First Steps to Solvency

ryanm8655

ryanm8655 said:

warby68 said:

Thanks @ryanm8655 - not had any joy finding mine discounted so appreciate you looking. However.......
I'm currently on a reasonably well known UK fashion site and they are selling both the Creed fragrances mentioned above with 20% off (plus 11% cashback on TopCashback even with the 20% code). 20% takes it fairly close to the French prices above.
Its a pure fluke of a spot. I'm on there buying son's regular Christmas treat of nice branded undies. Its a site full of temptation though, you probably know it already, so I won't mention the name unless you or @alt80 ask . Not sure whether lockdown affects supply from France.
Health warning: I'm not encouraging you to spend. I am recognizing you will spend a certain amount anyway and therefore discounts can still help

I'm not sure what the website is but I'd be very wary of discounted creed fragrances if you don't know the source. They are regularly faked. The only way I'd anticipate UK prices coming close is if it's for a smaller sized bottle? Otherwise my spider senses start tingling, ha. Apologies for the geekery, I'm a bit of a fragrance nerd... Have you got a link?

If it's Flannels then it looks legit...might have a browse, haha.

warby68

I can't vouch for fragrance specifically at all but shopping wise, the site wide codes can sometimes capture items which are not often discounted. 

strawb_shortcake

HOF the same, but then they are linked.

theoretica

On the fragrance topic - before you buy anything it is worth trying to confirm she will need more in a reasonable time - too easy to be known to like something like this and end up with a lifetime supply.  She might particularly appreciate it if you found a way to pay for it without using the family budget - adding something extra to the sale list, perhaps.

alt80

Busy work day today, no time to think about spending. Did stop work at dinner time, ate and spent time with family. Finding I'm really enjoying this time we have together, wouldn't have come about if I was still spending so in a really strange way tonight I'm somewhat thankful at least something positive has come out of this mess. Cold dog walk this evening and spent some time playing with my son - he put toys away again, I told him it's important he helps mummy out with this too hopefully he will next time. Looking forward to the upcoming project too, spent some time talking to wife about it this evening, we never usually talk about property but she had some good ideas for layout and kitchen design.

Two items sold today £550 - will be coming off the M&S. Total debt will stand at £30200. No idea how much that annoys me - so close to £30k but no point to paying extra £200 to just offset by dipping into current account o/draft. Have a bit of a thing about rounding figures if you hadn't guessed - strange I know haha.

@RelievedSheff thank you. Amazing what a decent night's sleep does. On the chamomile tea tonight rather than the coffee haha think that's meant to help sleep. 

@ryanm8655 thanks mate, much appreciated. Snap re Aventus, it's been my everyday fragrance for about 5/6 years - I thought being a bit of a fragrance nerd you'd wear something a bit more niche. Got a little bit of a Creed collection, also have a bit of a Tom Ford Private Blend collection too but find those a bit more night out / occasion type fragrances for me.

I do the same with my amex card, clear at start of month for previous month also collect the points. Never even considered the FX fees lol so thanks for the heads up. Don't think BC charge fees for FX so going to have to sneak that out of the 'hiding place' haha. Sounds mad but we've only got two credit cards to hand now, put the others somewhere safe and deleted details from apple wallet. 

@warby68 thanks for the heads up. I'm probably not going to give up spending altogether tbf. Do need to be more mindful about it though and also get value not just buy first I see.

@theoretica Only I buy it for her and I know she has about 1/8 of a bottle left - so there was some thought that went into it ha. Not a bad call re. adding something to the sale list though. Thanks.

PassElephant

See, I would rather be able to smell my gorgeous partner than pay for any scent
They are delicious.

ryanm8655

alt80 said:

Busy work day today, no time to think about spending. Did stop work at dinner time, ate and spent time with family. Finding I'm really enjoying this time we have together, wouldn't have come about if I was still spending so in a really strange way tonight I'm somewhat thankful at least something positive has come out of this mess. Cold dog walk this evening and spent some time playing with my son - he put toys away again, I told him it's important he helps mummy out with this too hopefully he will next time. Looking forward to the upcoming project too, spent some time talking to wife about it this evening, we never usually talk about property but she had some good ideas for layout and kitchen design.

Two items sold today £550 - will be coming off the M&S. Total debt will stand at £30200. No idea how much that annoys me - so close to £30k but no point to paying extra £200 to just offset by dipping into current account o/draft. Have a bit of a thing about rounding figures if you hadn't guessed - strange I know haha.

@RelievedSheff thank you. Amazing what a decent night's sleep does. On the chamomile tea tonight rather than the coffee haha think that's meant to help sleep. 

@ryanm8655 thanks mate, much appreciated. Snap re Aventus, it's been my everyday fragrance for about 5/6 years - I thought being a bit of a fragrance nerd you'd wear something a bit more niche. Got a little bit of a Creed collection, also have a bit of a Tom Ford Private Blend collection too but find those a bit more night out / occasion type fragrances for me.

I do the same with my amex card, clear at start of month for previous month also collect the points. Never even considered the FX fees lol so thanks for the heads up. Don't think BC charge fees for FX so going to have to sneak that out of the 'hiding place' haha. Sounds mad but we've only got two credit cards to hand now, put the others somewhere safe and deleted details from apple wallet. 

@warby68 thanks for the heads up. I'm probably not going to give up spending altogether tbf. Do need to be more mindful about it though and also get value not just buy first I see.

@theoretica Only I buy it for her and I know she has about 1/8 of a bottle left - so there was some thought that went into it ha. Not a bad call re. adding something to the sale list though. Thanks.

I’ve tried lots of others and wear a lot of others but find nothing I like as much as Aventus. Suits my personality. It’s versatile, can dress it up or down, can be worn all year round and at the prices I pay it’s decent value. Still searching for other scents but got a load of aventus stocked up ha. If you’re looking for more then I can source it new for £185 sealed in box etc. 

Aventus gets nerdy because of the batch hype. Every year more and more natural ingredients get banned or their use limited, so older batches attract a premium. You might be sitting on a goldmine depending on what batch you have, ha. I’ve got a bottle of 10th anniversary I’m sitting on until the price inevitably goes up, that I picked up cheap. I often do a bit of buying and selling of the older batches to fund my habit, ha. Creed Royal Oud is good as well, got a bottle of that that a mate got me for my 30th. Your fragrance collection sounds like it could raise a bit of money if you’ve got a lot you don’t wear, ha. A lot get reformulated so older batches can be sought after.

Yeah, I’m not big on the Tom Fords but they are interesting. I have Ombré Leather and Tuscan Leather (that “allegedly” smells like cocaine), also had Oud Wood but sold that. Have a lot of other niche stuff, believe it or not Creed is considered niche, even though Aventus is one of the best selling fragrances. It’s an expensive habit though so I’ve taken to buying samples first mostly(my lockdown hobby) and if I don’t like them I flog the samples on (some are as much as £35/£40 for a 10ml sample).

MFK Grand soir (had a sample and it was stunning) is next on my want list and potentially Dior Ambre Nuit.

strawb_shortcake

Sorry I'm just butting in again. I first heard of Creed Aventus about 6 years ago, my colleague bought her partner a bottle for his birthday. She didn't stop talking about it for days. Curiosity got the better of me and I popped in to JL on the way home to have a sniff. Couldn't find it so asked, was informed that it must have been stolen again - never ever had I considered that people may steal the tester bottles. 
But I did notice when I was in JL at the weekend that they all have security tags on now 

ryanm8655

annabanana82 said:

Sorry I'm just butting in again. I first heard of Creed Aventus about 6 years ago, my colleague bought her partner a bottle for his birthday. She didn't stop talking about it for days. Curiosity got the better of me and I popped in to JL on the way home to have a sniff. Couldn't find it so asked, was informed that it must have been stolen again - never ever had I considered that people may steal the tester bottles. 
But I did notice when I was in JL at the weekend that they all have security tags on now 

Haha! Reminded me of another story... In my earlier days when debt was bad but I was on a lot less money too, I used to pop to JL on oxford street before a date and spritz myself in Aventus I forgot about those days...

But yeah, everywhere I go the testers of Aventus are empty and you have to ask if you want to try it for exactly that reason. Kids will steal them. 

It gets crazy reactions though, have literally had women chase me down the street to ask what I’m wearing or follow me around a club telling me how good I smell. A shame it’s so popular now but I still love it.

strawb_shortcake

ryanm8655 said:

annabanana82 said:

Sorry I'm just butting in again. I first heard of Creed Aventus about 6 years ago, my colleague bought her partner a bottle for his birthday. She didn't stop talking about it for days. Curiosity got the better of me and I popped in to JL on the way home to have a sniff. Couldn't find it so asked, was informed that it must have been stolen again - never ever had I considered that people may steal the tester bottles. 
But I did notice when I was in JL at the weekend that they all have security tags on now 

Haha! Reminded me of another story... In my earlier days when debt was bad but I was on a lot less money too, I used to pop to JL on oxford street before a date and spritz myself in Aventus I forgot about those days...

But yeah, everywhere I go the testers of Aventus are empty and you have to ask if you want to try it for exactly that reason. Kids will steal them.

When I was bad at budgeting or just plain skint, if I'd ran out out of some make up (usually before the Christmas party) I'd go into a department store and get the 7 day tester pots to see me through the party season and to pay day. 
Its funny how some things take you back, I don't like it when I get a £5 note out the cash machine as it takes me back to being a student and withdrawing your last £5 as you only had £6.37 in the bank.
Also just realised that I have a few foibles about the things I do because of how people may perceive me...