Time to celebrate Beans,
My bestie Bean has just turned 21 so big Happy Birthdays to her! Birthdays can get so expensive when your at University especially when most students will turn the big 21 in their 3rd year. But you can still but great thought into pressies without putting in all that cash you can't afford!
Here are my Top 5 tips for doing a presents on a budget!
1. You don't plan to fail, you fail to plan
Organisation people! You may have got this your ear from your parents or teachers and never really paid attention, but despite how much us students endorse the fact that anything done last minute normally goes... alright but realistically if we want to budget properly then we really need to plan. Depressing as it sounds I already have a list of what every friend and family member is getting for christmas, have a draw with everything I've already brought (or plan to re-gift) and I am eyeing up christmas cards to start writing early! You must set a present budget, write it down on a big peice of paper so you dont over-spend!! Then divide up your budget between your friends (at xmas) - some people prefer to write out ideas and vague costs first. I write down exepcted price because then you stop your self from thinking about that really expensive broccoli steamer for your mum and you think at a more attainable level.
Don't forget parties as well! Half the reason we spend so much at christmas and birthdays is all the food and drink and partying. Plan that into your budget too, and make it a challening budget. Then you will really think about what your spending
2. The incredible Bulk
Bulk buying is a fab way to keep costs down for birthdays, and it doesnt have to be unpersonal. Places like The Card Factory often sell cards at 10 for £1, you have to search for the decent ones but they are great as a back up card when your being forgetful. If you like to buy choccys and thing for people then perhaps of instead buy a carton of roses or quality street for people, just get some polythene bags and some ribbon and make little gift bags. You can perosnalise the tag and it will mkae it look like you'vve put way more effort it!
3. From the heart
Homemade presents always go down a treat. And well in the knowledge that this friend isnt reading this i can divulge what im making for her birthday!!! Shes really into the vintage scene, so i popped to my local habadashery at brought a square of floral material. using a cookie cutter i drew out as many shapes of hearts i could fit on (do this on the non-patterned side, in a light colour!). Then cut all your hearts out (really you only need 2 cut outs - but you may aswell bulk make so you have more when xmas comes around). Place your hearts together, pattern side out and stitch them together round the outside leaving a 3cm gap. Grab an old pillow and rip a hole in the top, and put some that pillow stuffing into the heart. You can then pop some drips of oil in if you like, or just stich the heart up as perfect little decoration. I'll pop up a little demo online later, as i can't sew for shit it will prove that anyone can do this!!
4. Get Baked
No, no students. Im not suggesting anything herbal!!! But baking make great little prezzies, do a few cupcakes with peresonaliesd icing and maybe some little earrings and you have a fabuilous prezzie. I love decorating so for xmas i'm making a hamper of all the things she loves in cookie form, im even making a cookie cigarette packet!!
5. Early bird get the worm, and the cheapest one too
I have begged you students a few time before to start doing this!! Summer sales, and even the xmas ones too!! Stock up on xmas pressies, not only arre the little bits of jewellery or clothing great last minute pressies for any forgeten gifts. but you can pick up loads of novelty items ike marmite mugs or book wines really cheap in these sales in places like BHS or Debenhams! Take advantage, dont say, o well im going to lose it, keep a safe place to hide everything and it wont go missing!
Happy birthday Beans
Love to you all
Hannah
P.S Dont forget to follow!
xxxx
Showing posts with label money-saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money-saving. Show all posts
Friday, 24 August 2012
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Get fit for not even a fiver!!
Hey Healthy Beans!
Apologies for such a late bog, i did write this on monday but i didn't press the publish button!!! silly me!
I have mentioned before I am on diet as all these pesky beans are great because they are low in fat!! But you can't just diet to lose weight you gotta get exercising too!
Here are my 5 top tips for losing pounds without losing the pennies
1. Coach potato to athletic sensations
Watching the Olympics, thinking you could do tat, of course you can!!! Well no probably not. But you may get inspired to take up one of the sport you see on the telly! But some of these sport can get pricey. The average price of a judo class is £6 a session. Do really learn a sport and to get fit you should be exercising 3 times a week so thee classes could cost you £18 a week or £78 a month! But there are tonnes of sports you can do for free and I've found one where your not even on your own! C25K, you may have heard of it. An NHS course run by Cool Running is a plan to get you from running for 1 minute to 30! I'm on week 3 at the moment in which you run 1 and a half minutes the rest then 3 minutes then rest and repeat. You need to be committed and it will work mum can now run for 20 minutes!
Here is a link
http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx
2. Guna ride my bike until i get old
Want to save money on fuel and exercise, get cycling! I've nicked my mums bike and ave just been doing lots of different local routes working up my miles. Try and time your self and measure the route - i put it into Google and use an album tat i can know the exact timing of to cycle too. Eventually your stamina will improve and you'll be able to do longer and longer distances
3. Beans beans the musical fruit
Ever seen all that fancy gym equipment and wondered how expensive is it. Free, AND IN YOUR CUPBOARD! To get rid of your bingo wings, while your watching the telly pick up a tin of beans and use these as weights! Yours stairs are fantastic as steps, i pop my laptop onto about the fifth step and get stepping for a good 30 minutes. Have a mosey on youtube and you'll find free tutorials on so many fitness routines from cardio to yoga. Not costing you any pennies
4. And that little piggy went wiiiiii all the way home
If whats putting you of exercise is leaving the house don't panic, tonnes of people would be frightened. So look whats in your house. My parent brought the wii fit 2 years ago and its nearly gone unused. So get on it make a profile and have a gone. Dont have one? Then pop to the charity shop and i guarantee they will have an exercise DVD or two to pick from. Cheap as chips - well cheap as potato wedges done in fry-light!
5. There is no better price than free
Gyms and slimming clubs are always looking to get new members so have a spy about and find out what deals they have. I have some fab news, Kinetic Gyms are offering a free 5day pass. Even if you jut pop for a swim or to a zumba that's still £5 saved! If you really are set on joining a gym the have look at local university's, most take members of the public but can be half the price of some chain gyms!
Remember your 5 top tips a day!!!
Love Hannah
Dont forget to follow
xxx
Apologies for such a late bog, i did write this on monday but i didn't press the publish button!!! silly me!
I have mentioned before I am on diet as all these pesky beans are great because they are low in fat!! But you can't just diet to lose weight you gotta get exercising too!
Here are my 5 top tips for losing pounds without losing the pennies
1. Coach potato to athletic sensations
Watching the Olympics, thinking you could do tat, of course you can!!! Well no probably not. But you may get inspired to take up one of the sport you see on the telly! But some of these sport can get pricey. The average price of a judo class is £6 a session. Do really learn a sport and to get fit you should be exercising 3 times a week so thee classes could cost you £18 a week or £78 a month! But there are tonnes of sports you can do for free and I've found one where your not even on your own! C25K, you may have heard of it. An NHS course run by Cool Running is a plan to get you from running for 1 minute to 30! I'm on week 3 at the moment in which you run 1 and a half minutes the rest then 3 minutes then rest and repeat. You need to be committed and it will work mum can now run for 20 minutes!
Here is a link
http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx
2. Guna ride my bike until i get old
Want to save money on fuel and exercise, get cycling! I've nicked my mums bike and ave just been doing lots of different local routes working up my miles. Try and time your self and measure the route - i put it into Google and use an album tat i can know the exact timing of to cycle too. Eventually your stamina will improve and you'll be able to do longer and longer distances
3. Beans beans the musical fruit
Ever seen all that fancy gym equipment and wondered how expensive is it. Free, AND IN YOUR CUPBOARD! To get rid of your bingo wings, while your watching the telly pick up a tin of beans and use these as weights! Yours stairs are fantastic as steps, i pop my laptop onto about the fifth step and get stepping for a good 30 minutes. Have a mosey on youtube and you'll find free tutorials on so many fitness routines from cardio to yoga. Not costing you any pennies
4. And that little piggy went wiiiiii all the way home
If whats putting you of exercise is leaving the house don't panic, tonnes of people would be frightened. So look whats in your house. My parent brought the wii fit 2 years ago and its nearly gone unused. So get on it make a profile and have a gone. Dont have one? Then pop to the charity shop and i guarantee they will have an exercise DVD or two to pick from. Cheap as chips - well cheap as potato wedges done in fry-light!
5. There is no better price than free
Gyms and slimming clubs are always looking to get new members so have a spy about and find out what deals they have. I have some fab news, Kinetic Gyms are offering a free 5day pass. Even if you jut pop for a swim or to a zumba that's still £5 saved! If you really are set on joining a gym the have look at local university's, most take members of the public but can be half the price of some chain gyms!
Remember your 5 top tips a day!!!
Love Hannah
Dont forget to follow
xxx
Friday, 27 July 2012
Payday Budgets!!!
Well hello Beans,
I trust you are enjoying your day I am! I'VE BEEN PAID! Finally got all the money for my deposit and rent for the house massive weight has jsut lifted off my shoulders! Even better i have a little left over for me too.
Out of my gang of friends back home I'm the only one at university. So with them all in full-time jobs and me with my meesly 8hr part-time work its sometimes difficult to keep up. But my word is it do-able! Difficult but do-able. All you need to do is make sure you've got a really good budget in place
Here are my 5 top ten tips for Payday Budgeting
1. Tommorow, tommorow, i'll do it, tommorow!
No you won't. You know how i know that. Cause i wouldn't. You waon't do it the next day or the one after that and then eventually you'll say 'oh, next month'. Despite my continuing attempts to have procrastination named an olympic sport, budgeting is not the appropriate time to divulge in such an activity.
So get to it. Now!!
2. Honesty is always the best policy
Theres no point lying to yourself about your financees (you'll know). Trying to kidd yourself that you don't have an over draf, or that at the end of the month you'll pay this that and the other off isn't going to help. Be realistic with yourself. Work out your figures and write it down in big letters and put them up. Wheather its your phone bill, your water bill or perhaps how much you spent on booze last month. Be realistic.
3. Get Calculating.
Write down every incoming bit of money you have for month on one side of a coloumn and on the other your outgoings you have to buy. Food, rent, bills, phone bill are just a few examples. Be honest with yourself to, if your a smoker budget your smokling but dont be unrealistic and make sweeping statements like im not guina smoke (cause it probably won't happen). Then you can see what your left with. I like to divide that figures into weeks and then i can see how much i have for the whole week.
3. Every penny counts!
This is something i got my friend whos about to be a fresher to do. once you've work out what you've got coming in every month and out every month get yourself some pennies. 1 p for every pound and fill up a jar. Every time you spend a pound you put a penny into the out goings jar. This emans you have a visual representation of your finances. If your not mathmatically minded it really helps to see your earnings too and see when your budgeting how your money divides up. Sometimes you dont realise how much you've spent on absoulte shit!
5. Work hard. Play Harder
What really makes budgeting worth it to me is not have that paniccy feeling at the end of the month thinking where the hell am i guna find money for food or rent. If you can plan your spending, you'll find the more you budget the niftier ways you'll make your money last longer. This means when you do want a little splurdge your able to do it without that guilt hanging over you
Happy Budgeting Beans
I trust you are enjoying your day I am! I'VE BEEN PAID! Finally got all the money for my deposit and rent for the house massive weight has jsut lifted off my shoulders! Even better i have a little left over for me too.
Out of my gang of friends back home I'm the only one at university. So with them all in full-time jobs and me with my meesly 8hr part-time work its sometimes difficult to keep up. But my word is it do-able! Difficult but do-able. All you need to do is make sure you've got a really good budget in place
Here are my 5 top ten tips for Payday Budgeting
1. Tommorow, tommorow, i'll do it, tommorow!
No you won't. You know how i know that. Cause i wouldn't. You waon't do it the next day or the one after that and then eventually you'll say 'oh, next month'. Despite my continuing attempts to have procrastination named an olympic sport, budgeting is not the appropriate time to divulge in such an activity.
So get to it. Now!!
2. Honesty is always the best policy
Theres no point lying to yourself about your financees (you'll know). Trying to kidd yourself that you don't have an over draf, or that at the end of the month you'll pay this that and the other off isn't going to help. Be realistic with yourself. Work out your figures and write it down in big letters and put them up. Wheather its your phone bill, your water bill or perhaps how much you spent on booze last month. Be realistic.
3. Get Calculating.
Write down every incoming bit of money you have for month on one side of a coloumn and on the other your outgoings you have to buy. Food, rent, bills, phone bill are just a few examples. Be honest with yourself to, if your a smoker budget your smokling but dont be unrealistic and make sweeping statements like im not guina smoke (cause it probably won't happen). Then you can see what your left with. I like to divide that figures into weeks and then i can see how much i have for the whole week.
3. Every penny counts!
This is something i got my friend whos about to be a fresher to do. once you've work out what you've got coming in every month and out every month get yourself some pennies. 1 p for every pound and fill up a jar. Every time you spend a pound you put a penny into the out goings jar. This emans you have a visual representation of your finances. If your not mathmatically minded it really helps to see your earnings too and see when your budgeting how your money divides up. Sometimes you dont realise how much you've spent on absoulte shit!
5. Work hard. Play Harder
What really makes budgeting worth it to me is not have that paniccy feeling at the end of the month thinking where the hell am i guna find money for food or rent. If you can plan your spending, you'll find the more you budget the niftier ways you'll make your money last longer. This means when you do want a little splurdge your able to do it without that guilt hanging over you
Happy Budgeting Beans
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Keep your cool
Dear Boiling Beans,
We've been moaning for weeks that there has been no sunshine for weeks and now we've been overloaded. I've practical turned to God since they've fixed my offices air-con system! If you've not got air-con, don't panic, no need jumping into your neighbours paddling pool just yet.
Here are my 5 top tips for keeping your cool without baking all your dough (wow, my jokes are worst than my fathers)
1. Pistols at the ready
This is probably my favourite way to keep cool with my mates. Water fight. No planning necessary, not even water guns, regularly i begin mine with a bucket of water to my boyfriends face! You can get 100 water bombs from the pound shop - you'd never guess there a pound - and they sell loads of cheap toys as well. Just remember to be safe, even have some spare old goggles lying around, this will make it easier for you to see and to win as well!! If you have any reluctant members of your group make it a bit of a competition, whether its a water fight for the last cider. Or winner gets to pick their favourite Ice lolly
2. I'll take you to the candy shop...
Yes 50 Cent, lick it like a lollipop. But please i beg of you, don't be buying from the ice-cream vans or stalls! Whatever Ice-lolly you like from calypsosos to crunchie blasts, always buy the the multi-pack. Its simple math! your saving at least 50p an ice ceream, which over a long summer adds up. That goes for ice-cream too; for a scoop of Kelly's Cornish Ice-cream your looking at £1.50, a litre tub at tesco costs £2!! Save your sprinkles and wait till you get home! You'll save a lot of wonga.
3. Its going to be Intents
Tempted to get away for a weekend, maybe book a B&B for the night. Stop right there. A travel lodge will cost you £40-60 for a night, why waste all your pounds on a roof over your head when you can make a whole weekend from £50. I don't mean Girl guide camping or Scouting and i certainly don't mean when your Dad drags you to a nearby forest for a family holiday. I mean BBQ, booze and ghost stories! Me and my friends love road-tripping, bundling into one car with the music really loud to some random destination - just remember to split the petrol cost!!!
4. Cool as a cucumber
This is an absolutely crazy trick that i actually got from a pet book. Cucumber ice-lollies. I used to freeze half sticks of cucumber for my rabbits and my old school friend was dumb enough to try and eat some. After a long time of convincing me i tried it to and was very pleasantly surprised. Its really healthy for you and helps keep you hydrated. This frozen cucumber also makes a great addition into a jug of Pimms.
5. Always use protection
Shes about to nag, run away.... Thought i would offer the obvious tip, use sun cream!!! I burn so easily so I've always got a little travel sized bottle with me. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Super markets own are normally great, just perhaps have some baby wipes to hand to get any grease off. Don't spend silly money on an after sun either, just as you leave the house in the morning, for the beach or wherever, pop your favourite moisturiser in the fridge. Feels great when it goes on and you've saved a little bit cash for a souvenir post card and keyring.
Happy Baking Beans
Hannah
xxx
We've been moaning for weeks that there has been no sunshine for weeks and now we've been overloaded. I've practical turned to God since they've fixed my offices air-con system! If you've not got air-con, don't panic, no need jumping into your neighbours paddling pool just yet.
Here are my 5 top tips for keeping your cool without baking all your dough (wow, my jokes are worst than my fathers)
1. Pistols at the ready
This is probably my favourite way to keep cool with my mates. Water fight. No planning necessary, not even water guns, regularly i begin mine with a bucket of water to my boyfriends face! You can get 100 water bombs from the pound shop - you'd never guess there a pound - and they sell loads of cheap toys as well. Just remember to be safe, even have some spare old goggles lying around, this will make it easier for you to see and to win as well!! If you have any reluctant members of your group make it a bit of a competition, whether its a water fight for the last cider. Or winner gets to pick their favourite Ice lolly
2. I'll take you to the candy shop...
Yes 50 Cent, lick it like a lollipop. But please i beg of you, don't be buying from the ice-cream vans or stalls! Whatever Ice-lolly you like from calypsosos to crunchie blasts, always buy the the multi-pack. Its simple math! your saving at least 50p an ice ceream, which over a long summer adds up. That goes for ice-cream too; for a scoop of Kelly's Cornish Ice-cream your looking at £1.50, a litre tub at tesco costs £2!! Save your sprinkles and wait till you get home! You'll save a lot of wonga.
3. Its going to be Intents
Tempted to get away for a weekend, maybe book a B&B for the night. Stop right there. A travel lodge will cost you £40-60 for a night, why waste all your pounds on a roof over your head when you can make a whole weekend from £50. I don't mean Girl guide camping or Scouting and i certainly don't mean when your Dad drags you to a nearby forest for a family holiday. I mean BBQ, booze and ghost stories! Me and my friends love road-tripping, bundling into one car with the music really loud to some random destination - just remember to split the petrol cost!!!
4. Cool as a cucumber
This is an absolutely crazy trick that i actually got from a pet book. Cucumber ice-lollies. I used to freeze half sticks of cucumber for my rabbits and my old school friend was dumb enough to try and eat some. After a long time of convincing me i tried it to and was very pleasantly surprised. Its really healthy for you and helps keep you hydrated. This frozen cucumber also makes a great addition into a jug of Pimms.
5. Always use protection
Shes about to nag, run away.... Thought i would offer the obvious tip, use sun cream!!! I burn so easily so I've always got a little travel sized bottle with me. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Super markets own are normally great, just perhaps have some baby wipes to hand to get any grease off. Don't spend silly money on an after sun either, just as you leave the house in the morning, for the beach or wherever, pop your favourite moisturiser in the fridge. Feels great when it goes on and you've saved a little bit cash for a souvenir post card and keyring.
Happy Baking Beans
Hannah
xxx
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