Ways That I Save Money, Part 3

It’s been a while my friends… the January blues hit me like a ton of bricks when the realization of exams being just a week away rudely awoke me from my festive slumbers.  Exams are over now though – so I’m ready to return to my weekly blogging mojo and social media once again!

One of the easiest things that I do every day to ensure that I’m not splurging unnecessary cash is taking a bottle of water with me to work, uni or a shopping trip to town so that if I need hydrating, I don’t have to pay for it!  Martin bought me a Hydratem8 water bottle for Christmas which I absolutely adore as it keeps me up to date with how much water I should be drinking to the exact time of day.  I’ve been using water bottles for months now, but before I started taking one with me I wouldn’t think twice about spending 50p-£1.50 per day on juices. 

Every month now without fail I like to work out my expenses down to the penny, which covers everything from my bills, dog food for the month, petrol money and anything that I feel like treating myself to.  By doing this, it gives me an idea of how much I can afford to put away into savings, and what I have left over.  I then like to break this down into weekly amounts, and then work out the expenses regularly throughout the month to try and keep on top of what I’m spending.  By doing this, it normally helps me to ensure that I’m not completely stranded the week before payday… Normally!

Now we all know that there are not many months that go by when I don’t feel the need to treat myself to some Lush goodies.  I spend a lot of money in there, and in return I tend to get a lot back too!  Every time you buy and item from them in one of their pots, be it a scrub, cleanser, conditioner or shower jelly – make sure you keep the pot!  Clean it out and pop it aside for when you have five in total.  Lush have a scheme where you can exchange 5 clean pots for a fresh face mask.  You get to choose the one you like, and they all retail at £6.75 – making it a great freebie!  I tend to get a free face mask every two to three months, as like I said, I spend a lot in the place!  I think I’ve tried out all of the masks now thanks to this scheme, with Cupcake, Love Lettuce and Don’t Look At Me being some of my faves! 

One of the best things that I’ve discovered that has helped me save HUNDREDS of pounds a year is the Trainline best fare finder.  This fab little tool helps you find the cheapest train tickets on the market, and will let you book up to three months in advance, which can help turn a £70 train fare for two into £40 no problem!  The best bit about it though is easily their email reminders to let you know when your journey is going to be it’s cheapest.  For example, Martin surprised me with tickets to see Avenged Sevenfold back in August if I remember correctly (we saw them on Tuesday and it was an insanely amazing gig!), and so when he told me about it, I set a reminded for the train tickets.  In October, exactly three months before the gig, the Trainline sent me an email to let me know that I could travel from Aberdeen to Glasgow for as little as £5!  Not only that, but I could book two first class return tickets for £40!  Needless to say I booked there and then, saving nearly £200 pounds alone on that one journey!  Although it takes a little planning, setting reminders is definitely the way to go when you know you’re gonna be travelling by train – I’m already looking at dates for this years music festivals so that I book them well in advance too.

I hope you find some of these little hints and tips helpful, as once again these are the things that I swear by to ensure that I’m getting the most for my money every month.

Do you swear by any of these tips too?

Until the next one,

Don’t Look at Me Facemask

It’s that time of the month again when my skin starts to act up and breakout in the most inconvenient ways.  My face feels super bumpy due to my pores and spots being big and gross, and my eczema has broken out on my hand again – where it tends to act up the most and often gets infected.  Both these things though can be treated, my eczema will clear up after a day or two of steroid cream – and my skin will clear up with the help of a fresh facemask!

We all know that I enjoy a Lush facemask (see here, here, here and here for some of my faves) so naturally, when my skin acts up I reach for a little black pot to speed up the recovery process!  At the end of last month, I traded in another 5 little black pots for a new fresh facemask, so  here is what I’m using right now…

What first drew me into Don’t Look at Me was of course the lush looking vibrant blue colour than filled the round silver bowl on the ice display in store.  The colour intrigued me to look further at the ingredients – which then led me to discover the amazing smell… LEMON!

It’s absolutely delicious, the scent reminds me very much of the ocean salt face a body scrub, which I have used in the past and adored.  So it was with great delight to find a facemask that would somewhat replicate the good of the scrub, as Don’t Look at Me is also very exfoliating.

Upon applying, as you spread the mask over your face you really feel the ground rice rubbing into your pores and working it’s magic!  You can also feel the lemon juice seeping into the pores and creating a tingly sensation. I love to leave it to dry up for around 20 minutes at least, because I find that the longer you leave it, the more noticeable the results!  Today I washed mine off in the shower, which I found to be a lot easier than trying to do it over the sink – as it’s way less messy.  As you wash it off, the mask melts away enough to allow you to give your skin a gentle exfoliation – without the lemon juice being too harsh.  Afterwards my skin feels cleaner, smoother and looks a lot brighter too!  Even more surprisingly, my skin actually feels very well moisturised, thanks to the murmuna butter.

Don’t Look at Me is perfect for me to use despite my sensitive skin, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a deep cleansing experience, without the fuss (and mess)!

What’s your favourite fresh facemask right now?

Until the next one,