Money Supermarket's Budget Bucket List Competition

Money Supermarket have launched a competition called The Budget Bucket List to find out what is on our bucket lists. One lucky winner will win £1000 to put towards crossing something off their bucket list (£2000 if they receive 50 or more entries), and four runners up will receive £50. For my entry I need to share a couple of my bucket list goals, including one extravagant goal, and one budget. You can find out more about the competition here.

Well, I live by lists, and ever since I injured my back I've been busy thinking about all the things I want to do as soon as I'm well enough to do them to make up for lost time. I have a bucket list, a 29 by 29 list, a mission 101 list, and a list of things I want to do when my back heals. I'm currently redoing these lists, but intend to share them with you soon, but in the mean time, here are five of the goals I most want to achieve.

Spend My 30th Birthday in New York (An Extravagant Goal)

I've had this goal sketched out ever since I visited New York for the first time two years ago in August 2011. I would love to return in two years time to celebrate my 30th birthday with my best friend and a few others to truly mark the occasion in style. I can envision a week of sight-seeing, shopping, and cocktails, and can't wait to show my best friend my favourite parts of New York whilst making new memories together, too.

I want to make sure I have a 30th birthday to remember, and where better to do that than my favourite city in the world?! It's especially important to me as I didn't celebrate my 18th and 21st birthdays, which I've always regretted, and I want to make sure I'll be able to look back on the next milestone happily. If I make it there for my 30th that means I will have come along leaps and bounds on my road to recovery from disc injuries. If I don't... well, then, I will just postpone this dream holiday until I'm strong enough to go! No matter what happens, the goal at the top of my bucket list is a celebratory holiday to New York; the only things stopping me are disc injuries, and lack of funds. I have my heart set on getting back to New York as the city means so much to me!

Learn How to Make My Own Jewellery (A Budget Goal)

There's one goal I'm hoping to start achieving soon, and that's learning to make my own jewellery. I don't intend on learning so that I can make jewellery to sell to other people; I'd just like to be able to make pieces for myself. I like quirky accessories and I'm certain it would be fun to make my own. Financially, I don't think making jewellery has to cost the earth as materials are generally inexpensive so I consider this a budget goal. I'm just being held back by a lack of skills, but I can easily rectify that as I'm eager to learn something new!

See Fall Out Boy Live

Fall Out Boy have been one of my favourite bands since the mid-noughties, but as yet I've not seen them live. Now that they've reformed after a few years on hiatus, and have started touring, I'm impatient for them to announce some more UK shows so that I can go see them! If and when they do, I shall be making this bucket list goal come true! Seeing them play live would truly be a dream come true for me, and would put me up on cloud 9.

Go Whale Watching

Ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamt of going whale watching and seeing those giant sea mammals up close. I've always been fascinated by sea life; it's incredible to think there are creatures so colossal in our oceans, and I'd love to see them breaching the water with my own two eyes. There's just something about animals which fascinates me, and I know if I ever saw a whale in the wild I would be in complete and utter awe and contentment. Hopefully one day I will!

Visit Italy

And finally, I've wanted to go to Italy for quite some time, but even more so after watching the film Letters To Juliet which is set there. From what I've seen and heard about the country, it seems like such a beautiful country, steep in history and culture. I one day hope to visit different parts of the country from Venice to Rome to Florence, Verona, and Milan. It's one of the first holidays I plan to take when I'm back on my feet!

If you'd like to find out more about the competition and are thinking about entering, you can find everything you need to know here. I'd personally love to see the Budget Bucket List's of A Dress is For Life, Doodleheartx, and The Curved Opinion, and of anybody else who decides to take part!

So, this was just a taster of the things I hope to achieve one day. I'm planning to share my full Bucket List with you all very soon, so keep your eyes pealed if you want to hear more of my life goals.

What's on your bucket list? I'd love to hear a few of yours, so feel free to tell me in the comments below!

The Charcoal Challenge

I don't know about the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, but here in England we're currently basking in the warmth of a scorching hot heat wave. The skies are a flawless blue, the sun is shining brighter than the Blackpool illuminations, and the heat has engulfed us in a stifling thirty degrees or so for the last fortnight. It's fair to say summer is finally here, and for a change, it looks set to stay!

While I may not be able to take advantage of this glorious weather by heading to the beach, park, or beer garden, I can of course, enjoy the sunshine at home, and what better way to do so than throwing a barbecue with my family? 

On Saturday, I did just that all thanks to Money Supermarket's Charcoal Challenge here. The challenge was to throw a barbecue for family and friends on a budget of £50 (which was provided), to show that it could be done. It was a challenge I knew I could do, and with my older sister on board, we headed off to Tesco to buy our supplies.

The majority of our barbecue supplies were really reasonably priced and inexpensive. I spent £48 on food, drink, essentials, and decorations in Tesco, and went over budget by just £1.50 by later picking up a few things we'd forgotten, such as cream, kebab skewers, and bananas. (Try grilling bananas in foil with chocolate buttons in the middle!)

I must admit my sister provided the chicken breasts and ribs from her freezer, but we had more than enough food without them. With just five of us to feed, we had far more than we needed, and plenty of food and supplies left over for another barbecue and additional meals. As we didn't have a huge crowd to cater for, we didn't have to go for the cheapest burgers and sausages, and were able to afford summer fruit and decorations, which we wouldn't usually buy for a barbecue. However, we could easily have bought more for our money to cater to a larger crowd by choosing the value options, and perhaps avoiding the decorations.

Our most expensive purchases were the burgers (£5.00 for 10), and the charcoal which was £5.50. Although, we have half the charcoal and six burgers left for our next barbecue!

Below is a list of what I bought.

You may wonder why you can't see anything alcoholic, and that's simply because I can't currently drink, and like most households, we generally have a few alcoholic beverages in the fridge / garage for when something a little stronger is needed. 

We held the barbecue at my older sister and brother-in-law's house last Saturday afternoon, on what was one of the hottest days of the year so far. My younger sister and I spent the afternoon there, but my parents had to work so we bought them a plate each home with us.

So, let's talk charcoal! From past experience, I can tell you that the best charcoal to use is the instant light kind; the type where you light the bag. We used ordinary barbecue coals the weekend before, and it took us the best part of two hours to light the barbecue! With the instant light bags, the coal was white in just ten minutes!

We began by cooking the rather vibrant Chinese chicken, and garlic chicken breasts. We get them from our local butchers and they're amazing.

Here on the barbie we have burgers, sausages, chicken, and corn on the cob (in the foil). We later cooked prawn kebabs in a garlic marinade, and bananas in foil. We were planning to make s'mores but we all got too overheated and had ice cream instead.

We weren't able to display the entire spread on the table as it was just too hot for some foods, but I think it still looked pretty, and the food was delicious. I personally enjoyed the watermelon, which was refreshing on such a hot day.

I was particularly pleased with the tablecloth, napkins, and straws which, of course, had to be polka dot! They made the table look lovely, and we have enough left for our next BBQ. They were so inexpensive, too.

There's not yet a single plant or flower in my sister's new garden, so we added some bunting and garlands to brighten the space up a little, and I think it worked perfectly. The pretty flower garlands were just a £1 each from Tesco (we bought two). The bunting came down from my bedroom wall for the occasion, but originally came from Sainsburys earlier this year.

We don't usually decorate our gardens for barbecues, but the garden looked so bright and cheerful with these inexpensive garlands strung across the fences, and provided us with a lovely laid back area to relax in.

As you can see in the photos above, the weather was blissfully beautiful and a scorching thirty one degrees! We relaxed out in the garden for a couple of hours with the sun shining down on us, and summery nineties tunes blaring out from MTV while we enjoyed our budget barbecue. We ate burgers, corn on the cob, watermelon, strawberries and cream- all those perfect barbecue staples- before the heat overwhelmed us and we found solace indoors.

The barbecue really went down a treat with my family, and it was nice to be able to give something back to them after all they've done for me since I injured my back. It was such a fun challenge to take part in, and it's clear a barbecue can be thrown on a budget! If you like your barbecues, why not check out the Charcoal Challenge, and find out if you can take part!

*I was provided with £50 to buy food, drink, and decorations for my barbecue, but all words, photos, and choices are, as always, my own.

What's in Your Handbag? Money Supermarket Competition Entry

Money Supermarket recently discovered that the average woman's handbag, including it's contents, is worth over £850! If designer handbags and more expensive gadgets were considered, this price would soar!

So, Money Supermarket are trying to find out what's in our handbags to get a better understanding of exactly what the average woman carries around with her every day.

They're asking bloggers to write about the contents of their bags here, and each participant is in with a chance of winning a Mulberry bag, purse, and phone case! There are also six £25 ASOS vouchers from   http://www.FashionPerks.co.uk up for grabs. I'm sure you'll agree those prizes are irresistible, so of course I had to participate.

So, what's in my bag, and how much is it worth?

Today I'm using my ASOS mint scalloped satchel. It's a decent-sized day-bag for carrying around all those essentials, without being too big or too small. I bought it in December as a treat for myself as I loved the scalloped detailing. This bag was just £28, which was a bargain for something so pretty.

The bag holds a surprising amount of things!

This is everything in my bag, excluding most of the make up which is still in the make up case. The contents of my bag can vary from day to day.

So, these are the things I would call my 'essentials'. The pieces I couldn't leave home without. I always carry around my purse, phone, keys, iPod, and earphones. The purse, and key fob are by Cath Kidston, as are the cases on the back of my Blackberry and iPod Touch. (I have a slight Cath Kidston obsession!). There's no money in my purse at the moment, but the two gadgets are both worth a couple of hundred pounds.

This is a carry-all case from Fossil which has room for a gadget and a few cards. I use this case when I can't be bothered to leave the car with a heavy bag; for instance, if I'm quickly popping in to the supermarket and just need my money and phone.

I always have some random lotions, potions, and other handy beauty products in my bag, to be prepared for what ever life may throw at me.  I like to at least have some blotting papers, hand lotion, and plasters on me if nothing else.

Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter // Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cleanse Gel // 
L'Occitane Verbena Body Lotion // Carmex Lip Balm //
 Lehearesor Powdered Paper // Paul & Joe Blotting papers  // 2 plasters

I forgot to add this to the photo before, but I recently bought this Impulse body spray for nostalgic reasons. I used to love a particular scent called 'O2' when I was about twelve / thirteen, and I was curious as to whether it was still available. I think the answer is no, but I discovered True Love in the supermarket, and decided to give it a chance. I like to have a body spray in my bag for freshening up.

I always carry around a hair brush and a hair bobble. Just in case. I think this hair brush is by Revlon, and it's one of the best hair brushes I've ever owned.

I usually carry my Fossil key-per make up case in my handbag, as well. I got this case in New York two years ago, as I fell in love with the key print and couldn't leave without it. It's a brilliant make up case, with plenty of room for all those essentials and it has a mirror inside which is helpful for applying make up on the go.

As you can see, it holds a generous amount, and has a cute print on the inside, too.

The contents of my make up case vary depending on the ocassion and the look I've gone for that day. I couldn't leave home without my pressed powder, a mascara, and an under-eye concealer. At the moment, my make up case has the following inside:

The Body Shop face powder // Benefit The Porefessional // Benefit Benetint // Benefit Sun Beam //
Lush Intuitive eye shadow // Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara // Dainty Doll concealer pen // 
Bourjois Khol and Contour eyeliner in black // Stila lipglazes in Holly and Splendor  // 
L'Oreal Colour Appeal eyeshadow in Pure Gold  // Benefit lipgloss // 
Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in 100% black

And there's also one solitary Bic biro in the mix.

So, how much is this little lot worth?

ASOS Bag: £28

Apple Earphones: £25

Cath Kidston Purse (with not a penny inside): £12

Keys and Cath Kidston Key Fob: £4.50 (how much are keys worth??)

Blackberry and Cath Kidston case: £190 + £25

iPod touch 32gb and Cath Kidston Case: £220 +£25

Fossil Gadget Case: £25.

The Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter: £4

The Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cleanse Gel: £2.50

L'Occitane Verbena Body Lotion: £5.70

Carmex Lip Balm Pot: £2.05

Lehearesor Powdered Paper: £2.30

Paul & Joe Blotting Papers: £3.50

Two plasters: £0.20

Impluse True Love £2.00

Hairbrush and bobble: £5.00

Fossil Key-per make up case: £35.00

The Body Shop face powder: £12.50

Benefit The Porefessional 7.5ml: £8.35

Benefit Benetint 4ml: £7.84

Benefit Sun Beam 4ml: £6.00

Lush Intuitive eye shadow: £14.50

Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara 4g: £8.24

Dainty Doll concealer: £12.50

Bourjois Khol & Contour eyeliner: £4.99

Stila lipglazes x 2 £30.00

L'Oreal Colour Appeal eyeshadow: £5.99

Benefit lipgloss: £14.00

Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner: £4.29

Bic biro: £0.24

= £746.19!

That's astonishing! I can't believe my bag is worth so much! And that's a scaled down version of what I normally keep in my bag, too!

Ordinarily, I also usually carry around my Kindle (£89) in it's Cath Kidston case (£24), and sometimes a book (£7.99), as well. I always carry around my Canon camera (£230) and Cath Kidston case (£9), but I was using them to take these photos. And I often have a spare pair of glasses (£125) in a Cath Kidston case (£14), sunglasses (£25), notebook (£9.00), medicine (£28), sun cream (£7), and various other hair accessories, which would all increase the cost of my handbag. If I added all of these to the total, it would increase dramatically to:

£1314.18!

And that's not including any money that might be in my purse.

Considering the satchel is so inexpensive, I'm shocked that the contents of my handbag are worth so much money! Although, I do love my gadgets, luxury make up, and pretty Cath Kidston accessories, which I know are all quite pricey, so I can understand the total.

This challenge has certainly made me step back and think about just how much I'm carrying around, and how much I could lose if my bag became lost or stolen. I would be devastated to lose many of these daily essentials; they 're all important necessities to me in different ways.

If you would like to participate or learn more about the challenge, you can find all the necessary information at here. I'd particularly love to see what's in the following five ladies handbags: Rachel from A Dress is For Life, Nita of Pashteit, Hannah of Doodleheartx, Becky of Does My Blog Make Me Look Fat?, and Jenny of The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth, but if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged, too. I'd love to see what you guys keep in your handbags.

How much is your handbag worth?

30 Ways to Save £1

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the humble one pound coin, Money Supermarket

are aiming to gather one thousand money saving tips from bloggers. Each blogger is invited to list up to thirty of their money saving tips, and the first five hundred bloggers to enter are to be given a pound for each tip. Every person who enters will be entered in to a prize draw with the chance to win £1000, and if they reach 1000 tips the prize will rise to £2000.

Well, as a girl living in an expensive county on a very tight budget, I have quite a few money saving tips up my sleeves, so I thought this was the perfect time to share them with you! Here goes...

Shopping Online

1. Always look for a discount code when shopping online. I always do a quick search each time I shop, and I usually find one. Even a code for free delivery or 10% off will save you a few pounds. Just type "[insert brand name here] discount code" in to a search engine, and you should find a few suitable websites.

2. Sign up for newsletters from brands you shop with. Most will offer a discount code for joining, and some even give you a discount code on your birthday. It's also a way to hear about all the latest sales and promotions that company is running.

3. If you shop online, sign up to a cash back website such as Quidco who will give you a percentage of your shopping bill back for shopping through them. You can shop with hundreds of well known brands through them, and can save a few pounds each time you shop, so it's a no brainer, really.

4. Choose the 'standard delivery' option, instead of the 'next day' or 'nominated day' delivery options. Your order may take a few extra days to reach you, but it's worth it to save a couple of pounds.

5. Use money off vouchers from magazines, leaflets, and coupons etc. There's no shame in doing so.

6. Sign up for loyalty cards which collect points each time you shop. (Boots Advantage Card, Nectar Card, Tesco Clubcard etc). Such cards are usually free to use, and when the points begin to add up, you're provided with shopping vouchers or a value to spend in store.

7. Take advantage of buy one get one free, and 3 for 2 offers... but only if they're on the products you really need and will use. The deal may seem great, but in reality the brand wants us to think that so we'll spend more money. In reality, we usually only need the one item, and settle on two more products to get the deal.

8. Shop around for the best price. The price of the same exact item can vary from store to store, so it always worth doing a little research before you buy. For example, I always compare prices between Amazon, Play, and HMV when buying books, DVDs, and CDs online.

9. If you're looking to buy a particular product, try to hold off until sale time when it may be much cheaper.

10. Always return unwanted and unsuitable purchases. Don't bury them in a wardrobe or cupboard where they'll just be forgotten and sold on eBay for a couple of quid a year later. Get your money back!

11. Never pay only the minimum amount due on your store cards... if you only ever pay the minimum due each month, you'll owe far more to clear it then what the original products cost you. I personally don't recommend store cards at all.

12. Save your loose change in a money box or even an old jar. It's amazing how quickly the pennies can mount up, which can then be turned in to the more convenient pound coins and notes at the bank, or poured in to a change machine at the supermarket to exchange for shopping vouchers.

Sell sell sell!

13. Sell old, neglected mobile phones to mobile phone recycling websites like mazumamobile.com. The amount you'll receive will depend on the model of the phone, and the condition. I received £17 for trading an old Samsung Tocco Light a year or so ago, which was £17 I was able to put towards other things!

14. Have a clear out of all your unwanted things, and list them on eBay. You could potentially make yourself a small fortune, and if you list on zero insertion weekends, then you'll save more valuable pennies. Aim for the listing to end on a Sunday evening when most people are at home and online.

15. Alternatively, sell your unwanted possessions at a boot sale. It'll only cost a few pounds to rent a pitch for the morning/afternoon, and it can be so satisfying when the bargain shoppers start snapping up your wares, and the pounds start adding up.

Make Do and Mend

16. Always mend your clothes. A button can easily be sewn back on, and split seams and hems easily stitched back together again. Buttons and thread cost far less than a new dress or cardigan will cost you.

17. Dye faded clothes and give them a new lease of life instead of throwing them away. Again, this is far cheaper than shelling out for a brand new garment.

Entertainment and Electricity

18. Like to read? Borrow books from your local library instead of paying for a book you'll read once, and never read again. Since most full price books retail for £8 or more, using the library instead could save you a small fortune if you read a lot!

19. Also buy cut price books from the supermarket, charity shop, boot sale, or from Amazon for a fraction of the RRP.

20. Turn off appliances and light switches when they're not in use.  Don't leave the TV on standby, and unplug your mobile charger when you've finished charging your phone.

21. Borrow new CDs, books, and DVDs from close friends and family. Perhaps set up a lending system between yourselves, so you lend things back and forth. This could potentially save you  all a tidy sum.

22. Going to see a show in London? Don't order tickets before hand. There are many ticket booths who sell cut price tickets for all the big name shows on the day. I've taken advantage of these sellers a few times in the past.

Travel

23. Buy a rail card if you travel by train a lot, and are able to have one. They usually save you a third on your ticket fairs. Before I turned twenty-six and became an old hag, I had a young person's rail card which literally saved me hundreds of pounds on travel, as I regularly travelled off to go to concerts, visit friends and family, and spend the day in London. I miss that rail card!

24. Walk instead of taking the bus or cab, where possible. It's free, and good exercise, too.

25. Exercise outside for free instead of spending hundreds of pounds on gym membership. 

Beauty

26. Save free samples of shampoos, and conditioners from magazines you read, and from beauty counters. They'll save you precious pounds when travelling, as travel sized toiletries tend to be quite expensive.

27. Ask for a "wet cut" instead of a "cut and blow dry" next time you get your hair cut. A wet cut is £10 cheaper than a cut and blow dry at my local hairdressers, and they always dry my hair for me, anyway! If your local hair dressers doesn't dry your hair after a wet cut, you can always dry your own hair at home for free afterwards!!

28. Pluck your own eyebrows at home for free. Depending on whether you like to have your brows waxed or threaded, and by whom, you could be saving anywhere from £5-£15!

Food/Drink

29. Refill water bottles with tap water instead of buying new bottles of mineral water every time you're thirsty.

30. Do a food shop with a friend or relative for those items on promotion. We don't always want or need two of the same product, so teaming up to buy the "buy one get one frees" with somebody else and splitting the bill is a brilliant way to save a few pounds!


I know that thirty tips is the limit for this challenge, but I came up with a few more, so I want to share them anyway...

And Ten Extras

31. Freeze left over portions of food. They can be defrosted and heated up another day for another meal.

32. Buy loose fruit and veg at the supermarket instead of the pre-packaged. They're almost always much cheaper loose.

33. Looking to buy something in particular? Head to eBay. You'll find almost anything you can think of listed there, and more often than not, for a much cheaper price than you'd find elsewhere.

34. Shop at outlet villages. If you're looking for something in particular, it's often far cheaper to buy from an outlet village.

35. Take advantage of Orange Wednesdays 2 for 1 cinema tickets if you're on the mobile phone network Orange.

36. Similarly, take advantage of Happy Hour, and 2 for 1 meal deals in pubs, bars, and restaurants when eating out/drinking. The deals are usually available on quieter days of the week, or quieter periods of the day.

37. If you're on iTunes, and are willing to share your Apple ID with friends/family, authorise their computers, and have them do the same for you so you can share downloads between you. I only recommend doing this with people you truly trust.

38. Give yourself a manicure at home, or better still ask a friend to do your nails during a girls night in.

39. Don't throw away gloopy nail polishes; you can revive them with a few drops of nail polish remover!

40. Wash your car at home instead of paying to take it through the car wash.

So those are my 30 ways to save £1 ... and ten more, because I'm generous, like that!

What are your money saving tips?