It was only a couple of weeks ago when I moaned about H&M wanting to charge customers £45 for a pair of non-leather ankle boots. Insane, I thought. And as times change and styles continue to improve, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to tell your Russell & Bromley boot from your Asda at first glance. And since I no work in front of house in the Fashion retail biz, a high quality shoe is no longer as important to me. In fact, if you work full time on a shop floor, I honestly think it should be covered as part of your uniform allowance. I’d wear expensive pairs out every few months but now I work from home, a cheap pair has lasted two years.
In the same blog post, I also shared with you my 20p Jumble Sale boot findings and have worn them almost every day since, but still wanting a new pair in black, I refused to pay silly prices and hold on until the bargain I wanted jumped out at me. 
Yesterday that finally happened. I had a £20 limit in mind at the most and while I flitted between shops, a £5 black PVC pair were proudly flirting with me on a market stall. After a quick try on, I scrambled my change together and bought them and comfortable as hell, they were exactly what I had in mind and didn’t need to settle for less.
I love the extra bronze trim detail it has with a zip and buckle feature, which are perfect with skinny fit jeans and are actually part lined with leather.
Then for another example of waiting to find something at the right price is my new UV lamp I found for £1.50 in a charity shop to use with gel nail polish. I am forever becoming more conscious of my unkempt nails as I film cooking tutorials for my main YouTube channel but I’ve spent many occasion painting my nails, only to be chipped in a matter of hours. Why bother? I started asking myself. So being a bit sceptical, I didn’t want to throw more money at something that might not work. The only thing that started to get more expensive was the polish itself.
I initially made a bit of a booboo thinking B&M’s UV nail polish was for UV lamps; no, they just to glow in the dark under UV lights, so that was £1.49 wasted. But the £5.99 3 in 1 UV gel polish by N.Salon in purple was a terrific saving to test my new machine before I felt confident to buy a base and top coat inidividually. I love the colour too, so know I’m not going to be bored of it yet and more importantly, it is lasting longer than any nail varnish I’d used. I was also advised to buy the £4.99 N.Salon UV gel cleanser which is typically used for after curing nails, but the polish I bought requires this first as prep.
So, already I know I’ll make a saving on salon prices if I want to colour coordinate with an outfit over Christmas and have no excuse for camera shy nails with my future video recipes!
Then to some home furnishings now it’s leading up to Christmas. We’ve been wanting new bedding for months, but if you have a dog who loves to curl up on your bed and you’re too nice to shout OFF!, then you might be like us and avoid anything white, particularly in the winter when the ground gets muddy. I like my pooch to be as comfy as us which I know is not top-dog thinking but I just think, he only has one life.
Duvets are extremely personal and I don’t like most prints out there; they can look so cheap and tacky and I’m not even 100% on what I picked. The morning after, I think I picked it in a rush (my parking was running out). However, after a long hard scour, I settled for this cheaper £14 Asda king size red and blue tartan check set. I do love its vibrant Christmas-feel red, but as soon as I put it on, it looked a bit too busy for our unfinished bedroom but it’s not forever and after a bit of clutter clearing, i’m embracing it. My favourite purchase thought was Asda’s their premium £13 100% Egyptian cotton 300 thread count king size fitted bed sheet, who offered the best quality and value for money. It really was amazing though to find such a huge price difference of £9.99 in B&M to £30 in Debenhams for exactly the same quality 200 thread count, so thank you, Asda; I shall visit you first next time I’m in need!
So, that about wraps up this weekends bargain purchases. And as for the money I’ve saved over the last year, it’s now starting to go to good use, buying the less sexy things we’ve needed like lintels, sand, cement and bricks this week for our upcoming major kitchen DIY project which starts next Saturday, but I will spare you the details until then when I have some before and after pics!
Happy bargain shopping!
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