No Buy: Week One Update

So I'm officially one week into my Spending Ban and I'm pretty pleased with how it's gone. 

I mentioned in my first post that I've got a lot of events coming up, two weddings and a hen party so I knew a strict no buy was out for me, but I've made some good progress that I thought I'd share!

On the first day of the No Buy, I deleted all my shopping apps on my phone. That was a tough one. Bye bye eBay, QVC, and Amazon. You knew me so well. I'm always on my phone and always browsing something. Parcels are forever popping through my door. There's been loads of occasions where I've went to my phone to check one of those apps only to be crushingly reminded, honey, you're on a no buy. Ugh, the struggle is real.

Anyway I've hit my stride this week and it's actually not as hard as I thought. I've spent money on food only, stuck to my hen party budget and even had some left to spare so I could go for lunch with friends. Instead of buying a new outfit for the hen party, I borrowed a top from my sister and a skirt I've had for ages that I never wear! And I loved it!

I did however buy a dress in the Monsoon sale, hello 70% off! I felt like that was kind of allowed because I knew I was going to have to get something for one of the weddings coming up, and since is came in at £23.50, I'm still calling this week a win. 

OPI Cajun Shrimp

This picture really does not do this colour justice.

Seriously, you need to see this.

My gorgeous sister let me borrow this about 6 months ago. The chances of her getting it back are slim to none. 

It's a red/orange that I honestly think would like great on any skin tone. 

It's £6.55 here 

6 Week No Buy - Starting today!

On Instagram, I saw a post which really made me think. It said:

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and house that you leave empty all day so you can afford to live in it."

Right?

I have a confession to make. I'm pretty irresponsible with money, and I have been for most of my adult life. I'm more of a short-term thinker, and by that I mean, I'd like to have that (insert random item here) now and I'll save next month. In the last 12 months my personal circumstances changed which allowed me to save a lot more money, but I've been spending more money too. 

Here's a good example. I decided to clear out my wardrobe the other day. I managed to downsize my wardrobe by one whole supermarket sized carrier bag of clothes, a pretty small percentage of what I actually own. But every day I think I have nothing to wear. 

I have a trunk full of make up, but I'm always buying more. I have 8 bottles of perfume, totally unnecessary. I have a fuck tonne of work out clothes, and I keep lusting over nike's latest offerings. I have more kindle books than I could hope to read in a lifetime, yet I keep buying more. 

I have an obsession with more, more, more. And yes, buying things can perk you up on a shitty day, but I want to stop buying so many things I don't actually need, and get a bit of financial perspective. Also, I want to invest in the future, not satisfying the here and now. 

So I've set myself a challenge of a 6 week no buy. A no-buy, if you haven't heard, is a self-imposed spending ban, where you don't spend money on items you consider unnecessary. I've given myself a 6 week time line because in 6 weeks I go on holiday and I know I'll be doing some shopping (it's the states y'all, you know it's on!) but I want to start now, and I feel 6 weeks is a good way to start getting a bit of perspective on my insatiable mindset of want want want. 

So here are my rules. In the next 6 weeks I have quite a few social engagements coming up. A hen do, two weddings, and a quick trip to London. I know, this is going to be hard. So I'm setting a strict scrimpy budget for each of those events which I won't go over. The only items I will spend money on is food (being thrifty there too!) petrol and the one area I'm allowing myself a little bit of money to splurge is my dance classes. At £5 a pop I'm going to limit myself to one a week. I already have an inclusive gym membership but unfortunately my gym is closed for another few weeks and I'll be able to start taking advantage of classes there again. 

I'm going to update here as I go to keep me accountable. Let's do this!

The one where I go to a dance class

So tonight, I went to a dance class. An actual, proper, adult, choreographed dance class. Zumba, this was not.

Now don't get me wrong, I love me some Zumba. In fact, I love any kind of dancing. Which is why I suddenly realise how strange it is that it's taken me this long to go to a legit dance class as an adult. 

I went to a class called MTV Dance at Dance Glasgow, which is basically learning choreography to the kinda songs you would see played on repeat on music channels. This week it was Cheryl's Crazy Stupid Love. Yes, in all honesty I was a bit shit. The girl in front of me was all kinds of slinky and sexy and I was a bit wheezy and robotic, but you know what? I loved it. 

Best £5 I've spent, and I'm going back next week. Squee!

My July, 2014

So July is coming to an end. Seriously, where has the time gone? It's getting a bit scary!

July has been a pretty exciting month to be in Glasgow, since we are proudly hosting the Commonwealth Games. I thought the opening ceremony was so much fun, we didn't take ourselves too seriously at the beginning, I mean dancing tea cakes, giant kilts and a huge inflatable Nessie let's the world know our tongue is firmly in cheek. But we had some really emotional moments too. Gay kiss anyone? And the campaign for UNICEF has already raised £2.5m in the UK alone in less than 24 hours. That's insane. There's a real carnival atmosphere in Glasgow just now, we are getting glorious weather and it's a really exciting time. Wish we could do this every summer!

July was also my birthday, which involved lots of presents and a day at T in The park! T in The Park is a music festival and again Scotland was blessed with gorgeous weather on the Friday. I seen Ellie Goulding, HAIM, Imagine Dragons, Biffy Clyro and Ed Sheeran. Ed Sheeran and Biffy were the highlight for me. I had a fun and eventful day with friends, and a bus load of drunk strangers sang happy birthday on the bus which was pretty funny!

I'm pretty obsessed with Starbucks Mocha Coconut Frappe's. I have a serious problem if I don't get one every few days and I often organise my free time around Starbucks. If there isn't a Starbucks there, I'm not going. Just being honest! The Holy Guacamole Salad is also to die for and I'm pretty obsessed with them too. If you haven't tried them already, get involved. I'll wait right here until you get back. No I'm not joking. 

July was also the month I took the plunge and got a tattoo. I got a small bow on my right ankle and I'm not going to lie, it stung like a little bitch. But I love it and I was pretty lucky since it healed really well. I'm already planning another one! The folks will not be pleased!

Finally, I was lucky enough to sample this fudge and it's amazing. I should say, if it's not already obvious, I'm obsessed with all things coconut. This fudge is amazing but you can only get it in select locations in Glasgow do it's definitely a special treat. Wow I really want this. Right now. 

Benefit They're Real Mascara

Yesterday's post reviewed Benefit's They're Real Push Up Liner (check it out here!) and today I'm sharing my thoughts on the mascara, touted as the UK's best selling mascara.

I've had this before, but more recently I've been sticking to Volume de Chanel, or YSL Babydoll mascara. I was given the Benefit liner and mascara as a birthday gift (thanks sis!) and my YSL was on it's last legs, so it was perfect timing!

I love a typically 'wet' mascara formula. I like big fat lashes but I also need some serious separation. Yeah, I'm high maintenance when it comes to lashes. I find the first few times I use They're Real it's too wet and all my lashes clump together and trust me, that's not a good time. 

Once it dries a little it's perfect. Also, there's a method in the brush madness, check this video out for more info, I was three bottles in before I knew about this! 

Once the formula dries out a little, I do love it. I find it doesn't flake or smudge too much, even after a 12 hour work day. It's jet black and it holds a curl well. 

Have you tried any of the They're Real range?

Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner

So I was totally impressed with the concept of the new Benefit Liner Pen. For my birthday I was lucky enough to receive They're Real Mascara and the liner so I was pretty happy bunny. The above picture is the results with the mascara and the liner (check out my next post for my thoughts on the mascara).

I think this is a really good idea, in theory. And if you have a good solid ten minutes to spend on your liner, it's a dream. I'm pretty sh!t at eyeliner so I was surprised I was able to do a flick I would consider good enough to allow me leave the house without starting all over again. That being said it's definitely not perfect. 

I like that it's very pigmented, its absolutely jet black and the rubber nib allows me to get right into the root of my lashes which I like. You can control the amount of product that you're working with my twisting the bottom, allowing the product to flow through the rubber nib. And let's be honest, the packaging looks good. I'm a sucker for some nice packaging. Finally, it lasts pretty well. 

On the downside, it's £18.50 which I think is pretty pricey for something that, in my opinion, isn't perfect. No matter what you do, you're always left with a little ball of product that either sticks in my lashes, or messes up my line. I find the only way I can work with it is by constantly wiping the tip off on a cotton pad otherwise it's very messy. And it's a bitch to remove. Just sayin'. And I'm not going to get sucked into buying the special remover just to get my eyeliner off.

All things considered I'm still using it every day and I do like the results. I just wish it was a bit less of a hassle to use. Would I repurchase this again? Honestly I'm not sure...