Saving for something big - 7 top tips.

I always think it's very unfair how your mid-twenties are normally the time you need to buy your 'biggest' things. Getting married and buying your first home require big savings and unless you have money tucked away somewhere, this means saving for a long time. Not just saving here and there, big HEAVY saving.

Tom and I have been putting money aside each month properly for about a year now, but it's only when we got engaged it all became very real and we fully realised how much money we needed. I have set us a pretty small budget for our wedding. Humongous when you think how much is going on one day, but pitiful in the wedding world. If we already had our own house then I imagine it would be different and obviously we still want to have an amazing day and not look back with regret, but we feel uncomfortable throwing all our savings on one day, then heading back to our rented house and starting from scratch on a deposit. It would be so easy to spend £20-30k though and still not even have gone that mad.

But saving IS hard, when you're already paying so much on rent and bills it hurts to put all the rest into your savings account. I'm 24, I want to go on holiday to Bali and buy a Mulberry handbag from Selfridges and buy ALL the Jo Malone candles. But I want a house more, because those things in this house would be wasted. The feeling of knowing we're renting our house drives me mad, I can't cope with how temporary it feels. I want to get stuck in and make my own home and that is impossible when it's someone else's house. It's just uncomfortable all the time.

What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?

I grew up with my nose in book. Every year when we were packing for our summer holidays my mum would take my brother and I down to the tiny village library and pick out which books we wanted to take with us. We were only allowed to take out 6 at a time (library laws) so we examined the shelves long and carefully before choosing, and had read them all by the time the plane left sunny Spain two weeks later. Thinking back now they must have had a huge baggage allowance in the old days because we did not choose small paperbacks (and I can barely fit my toothbrush in my bag now without doing the shuffle of shame in the airport, trying to wear all my clothes so I don't have to pay extra for my overweight bag). We must have read every book in that library, then we advanced to the one in our nearest town which was very exciting because THAT'S WHERE DAD GOT HIS BOOKS FROM! (This was it, I'd made it).

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a recluse. I still spent the majority of my day playing outside with my friends. Growing up in the countryside we would spend ages down at the park, wading through the river trying to catch crayfish, be-friending people who had trampolines in their gardens and waste hours and hours up a tree trying to make a tree-house (we only managed to tie sticks to the branches to sit on). But every night I would be tucked up with my book and when mum told me to turn my lights out I'd sneakily carry on reading, fumbling for the light and jamming the book under my pillow whenever I heard either of my parents walking past my room. Books are so important to a child's development and mine will be drowned in them. The language, punctuation and grammar is obvious, but also filling a child's head with so many different stories, character and ways of life must help them in the long run.

It's Monday, but it's okay!

Happy Monday! 

I had a lovely weekend of not doing much in particular, which is just what I needed. Carbonara, dog walks, mini eggs and Gardeners World are what weekends at home were made for really.

I spent last week totally stressing about wedding planning and have had nightmares every night about something going wrong. I forgot to buy a dress, I forgot to tell Tom the date of the wedding and he didn't show up, the BBQ dramatically blew up and we had no food etc etc. It's been very easy to get overwhelmed by it all, especially as I've made the super clever decision that I want to do everything myself because a wedding venue wouldn't do it right (good one). I spent a whole 2 days frantically trying to source gold cutlery. I think I must have contacted at least 10 suppliers, which are surprisingly difficult to find. About 20 types of silver cutlery, but no gold. I mean, who WOULDN'T want gold cutlery at their event? Apparently everyone. Tom's asked if this is a necessity and if I need to be obsessing about it this much seeing as we still have 16 months until the wedding and we haven't even decided which venue we're going to book yet. But I was adamant, there would be no wedding without them, tears were shed - WITHOUT GOLD KNIVES AND FORKS THE DAY WILL BE RUINED. I've calmed down now (only because I've found and booked some) but I've also realised that maybe I can slow down a bit and there will still be a wedding at the end of it.

My wedding spreadsheet is now obscenely extensive, there's currently 7 sheets on it and counting. But I've done a to-do list and even though it's scarily long (and I've only ticked one thing off on it, and I only put that on it so I could tick it off) it feels much better and manageable to see exactly what needs to be done.

Crazy control-freak that I am, with my spreadsheet in hand (literally in hand - I have it on my phone so I can check it whenever the mood strikes) I am ready and ON IT. But also, I just drank a huge mug of coffee so maybe that's helped as well.

What helps you feel in control and Beyonce-ish? Or am I alone in my madness?

Happy Monday all! (Lies, I hate Mondays).

Gemma

xXx

Happy Weekend!

Happy weekend!

I have been counting down to Friday this week.

It’s not even been a particularly bad week, the last few days have just seemed such a struggle. Thank god it's here now! We’re driving back to Lincolnshire tonight for the weekend to see both families, so it should be a busy but nice few days.

I’ve got a mixture of posts ready for the next couple of weeks; some food recipes, top tips for hardcore savings, the truths of living with a boy and our week in Kefalonia last year.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and make sure you hug your Mum.

I have armfuls of tulips for mine!

Gemma

xXx

9 ways to Spring Clean your Life.

I've said this before, but I REALLY love Spring.

After months of feeling so cold you can't even imagine wearing less than 7 layers and just curling up into a ball on the sofa all the time, it feels amazing to walk the dog without a coat and with only one scarf on (in the depths of winter I wear three, with gloves, and 2 pairs of socks, and earmuffs, and sometimes I wear jogging bottoms over jeans. I hate the cold).

It’s good to finally stretch out in the weak spring sunshine and come out of hibernation. But then you have a look around and see that actually you’ve not done a lot over winter and everything needs a bit of sprucing up. And there is nothing I like better than a good spring detox.

3 smiley things for this week.

Happy Monday everyone!

What a lovely sunny Saturday we had! I spend the day walking the dog, visiting the Garden Centre and tidying up our little garden. We were meant to be going to the Cotswolds on Sunday for a day trip, but as it rained most of the day we drove into the city centre and looked around the shops instead. I accidentally bought a new skirt, and a cake, and pointed out all the things in Selfridges I 'would like' for my birthday. Seeing as they came to the grand total of £89 million+ I think I may have got carried away. Tom says I'm 'over-reaching'.

A few things to keep me feeling perky this week:

Happy Weekend!

I’m so glad it’s the weekend. You know sometimes just everything seems to go wrong at once? 

Well it’s been a very un-fun week.

I have a pretty heavy schedule tonight to welcome the weekend in though; hunters chicken dinner then Crufts and Gardeners World on the telly. LIVING.THE.DREAM

Tomorrow I am having a deep Spring clean (physically, mentally and house-workly), and I’m very excited. I have Epsom bath salts, a new book and kitchen bleach!

Sunday is a rare day when Tom has a weekend day off so we’re going to make the most of it and head off somewhere. Probably the Cotswolds for a long dog walk and stopping off at a dog-friendly pub on the way home. We were at the Peak District exactly a year ago and I wanted to go there again but it's maybe a bit too far for just the day.

I’m just realising how elderly this is making me sound. But I like my geriatric life. Who knows, maybe I’ll jazz it up and sow some plant seeds as well and clean my car. Oh god, I just remembered I applied for an allotment last night as well. Is this it? Have I peaked too soon?

Happy Friday everyone, hope you don’t go as mad as me!

Gemma

xXx

Religious vs. Civil Ceremony

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When it comes to arranging your wedding, the most important part should really be the actual getting married bit.

That's the whole point of it all apparently.

When I was younger I had always assumed I would get married in our local church. The village I grew up in is very pretty, with the River Chater running right next to the church and it's where my Mum and Dad got married. I went to the Church of England Primary School in the village as well and it was where the teachers would take us for bank holidays and special services.

March Goals

HOW is it March already? This year is whizzing past so quickly.

I like March. I start to remember what warmth feels like and that maybe there are other outfits to wear other than my slinky 3 jumpers and 2 pairs of socks combo.

It's a good month for slowly coming out of hibernation and planning for the rest of the year. 

The first Monday of Spring.

'Nothing is as beautiful as Spring'

I love Spring, it is the most exciting season of the year.

After the long and grey winter where you don't really want to move too much, the slight warmth of the Spring sunshine gives me enough energy to go outside and plant those sweet pea seeds I bought last year, open all the windows in the house wide and maybe even clean the car that I've been putting off all winter (hmm it'll just get muddy again - but maybe I could at least bin all the chocolate wrappers and hoover the hair that I've shed over the past 3 months EW).