Save those pennies we're going on a budget:)

Hello ladies,

Tonight I'm going to give you some tips on how to save some moola otherwise known as pennies.
As the majority of us will have payday this week..yey I can't wait, there is no time like the present to start getting the finances in order.  Lets make our aim an extra present for us this Christmas and presents sorted without over spending.
1. Open a blank excel document and change a column to accounting with 2 decimal places and your currency. 
2.  On the leftest side column write down your salary. £2000.00 and next to it salary.
3. Then underneath start by putting down all your musts with a minus sign in front of them and change the colour to red.  I.e rent, mortgage, car payments, cr card payments etc.
4.  Do a sum adding up everything from cell A1 to the last cell.  This is how much you have left after your expenses. 
5.  Now save as much of that as you can!  Yes save it this month and every month try to see if you can save a bit more.

6.  Decide how much you should be spending in a month.  Then divide this by the weeks.  Say you are left with £200.00 after saving and there are 4 weeks in the month, this will be equal to £50.00.  So £50.00 per week.  Draw the money all at once so if you get charged bank charges these are kept to a minimum.  Take out the £50.00 and hide the rest then 7 days later go a claim another £50.00.  If you happen to have money left over put it in a money box which you keep filling up with the change.  You will be surprised how easy it actually is. 

7.  If you have any credit other than your house or car get rid of it!!!!!  The only time you should use a credit card is if you are responsible or like me I use the Salisbury's credit card which racks up Nectar points and every second month or so I actually get a free grocery shop.  But the trick is when ever I use the card, I transfer the amount into a separate savings account so I don't get a shock when the bill is due and I try to only use it for the groceries.  (I learnt the hard way and spent too much one month...never never again!!!)
So hopefully that's the budget sorted and remember ladies, think really hard before you buy anything do you really need it??? Because yes we are in a recession and tomorrow I'm going to give you as much advice as I can about looking for the right savings account's.

Now I've learnt a new trick tonight while drying my hair upside down.  Stretching my legs and working my abs at the same time.  I'm not very flexible so I have to stretch a lot or at least practice.  Anyway the trick is while drying your hair upside down (which I find gives it bounce...score) pull your abs in with shoulders back and bend over as if your back was a table, keep the shoulders pulled back and try touch the floor or as far as you can and blow dry that hair.  Legs, ab and hair all done:) 

Beautiful! Swizz ball is fun! Soft Feet!

Right, in conversation last week the topic of handsome men came up (by the way if you hadn't noticed I'm single) and where have they all gone.  In looking around at a quick glance I saw two handsome men but my friend couldn't see any and that was when I remember what I find handsome and attractive she doesn't and vice versa.  And the same must go for us woman too.  What we need to remember is that we are all beautiful to someone every day and firstly we have to be beautiful to ourselves and we all are, we're all God creatures.  So when you look in the mirror next time tell yourself you are beautiful because you are. Now I know that I'm always saying how to loose weight tone up and fight the cellulite but this is all in the aim of getting you fitter and healthier which in my opinion makes us feel better too:)  Personally I think the singer Adele is one of the most beautiful singers around.  I'm a healthy size 12 and think curves are way sexier than been stick thin and a size zero.  So look in that mirror and tell yourself you are beautiful.

Now you are going to love my next tip its what I call the lazy exerciser to make you feel like a child again, rock a baby to sleep if like all of my friends you've just had one and is a a lot of fun.  The swiss exercise gym ball.  Roll around on it for fun, balance on it while watching TV, have competitions to see who can balance for the longest, the laughter will work even more.  And like I said if you've just had a baby and want to tighten up a bit and get the little one to sleep bounce up down on the ball with the little one in your arms, the baby will go to sleep you've worked your abs and arms...bonus:)

Now tip for the night if your feet need a bit of a perk up and are a bit dry and tired, every night after you've bathed use a foot file or at least ever second night.  Then dose them in moisturiser and put on some cotton socks.  Once a week however put on vaseline or a heavy moisturiser and place them in plastic bags and then pop some socks over.  Leave them in the bags for about an hour and then take them off and just put the socks back on again.  Your feet will be so soft and smooth, just like after a pedi.  Now go spoil those feet.

So much to say where to start; diet, exercise, budget and glam!

Oh my I have so much to say today I don't know where to start.
Well this morning I did my run, which was short burst of sprints but I must admit I have been slacking on the eating right department of late and to my horror my dreaded cellulite has returned.  The solution is defiantly a combination of exercise, minimal junk dry brushing and the massaging of cream that works...naughty me.  So I was really good today and tonight was steak night.  But instead of the beloved Mrs Balls Chutney (which you can no get at Amazon with all your other lovely South African must haves) I put on some herbs and cottage cheese.  I had the steak combined with brown rice, some carrot & celery and I found a tin of mushrooms in the cupboard, so for a total of about £3.50 I have a lovely meal and planned overs yes planned over for another day. Remember when you do your shop and are looking through the meat counter to go the fridge that has the "close to sell by date" items in, they're marked down.  And there is nothing wrong with it.  Shops can't sell items passed the sell by date and personally I go by the smell, if milk smells funny its off, the sell by date doesn't tell you if it is or isn't.  So that's a healthy meal with some pennies saved...yey. 
Now back to the exercising.  I don't expect everyone to go sprinting off for a few km, but start small and remember there is no such word as I can't.  Get your walking nailed first then add a few sprints into it and then a few longer runs and before you know it you'll be a lot fitter and able to go further.  That's how I started and I can now do 20km no problem but I couldn't when I first started to get fit. 
I also needed to feel a bit glam today as I was feeling blah... So I sat down and painted my nails with my lovely new nail varnish that I received with the Elle magazine, truth be told I only bought the mag because of the nail polish but considering the price for the nail polish it was a bargain.  The trick by the way to get the nails to stop peeling off is to use Barry M transparent varnish on the top.  I've found Barry M doesn't peel off like most nail varnishes seem to do and I've tried them all from the cheapest at Superdrug to Chanel. Barry M does the trick. While my nails were drying I did some arm circles to bust the bingo wings before they start.  Arms = great, nails = great, my favourite jeans, trainers, with a t-shirt and a black lace camisole sticking out the top=glamoramae :) 
And ladies don't forget to look younger no matter what state we are in before we go to bed never ever ever sleep with the make up on.  If you want to look youthful and 50 that's one of the first steps to start taking now. 
Until tomorrow, night night.

Bank holiday week-end DIY

Well as its been raining stopping raining again this week-end in London I decided to do some decorating.  I've had 2 big photo frames lying around and wondering what to do with them.  So I took off the back, recycled the glass took 3 hooks and screwed them into the top and after 30 minutes if that I had a new jewllery holder...see the pictures below

Then I thought ohh how would one look as a focal point with some nik naks on that I don't know where to put right now and ta-da:

So that's the DIY finished and flat looks fab and best of all it cost me the price of a few hooks so money saved and in the savings jar. 

Eating plan, eating plan!!!

As promised here is my daily eating plan.......yum yum enjoy.
Eating plan:
Breakfast:  All bran with semi skim milked....No Special K it actually has more kj, calories, and carbs in than All Bran! And please don't have skim watery milk have the semi skinned milk, we need the calcium ladies.
Snack @ 10.00 fruit, rooibos tea.....remember to allow an hour between eating food and fruit otherwise your body can store the fruit sugar as fat.
Lunch:  On a week-end grate a carrot & celery put it in a bowl with some cous-cous, finely cut tomatoes and cucumber (filling for the week sorted).  Take a whole meal wrap layer on some lettuce, cottage cheese and then put the carrot mix on top.  Or make yourself a salad.  Be creative as long as its healthy. 
Snack @ 14:00 Yogurt
Snack @ 16:00 Treat yourself to a coffee with semi skimmed milk and no sugar or if you have to brown sugar, none of this sweetener nonsense its not good for you.
Dinner:  Take a piece of chicken put it in the pan and brown; take some slices of sweet potato, carrot, beetroot and broccoli.  Put these in the pan with the chicken, put in some soya sauce, spices, lemon juice and about 100ml of water.  Pop the lid on and let it all cook together, it the liquid starts to dry up add some more water but not too much. After 30 minutes it should be cooked.  Place neatly on the plate and dinner is served.
If you are in desperate need of a treat, have 2 scoops of sorbet or 2 scoops of plain vanilla ice cream.
Drink plenty of water and keep eating the fruit too:)

Even though our garden is really tiny I bought a tomato plant and pepper plant from B&Q and some carrots I'm now growing my own and saving a fortune.  If like me you are a bit unsure about were to start, try one of these 2 books; 100 ideas for veg in small places or vegetable fruit & herb growing in small places

Great hair, save some pennies, what a clever idea.

GREAT HAIR: I've been colouring my hair since last year October when I decided that mine was looking a bit drab with the lack of sun.  My dear friend has done an amazing job of it and it looks very professinal. The compliments have been flowing ever since the first colour. My favourite brand is Loreal Casting Cream because there is no amonia in it, after about 3 weeks when one would think its washed out and looking drab I'm always asked if I've just had my hair done as it looks so shiny.   Now I don't know ifdown to the colour lighting a bit or my shampoo & conditioner. which is only a £1.29 at Amazon and £0.99 at Superdrug unfortuanetly you can't pay it on line at Superdrug.  Poundland also stocks it at a £1.00.  At first I always used the expensive branded shampoo's to protect the colour and keep it shiny but now for less than £2.00 I keep it shiny all the time:) 

TIP:  In between rubbish collection to stop the bin smelling especially in this humid heat we have been having, rinse out the meat package and put it in a plastic bag and pop in the freezer until rubish day.  Don't tie the bag closed just fold it closed and you don't have to use a new bag everytime.  If the recycling is smelling from the tunafish can, do the same, rinse and put in a seperate bag to the actual rubish and put out on recycling day.  No more nasty smells. 

PENNY SAVING:  Every pay day put £15.00 - £20.00 pounds in a seperate savings account.  Then use this money for birthday gifts and Christmas.  Plan and when there is a sale on you can probably buy 2 gifts at the price of what 1 would normally cost. 

Now I hope we are all still doing the toning exercises and sticking to a good eating plan.  I know I promised a eating plan today but in putting together a good one I've decided to wait until the week-end:)  Watch this space.

The cellulite is on its way out while you brush your teeth:)

Well hopefully everyone has been for a fast walk or 2 or 3 and that cellulite is starting to move and will dissapear soon...yey.  Now what else do we need to do?  I am hope we are sticking to eating the right food and no junk or preservatives or as little as possible.  Now just about everyone I know uses the excuse of "I don't have enough time to exercise and go to the gym".  So here is some good news, I'm not sending you to the gym.  The next step to getting rid of cellulite is lunges and lots of them.  To start off with do 25 on each leg and I do mine while brushing my teeth.  The dentist told me to hold my electric toothbrush for a count of two on each tooth, 2 lunges and I move it to the next tooth.  25 on each leg for the bottom teeth and 25 on each leg for the top teeth, if you have more teeth to do, do some squats or stand and pretend to squeeze an imaginery ball in between your upper thighs.  Speaking of teeth after a lot of research I have discovered that an electric tooth brush is the way to go and they have really come down in price.  So if you don't use one, when your next one is up I really do suggest having a good search and getting one. I really do not regret buying Mine and the heads last for at least 6 months and you get 3 in a packet.  So with the walking, lunging, a few squats, eating the right food and some busting cellulite cream (sorry I see the annique cream I mentioned last night is sold out and Avon's products work a treat as well) the cellulite should start shifting in a few weeks.  Tomorrow I'll post a few eating plans. Remember the trick is to keep moving oh and body brush every morning upwards not downwards and every evening too.  You'll also find your skin is soft.  I apply the cream rub in upwards with the fists and then massage in with a massager.

Before I go, I just have to say that I know summer is on its way out here in London and we might want to wear our natural tan stockings to keep us warm and show off some leg I know I do. But I saw so many ladies on the train last week committing one of the biggest fashion mistake ever...stockings and open toe sandals a big time NO NO.  It will ruin your outfit! Rather wear closed shoes, please:) 

Right well tomorrow and eating plan and some money saving tips.