Celebratory Jumble Sale - more adventures in not spending money (and failing)...

Following the Best. Evening. Ever. on viva day (which included hot chocolate, Ethiopian food and a magnum of Prosecco), I decided to ramp it up a notch by arranging to go to a local Scouts-run jumble sale on Saturday morning.

I love me a good community event, and I have many fond memories of jumble sales as a child (where my pocket money could actually buy me things), so considering my current financial situation it seemed like a good place to go to maybe buy myself a celebratory item or two.

As we arrived a bit late all the good clothes/scarves had gone, but I discovered the nicest item I've seen in a long time - a set of Japanese bowls, plates, chopstick rests etc. I've been keeping my eyes open for small plates/bowls for this exact purpose as I use them a lot, but this struck the jackpot: £2 for the WHOLE SET. What better way to celebrate some freedom than a new (beautiful) toy to use whilst doing my favourite activity - eating?! Brilliant.

BARGAIN!

I also scored two - wait for it - jigsaws (!) for 50p each, which have already provided many hours of entertainment. We are SO rocking. So far, so good - then we doubled our expenditure by spending £3 on a cake. Lol. It was delicious, however.

Flushed from my retail success at the jumble sale I then went and spontaneously spent £4 on some knee-high boots in the first charity shop we found, which I then tried on (idiot) only to discover that they didn't fit and Helen and Douglas House don't do refunds (double idiot).

So instead of money I can spend on actual things, I now have a credit note in my wallet. I'm torn between feeling like a complete fool, and anger at my lack of consumer rights. When will I learn that spending money is like an addiction and I just need to not do it sometimes? Gah.

Ho well, I am enjoying my new crockery, even if I am now, once again, entirely strapped for cash.

Bee x

Government spending

The benefits system has been a source of woe in my life. I am forever hearing statistics bandied about, as to how much this and that costs the government.

I've been unemployed and know the crushing demoralization that comes with signing on at the job centre - how they basically don't want you to have any money and you have to try and convince them you do (unsuccessfully in my case, as I never seem to know the system quite well enough).

But sometimes it is helpful to see figures on government spending visualised, and I thought this wee infographic would help...

Click here to visit the site if it doesn't embed properly!

On new year's resolutions and credit cards...

I've had a weird time so far this year. With a new year always comes a sense of renewal, like NOW is the time to sort your life out, and of course that is exactly what I've been trying to do. Over the Christmas break I made a massive list of things that needed to get done, which ranged from some fun, creative things like 'design and publish website' to pretty hard things like 'sort finances' and 'plan for move in the summer'.

This week it's been the finances. Having had no income for the past 15 months, it's fair to say that my finances are in a bit of a mess. The ISA I set up when we got married has been sitting earning very little interest as I haven't had the mental space to sort it, and the interest-free credit card I took out to pay for a few large purchases and a whole lot of commuting to my university, was coming to the end of its interest-free period.

So on Tuesday I hoicked a bunch of money out of savings and paid off the credit card and my overdraft, leaving me with handsome balances of £0.00 in each. Tomorrow I head to the job centre, as my post-PhD holiday is over - I need to earn some money!

It made me realise that despite my 'frugal' approach to life, it is so hard to manage when you actually don't have any cash flow. I'm not sure if I'll ever get a credit card again - they put you in denial about spending money, as it isn't real money you're spending. Future me can deal with this! Consequently buying a couple of bits and pieces in town here and there didn't feel like spending any money. But of course I was. Tricksy credit cards helping me buy things I didn't need to make me feel better!

I've also been doing some research into ISAs, as I'm pretty sure mine is currently earning below the rate of inflation... more about that later.

But happy new year, one and all! Here's to prosperity and happiness :)
Bee x