Chica's gonna get a house! (hopefully)...

ChicaBonita

Spends yesterday - £3.25 coop, £21.98 tesco, but I used £11 quids worth of change so that was £10.98 spent on my card Bought loads of food and snacks for work so that should be me sorted for a week or so, will have to top up with bread at some point next week.

Today should be a NSD, and so should Friday. Hoping to run tonight but my thighs are still really sore from Tuesday, and I feel like I'm getting ill (but then feel ok, then feel rough again...) so might just do some yoga instead. Will see how I feel tonight.

Looking at holidays for June already, as there's a bit of a rush to get our annual leave in at our workplace (mainly because certain people take it without consulting with others, so it leaves the rest of us with the scraps!) Looking at a similar area to last year but at an adult's only hotel, all inclusive for 10 nights is £788 each which is easily doable. I want to book but my bf will think I'm jumping the gun I'm sure Need something to look forward to!

ChicaBonita

Been looking at flats this afternoon (quiet at work lol!) and I think 250k is definitely doable for what we want in and around our area. HOWEVER, I really need to get my !!!! into gear when it comes to saving. I've done pretty well I think, but I wanted to be in a much better position by this time (original goal was to have my deposit ready for March/April time this year, which clearly won't happen now). So, the race is on and the pressure is on myself to really not waste those pennies or pounds and instead put them away. The past two days I've made small payments into my deposit fund, so I can see some (minimal) movement. As long as I can control myself and not spend, I should be ok. I got an urge today, found myself on ASOS - before the sale page even loaded I just exited the window, before I got tempted!!!! Why do I do it to myself, I don't even need any more clothes :doh:

Katherine14

With regards to your skin have you Tryed alpha h liquid gold ? It is £34 but is amazing and nich cheaper than your facials

ChicaBonita

Hi Katherine, thanks for your comment! Yes I have used that for a few years, actually have a stock of it at the moment! I've found for the way my skin is now it's not quite strong enough, whereas the facials are a stronger acid (to promote peeling), although the AHA's do definitely help the process along I haven't found that liquid gold makes much of a difference to my blemishes, although it is great for improving the skin texture.

ChicaBonita

Yesterday was a NSD, and today should be as well. Did my run last night, felt good even though it was slippy so had to be careful iPhone did slip out my arm band at one point, good job I've got a protective case on it or it would've been smashed!

The plan after work today is yoga, wash my hair, redo the gel on my nails and give myself a pedicure (way overdue especially with all my running!).

Saturday I have an opticians appointment for a checkup, I've got the money for that in my health fund. Then I've got a facial.
(I get the feeling I'll do at least one more after that one, but if I do it at the end of January/beginning of Feb I can make sure I have the funds. After that I'll see where I am with the treatment. I don't want to just stop as it feels like a waste, especially as treatments take time to work.)
I think after my facial I'll clean and hoover my car, and I need to do some yoga at some point. I'll then go to the supermarket, and cook a lasagne with the bf, followed by some netflix. Rock and roll!

ChicaBonita

Can't belive I forgot to mention - I booked our summer holiday yesterday Gone for the same area of Tenerife as last year, but it's an adult's only hotel this time. All inclusive 10 nights and it was cheaper than last year, so all round it was a good deal. There's a bit of a 'mare at work with booking time off, so I wanted to get it done asap so I've got the dates I want. Will be able to pay it off £250 a month until April, and then can save for spending money. Excited!

ChicaBonita

Also need to note to myself - need new running trainers and probably new glasses soon as well, sick of my current style! Will need to work out when I can fit these into budget as they're £100+ each :think:

drums

Hello! I hope you're still feeling on top of things, and impressive that you have got back into your running already, I have a 'tradition' that nothing starts again til the 7th....still on the ferrero rocher!

I'll be reading with interest as although I have a few years on you (some wilderness years living the highlife in London put paid to any savings, but was fun!), I have similar goals and am really impressed by your discipline and upbeat attitude!

Just a quickie about your skincare, I wonder if you might save yourself a bit of cash and energy by choosing less active products for your face, particularly if you think it might be hormone related. I had similar issues in my 20s and actually found the best long term benefits from stripping right back to a cleanse and moisturising routine based on grapeseed oil, and a really gentle toner and asked for my facials with just a carrier oil (no peeling or anti-ageing ingredients) Worked a treat for me but if you're happy with your results and not getting any more aggro then maybe what you're doing is the best thing. Skin can be a pain!

Anyway have a good day and thanks again for posting your diary!

ChicaBonita

Thanks drums! The original plan was to keep training over xmas and new year, but I felt constantly like I was coming down with something and let's be honest, overeating and drinking doesn't really go hand in hand with running!! So I gave myself two weeks off and am back on it I think the rest did me good! I like your tradition though, why not!!

I worked in London for a time, didn't much like the commute (read: detested it) but it was fun with the socialising, though definitely not great for the bank balance. I'm lucky that I work locally now so I can drive, and as there's not much around here to spend my money on there's not much temptation!

Thanks for your thoughts re: skin - I flit between wanting to be more gentle, and wanting to attack the spots. When I have an active breakout I get so down that I want to do everything I can to get rid of it asap, but that might be causing more issues down the line....the issue I have is the breakouts I get on my cheeks don't go away for weeks and then scar. I don't so much mind the chin ones as they seem to get humungous and then leave as soon as they came! (Sorry I can talk about skin all day, it's my no1 bugbear lol!) I think I will keep on with the active stuff for a while, and then see where I am in a month or two. It's all such an experiment and there's so many factors to it all that who knows what will work and what won't!!

Do you have a diary?

Thanks for reading

ChicaBonita

Ok so...
Was up bright and early today as had opticians at 9am. Good news - eyes are still healthy. Bad news - my eyes have got worse a fair amount so I will need new glasses sooner rather than later. It's not completely unexpected as I have noticed a difference, but I thought maybe my eyes were just tired(!) I can still use my current glasses but will need new ones in the next month or so. Boo. I forgot how much checkups were (£25) and only had £10 in my health fund, so I have allocated £15 from my everday budget for the rest.
I paid £1 for parking, and went into Cost@ for a coffee and crumpets to kill some time before my facial at 11. £4 total spend so not bad, and a very enjoyable hour and a bit with my kindle.

Then facial time. The salon has a January sale, so if I paid for a course there and then I buy 2 get one free. The course is £320 and with the offer it was £240. So, although I'd only planned to pay for one session, I decided to go ahead and pay for the 3 courses as it will cost me less in the long run as I would probably have ended up doing another 3 sessions anyway. SO, that's one down, one booked for later this month and then my next one will be some time in Feb. I will then see where my skin is and decide what to do from there.
I have £130 in my beauty fund that was in place for my skin, so I have £110 to find the rest of this month. It will probably mean I will end up in my OD (again), but I will make some adjustments for the allocation of Jan's payday and it should all work out. I'm not panicking (yet! lol!).

I had a very down evening last night because my skin was so red and inflammed. I feel so vain when I feel like that but it gets me so down. To try and help my mood I did gel on my toes using my xmas present (love it!) and repainted my nails. Also washed my hair and moisturised my body. This morning before I went out I fake tanned and now have a gorgeous glow that will no doubt be covered up by jeans and jumpers but I know it's there so that's all that matters lol. Def feel better this morning, the sleep probably helped.

ANYWAY I'm rambling. The plan for the rest of the day is:
-read some more of my book
-if the rain eases off, clean my car and hoover the inside
-tidy room and hoover
-clean bathroom
- go to tesco for bits for tonight