Day 27: Ladies what lunch....

Today was the first day back to work after my holiday and it's actually been a really lovely day. Got to work early as I knew this week would be busy, plus I need to catch up on what had happened in the week that I was away.

So, I left the house pretty early this morning at about 8.10am so that I would be at work by 8.30am to get a head start on everything. Braving the wind and the rain (that rubbish kind of rain that doesn't feel like anything but soaks you through) I walk to the office stopping off at Tesco on the way to buy breakfast for me and Tamara (chocolate coissants £1), my daily chocolate fix (Galaxy bar 52p.... FYI they do not sell these in Portugal!) and a pack of chewing gum.... so that's about £2.10 gone!

I am very pleased to say that today I got my iPhone back, at last! After having two disaster iPhone's I am hoping and praying that this one will last.... I just need to make sure that I do not drop it this time!

So anyway, the morning goes incredibly quickly, I'm all caught up on the weekly goings on, I start to actually remember what it is that I do and getting back to everything that I was setting up before I went swanning off for a week. Tamara has organised for us to go to lunch with Liz who used to work with us, which is fab! Liz is a lovely klady who will very soon be bidding farewell to the grey skies of Blighty and hello to the Spanish sunshine when she moves out to their house in Spain next month! I am incredibly jealous!

We had planned to pay a visit to Toro Latino, the tapas just around the corner from the office as we are big fans, although we have now discovered that they now only open at lunchtime once a week. This does not fill us with joy. Instead we decide to trot on down to Pizza Express for a bite to eat and a catch up. So I quickly scour the internet for money saving vouchers and print one off which entitles us to one of our mains for just £1.... bargain!

Now, I am a big fan of Pizza Express and since the Market Harborough branch has opened this is only my third visit. Being as it opened at the end of June this is very good for me! The girls are not wanting starters but in my book you can't go to Pizza Express without having dough balls. So I order a portion and devoir all eight to myself as when offered both Liz and Tamara declined.... but I am not ashamed!

All three of us have the same pasta dish as a main, Pollo Pesto and it is just divine! All washed down with a chilled glass of Appletiser (another addiction of mine as I can't drink Coke anymore) my lunch comes to £10 when we split the bill.

I spend the afternoon feeling slightly guilty for my calorie fest and even though I have the urge to make myself some Weetabix as a healthy snack I resist, hell bent on burning everything that I have eaten in my torturous Spinning class this evening.

I leave the office just after 5.40pm and head for the Leisure Centre ready for my 45 minutes of torture ahead. Of course, in my usual characteristic style I am running late and being the disorganised little madam that I am, I have forgotten my water bottle and do not have any change at all for the lockers.

I end up having to change a fiver and using £1 of that to buy a bottle of water from the vending machine at the Leisure Centre before running into the class and barely having tome to set up my bike properly. Obviously I set it up wrong, leading to the most uncomfortable work out session ever and because I have chosen a bike with no water holder my bottle falls on the floor several times throughout the work out causing me to dismount several times.... not the best!

Luckily Body Balance afterwards is very chilled and flies by so before I know it hometime has arrived. It's the time I look forward to the most.... dinnertime! Now I am aware that I ate a rather sizeable lunch but I have worked hard so I make Mum and I a prawn stirfry and sit down to eat it in front of One Tree Hill.... my favourite thing about a Monday!

I am proud to say that I have updated my new iPhone and I have done no internet shopping, real life shopping or bought any albums on iTunes today.... although I have just seen that Jimmy Eat World and Friendly Fires have new albums, so I may well need those in my life! Maybe I will wait and see how much money I have spare before I buy them though as this month I have quite a lot going on what with the show and everything.... but maybe if I don't go out I can get them?! Yeah that'll never happen!

Day 26: Old habits die hard....

So we are now back in the UK after a holiday that almost made me teetotal.... don't ask!

The sun was shining, the villa was gorgeous, we spent endless days by the pool, played Come Dine With Me at night and I now have a tan to die for.... we have had a brilliant week, Albufeira is beautiful.

I have spent the week sunbathing, swimming, doing yoga in the garden and eating my body weight. Sheer bliss! I even finished a book for the first time in years that wasn't Bridget Jones' Diary which is quite an achievement let me tell you. The book was of course Confessions of a Shopoholic... whatever else?!

On the money front I had been such a good girl. All we'd bought was the food shop for the week and had been out to eat a couple of times. On Thursday I still had 200 euros left, which is very good as I had taken 340 altogether and this was 5 days into our holiday.

As it turns out it rained all day on Thursday so we decided that it would be a good idea to take a trip to Algarve Shopping.

I emerged from said shopping centre with the following items:

• 1 strapless navi and cream dress from Stradivarius - Obviously a must have as it had a millitary detail front with gold buttons and also you can't buy it in the UK. Plus it's so cute!
• 1 Christmas style cardigan from Zara - who knows if you can buy it in this country and who cares?! It is honestly the most amazing cardigan ever. It did cost 50 euros so I did try to leave it in the shop but I almost had heart failure walking out and had to go back and buy it. I have worn it every day ever since, even on the plane. Bob's reaction on meeting us from the airport was "Bloody hell Em.... did you get that out of a Christmas cracker?!" I don't care because I like my reindeer!
• 2 cute necklaces from Accessorize - fair enough I really could have bought them in the UK but we had to queue for ages for a taxi so I decided that I needed to pay them a visit!

As I only allowed myself to spend 100 euros that day I came in well on budget. I did buy another jumper but I decided that it wasn't a to die for item and could therefore be taken back. So anyway.... what with my thrifty money saving for the rest of the week, I still had 60 euros left at the airport, that was until I got to the duty free.

Duty free is like heaven for me.... I love perfume and I love makeup, especially the expensive stuff. So I try on about 5 different perfumes (by the end of which I can't smell any of them) settling on a 100ml bottle of my trusty old favourite Stella McCartney, Stella as my treat for saving money. This actually costs 72 euros so I have to pay a little on my card but I figure that is fine as I was paid on Friday.

I also have a weakness for lipgloss, I have loads of them. I do realise that I only have one set of lips but obviously a girl a different one to suit her mood. I perruse the shelves picking up several along the way, Lancome, Clinique, Channel, finally settling on a pink little Dior number as my favourite one that the girls got me for my birthday last year has sadly passed and needs replacing. So that's a total of 91 euros, I think I'm done and walk away from the store only to find that we are missing Nush so we head back on in to find her.

So we find Nush and she utters the magic words.... "have you seen the Kinder Buenos?"

For those of you who don't know me very well.... I love Kinder chocolate. When I was in the sixth form Sam and I used to eat several Kinder eggs a week and created a little town called Sandbyville in our form tutor Mr Sandby's room on one of the shelves, he loved it. Anyway, Nush shows me to the most amazing display that I have ever seen. There are Buenos, Kinder sticks, Schokobons.... everything that Kinder have ever made. I quickly decide upon a MASSIVE bag of Schokobons and a slab of Kinder sticks thenmake my way to the check out for a second time.... whoops!

The worst thing about all this is that I have bought all of these wonderful things from Duty Free and have left them in the back of Bob's car! Rubbish!

So now I'm at home, it's great to be back and to see everyone, but the trouble is that I can already feel the post holiday blues setting in. True to character this usually means a shopping trip of some variety is in order.

So I met Lauren for a catch up lunch at Enigma, after which we pay a quick visit to New Look. About 20 minutes and £50 later I am now the proud owner of the beautiful blouse that I had walked away from a couple of weeks ago and a pair of brown cowboy ankle boots.... will I never learn?

Day 17: If you want to go out....

I'm pleased to report that the last couple of days have actually been a great success spending wise.... in a way!

Put it this way, if I only spent during the day while I was at work then on Thursday I would've spent a grand total of 48p on a Galaxy bar.... what else?

However, this was not the case as I hit the pub in the evening with a couple of the guys from theatre group.... 3 glasses of wine later I have spent £9. Still not all that bad to be fair!

Yesterday we had a training day in the office and lunch (from Marks and Spencers.... yum!) was provided but I'd already spent £3 in tesco on the way, although to be fair I can't actually remember for the life of me what on apart from Galaxy bar and a huge bottle of water!

As Tamara and I spend the afternoon munching our way through the leftover food in the office, my bikini diet seems to have ended and my holiday has started a day early! Thank god I'm going to the gym!

So straight after work (my last day for a whole week.... yay!) I hot foot it to the gym as I'm off out again with the girls that evening.... tired from a busy day I struggle a little bit and settle for burning just 600 calories instead of the usual 800 and head home where I am greeted with yet more food!

So I meet Lauren and Jen in Enigma at 8.30 and we head to Evolution to see Jen's brother's band, The Working Projects do a gig. They are very good actually, well worth a look up! This is when the drinking starts.... a WKD blue and a shot later the drinking has began!

As we are old ladies now, the noise soon gets a little bit too much. The boys join us for a bit but then head off to The Square and Jen and Bob go home, so it's just me and Lauren left. We decide to head to The Loaf so that we can actually talk to each other.... a couple of Koppabergs later and we're putting the world to rights, joined by Sarah! Good times!

My final spend was around £5.10 for my round of drinks and £2 for some chips and cheese on the way home.... all in all not too bad! Could do better!

Like the nut job I am, just off to Body Combat before I head off on my jollies to Albufeira at 2pm this afternoon where I'm going to blow caution to the wind and blow £300 in a week! I can't bloody wait!

See you in a week kids! xx

Day 14: Hello my name is Emma and I am a shopaholic!

Now I am aware that I have been a tad lackadaisical of late.... in fact I have not updated my blog for the last week. My bad!

So anyway, I'm back and I have a confession to make.... I have been a very bad girl!

In the last week I have spent quite a lot of money....

Thursday wasn't a bad day.... I spent a total of £1.26 for the whole day! That was on the usual Galaxy bar and a packet of gum. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Friday was ok.... my total spend was £10.08 which consisted of:

• 2 bottles of Blossom Hill White Grenache (only the best wine will pass my lips.... plus it was on offer at £4.49)
• 1 bar of Galaxy
• 1 packet of chewing gum

I was very proud of myself.... however, disaster actually struck on Saturday when I realised that I was running out of makeup - obviously I cannot go on holiday without makeup or live without it in general as right now I have the skin of a teenager! My iPhone had also broken, which had upset me quite a lot and therefore retail therapy was needed!

I emerged from boots with the following:

• 1 No 7. Stay Perfect foundation
• 1 Rimmel clear complexion powder
• 1 Rimmel hide the blemish concealer

After spending a good half an hour in Carphone Warehouse trying to sort my phone out, where it became quite evident that I would be iPhone-less for my holiday, my panic stricken state needed this spend to calm my nerves at the thought of being without music until I return from Portugal!

As I was in town waiting for Lauren and Dave, I also decided that it was a good time to get my euros sorted for my holiday.... so there went £304 out of my bank account! Bad times.... but at least I am organised!

So after these two splurges I decide to blow caution to the wind and head to Starbucks to read my book.... and am then later joined by Lauren and Dave. Two Caramel Macchiatos and a Rocky Road (which can also be described as around £8) later I leave Starbucks and embark on an evening of X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing while putting all of my music onto my old phone so that I am not music deprived until I get my iPhone back after holiday! I therefore spend nothing.... this is good I feel!

Sunday is Arts Fresco.... now this was not supposed to cost me anymore than a lunch in the Sugar Loaf and possibly a bottle of water. However, I did not anticipate the bottle of Bulmers consumed with lunch and the 3 pints of Strongbow and bottle of Bud consumed throughout the afternoon.... I'm a classy bird, me!

When I've had a few money becomes like Monopoly money.... so I somehow manage to spend about £40.... whoops! I did have a fantastic day though so if I'm being honest I am really not sorry at all!

Monday, I bought my lunch and breakfast for the week from Tesco which consists of:

• 2 packs of chargrilled chicken pieces
• 1 bag of lettuce
• 1 bottle of sweet chilli sauce
• 3 peppers
• 1 pack of organic cherry plum tomatoes
• 1 Galaxy bar
• 1 actual lettuce
• 1 box of weetabix
• 1 bottle of semi-skimmed milk

This comes to a total of around £13.... but I figure that is ok because it's for the whole week! Especially as I have no plans for most of the week except for packing.... obviously after killing myself in Spinning, Body Balance and Body Combat classes in my final push to get my bikini worthy bod!

Tuesday comes and goes with what I would like to say was only spending £1.26 on a Galaxy bar and chewing gum but at lunchtime I take a sneaky trip to Altered Egos.... my Mecca of shopping in Market Harborough. All of my favourite brands under one roof and only minutes away from my office!

Betty and Stokesy know exactly what I like.... it probably won't surprise you to know that I already own half of the shop! They are great at their job and show me a fab Quiksilver crop top which would look amazing with my Firetrap denim shorts and be great for my holiday. It looks fab on and this time my conscience doesn't even kick in once.... it costs £31.50! SOLD! I am now the proud owner of said crop top.... it is already packed in my suitcase.... Whoops!

Today I thought that I would be extraordinarily good but no such luck.... I buy my usual Galaxy bar on my way to work and head straight for the office. For some reason today I am absolutely starving and salad just won't cut it.... so at 1pm I decide to take a break and head to Starbucks to read my book. By this time I am so hungry I am ready to eat somebody's arm so I naughtily order a chocolate chunk shortbread and a skinny Caramel Macchiato, which is the best part of £5 gone!

Before leaving Starby's I grab Sarah a Hazelnut Latte to take to her in Jacks before heading to Emerson and West to grab a jacket potato for lunch. I am then disappointed to find that they have ran out and have to settle for a turkey, stuffing and apple sauce roll.... which was delightful! So that was another £5 gone..... oh dear!

I have not since spent a penny but am sat here thoroughly ashamed of myself that I have not resisted the urge to spend!

I am now going to take my sorry ass off to bed to watch Clueless.... night kids! xx

Day 7: A little Starbucks treat....

I think I'm getting the hang of this spending less Millarky now.... today I take some of Daddy Waterfield's homemade leek, bacon and potato soup and a bread roll to work for my lunch. So today I have bought the following om my daily visit to Tesco:

• 1 pack of pain au chocolats £1.00 (1 of which is still left as Tamara didn't want hers so that's tomorrow's breaky sorted!)
• 1 Galaxy Bar 52p

So that's a total of £1.52 spent in Tesco.... not bad!

At lunchtime I meet Jenny in Starby's for a catch up coffee. I decide it's time for a treat so I try a Caramel Macchiato for £3.15, which I have to say is delightful! I resist the temptation to buy a cake as everytime I have cake and coffee from there I seem to feel sick!

So we have a lovely lunchtime catch up and chat, sharing gossip and filling each other in on the weeks events. We haven't seen each other since Saturday.... obviously a lot has happened since then! Before we know it lunchtime is over and it's time to get back to work.

I spend the afternoon writing a piece about Christmas Party styles. I actually love feature writing.... it's my favourite part of my job! I wish my hair was longer so that I too could do my hair in such wonderful ways!

Anyway, after work I head to the Leisure Centre where I realise that I a) do not have £1 for a locker and b) have left my water bottle at home! Well done Em! So I have to change a £10 note to get change for the locker and then have to spend £1 on a bottle of water. I need to learn to be more organised!

So that's a total of £5.67 spent.

I have just put myself through an hour of Body Attack then 45 minutes of Body Balance so my legs are burning. The things I do for my holiday! Time for bed me thinks.... night kids!

Day 6: Nothing extraordinary

I was a little bit naughty yesterday and was rather lazy in not updating my blog, so here it is. Being as my lunch was already at work from my uber organised purchase before I spent the following:

• Galaxy bar and Orbit chewing gum from Tesco £1.10


• Birthday and iTunes voucher for Laura from Tamara and I £16.00 (but divided by both of us means that it only actually cost £8 each.)

So as you can see on my way to work I didn't do too badly. So I had the most productive morning at work and before I know it, it's 2.45pm and I haven't had my break (I have a habit of eating at my desk) so I wander into town, popping to see Jenny in Boots and Mum in Wilkos on the way.

While I'm in Wilkos I have a horrifying thought that I have left my brolly at home so I make a purchase of a beautiful red polka dot umbrella for £3.00.... bargain!

Before I have time to spend more money I think that it's probably best to head back to the office so that I am not tempted to spend anymore money.

After work I head to the gym without going in any shops at all. On a mission to get in shape before my holiday I slaughter myself on the treadmill before going to Body Combat, then I go home to collapse, eat and watch TV.... what an exciting life I lead?!

Day 5: Home alone....

So I woke up this morning after a rather difficult nights sleep.... I had some really horrible dreams, most of which I can't remember now and I kept waking up with muscle ache and tension in my shoulders. The alarm goes off and I immediately hit snooze because I am really not ready to be waking up.... not only because of the bad dreams but also because I may have stayed up to watch The Waterboy on TV. I love it!

So eventually I do get up, jump in the shower and start to begin to feel ever so slightly human. I turn the old iPhone on for a few tunes while I'm getting ready and the first song I hear is 'Sweet Disposition' by The Temper Trap. I love this song, when I hear it I just instantly feel happy and lifted. It's going to be a good day.

I do however, seem to be having a bad hair day today. So I straighten it and pull my fringe to the side in a quiff, wack on my blue Religion t-shirt dress with my Converse trainers (again), grab my gym kit and head for the door.

My walk to work passes in a sea of daydreams amongst the tunes that are playing on my iPhone. As soon as I get into town I head to Tesco to buy some breakfast (as it seems that there was no bread left in the Waterfield household today) and my lunch for the next couple of days. The total of the bill comes to about £6.50ish, which if you count what I bought is actually alright:

• 1 bag of British salad leaves - £1.00
• 1 tub of cherry tomatoes - £1.07
• 1 carton of fresh prawns - £2
• 1 helmans Thousand Island salad dressing - £1.08
• 1 pack of Finest pain au chocolats - £1.29
• 1 Galaxy bar 52p

To be fair, the salad and everything that I have bought for lunch will actually do for lunch for two days, so that means that I won't be buying lunch tomorrow. That's money saved, right?!

So I get to work and it's the day of Creative Head's Most Wanted Awards which the girls are going to. Several of our clients are up for awards and it's always an exciting night - I love to hear how it went the next day. So that means that I'll be on my own in the office as of lunchtime. This is usually when my shopping habits get the better of me.

With no one for company but the tunes on my iPhone it tends to get terribly lonely.... so off I trot into town to get some fresh air and hopefully see a friendly face or two. If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't know where I want or need to go.... I just know that I need to get away from my computer for a little while.

First stop is Monsoon.... possibly not the best place to start. I peruse the accessories as I love Accessorize! I'm surrounded by beautiful bags, necklaces, earrings, shoes.... everything and I want it all. In particular I want a gorgeous large black handbag that is hanging just above my head.... mine is a little bit worse for wear having been used day in, day out for the last 2 years. I then decide that if it's not for my holiday then I do not need it. What on earth am I going to do with a black handbag in the Algarve?! I promptly leave so that I don't change my mind.... but not before I have a quick look at the posh frocks. With two weddings to attend next year I need to get an idea of dresses obviously!

My next visit is to Dorothy Perkins.... I love coming here, not only for the clothes but because my friends are here! Today I'm thinking I'll have a little look at what's in there as I haven't actually been in for ages.... as is usually the case these days I am not tempted by a single item. Not shoes, not clothes, nothing.... what on earth is going on?! I have a quick chat to Mary and Rae but leave empty handed.

I'm feeling a tad naughty, so I pay a visit to Altered Egos to see if there is anything new in there that I don't already own. I have a quick chat to Claire, Betty and Abs before sauntering upstairs to see what wonders are in store. There is a lovely, lovely Ted Baker dress but at £119 this is not something that I will be buying in the not so distant future. My new philosophy is if I leave it and I'm still thinking about it a week later then maybe it is meant to be but I don't love this dress enough to spend that amount of money ont it. There are things that I need so much more on my return from holiday like new trainers and sportswear.

So then I visit Sarah in Jacks to tell her about my self control and to hear all about her weekend in Brighton.... at this point I am incredibly proud of myself! I have been into several clothes shops and have emerged with nothing!

The afternoon passes rather quickly with a flurry of jobs that need doing in the office and before I know it 5.30pm is here. Sarah meets me out of work to walk up together as I'm heading to the Leisure Centre to go Spinning. Yes, I go Spinning.... I have taken it up in my mad panic to shed a few more lbs in the last twelve days before holiday. I am currently cardio mad!

I sit here now a literally broken woman and my legs refuse to work after I have put them through a 45 minute Spinning class, followed by 45 minutes of Body Balance. The scary thing is that I'm going back to do it all again tomorrow with 50 minutes in the gym followed by an hour of Body Combat.... I will look like a bikini clad goddess on holiday! Well, I'll at least try!

So how have I done today?! Pretty well actually.... I haven't spent any money since this morning! I feel quite proud!

Day 4: I have will power!!!!!

I am awoken without a hangover, bright and breezy by the smell of breakfast.... now still being at home does have it's advantages. I'm broke but I am well fed and get a full English brought to me in bed on a Sunday morning.... I know I'm spoilt but I know when I've got it good!

I lay in bed watching Hollyoaks more than a little confused by all of the new people who seem to have appeared in the last week, including Jacqui Dixon from Brookside?! My fitness regime of attending several classes a week, going to the gym and rehearsals for the next Market Harborough Musical Theatre show Summer Holiday has meant that I've lost touch with Hollyoaks and seldom watch it during the week now, so Sunday mornings are my catch up time!

I'd already arranged to meet Sarah for lunch, so we decide to meet at 1pm in The Sugar Loaf, as if I'm being honest I'm quite comfortable and not yet prepared to leave my pit for a little while.

My guilty pleasure of Big Brother's Little Brother comes on (purely for George Lamb, not that I really watch Big Brother. Ok that's a complete lie because I wrote an essay about it at uni) and their guests today are McFly.... also a guilty pleasure. So Emma Willis is interviewing them and they mention their new single 'Party Girl' is out today. That's it, the iPhone is out and I'm on iTunes buying it for 79p.... oh dear!

Eventually, after a lot of lazing around I decide it's finally time to emerge and head for a shower before pulling on my Mumford and Sons t-shirt, striped French Connection cardigan, Firetrap denim shorts and Converse trainers (which obviously go with everything) before plaiting my hair into pigtails and heading into town to meet Mr and Mrs Market Harborough.


After having a quick chat to my mother before I leave, as usual I'm already running late. A very hungry Sarah and Andy are not looking too impressed when I rock up at 1.25pm after visiting the cashpoint for some dollars.

My concept of time is terrible.... everyone who knows me will say the same. No matter how good my intentions are to get to a place on time something will happen to make me late. The only place that I'm not late to is work and that takes an extraordinary effort.

By this time I am so hungry I could eat someones arm.... as my eyes are bigger than my belly I order a roast beef from their Sunday Club special for £5.99 and then a chocolate fudge cake for £1.99 as dessert. I have been told that the desserts in there are about 700 calories a pop.... I'm glad I'm going to the gym in a bit!

Anyway, we enjoy a lovely chat catching up on the weeks events. Sarah tells me about their honeymoon that is already booked to Bali. My friend Sarah is quite honestly the most organised bride I have ever known.... the wedding is next July and everything has been booked for months and the whole operation has been planned around Summer Sundae Weekender festival, which is our yearly ritual to attend. I have to say though, Friday 22nd July 2010 is going to be a brilliant day.... I can't wait!

I leave Sarah and Andy, being a teacher Sarah has lots of planning and marking to do on a Sunday afternoon and head home. On my way home is New Look, which I am reluctant to go in as a group of gypsy kids I see ahead of me have just gone in, but I decide to brave it and see what goodies they have in there. I do my best to avoid the group, one of whom shoves me out of the way so that she can show her friends something.... as you can imagine they are just delightful and have lovely manners.

Trying to ignore that they are even there I'm just happy looking around when I see it.... a beautiful loose blouse in grey blue in a butterfly print. It's gorgeous, I love it.... I pick it up in two sizes and make my way to the fitting room to try it on. It would look great with my denim shorts, it would look great with leggings or jeans.... could I need this in my life?!


As I thought it would, it looks fab and the smaller size fits me.... get in! It costs £25.... then my conscience kicks in. Can I justify spending that amount of money right now? After all I am off on holiday in two weeks. But then I can wear it when we go out for dinner in the evening.... I decide that the answer is no I do not need it and if it is meant to be then they will still have it next week if I have enough money left. I also tell myself that everyone else will probably have it too.... New Look being one of the only fashion shops in Harborough means that we are very limited when it comes to shopping.


With a heavy heart I quickly leave the shop before I change my mind, grabbing the iPhone and wacking on some Jimmy Eat World to distract me from the heartbreaking choice that I have just made.


I get home to find that my brother has very kindly bought me a pack of white chocolate chip cookies from Sainsburys and left them on my bed. This is just what I need to cheer me up, so I eat one and then hide the pack so that I cannot consume anymore chocolate for the rest of the day.


Since coming home I am proud to say that no more internet shopping has occurred, I have not spent anymore money in any other way and the only place that I am heading to tonight is the gym.... which I am a member of.


So I am upset that I did not buy the beautiful top.... but happy as I seem to have gained strength and will power! Not bad really....

Apparently hungover and forgetful....

Ok so I've just checked my iTunes and it seems that in my hungover state I did actually buy the new Arcade Fire album because I enjoyed listening to is at Chez Marriott on Friday.... thought I should be honest about my disgraceful behaviour. This set me back £7.99.... oh dear!

Day 3: horribly hungover

Ok so I had every intention of going to Body Combat and Body Pump Saturday morning but obviously being the morning after the night before that really didn't happen as I woke up 10 minutes before the classes were going to start.... whoops! If I'm being perfectly honest after ingesting that much alcohol the last thing I wanted to do was get fighting fit. After just four hours sleep I didn't really want to do anything, just wallow in my self inflicted state.

I had however, already promised the girls that I would go for a walk down the old railway line with them to take Kate's dog Millie for a walk. So after moping around the house, feeling a little bit sorry for myself I eventually pulled myself together, drank lots of water to stop my pounding head and trotted on down to meet them.

Now it is my experience that every bad hangover can be cured by sugar hit so I decide to grab myself my usual Galaxy bar from the petrol station and two bottles of Volvic (one is just never enough) which came to £2.07.

So, once we're actually walking I start to feel much better and the walk is no way near as hard I had imagined it would be. Jenny, Kate, Nush and I are having our usual girly chats/gossip/catch-up/random conversations (some of the things we talk about are just plain bizarre) when we come to Waterloo Farm which is about two miles up and decide to stop for a cuppa. Jen has literally only brought her lovely self with her so I offer to buy her tea for her, knowing that she would definitely want one. For her cup of tea and my carton of apple juice the total was about £1.60, which I don't think was bad.... thinking we were going to have a picnic I'd already made up a tuna pasta salad which I promptly tucked into, everyone else had failed to tell me that they had already eaten. By this time it was 3pm and I was starving!

So we're at Waterloo Farm for quite a while, just sat chatting and putting off the two mile trek back to Market Harborough for as long as possible. It is a really lovely place, there is a little fishing lake and a craft shop as well as the cafe, its so peaceful and the surroundings are beautiful.

Eventually we think it's probably best if we head back and have mustered up the energy for the two mile walk ahead. It goes much quicker than on the way as we're all chatting and laughing as usual.

I leave the girls and come home, without spending anymore money, for a bit of a chill out and tidy the house before Jen comes over for a night in and a takeaway in front of X Factor.... something new for us!

We settle down for a delightful Indian takeaway, chicken korma, pillar rice, naan bread and poppadoms, while observing our weekly ritual. Jen and I decided that a curry was in order as we hadn't had a Shagorika for ages and it's our fave. This however, was not cheap at £12.50 each, but we had Chinese two weeks ago and pizza last week so we figured a change was in order.

Anyway, it seems like all this excitement was all too much for me and I fell asleep in the recliner at 10.30pm, so Jenny left me to it. I'm just not hardcore anymore.... but on the spending front it was not a bad days work!

Day 2: Presents through the post

Not the best day on the money front if I'm being honest.... first thing I went to Tesco and spent over £5. Just the usual breakfast for myself and Tamara (we have chocolate coissants everyday. It costs 65p for one or £1.00 for two so I figure that it's a better deal to buy two so we can both have one), sushi that cost £3 as I thought that's quite a healthy lunch, my usual bar of galaxy and a bottle of apple juice. So I didn't think that was too bad really.

Checked my account balance and my heart sank as I had less money than I thought.... but then I remembered that I still have a cheque to clear so it's all ok. Phewww!

So I get to work and much to my delight a lovely courier arrives with gifts from Warehouse.co.uk. My bikinis are here and they are fab! I may have tried one of the tops on over my jumpsuit to check if it fits.... it does, so it's fine! Can't wait to wear them on my hols!

Whilst I'm writing a news story to be sent out for a client the post arrives.... this is a very exciting time in the LWPR office as it's HJ Friday! So I quickly run to the door, open up our post box to rip open this week's copy. There is also a little packet in there for me, after a traumatic disaster with my iPhone (where it fell out of my bag on my way to work and smashed on the pavement) and having to claim for a new phone on the insurance my new iPhone is the most precious thing in the world and will be well protected for all eternity so I'd invested in a hot pink hard case from Amazon.co.uk to hopefully prevent this from ever happening again. Imagine my horror to find that the case is infact broken on arrival.... how annoying?!

At lunchtime Tamara and I head into town as it is Daddy Waterfield's birthday today I obviously had to get him a card and a present being the good daughter that I am. I settle on a card after perusing the funny ones, my favourite of which said 'Dad, I've been trying really hard to think of a compliment to give you for your birthday.... you've got a really great kid', now to look for the present. My dad is so hard to buy for.... then I notice some Ticketmaster vouchers, sorted! He can use that to buy tickets to go and watch the cricket or something.... why on earth didn't I think of this before?! Genius! That's him sorted.

I leave Tamara and head to Boots to see Jenny, to sort out exactly what we're doing this weekend. It suddenly occurs to me that the O2 shop sell iPhone covers and decide to go and look for one in there.... being the clutz that I am I desperately need one. I already managed to drop my new phone in Tesco the other day! My bad! I settle on a pink one (nothing says Em's phone like a pink phone case) which fits all the way around the phone and stays on securely. Now at £15 it cost a little more than one would have hoped to pay, but that's cheaper than paying £30 excess on my insurance for a new phone again!

As I'm leaving St Mary's place my eyes fall upon Starbucks.... it won't hurt to buy a coffee, I really fancied one. My downfall is cakes and cookies, so of course I end up buying a chocolate chip shortbread aswell, something that is well justified as 1. it's Friday and 2. I'm going to the gym later on and will burn it off. That of course costs me £3.80.

So for the rest of the day I'm really good.... I run past all of the shops as I leave work and head to the gym, refusing to even look in a shop window. Just as I'm about to leave the gym I get a text from Kate asking if I fancied going to watch the football.... men running around on a pitch in shorts?! Of course I do! So I go home, have a shower and some dinner, then head to Beccy's to watch the game. By this time I'm already an hour late so I caught the second half.

Now obviously one can't show up at a friend's house empty handed so I grab a bottle of Blossom Hill White Grenache from Londis which sets me back £6.99. So here I am thinking that I'm going to have an quiet night watching the football so I'm Bloc Party t-shirt and demin shorts clad with my converse trainers and my hair in pig tails. I did not predict the turn of events would lead to us ending up in the Sugar Loaf and Enigma.

So several Jagerbombs later, I have spent another £12... whoops! Great night though.... didn't get in til just before 6am finishing the night at Chez Marriott where more vodka was consumed, we were treated to some of Daddy M's chilli whilst listening to Arcade Fire, before the sambraros, chicken hats and adult babygrows came out.... Facebook will eventually explain all!

Day 1: a minor hiccup

Hmmm.... I'm going to be honest from the beginning of this blog. Although I was a very good girl on the way to work and only bought my usual Galaxy bar and apple juice from Tesco, I have become quite the master of internet shopping meaning that I have the ability to spend money from the comfort of my own home.

Today I purchased two (three if you count that I bought two of one item...) necessities via the wonderous world wide web:

• Foo Fighters door poster from Amazon.co.uk - this was a must as mine died tragically this morning and every girl needs a bit of Dave Grohl in her life!

• Bikinis from Warehouse.co.uk - also a NEED as I go on holiday to the Algarve with the girls in two weeks and have a grand total of one bikini which is far too big for me! They are both being delivered tomorrow to work.

Come to think of it.... I haven't made any other purchases and I didn't go to Psychic Night at The Cherry Tree with Nush in the end so that's like £15 saved. So all in all, not a bad day's work!

The challenge....

It is no secret that I, Emma Louise Waterfield, am a shopaholic. It is also no secret that my addiction to shopping or just buying in general has left me with a debt that quite possibly keeps the Market Harborough branch of HSBC in business. But after many years of spend, spend, spend I have decided that it's time to sort my life out and my finances along with it.

Although in some ways I can be the most determined little madam on the planet, trying to overcome my shopping habit is not something that my will power can uphold so instead I have decided to make my battle public. Hopefully by creating a blog about it I will be able to curb my spending once and for all. Usually if someone tells me that I can't do something then I will want to prove them wrong, but this is different.

I can't even begin to explain the excitement of buying something makes me feel.... if I'm having a bad day I just go into a shop get something shiny and new in exchange for handing over a piece of plastic. All of a sudden my troubles have lifted and I feel so happy and excited to take home my spangly new dress/jacket/handbag/shoes. I know it's sad, but I'm actually telling the truth.... shopping can solve anything!



If you have ever been in my bedroom then you will know that there are two wardrobes rammed full of clothes, dresses hung on the back of my door, one wardrobe has more clothes hanging on the outside, while the other is strewn with handbags and I have scarves draped all over my DVD player stand. I could possibly dress in a different outfit everyday for a month, yet I still want more. What makes it even worse is that I don't have cheap taste either.... my favourite brands are Ted Baker, Religion, Firetrap, Full Circle and French Connection. The horrifying thing about this is that half of my clothes will leave my ownership barely even being worn.

My extravagant spending doesn't end there either.... I also have a DVD collection that could easily rival Blockbuster, an ever growing music collection and a need to buy tickets to every single gig/concert or show that I want to see. Music is my life and my CD collection isn't even the half of it.... I have a massive iTunes library and have been known to spend £50 at a time in the store for several albums as there are no music shops in this little town of Market Harborough to speak of. None that sell music by the bands that I want anyway.

I should probably also point out that I have a lot of hair products.... this however is because of my job, not my shopping habit. I work in Hair PR.

You see I have two problems.... I get bored very easily and also have the inability to say no!

In writing this blog I am setting myself the challenge only to buy what I NEED and not just what I WANT. If I am being honest, in the past few months I have learnt to budget but this has just lead to me living within my means, I am now trying to save money. This challenge also means that I need to be honest with my spending and I will be openly shaming myself in my blog posts.

Watch this space.... xx