Time to set Sale

Hey Beans,

Everyone has a favorite season. My dad like Autumn;  my brother and me go back to uni. My mum likes winter; her birthday and Christmas all in one month . My brother likes spring; lots of Easter egg to nibble on! And i love summer. For one beautiful reason. I cant stand the heat, i never get a tan and my body has never been bikini ready but theres one summer event I've never missed.... the sales

Of course not me attempting to make you jealous at all i thought I'd show you my beautiful purchase from this weekend

Now Beans don't panic I've not gone crazy and spent all of my magic beans on some frivolous selfish purchase! These shoes are not only a symbol of absolute beauty they're a symbol of my hard work and savings!! Thats what this blog is all about. Making your money go that little bit further so you can have these little luxury splurges.

My top 5 tips for Summer Sales

1. Be in the know
I'm not talking just a ... oh monsoon sale is July. Beans we need specifics!!! Having worked in retail for 4 years im normally chatty anyway but even if you are a bit of a grumpy gills get talking to the ladies behind the tills!! Sales assistant will deny it most of the time but as we head into June most will know when the sales are going to be in on in their store. Another little tip, if you know a sale is coming up in the next week try and pop in to the store for a browse; cause little hints can tip of what items will be going down. Some stores just move departments others mark all the items with a coloured dot or a number (which normally correlates to percentage off the item). Most stores go into sale mid week to- so try to pop in for some late night shopping. Near me Basingstoke is fab for evening shopping! It always less crowded, no queues for the fitting rooms, and you can get in before the weekend traffic nab up all the bargains

2. Early bird catches the worm but slow and steady will win the race
Patience is a virtue, yes i have now taken to reciting Chinese proverbs but it can be true in the mind field that is the summer sale! Stores aren't stupid. They aren't holding sales out the kindness of their heart they're doing it cause they're trying to get rid of old stock and make a little bit of a profit! So most sales start of at 30% then creep up and up until you can sometimes get 70% off. Yes some of that stuff can be a load of old rubbish even your crazy aunty Meryl wouldn't wear but sometimes you can find little jewels! One of the best for these amazing knock-downs is Claire accessories. What I've found with Claire is that because their target market is pre-teens and Justin Beiber addicts some of their more grown-up items get shoved into sale. It might take a little bit of searching but yesterday i brought 5 sales items for 5 GBP!  Bargain! So not only did i get a little bit of jewellery for myself i also got a few jokey presents for xmas!

3.Budget!
Blah, blah, blah.. boring budgets. I know, but its so important. Sometimes we can see how much money we would have saved and not thought 'can i actually afford this?' Just because there's 50% off of a pair of Louis Vitton still means they're at least 150 GPB and i don't know any student who can afford that. Perhaps instead pop inb some key description words of the shoes you like into maybe new look or topshop website (like platform, court, nude, black, studded) an see what they have that similar, this may mean you have to wait a little bit longer but the cash is well saved. What the point of having beautiful shoes if you have nowhere to wear them?

4. Wana be frugal... turn to Google!
As a completely addicted on-line shopper will tell you there are bargains to be had, but despite millennium claims that eventually we would never leave our house and out entire lives would be delivered to our doors we are still venturing out into stores. Before you go out though pop onto ASOS, BooHoo or maybe Simply Be. These on-line retailers don't have stores so don't have to pay for renting the space or the extra staff. This way clothes prices can be kept down and your the one who gets the saving. I always have a little scourer before i go out to make sure i don't miss out on a good deal

5. Buyer's remorse
The panic buy. I'm certain we are all guilty. My most fatal was a black and pink rag like skirt I brought in hast in boxing day sale of 2007 in M&S. Apart from in that fitting room (where it was the only thing that fitted) it never got worn again. You really have to watch this, so many stores don't do returns on sale items. You can most likely get store credit. But if you've brought a questionable dress and decide that you need to actually perhaps pay some bills with that money store credit ain't guna get you far.

MY MAGIC BEAN FOR THE DAY
Most basics like jeans and plain tops never go on sale cause they sell all year. So sign up for GAP VIP emails and you get invited to 30% off events throughout the year. They also let you know when the sale is coming up and they're sale you can get some real bargains!!

Happy Shopping
Much love
Mummy Bean 
xxx

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