End of the 100 day spending ban!

My 100 day spending ban finished on 10th April, and what did that little exercise teach me? Simple really, I spend far too much money on far too many (mostly) unnecessary 'things'.

I had seen the 100 day spending ban challenge all over twitter and blogs at the end of 2012 and although I didn't 'officially' join any spending ban lists going, I had already decided that we (read that as I) can be a bit too frivolous with the cash and had decided come 1st January 2013 I would really cut back.

My 'rules' were simple:

• Don't buy any new clothing/shoes, make-up, beauty and hair products, have takeaways, meals out, nights out, buy books/DVDs/CDs/magazines. Basically don't buy anything!

My exceptions were:

• I could get my hair cut and coloured, I could keep my Glossybox subscription (although I did use my Glossydots for two of the boxes - result!), I could accept gifts and I could buy gifts for others (as I had a number of birthdays which fell during the 100 day period). I could also replace like for like. So if I ran out of say a face powder and didn't have a spare to fall back on, I could replace with one to the same (or lesser) value.

So how did I get on? Not too bad I think, this is what I spent:

• Essie polish £3 (a discontinued colour from The Original Factory Shop)
• Candle £1.50
• Dress £46.05 (I got this for an interview - I rejected the job, but kept the dress!)
• Necklace from Primark £2.50 (my excuse was it was half price in the sale AND it was a necklace I had been after but it had been out of stock in my local Primark so I just had to buy it!)
• Candles £21.99 (Went a bit downhill at this point and splurged on a medium jar and 4 tarts from Yankee)
• Hot Choc £1.50 (got this when we were walking around a National Trust property, but I did share it with Mr B.P.!)
• Takeout £18.95
• Another takeout £18.20 (got both takeaways in the same week - lets just say it was a bad week hey!)
• Marie Claire £3.80 (my excuse was it came with a full sized free Bee Lovely hand cream from Neal's Yard Remedies worth £10, so in my book was money well spent. In fact I saved myself money as I had run out of hand cream and I would have spent more than £3.80 buying some more)
• Essie polishes £15.98 (but they were on 3 for 2 in Boots!)

Grand total - £133.47

I am pretty impressed with myself, and to be honest £75.12 of that was spent in the last 3 weeks of the ban. So I give myself a pat on the back!

Aside from learning that I spend too much, the other important points that I gleaned from this little exercise is, that although it is great to get that buzz from picking up a new polish, or eyeliner or those must have boots; I really don't need that buzz to make me happy and complete. I have also loved using up my stash of samples rather than rushing out and buying a new product. I've been teaming different pieces from my wardrobe together to make new outfits, rather than buying something new to stuff in my already bulging wardrobe. I've started wearing jewellery languishing at the bottom of my jewellery box which I had forgotten I had. I downloaded loads of free books onto my Kindle and I found some great new blogs to read.

So in all honestly this spending ban came at just the right time.

And now a little over 2 months since my spending ban ended, and how am I fairing? Pretty darn good actually. OK I'm not as good as during the ban, but I have really really thought about whether I really need something before I purchase it or whether I just want it and I am amazed at how many times I have left a shop empty handed. Plus I am also still using up all the dregs from the ends of my beauty/makeup products where normally I would have ditched them as soon as they appeared empty. But by cutting off the end of the tubes you would be amazed how much product is actually still left in the tube. (Popping a snipped tube in a freezer/sandwich bag, keeps that opened product lovely and fresh so you can use every last drop!).

Would I recommend doing the spending ban? Absolutely. If you think you would struggle with 100 days, why don't you start small and gradually build up. Promise yourself a week to begin with, then a fortnight or a month and move on up from there. Also if you find you fall down on spending say during your lunch break, instead of a wander round the shops, how about reading a book, a few blogs, or going on pinterest and setting yourself up a board with all the things you'd like to buy when the ban ends. Also if you grab lunch from a shop or your favourite latte on the way to work. How about making a packed lunch the night before and at the same time putting the pennies you would have spent in a jar. Not only will you feel virtuous but at the end of your spending ban you will have some money saved to buy yourself something you really want AND need.

GO ON GIVE IT A GO!!!

Loves and loathes - November

Ok so I know it's hurtling towards the end of December and I'm really late with my November loves and loathes but life just got in the way, but here goes.  First up are my loves:

Yankee Candle - Snow in Love

This Snow in Love Yankee Candle has been burning away on my desk this past month, so much so it has literally burned away! There wasn't even a teeny bit left so I could light it for its photo opportunity.  If there ever was such a thing as real sugared snow, then this would be it.  Divine.

Chai Latte by Drink Me Chai

Next up is this Chai Latte.  I'm a bit late coming to the whole Chai Latte phenomenon and I didn't discover it until I was in Australia in September 2011 when my gorgeous friends introduced me to the joys which are Chai Latte.  Before then I didn't even know it existed and I was adamant that we didn't have this in the supermarkets back home.  Once returned from the great land that is Oz I went on a mission and found this in my local Waitrose (I have since discovered it in Asda too!).  It does say just add water, but so does the hot chocolate I favour and I always make that with semi-skimmed milk, so I made this the same way and it is perfect.  So creamy and warming.  I truly believe this tastes just as good as the chai lattes you can get in any of the well known high street coffee chains.

Marks and Spencer stag scarf

My last love for this month is this gorgeous stag scarf from M&S.  I first spied it on Kats blog Doesmybumlook40 and I liked it so much that I not only treated myself to it, but I got one for my Sis-in-law for her Christmas pressie, in the other colourway which is a deep pink with orange stags on it.  The photo here shows it more as a yellowy/gold, but in the flesh I would say it is more mustard.  This thing is HUGE and so so warm.  I love the vibrancy of the colours just perfect for slinging on over a cute black jersey dress or some black skinnies.  It is enough to brighten even the dullest of days.

Tresemme 24 hour body

So now onto loathes.  This is my one and only loathe for this month.  OK loath is too strong a word, it's more of a dislike and it's the Tresemme 24 hour body blow-dry lotion.  I picked this up when I was in a hurry as I needed something small to pack for my trip to Amsterdam.  You can read more about my trip to Amsterdam here.  I've used Tresemme's shampoo and conditioners over the years and felt they've been alright, nothing exciting but they do the job and as this came in a little bottle and I was in a hurry I thought that will do.  It's a clear lotion with a pump spray. You just spray into the roots of towel dried hair and dry as normal.  It did leave my hair fairly shiny but not sure it lasted 24 hours, the body seemed to drop after a few hours and the term 'blow-dry lotion' to me is a little old-fashioned.  It reminds me of being a Saturday girl in a hairdressers over 20 years ago!  I don't know whether this really did anything more for my hair than a regular blow-dry with a decent brush would have of done.

So that's it for this month.  Not many products but then I've not had too much time on my hands for trying out new things what with Uni and Christmas approaching.

So what have been your loves and loathes this November?  Is there anything you think I really should try over the coming months?  Let me know in the comments.