Ways That I Save Money, Part 2

I really enjoyed sharing with you the simple things that I do to ensure that I get the best value for my money when I’m making purchases – so much so that I’m going to continue sharing my tips until I’ve covered the lot!  Again, these are things that I actually do every month without fail, and it’s all things that I really enjoy doing too!

Vouchers and Store Magazines

A lot of the shops that I go to these days use vouchers as an incentive to get you to come back.  And If I’m being honest, this does the trick for me!  Like I shared in my last blogpost, Tesco and Boots often provide you with vouchers that you can use on your next visit, however they are not the only shops that do so!  Holland and Barrett often print a 10%/20% off voucher for your next shop with then, Morrisons like to print off point boosting vouchers or a money saving one on petrol at the till and Superdrug a good old triple points one.  Alongside these, a lot of them actually have their own promo magazines too, which nearly always contain pretty decent money off or point boosting vouchers that you can use throughout the month.  Tesco, Boots and Pets at Home always have a good variety of coupons that you can redeem in store, which is always great for helping you to save the cash!

Free Gifts

One of my favourite things about Christmas shopping at this time of year is looking out for all of the free gifts that you can pick up whilst you are making your regular purchases.  For example, I was needing to pick up a few make-up bits recently, but hadn’t gotten round to doing it yet.  Mum pointed out that Soap and Glory were offering a free gift worth £23 when you spent £15 on their cosmetics at Boots stores.  With that being said, I was sold on the spot.  I ordered a primer and a blusher online, and received for free a highlighter, mascara and lippy – not bad at all considering the total retail price would have been £38!  At the same time as picking up these goods, I was actually ordering a couple of stocking fillers for a couple of people too.  I added my desired product to my basket, and noticed that if I spent £12 on that brand (and my product was already £8) then I would receive another free gift, worth £8.  The free gift actually turned out to be the exact thing that I was looking for, and so I chucked in another lippy for me and we were sorted.  I like that on the Boots website you can actually search for the free gifts offers by using the offers link – it makes shopping that little bit easier, and often gets me to try out brands that I’ve never used before – as I’m intrigued by the free gift.  Earlier in November I picked up some concealer, colour corrector and mascara from Superdrug on a 3for2 offer – and received a pompom for my car keys – as well as getting the cheapest item free!  Looking out for offers like these ensure that you are getting the best value for your money with every spend – hence why I like to shop like this now. 

Coffee on the Go

One of the easiest ways that I can save money every month is bring a coffee with me wherever I go.  I like to treat myself to flavoured coffees for keeping at home, and so in the morning when I’m heading off out the door to uni or work, it’s a real treat to enjoy a vanilla or gingerbread cuppa on the go – without the crazy price tag.  I like to have a coffee on me when I’m sitting in lectures  to keep me going – and so If I didn’t bring one with me everyday, I’d probably be spending £3 on a Costa a day… £9 a week… £36 a month!  Easy saving tips right there, totally simple yet you’d be surprised by the amount of people who actually spend that kind of money on the stuff every month.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about those coffee dates – and if I want an extra coffee after I’ve finished my home brewed one, then I’ll get one.  I’m not about depriving myself, just being a little more conscious of my spending is all.  Right now I’m loving the LittlesCoffees – and I’m currently on a mission to find their Christmas flavoured one, which sadly is out of stock in all my local Holland and Barrett stores.  Here is hoping I get my hands on one before the festive period ends.

And there we have it, these are some of the best ways that I go about ensuring that I’ve being a little bit more conscious with my spending every month – and yes, I’m treating myself AND saving money too.

Do you guys follow any of these rules too?

Until the next one,

Ways That I Save Money, Part 1

One of my favourite days out of every single month is the 28^th, payday glorious payday.  Not to sound superficial or anything, but I like it when my hard earned pennies gets put into my bank account, so that I can figure out what I can afford to spend and what I can treat myself to.  I’ve got a few rules that I abide to every month in regards to my spending, and a few techniques that I use to ensure that I get the best possible deals on my purchases.  I hope you find these as useful as I do!

My Supermarket App

I discovered this app way back in January during exam time.  Some people binge watch TV series when they’re not revising, I binged watched extreme couponing.  A little odd for a 21 year old to be spending their spare time, yes, but I did learn a lot about saving cash during my crazy obsession, which has helped me a lot this year to be able to treat myself and keep extra pennies in the bank too.  My Supermarket compares prices of all of your groceries in all major supermarkets – helping you get the best deal for your money.  I like to use this any time I’m buying anything a little pricier than normal, for example dog food, spot on, shampoo and conditioner etc.  It breaks it down to where is cheapest, who has offers on etc, so when you do need to go out and buy, you know where to go to get the best deal for you.  I love it!

Loyalty Cards and Apps

I am one of those annoying people who has a loyalty card for every single shop that I go to, much to Martins disgust.  I like getting my money’s worth with every purchase, so when there is a loyalty card to be had, you can guarantee that I’ve probably got it.  Most loyalty cards give you points, which over time will either equate to you being sent out a voucher or money off your next shop in store.  The ones that I use the most often, but not limited too, are Tesco Clubcard, Nectar and Boots, which all have great money saving or enhancing purposes.  Tesco send you out a voucher four times a year to the value of what you’ve earned during those months – and print you off money saving coupons at the till.  Nectar allows you to build and spend your points in denominations of £2.50, and if you download the Nectar app there are normally pretty good bonus points offers that will help you build up your points faster.  Boots give you four points per £1 right now, as well as sending you out vouchers every 3-4months and printing them off at the tills.  The app has fantastic offers all the time that you can load to your card to help you build your points faster all year round, sometimes I’ll get £3 of points for spending £3!  My favourite one right now though for doing all my Christmas shopping is the Superdrug card – as you get free delivery EVERYTIME you order online, regardless of what you buy and how often you use it. 

This year I used my Nectar points to pay for a birthday present in October, my Boots points to buy a Christmas present and my Superdrug points to get money off of a Christmas present.  So in my eyes, loyalty cards are SO worth your time, even if they do take up a little more room in your purse. 

So these are just a few tips that I swear buy for saving cash every month.  I plan on doing a miniseries on all of my tips and tricks – but in the mean time I hope that this gives you an idea on how to make some small but effective changes to your spending.

Let me know your tips and tricks below!

Until the next one,

Native Unearthed Deodorant

Probably my favourite item that I received in The Vegan Kind August box was definitely the natural deodorant from Native Unearthed.  I’ve always been sceptical of natural deodorants as I have an irrational fear of smelling bad.  I’m the kind of person that will put some on in the morning, then before I leave for work, then when I get to work, then on every break etc... So you get the picture.  I don’t want to stink.  I’ve tried going natural before using one from Lush, which unfortunately did not work in the slightest for me and left me feeling really self-conscious going about my day.  I stuck it out for about 2 weeks before packing it in, so although I was excited to find this in my box, I was also a little skeptical and rather uncertain about giving another one a try. 

The Native Unearthed stick deodorant needs to be wet before you apply it to your underarms.  There is no fragrance to this particular one, which worried me slightly as what if I do start to stink and there is no pretty smells to try and combat it?  Of course I was being ridiculous, but hey, that’s just me.  As you rub it on, a clear wet paste like solution glides over the skin – it’s hard to tell if you’re putting on too much or not enough.  I will admit that it does not give me the same clean feeling as using a spray on does when applied, however you can’t really compare a spray and solid.  I love that it doesn’t flake off as you move your arms, nor does it stain you clothing as your pulling it over your head, like most spay on deodorants do!  After applied, it’s a waiting game to see how it preforms…

I played it safe for the first few wears, applying it in the morning and only using it on days when I knew I wasn’t going to be getting up to much other than blogging and a dog walk.  When these days passed without any problems, I started applying it in the mornings before going to work – but would always use the spray on stuff when I was at work to keep me topped up.  However this last week or so, I’ve put it to the real test and have been only wearing this for all day, be it a lazy day at home, a trip to town for some shopping or an evening work out at the gym – and it’s been great!  Not once have I found myself feeling sweaty or uncomfortable as my day as gone on - nor have I began to develop a bad odour either – which of course is my main concern here!  Of course I do still sweat, however it doesn’t smell at all and it doesn’t leave me feeling damp or sticky either.  It really is a great product, and I’m so happy that I got this in with the August box.  Priced at just £6.49 RRP – it’s a total bargain or the quantity and quality of the goods, and I will definitely be repurchasing again when this one runs out.  I’ve been convinced that natural deodorants are the way forward for ethical reasons thanks to Native Unearthed, it’s by far the best natural deodorant that I’ve come across to date, and would highly recommend that you give it a try too!

What’s your favourite natural deodorant? 

Until the next one,

7 Things I Love and Hate about Retail

I’ve been working in retail since the age of 16.  I’m 21 now, so that is five long ass years where I have had the pleasure of working with the public.  I’m getting to the point in my life now where I am ready to start a career for myself doing the things I love the most – media, writing, PR and or possibly even marketing.  I’ve been studying media for the last three years, and I’m keen to get myself stuck into it whenever a possibility shows itself.  I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to share the things that I love and hate about working in retail.

How I feel after a long day at work...

1.    Depending on what kind of retail you’re working in, unfortunately most of us we are working real hard for basically the minimum wage.  And some days, I mean working really hard.  Be it standing at checkouts for a nine hour shift on a super busy day, or running around on the floor helping customers and following the orders of management – just because we work in a shop does NOT mean we’ve got it easy.

2.   A fab perk about retail though is that we normally get a pretty decent staff discount.  That pretty bed spread you bought yourself the other day?  I treated myself to the same one also – with a nice sum taken off the total at the checkout too.

3.     Unless you are one of the very few and lucky ones, those of us in retail tend to have to work most if not the majority of weekends throughout the year.  Those lush bank holiday weekends everyone gushes over?  We’re probably working extra-long shifts to compensate for your long weekend shopping, so don’t fight us if we don’t seem too thrilled as we go about our business in store.

4.   We do however receive plenty of days off during the week to compensate this.  Some weeks I can have three days off and still manage to bag myself 28 hours of work.  Although of course I would love to enjoy every weekend to myself, it is really nice to break my week up with a day or two off here and there – and it’s even nicer when the sun is shining and everyone in the office is online complaining that they are missing out!

5.    Members of the public can be SO RUDE sometimes.  And by sometimes,  I mean it’s very rare that a day at work goes by when I’ve not had someone be extremely rude to me or another member of staff throughout the day.  It’s so bad, and it makes me so mad that people think it’s okay to come into a store and verbally abuse someone because they’ve not been given exactly what they wanted.  I’m terribly sorry about your awful experience with the store/item/price – but unless you’re willing to talk to me and not down at me, then I’ll be very reluctant to help you to my full potential.  I will NEVER speak to anyone the way I’ve been spoken to by a few individuals.  

6.   That being said though, it totally makes my day when I get to speak to the loveliest of people throughout the day, the ones who generally are thankful for your help and want to chat about non work related things.  Especially when it’s been a really rubbish or stressful day – you people who take the time to make conversation and say please and thank you to us while we are working really do give me hope for humanity.  You people are the best.

7.   I’ve met some of the greatest people I know through working in retail (and some of the most annoying – but I won’t get into that now).  Although it isn’t always fun and games in store, I reckon that retail is probably a lot more relaxed than some careers – and you’ve got a much better opportunity to get to know the people you’re working alongside with, especially on those grave time shifts.

And again!

So there you have it, although I’m getting excited about the idea of starting a new chapter in my work life in the near or late future – retail actually has a lot of perks for all of the rubbish things we sometimes need to deal with.  Although I'm probably just in a bit of a slump about my job at the moment, I've actually really enjoyed a lot of the time I've spent working in retail, and dare I say it, there is a good chance there will be a few more laughs before the end too!

What’s your favourite thing to love and hate in your job?

Until the next one,

What I'm Watching Right Now

I go through phases when I’m either not watching anything at all on TV, or TV is all that I’m doing.  With uni coming to an end for the year, and everything starting to quiet down a little, I’ve been catching up on all of my favourite TV programmes so that I’m ready to start the new series.  Here’s what I’m watching right now!

Better Call Saul

I was a huge Breaking Bad fan during 2014/2015 after I was gifted the entire boxset for Christmas one year.  I would highly recommend giving Breaking Bad a whirl if you haven’t done so already, it’s a bit slow to begin with – but definitely worth the wait for the hype!

Better Call Saul is equally as good as Breaking Bad, I was instantly hooked from the first episode.  I’m now on season two, and now that I’m approaching the end to the season – I’m really excited about the story to unfold.  I finished Breaking Bad about a month before Better Call Saul aired, so I pretty much started it from the get go.   I’m not convinced that you need to have seen Breaking Bad to follow this series, there have been a few funny moments that you wouldn’t get without having seen it – but overall it’s its own thing.  Really gripping, cheeky and funny, I’d totally recommend to anyone looking for a new series to binge watch!

Fear the Walking Dead

I am one of the biggest Walking Dead fans, I started watching from the beginning around about when season three started to air, and I’ve been hooked ever since.  I was both super excited and very sceptical when I heard that they were making a spin off for it, as I knew it was going to be either totally amazing or totally pants.  I had been super excited for Z Nation to start because the adverts looked really promising – but I didn’t even make it past the first episode. 

I got Fear the Walking Dead season one for Christmas past, and was totally heartbroken to find that there was only six episodes to the entire season.  Alas, I started it in February and made my way through the season in about 4 sittings.  Unlike The Walking Dead, this series gives you a lot more insight into each of the characters before the zombie virus starts to break out.  It a different approach to the whole zombie vibe, and I really enjoyed the series from start to finish.   You get taken right to the beginning before everything breaks out, meeting a lot of different types of characters along the way.   It’s nowhere near as brutal as The Walking Dead (yet), but I’m already hooked and I think that they have the potential to make this as big.  Season two has already started, but I’ve not managed to catch it yet as the BT box is located in the living room.  This is going to be my next viewing for when I finish uni, and I’m really excited to see how they’re going to pick up from where they left off.

Game of Thrones

It’s back!  It’s back and it looks like it’s going to be one of the most dramatic seasons yet.  I really hope it’s false, but I’m led to believe that this is going to be the second last season for GOT… *cries*

I started watching as season four aired, and I can honestly say that there has never been a tv show that has caused me so much emotional trauma as this one!  I’m not going to say anything out this week’s episode, because I for one would be mad as hell if anyone ruined it for me.  What I will say is that if you haven’t started watching this series and are thinking about giving it a go, or you’re in the middle of playing catch up as we speak – GET ON IT QUICKER!  I sense that this particular season is going to cause a lot of controversy and online drama as the weeks go on. 

Vikings

My boyfriend and I watched two episodes of this back in January if I recall correctly, and for some reason we just haven’t got back into it yet.  As we can only watch Fear the Walking Dead at my house, Vikings will be the one we go for when we stay at his, once I’ve handed in the last of my uni course work for the year!  Both episodes were exciting and chilling, kind of like Game of Thrones but with only two episodes under my belt, I can’t really say much more.  It wasn’t one I was crazy about seeing, but it actually looks like it had the potential to be amazing.  Watch this space…

What are you watching right now? 

Until the next one,

What I’ve Learnt Doing a Two + Two Course

Back in 2013 I started my studies as a media student at Aberdeen College.  I left school near the beginning of my 6^th year, and worked near enough full time until the following August when the new semester started.  Over the course of that year, I lost contact with a lot of people I spent a lot of time with at school.  So when I started college, it was pretty daunting to me to think that I was about to join a group of people I didn’t know and spend the next two years with them working towards a HND.  It was near enough a year gap that I had between leaving school and starting college, so I was just about getting used to doing my own thing when the term started.  Granted, college was probably two of the best years that I’ve ever had – and I met a lot of great people through my course, as well as learning loads to do with the industry.  When I started my course, I went in with an open mind in regards to what it was I wanted to do at the end of my studies.  Because the course covered so many different aspects of the industry, it really helped me to narrow down where I wanted to specialise.  

I don’t know why, but there seems to be a sort of stigma around the whole idea of going to college before university.  Almost as though you’re at college because you’re not clever enough for uni?  That’s the impression I got for the whole two years I was there anyway.  Which, I would like to point out now – is not the case AT ALL.  I don’t know how many times I’d bump into old friends and when they asked how uni was going, and I corrected them to college, they’d look at me as if to say “oh…right.”  I can tell you now that college was probably five times more stressful and hectic than uni this past year has been.  No exaggeration.  College was crazy busy.  And now, coming to the end of my first year of uni, I confirm that I have learned nothing new in regards to the industry, all of my knowledge that I have now came from my college course.

Having spent the last year at uni studying media at third year entry, I’ve learned a lot about myself and what it is that I now want to do.  I've also realised a few things about how uni and college work too...

Whether you are at college or university, you’re about to meet your friends for life.  You can’t possibly make your way through those three to four years of studying alone – so put on your friendly making face and pick ‘em good.  Those guys aint going nowhere without you *hi Kirsty*

If like me you picked the adjacent course to your pals from college and you’re going into your uni classes alone – it could be a long semester for you.  I’m not the most social person out there,  so I’m not great at mixing in with people when I know I’m one of the newbies – the outsider.  Uni cliques are strong I tell you. Thankfully, the PR and Media classes merged into one by semester two, so I wasn’t a total loner.  What I’m trying to say is, if you are or are capable of making yourself more social, do it at the beginning.

College was crazy busy, usually with all of the deadlines coming in at the same time.  There was weeks in the build up to the end of term when we would have a report, assessment, presentation and then part of our graded units to hand in too.  Madness I tell you.  Third year uni?  Piece of cake in comparison.  My third year studies have consisted of a total of four classes; one exam, two presentations, three individual reports, three group reports and a six week placement.  I don’t think I’ve ever had such a chill year of study in my whole life!  Granted the exam was daunting – but I did it *fist pump*

Uni is not for everyone, I’ve since come to realise.  So don’t feel pressured into spending the next four years of your life doing something that you’re not crazy about.  Get a job.  Volunteer.  Do something you enjoy! 

What are your plans for after uni?

Until the next one,