha) I have just over a month until Matt’s birthday and I want to get back down to what I was before Christmas. It is only 5-6 lbs so it is very doable!

I have treated myself last week to a few new items which I thought I would write about on here too!

What annoys me at the moment too is how people chirp is and go ‘OOH WHY ARE YOU BUYING THAT YOU ARE SAVING’…. 1. It’s not your business how I spend my money even if I am saving. 2. I actually got all of these bits with my Christmas money and vouchers…..

I got this LOVELY shirt in the sale in New Look with my voucher. I love the fit and the colour and it’s so comfy, I just love checked shirts when it is a bit warmer.

I then got this skirt from Topshop. My old denim skirt had to retired when I dropped 2-3 skirt sizes alas. So I am very happy to finally find one I really like and is partial all year round! It is a little tighter than what I would usually wear but I love it, a new style to get used to!

And this is a top I had seen in Debenhams, I fell in love with it and I’m not even really sure why. It looks comfy and I adore the colours in it! It thought it would be great for spring, cooler evenings in summer and autumn so something I plan to get a lot of wear out of!

So that is how 2015 is going. Money wise… VERY good and new goals to hit this year! I really hope I can achieve all this, this year!

This should just be a Monday Pot blog. HA!

It’s Monday again. I might as well rename this blog THE MONDAY BLOG. I don’t do anything interesting I the week. Well to be honest I don’t do much at the weekend either.

Anyway.. I actually had a lovely weekend. By the time Friday rolled around I was just exhausted. Beyond belief. Seriously poooped. I know this as a fact as I fell asleep at about 21:30 woke at 23:00 (which I was pleased about as I had wanted KFC all night and I was in turmoil if I should get it and by the time I woke up it had shut so fate had decided for me..!) and then got into bed properly and slept till 8am when I popped to the doctors and was back by 9am and went back to bed till 11am. So I clearly needed some sleep.

Saturday I made Lunch (cooked breakfast bacon and what not) then we cleaned the room a bit and planned to go to the cinema to see Non Stop at 21:20. We left a bit later than planned, however it took me 30-40minutes to bloody park. We had planned on going to Nandos and we are SOOO SKINT at the moment it was a real treat I had been looking forward to all week. Alas that left us with 50minutes to eat and with the queue coming out the door we headed to TGI Friday’s who had a 30minutes wait for a table so it ended up being Pizza Hut. Now I do like Pizza hut but when I spent an hour curling my hair putting on a nice dress to go and sit in pizza hut it was a real let down. Plus I paid £26 for food I didn’t particularly want as I had my heart set on Nandos. By the time the food came it was 21:10 and we had to just gobble it down so I didn’t even get to sit and enjoy it. Alas.

We were 15minutes late for the film but the trailers were still playing so we didn’t miss anything. I was a little doubtful about the film but it was actually REALLY REALLY GOOD! It kept me on the edge of my seat and I really enjoyed it! I think it is well worth seeing!

Sunday was quiet, we went from Sunday Dinner at my Mum’s and then just spent the afternoon at home not doing much. We did however in the evening watch the rest of season 2 of Game of Thrones. I’m REALLY enjoying that TV show. We are going to start season 3 tonight.

My sister is having a birthday meal on Friday which me and Matt are going to so I have that to look forward to, other than that a quiet week and the long bank holiday in 2 weeks’ time HURRAH!

I will end on this thought and my Monday wish list.

WHY when you go shopping or just in general and you have money you don’t really want anything or see anything you want. BUT when you are skint, like I am this month ( I am SO INSANELY SKINT SERIOUSLY) do you fall in love with a BEAUTIFUL dress that’s bloody £45. AHhh well next month it shall be mine! Bwhahaah