Starbucks, Trainers and Cottages - Ohhh My!

VeronicaMars

I feel the productivity is continuing!

Ordered a gift for the UK! Checked out some reviews, found it cheaper on Amazon, ordered, paid to have it gift wrapped (@ £2.99 it was expensive, but well, what do you expect?) and delivered for Saturday at a cost of £3.30 (my bad as I left it so late being organised!). Then off to Moon Pig, settings all saved, upload a picture from Facebook. Funny card done. Set to arrive Saturday.

Perfecto!!! Right i'm off to put a wash on so it will be ready to hang out in the morning!

xoxo

VeronicaMars

Ello!

Sneaking back on! I'll just get right back into it!:

- Been saving - I've been a good girl.
- Been making cards to save money. Double good girl.

Not been saving as much as Mr Mars and I would like but at least it is going in the right direction! I have zero debt. I have zero debt therefore I NEED. I WILL own a home. I WILL.

Nice wee day out, pocket money is working well for Mr Mars and I. Had to reign in our savings as we were getting a little to lax with spending so dinners/nights out have been curbed for the moment. I now struggle with spending as we do not have debt so it seems like we are RICH, RICH I TELL ya. But we do not own a home. So my money needs to be spend on that and not prosecco!

Blog of randomness:

http://www.lifeatthelodgehouse.blogspot.co.nz/

xoxo

VeronicaMars

Hello folks.

I wouldn't say I had fallen off the wagon as I am still completely debt free and we have still been saving but just not been very focused of late.

Least when I slip up these days it's to the way normal folks spend and not back to the CRAZY DEBT DAYS where I would rack up 3k on my credit card...haha...remember that. It was so funny. Ohh no wait. No, it wasn't. It wasn't funny at all :eek:

Anyway. Thanks to some tax refunds. Hello refunds. A small bonus from being on a high and incorrect tax code. What does all this drivel mean Veronica?!? It means, Mr Mars and I managed to catch up with our savings target for the year. HELLO. In an ideal world we would have not overspent and therefore been ahead of our target, but we're only human. I'll take being on the actual target.

Food wastage continues to be an ongoing issue and I cannot establish if we have got any better? Now we try and put every bit of fruit and veg either into a soup or a smoothie I peel and chop past their best apples and oranges and freeze them for smoothies. Been making soup. Just need to keep doing this to hop that we will eventually notice a difference

Anyone got or use any fruit or veg in their garden? Think once I can get my wastage under control this will be my next project. :rotfl: :EasterBun

Lastly a link to the penny jar I upcycled or redecorated!: http://www.lifeatthelodgehouse.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/diy-re-vamped-penny-jar.html

Here we are before it is finished, it is not letting me put on the final picture for some reason. Bl**dy blogger!!!



That's all folks xoxo

supersaver1000

Nice to see you back Veronica x. Looks like you're doing very well. How are enjoying life? Love your upcycling, will have a good look later as I'm thinking of glittering some shoes.

Xx

belleandthebudget

Wow, the penny jar is gorgeous. Love the black glitter!

VeronicaMars

belleandthebudget – Nice name! I wanted to be debt free by 30. I wasn’t. But I remember I really really wanted to be!

Hi SS! You are just flying at the minute! You are a changed women, I can see if as I’m not a frequent visitor but I hope you see the changes in yourself

Thanks ladies! I try and only upcycle things I intend to use. I like doing it as
1) No-one will have them; and
2) It usually saves cash

Pics are a bit naff, I will get a picture of it on my bookcase with my black photo frames, black pen thing and candle etc. Looks quite cool (even if a little bit girlie) – if I do say so myself. Modest, me? Nah. :rotfl:

The savings jars are usually around £10 - £20 :eek:, if you can get them that cheap and I effectively got one for £5. I could have used half the amount of glitter so should have been £2.50 but I will make use of the glitter for card making or a VASE is what I’m thinking for my next project. I have an old plain square one that I’m thinking I might revamp! Then it will look nice when empty sitting on my book case!

SS – Shoes is a great idea! Actually I am now having the idea to just glitter the heel on some plain black court? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!! I want to dye my wedding shoes – thinking of just paying an expert to do this! I want them Navy. They are Nine West shoes though, so not sure if I can?!

DREAM is to get our own house one day (ONE DAY!!!) and fill it with all upcycled furniture. Got a friend doing this just now and she is KILLING me with jealousy. I won’t bore you with all the ways I want to be her... she is just so savvy with money...

supersaver1000

I really want to glitter my shoes :rotfl:

VeronicaMars

Hello all!

Oh –Ah. Just a little bit. Oh-Ah. A little bit more! Who remembers that song?

Well howdy folks. How are we all? Same same, but different? :money:

I’m still slogging away. Still no house, still no deposit. But I’m DEBT FREE. :j How quickly one forgets that only a year ago I would have LOVED to have been debt free and here I am complaining how I don’t have a house – wishing my life away. :beer:

Got a yummy lunch today, leftover salmon pasta (salmon, pasta, creme fraiche, courgette, lemon and some onion). Made my own latte for drive to work with oor new coffee frother (to be on blog). But I purchased some coffee cake *hangs head in shame*.

I have been reading up on minimalism and Marie Kondo and I think I am going to get involved! It will be slow and my version of it (which will probably take me to normal and not minimalism, but hey ho!). Been reading loads on clothes minimalism and work uniforms etc and I really really have FAR too much clothes and cosmetics so I will work on that. I've mentioned I get overwhelmed with things and I think a house dull of stuff does not help. Our house clutter isn't that bad. It's our clothes.

So how did I start? I went out and bought a top, skirt and belt!!??!!??!!?? :rotfl:

In my defense I decided that in exchange i will be throwing out, 2 skirts, 3 tops and 5 belts, 2 hats and a 3 dresses.

I'm going to put pictures of it all on my blog!

Now can you see why I bought more clothes? When I bought the clothes I asked myself, can I wear these to work? Can I wear them out with friends? Can I tuck in the top? Can I wear the skirt with boots and heels? Yes Yes Yes. Plus they were super cheap and made in New Zealand. £8 for the skirt, and it is a good quality skirt not my usual super formal style and £8 for the belt and £17 for the top. I am happy.

I've also going to go through my make-up and pick out about 10 brand new nail varnishes (unopened) that I am going to sell! If I get 50p or a £1 for them that that give me £10 that can go to the mortgage fund and save my sanity. I normally donate EVERYTHING, designer and all, to charity but I feel for this process to be successful I might need some cash in exchange for my awesome clothes.

Let's hope I'm a KONvert. :T

VeronicaMars

WELL.

What a difference a day makes. I've made a HUGE donation to charity today. HUGE! They were delighted! :beer::j:T They also told me I was to STOP SHOPPING! I refrained from explaining the shopping addiction and debt and crazy debt days etc. They got a lot of good stuff folks and i feel so much better about donating it. Included in the bags of stuff that went was:

Nail Varnishes (17! :eek:new, unopened)
Lipglosses (new unopened)
Eyeshadow palette (new, unopened)
Dresses (some still with the labels! :eek:- French connection, M&S, All Saints)
Shoes (All Pretty much worn ONCE! :eek: Limited edition Kurt Geigers, Carvela and Steve Madden and nine west wedding shoes not worn AT ALL!)
Skirts (River Island and New Look)
Leather Skirt
Leather Jacket
Jackets (M&S and G Star)
Unworn Jeans (French connection)
A brand New River Island Clutch
A mini Dune Bag
River Island purse
New tops
Ted Baker toiletry bags
Throws (my huge bed throw that I hated but had on my bed as I thought our bed needed a throw! WHY?!?!)
Multiple shirts and other skirts and trousers)

The list goes on and on. I took pictures of some of it. Forgot to take pictures of some of it, i.e the new bags. it looked quite sad, all that money resigned to being crumpled into a plastic shopping bag.

I was on such a rhythm that I HAD to get the stuff out. I even came home and then started pulling more stuff out! :rotfl:

Anyway, I came home and started pulling out more stuff to go. One or two things I was not ready to throw out. Like a brand new coast fascinator or a checked wool french connection coat or a random asda dress that I love!

I'm still not even close to where I need to be but at least it is a good start! :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

ONLY concern is I THINK i might have thrown out my good M&S Autograph trousers with everything in moment of haste!!! I wear them ALL THE TIME to work! Grrr :mad::mad::mad::mad: I hope not. This minimalism isn't meant to chuck out the clothes I actually wear! :mad:

VeronicaMars

Hello All,

Quick positive update on where I'm at, without sounding too much like a hippie!

Well I've been on a roller coaster of a ride this year! I can actually sit back and say that i have realised that moving abroad has been one of the best decisions we made.

Although we miss our family, social circles and life. We have really sorted ourselves out in the last year. Financially and mentally.

From officially clearing our debt, to learning about minimalism and clearing ALOT of clutter and stuff (which was just a weight lifted off my shoulders) to being less materialistic and now learning about the thought of putting my money towards early retirement! Google it folks. It's interesting

Although i would not retire early (wouldn't be able to anyway) I would LOVE to get into a situation where I could work part-time! One day... but I aiming for the moon and hopefully I will fall amongst the stars!

Until then I will work as hard as I can to:

1) Get a deposit for a mortgage
2) Get mortgage free

Goals for this week:

1) save husbands wage
2) not spend any money on lunches
3) not spend any money on coffee

xoxo