Hello, hello, so let’s get right into this post by saying, it’s well and truly time to reign it in. After spending all my money on a maternity wardrobe, going on a 2-week road trip around the USA (self-employed people will feel my pain of not being paid while on holiday) and splashing the cash in Sephora, I’ve decided to play catch up a little and enforce a one-month spending ban with the aim of doing at least 3 months after that too. I am the absolute Queen of mindless spending and with a baby on the way, I’ve run out of reasons not to put my credit card in the freezer and get down to some serious saving. This means, no more watching beauty Vlogs and purchasing ALL the fancy compacts, palettes and primers. No more mindless flashing of the contactless card at a Macdonalds drive through and absolutely no more uber expensive throw whatever you like in the basket shopping debacles in M & S. For one month, I’m going to see how much I can save by not splurging on fast food, takeaways and overpriced supermarket shops. I’ve taken a look at my bank statements and it’s blindingly obvious where my money goes each month and if it’s not copious amounts of coconut water (Vita Coco is my crack), it’s the monthly Boots shop which is quite frankly out of control. I’m not one to spend money on shoes (I own like 6 pairs) or perfume, but food and beauty products are my downfalls and I’m having a reevaluation of what the word NEED means and getting my finances back in check. Here are a few rules.
No more beauty hauls: This is a big one. I’m skipping the monthly Boots shop and using up the beauty products I already have. I usually spend £50 per month on toiletries. Every other month I replace my favourite Vichy moisturiser when I have countless other options in the drawer. That’s already £27 saved. I have so many strong feelings about this moisturiser, I think it makes me look glowier and healthier and my skin loves it. The same goes for my John Frieda shampoo and conditioner which I justify each month as it is always 3 for 2 in Boots. However, this gives me the perfect opportunity to test out the new range of Neal & Wolf haircare that I was sent to review. Again another £12 in the pot. Shout out to my wonderful mother in law for buying me half the Clarins Counter for my birthday, this means I don’t have to repurchase the lotions and potions to keep my stretch marks in check which have bumped up my Boots shop significantly since March.
Beauty Treatments: I like to look polished which is a huge problem for my bank balance. I currently get gel manicures every 2 weeks, pedicures every 6 weeks (I haven’t seen my bare naked toenails in 14 years and I’m not mad about it) brows once a month, highlights every 8 weeks and the occasional lash lift which I can’t have while pregnant so that’s £45 saved. I like to get spray tans. A LOT. However, this is the restrained version of me, money is no object me would quite happily throw in a weekly massage, a fortnightly facial and an Indian head massage for good measure. Cutting down in this area is a tough one because I truly don’t trust myself to do my own eyebrows and it goes against my religion to paint my own nails. I literally can’t do it. I’m all for a spending ban but I draw the line at waxing my own brows. I need both my eyebrows on my face for client meetings and I think £11 is worth it for two even brows. I will forgo my bi-weekly spray tans *thank you heatwave* but I’m all out of ideas when it comes to nails and toes. Send help (and arm them with shellac). I’m perhaps going to compromise with stick-on nails, or maybe I can bribe a friend to paint them for me, Daisy if you are reading this PLEASE PAINT MY NAILS. As for the pedi situ, if I have to do an at home one, that could be a post all on its own. Will keep you posted.
Stop giving Dominos all my money: One recurring payment that shows up on my bank statement each month is pizza takeaways. Even though I only get a small pizza, it’s still around £14 as there is a minimum delivery charge so I always get ice cream and let’s face it that’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend on one pizza. Now don’t for one minute think I’m giving up pizza. I mean let’s not get silly, but when you can pick up a supermarket one for £2.50, it just makes sense to add it to my big shop. Same goes for the corner shop that charges me 50p every time I go in to get those fizzy sweets I’m obsessed with. I do have a £39 voucher for M & S which is perfectly timed for my spending ban as that should cover my first week of groceries. I’m also going to plan my meals to avoid waste and go with a list to avoid just putting everything I can carry into a basket. Also, I plan to avoid those really expensive items, Haagendas tubs, slices of watermelon, the fancy cheese items in M & S.
Do more free things: working out, reading books, pamper nights, de-cluttering, hand wash the car (this one is never happening) walking the dog and reading blogs. I’ve recently found this blog I’m obsessed with about saving money and how the founder got out of debt and it’s a great read. Check it out here, if you are nosy like me, you will love this. Read my post about hobbies that don’t require your debit card here.
Lunch Less: Fillmore and Union is my second home guys, I practically pay rent at the Ivy and my obsession with Bettys fondant fancies is almost illegal. I’m going to cut out a few leisurely lunches and brunches and learn to whip up lovely things at home instead of being lazy.
Things I’m worried about. Gifts are really unavoidable as I have 2 friends with birthdays coming up and my Mum’s big 70. I’m not sure I’m on a spending ban is an ok thing to say to the woman who created you so I’m going to have to take on an extra job to cover this or come in under budget on food to compensate. Or counteract the cost with no spend days. Another expense is I ‘need’ a new dress for the 70th party as my ever-growing bump won’t fit in my existing occasion wardrobe so I may have to put this on my approved shopping list for the month and try to grab a bargain. Also *whispers* I need my hair doing. Eeeeeek.
On the plus side, I’m pregnant so that means no more pricey glasses of bubbles in Harvey Nics or cocktails at Issho.
I’ll be posting an update at the end of July letting you know how I’ve got on (how much I spent and how much I saved) and until then I have a few posts in the pipeline such as a spending diary. Now I’m not going to be overly extreme with this spending ban, as in I won’t be cancelling any current direct debits such as Netflix (This girl needs her POWER fix) and I’m going to honour my essentials like petrol and car insurance etc and therapy costs caused by no longer shopping at M & S (JOKES). I am, however, going to asses direct debits and reduce where possible. Right, here goes! I love reading these types of posts so I really hope you enjoy reading mine.
