Sunday Hauling

SUNDAY WANDERING: POUNDLAND

Poundland had a great voucher which I found on the internet, £2 or a £12 purchase.

So guess what I did; went and bought 12 things of course!

Some people would argue that I didn't save at all, because I had to spend in the first place. However I would argue that if these were things that I would eventually have to purchase in another shop, I will have saved in the long run!

This is a break down of what I went in for and the impulse purchases.

WHAT I WENT IN FOR:

CRISPS x2

Would have been: ASDA have 3x 6 Packs for £4

What I bought: 2x 5 Packs for £2

Deodorant

Would have been: £2

What I bought: 1x for £1

Listerine Mouth Wash

Would have been: £1.50 (Asda)

Kleenex Mini Packs

Would have been 6x £1

Got 8x for £1

IMPULSE BUYS:

Heart Fairy Lights

£1

Note: they are only around meter long, ones from Primark might be more of a bargin!

Lauren Conrad 'Sugar and Spice: L.A Candy' Hardcover

Would have been £12.99

Detol Surface Cleaner

Would have been £2

(Thumbs up for the fancy cleaning photography)

Creme Eggs

At the moment Asda have 12 eggs for £4

...so works out the same

Rimmel Nail Polish

Would have been £3.99 in Superdrug

Scent Diffuser Scents

Mango & Papaya

Vanilla

Fresh Linen

Unsure of the prices, but thought I'd test out the scents for only being a pound.

There was one last thing I bought, but I'm not sure what it was. Must have been really useful! So overall I saved around £19. Definitely something to be proud of!

When I went in they also had a lot of beauty products such as the Sinful Colour nail polishes, Calvin Klein creme shadows/liners, Rimmel lip liners. I recommend going into Poundland if it's near you before checking out Boots or Superdrug for a impulse beauty purchase.

For people that have never been to Poundland, you're missing out!! 

All 'would have been' prices referenced from ASDA on the 29/01/2014 except for where stated otherwise

Reading Resolution

READING RESOLUTION

Hi Internet!

Going into 2014, I felt as if I needed to improve myself. How? I didn't know how to answer that question a couple of weeks ago.

Now, I think I realize it's about avoiding free time, free time allowing my mind to wander into a negative place. I have tried to limit my wandering mind through reading, and having started with a good book, my experience is so far positive.

I thought I would share these books; if anyone's going through a moment of doubt with how to use their time to a more beneficial cause, this could be one way to do it! (and a good excuse to huddle under a blanket with hot chocolate...)

The first book I picked up was Divergent by Veronica Roth. I had heard about the movie coming out ( April 4th) and wanted to get my hands on the book before I start imagining the actors instead of the character descriptions! Though I'm only a fifth of the way through, I think this is far enough to determine how much I like the book. The first couple of chapters definitely set the scene, and as the reader, we are made to understand the situation the protagonist. 

I have a friend who really doesn't like this book series, but she read it to the end to find out what happens to the characters. Unsure what all the hype was about if she didn't enjoy it, I figured I would like the make my own opinion of it. I like easy reading, books that get me hooked quick. This is definitely one of them.

(And it was on buy one get one half price in WHSmiths!)

The second book I bought was the first in the Game of Thrones series, by George R.R. Martin. Both this book and Divergent were on the buy-one-get-one-half-price offer, and thought I'd give it a try. I've been captured by the TV Series, and am highly anticipating the new season in April! I thought this book might help subside my excitement, but it wasn't until I got it home when I realized how long the book is (and how TINY the text is too) ... it might take me a while to get through this one.

Now a really easy read, Lauren Conrad's Sugar & Spice, the third in her 5-part L.A. Candy series. I bought the other two preceding books around the time when they first came out 5 years ago, however I put off buying this because it was originally £13, and though I'm sure this wasn't the price on Amazon, I could never justify it. However, after seeing this in Poundland (it will be featured in my Poundland Haul with lots of other good finds), I snapped it up.

I feel like the age it's aimed at is probably similar to The Hills TV Series, although the style of writing is very basic. Therefore nearing 20 years old, I feel like I will grow out of the series soon, and want to read it before I become disinterested.

I'm no avid reader, but I thought buying some books might get me excited about reading again. Also when the covers are nice, they act as decoration on my bed-side table, which is an added bonus. Hopefully it won't take me too long to read all of these books, but I'm sure I will enjoy them. I started on a positive note, making me even more enthusiastic to accomplish this goal.

Happy Wednesday!

Roll In The New Year!

2014 HAS ARRIVED

Everyone seems so surprised as to where 2013 went, but to be honest, I'm just shocked at how fast Christmas flew by. We've had 3 weeks off of university for a 'break', and the last weekend has come too quickly. Not that I needed the break, but for the fact that I had so much work to do (and pub work to go to), that today has been the first day where I have stayed in and actually started to feel relaxed... and maybe a bit bored, but there's always something to do!

My Christmas was spent at the pub working, but everyone's festive and having a good time, so it doesn't really feel like work. Our family don't really celebrate on Christmas day, but instead of Christmas eve. Having lived in Norway for 8 years, we discovered this tradition and have carried it on the past 4 Christmases we have been back in the UK. I have more recently found out that this tradition is common in a lot more countries than I thought, but I assume this is due to different religions around the world. 

Then New Years Eve hit, and I spent it with my family, not having spent much time with them over Christmas. We watched Now You See Me, a really interesting movie which I managed to stay awake through the whole film (very rare!!), played some Wii, watched the fireworks and ate lots! 

As we said goodbye to 2013, I was looking back over the past year, and then into the future, and thinking 'I'm only going to be a teenager for another 6 months!'. The teenage years really seem to me, the best time of anyone's life. 

They're where you figure out who you want (or don't want) to be. 

They either build you up or tear you down. 

If anything I feel like I will come out with a strong sense of being. 

One of my friends posted online the other day, 'I feel like I'm finally in control of my decisions,' and if anything, that's not only what I want to get out of 2014, but also out of being a teenager. I'm not much of a resolution maker, but that seems like the next step!

Making decisions isn't difficult for me, I just like to know what decisions I'm going to be brought up against, so I can prepare for them. So in a way I don't like decisions... contradicting myself completely!

So much for profound rambling, I just want to make more of an effort in certain parts of my life, like keeping in contact with people, or knowing what I want, or even restraining myself sometimes. 

AND keeping up with this blog.

Using it as an out-let though, (both creative, educational and personal) might be the best way to decide what 2014 will bring!

Thanks for listening to my life!