Lady Bug Says ... A Few Money Tips

Evening lovelies!

Anyone else finding the beginning of the year a bit of a come down after all the manic hype surrounding December/Christmas/New Year? In our house all the major 'milestones' like birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Valentines Day etc. fall between the months of October and February. It can be abit of a strain but at least it gives our savings plenty of time to recover! I would hate for October to come around again and to be worrying about not having enough money to pay for everything!

I wouldn't consider myself exceptionally 'frugal' or 'thrifty' especially not compared to the lovely Vintage Vixen or A Thrifty Mrs but I do believe in not spending more than is necessary and not getting into debt just to 'buy' something! There are a few simple things I do to help save the pennies including:

Putting back some money for a rainy day

For the last few years I have strictly put £10 a week from my wages into a separate bank account. A bank account that I do not have a card or pin number for, so it is very hard to get money out of there unnecessarily! It comes out of my bank account the same day as my wages go in, so I don't even notice that it has gone. I do notice though that when it is time to tax my car, pay an unexpected bill or start buying Christmas presents I am not quite so worried as I know I have a little pot of money stashed away for such an eventuality.

Using restaurant vouchers

If you want to go out to eat and a restaurant you like has an offer/voucher deal on then why would you want to pay more than you need to for your meal?! I think I can probably count the amount of times I ate out without a voucher in the last year on one hand! It always seems to taste better when you know that it probably cost you half of what the lady at the next table eating the same dinner will pay for it!

Not going food shopping without a list

I am pretty damn forgetful and indecisive! So going food shopping without a list is largely going to result in purchases that you cannot rustle up 1 decent meal from, never mind a weeks worth of dinners! Cue several more equally disastrous and expensive trips to the shops throughout the rest of the week. Now I sit down and work out a weeks meal plan, make a list, buy it and know I will have food for the week and not spend an age deciding what to have for dinner each night or have a cupboard full of food I will never end up eating!

Do you have any simple money savings tips that you now wouldn't be without?

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Lady Bug Says ... My Blog Favourites

Morning Lovelies!

I thought I would do something a little different on the blog, over the next few weeks I am going to do a few posts about my favourite blogs to read. I always enjoy these kinds of posts as I feel it is a really good way to discover new blogs.

So I am going to kick things off with my 'Faithful Follower' blogs!

These are all blogs that I have followed right from when I began blogging and I don't plan on clicking the unfollow button anytime soon!

Char puts so much dedication and effort into regularly blogging, making her blog one of my favourite reads. Plus she has a shoe and dress collection to make any girl envious!

I love Alex's witty writing style and her ability to find a second hand bargain! She is also a fellow cat lover :)

Laura's blog is a lovely mix of outfit posts, baking and many things in-between. It is my go to blog for yummy baking recipes too!

No one can mix prints and exude as much confidence as Vix! She is the undisputed queen of the charity shop!

I want Jen's wardrobe, especially her statement necklace collection! I love her simple classic style :)

One day I hope to be as organised as Thrifty, she is a force to be reckoned with! I enjoy everything about her blog, from the outfit posts to the handy tips :)

What is your favourite blog to read? Please let me know in a comment, I love discovering new ones :)

Lady Bug Says ... His & Hers Masks

Evening Lovelies.

A little review for you tonight, the Mr and I were recently sent some face masks from the range of Montagne Jeunesse skincare products.

The Mr was sent the 'Zap Them Peel Off' mask from the men's range and I received the 'Passion Peel Off' mask.

The Mr was reluctantly persuaded to give this a go after I told him it was green and he may look like the incredible hulk once it was on. Though he was a bit disappointed that the mask was in fact a slightly green tinged gel rather than bright green! He commented that the mask had a very fresh pine smell and that it was strange feeling his face getting colder and tighter! Boys hey!

I must say I preferred the scent and colour of my mask! Again it had a fresh smell and was nicely cooling. I do like peel off masks, but think they are probably more suited to the summer months. Both of us sat on the sofa saying how cold our faces felt!

I was going to include photos of the masks in use but quite frankly we both looked like we had odd slimy skin conditions!

We had a little 'who can peel off the biggest bit' (kind of gross I know!) competition, which the Mr clearly won as he managed to peel nearly the whole mask off in one. I think I would of stood a better chance if I had given the mask another 5 mins as it was still quite tacky come peeling time! We both felt that the masks left our skin tighter and brighter, mine was left a little red but I do have quite sensitive skin so kind of expect it when trying out a new product.

Overall we would both give both the masks 4/5.

Lady Bug Says ... Simple Triangle Nails

Evening lovelies :)

A quick nail post from me tonight, I saw a nail art tutorial that Clare over at Rainbows & Fairy Dust posted and knew I had to try it straight away!

I used my 2 current favourite polishes, Models Own 'Champagne' for the base colour and Models Own 'Slate Grey' for the top colour.

Armed with some scotch tape I was ready to go :)

Apply base colour.

To make the scotch tape less sticky I had the squares stuck to my hand whilst I painted on the base coat and wait for it to dry. Then I stuck the not to sticky tap to my nails.

Apply top coat.

Allow to dry then carefully peel off the tape.

I will definitely be trying this again as it didn't really take much longer than a standard manicure and looks a bit more special :)

Lady Bug Says ... Circus Ringmaster?

Evening lovelies!

Nearly the weekend :) I won £10 on the lotto the other day so I think I am going to go to the little village near me for a charity shopping trip to spend my winnings!

Another outfit post today, I like this outfit but I feel a bit like a circus ringmaster with the red blazer!

Stocking detail tights, Primark £2, Leather shorts, Courtesy of Very.co.uk, Black tshirt, Primark £3, Red blazer, Forever 21 £19, Leopard Necklace, Me & Zena £12

Wedged boots, Courtesy of Matalan

Outfit total - £36

I love these boots! Fab colour, a wedge heel I can actually walk in and great lace up detailing. They have become my go to shoe when I need a bit of height without the wobble!

Lady Bug Says ... Pretty Mugs :)

Evening Lovelies.

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend :)

Back before Christmas I won a giveaway that Lauren over at Lauren Loves Blog hosted.

I was very excited when this package turned up in the New Year!

And I was even happier to see the little personalised detailing. I picked to have the our nicknames printed on them, I have no idea how or why we call each other 'bug' but we have for years. We only seem to 'first name' each other if we are in front of family or having an argument!

I'm just slightly afraid of using them in case they get broken!

Lady Bug Says ... Winter Knits

Evening lovelies!

It's bloody cold and I hate it!! The Mr went to de-ice my car this morning (thank you!) but 10 minutes later when I left for work it had frozen up again. Cold weather (-3) and early mornings do not mix!!

I've been going to work bundled up in chunky knits and relying on the little heater under my desk keeping me warm. The only plus I have seen to the stupidly cold weather is I have actually been taking lunch to work as I don't want to have to venture out during my break!

I love this jumper, I just wish it had longer sleeves!!

Burgundy trousers, Next £12, Vest top, Primark £3, Draped knitted cardigan,

TU at Sainsburys £6

The Mr was making my laugh whilst taking photos, doing his best 'photographer' impression, 'more pout darrrrrling'!

Leopard loafers, Next - Christmas present from the in-laws.

I love these shoes, but boy did the smell when I first got them! I spent hours on Christmas day convinced I could smell a bonfire/burning kind of smell and then everyone telling me I was going mad! I eventually tracked the smell down to these shoes! After a few days 'airing' they seem to have lost the worst of it!

Leopard necklace, Me & Zena £12 , Ring, Primark £2

Outfit total - £35