Old habits

Despite life being easier financially these days,  I still want value for money in everything I buy or do.

On Saturday, we had coffee and toast for free in Wetherspoons as PayPal had given my husband £5 to use before the end of the month. It was a lot of calories, so my ED brain was screaming, but sometimes I have to do these things, because I love my husband, and I have to attempt normality for both our sakes... I know living with anorexic me is not easy and he worries about me a lot. Inside my head I was making trade offs to accommodate eating it, but I enjoyed the time spent chatting over limitless refills of coffee.

Afterwards I returned 2 pairs of bargain priced boots to M and S as they were too big for my daughter.  One pair was £19, the other was £15, originally priced at £89 and £79, so huge savings but sadly both pairs were too big for her even with thick socks and an insole. £34 went back into my bank account, but I'd rather the boots had been right for her.

In Boots I picked up oat milk and an electric toothbrush for the little one. Those items were free using my points. I then called at Sainsbury's for a few bits and used £7.50 worth of points there. 

It was an enjoyable couple of hours with no money spent.

A crimplene coat won't be to many people's taste, but I love it, and the colours will be lovely for a Spring wedding... it's lighter than it's showing on here.

We have two family weddings this year, so I've been scouring Vinted. The last thing I want is to turn up in the same outfit as someone else. I found a lovely lightweight vintage coat, priced at £8.50 including delivery. It arrived yesterday. It is beautiful, it's in immaculate condition, apart from a missing button, and it fits with room to spare. Fortunately, there's enough fabric in the facings to enable me to cover a button myself... I'll take it from an area near the shoulder so that it isn't visible when it's on the hanger.

I'll be able to wear the coat as a dress, with a pair of shoes I bought in the sale in Sainsbury's, and a hair fascinator, bought on Vinted, that I refashioned into a large brooch/ corsage type thing for a family wedding last Summer because it wouldn't stay in my short, fine hair. I have a patent bag to match the shoes, so I'm all set for one of the weddings for very little money.

Bought on our way home from town on Saturday

We still need some more storage in the bedroom, and we found a G plan Fresco corner cupboard, to match our other furniture, for £15 in a charity shop. It's going into our bedroom to accommodate the record player and LPs we have up there (we have a vintage music system downstairs), and my hairdryer and cosmetics. Identical items that are polished and ready to go cost hundreds of pounds on Vinterior and Ebay, but I'd rather pay much less and use a bit of elbow grease.

I also wanted new curtains in the bedroom as the vintage Dorma ones I've had since we moved up to the attic just don't look right with the teak furniture. That room is my haven from the noise and bustle of living in a multi generational household, so it has to look and feel like one. When I went to collect a curtain pole that my daughter had ordered from Dunelm, I found half price curtains in the mustard colour I wanted. 

We won 2 prizes each with our Premium Bonds this month, continuing our good fortune from last year ( we won 9 months out of 12, both of us winning in several of the months) so I had no hesitation in buying the curtains, despite the fact that the existing ones were only bought 14 months ago. Some people choose pets, or books, or yarn, or fabric, or alcohol or cigarettes or holidays abroad, and sometimes they choose several or even all of those things. 

I chose new curtains,  just like I had no hesitation in choosing several pieces of G plan Fresco furniture before Christmas, because I don't want any of the other things I've mentioned. 

My life is physically and emotionally draining for the vast majority of the time, and I desperately need the peace that a visually pleasing room brings me, but as ever, I love a bargain. Old habits really do die hard.

Dental watch update... I saw the dentist yesterday and my gum was not infected, just being badly irritated by a couple of stitches that hadn't dissolved. He removed them, the redness is subsiding, the dreadful bitter taste that I'd had in my mouth when waking wasn't there this morning and I had my first day without pain relief yesterday. He's pleased with how things have healed and said the swelling and lopsided smile should resolve within 4 weeks. He asked me if I regretted having it done and acknowledged how awful it had been for me.

Today, I took my mum to a hospital appointment. Tomorrow, I'm taking her to another, and she has yet another one on Monday afternoon. That will be the last of the 4 for this month, thank goodness as I'm exhausted. That tooth business really knocked me for six.