Shamphree - Thanks to How To Hair Girl

HEY! This blog has moved. Loads more Shamphree info at CAREFUL KIM.


My friend Jill and I are really cheap. Like, really, really cheap. I'm in the process of saving for my trip to South America and Jill did the same thing last year for her trip to the same place. We've both experienced intensive money saving and frugal living. Regardless of what you have planned, everyone can do with saving money and usually the key is trying something a little different! Also it helps if you shun convention and have no shame (which suits me fine).

Living on the cheap, budgeting and home made frugality are really popular right now. There's nothing as satisfying as a hobby that saves you money! We both get excited at the prospect of a previously unheard tip, a cheapo blog or a marathon of SuperScrimpers on TV. I wanted to document a few of things I employ to save money, things which seemed hard work before I'd tried them, but now I couldn't live without. I also wanted to keep track of some of things I've never tried, but wanted to.

So here's the first.... going Shamphree.

I haven't yet tried this, but I read about it from How To Hair Girl. She's a hairdresser who blogs tips and style advice. She's started shunning conventional shampoo and conditioner for something cheaper, more natural and kinder to the world. It's a concept that instantly grabbed my attention.... homemade, cheap, possibly gives you incredible hair. So today I'm off out to get my bits. Here are the things you'll need...

Baking Soda (or more commonly, Bicarbonate of Soda in the UK)

Apple Cider vinegar (available from health food shops), or else lemon juice or regular vinegar

Spray bottle (x 2)

Paddle Brush

Boar Bristle Brush

Essential Oils (so you don't smell like vinegar)

Funnel (for adding ingredients to your spray bottle)

Just click here for the full list and further links to Shamphree information from How To Hair Girl.

I have 2 weeks off from work as a long overdue holiday, so the perfect opportunity to try out some intriguing frugal trials. If I have a clogged up, bicarbonate of soda scalp for two days nobody will notice but my housemates and Oliver. Perfect.

I will endeavour to keep track of my progress, the ups and downs of my Shamphfree experience. If you're curious, try out this quick video showing the method involved from How To Hair Girl herself!

PS. I have taken all this information from How To Hair Girl, and her blog. I totally recommend her as the Queen of this stuff, there is so much information on her blog and I encourage you to visit HERE.

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Glass Half Full

Planning a trip like ours is challenging. For the years I've spent loosely and grandly imagining it in my mind, I've had no budget, journey length or destination. Its always been everything, everywhere, for ages. You may question if that is planning at all.

My ideas about this trip of a lifetime were similar to my ideas about life, aged 14. I didn't know how or when it would happen, but I knew everything would come together magically. But, as you gut wrenchingly come to understand, life isn't like that. It seems my Dad does know what he's talking about after all.

Well, I've made several realisations.... I don't have all the money in the world to travel for as long as I want, to every corner of the globe. And, more importantly, I have to take somebody else's thoughts and feelings into consideration. This is a first.

After coming down to reality, planning has come on a treat. I'm already so impressed that we've gone from having a continent in mind, South America, to pinpointing countries, cities, destinations and things! We know the Brazilian coastline and the peaks of Bolivia better than the streets of Chorlton at this point.

We have a (loose) budget in mind, (rough) dates for each country and a plan to work for an extended period (kind of)!

I've been following the adventures of Tom and Sarah at Never Ending Voyage, a site Oliver stumbled upon whilst looking for budgeting tips. This couple met and lived in Manchester too, but they've decided to sell everything they own and leave to travel forever. They have the advantage of a house they rent out while away, and a web design business they can work at on the go. They saved money and set off, and they have an income whilst away. It's my absolute dream.

I know I don't have the same luxuries, so it's sometimes been a challenge to focus on the trip I am doing, instead of the places I'm not going to see. I'm guilty of being a bit glass half empty at times.

Perspective is one of the biggest lessons I've learned recently. It can make such a difference to your happiness. I'm learning to let go of what's not happening and allow myself to be smug and enjoy exactly what is happening.

I was such a painful show off as a child and teenager. I still am, at heart. But I've been caught out on so many occasions that I am now very aware of sharing news. I shy away from status updates. I prefer a face to face confessional. This blog is really my own constructed show off. So I'm happy to gush about this trip. I really am so excited.

I'm excited to be joyfully unemployed in the sunshine. I'm excited to eat and drink and sleep and walk in a new town every week. I'm excited to have no Sky TV, no house and no bills! These are the positives, these are the things I AM DOING. It's worth remembering I'll be too busy to consider the things I'm not doing.

I just really like this picture...

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Thrifty Living, Three Days After Payday.

So payday came. We went out for a nice dinner and I splashed out on payday breakfast. That's it. Done. It may as well be 3 days before the next payday as far as spare cash goes.

I do hope this month is a little different. The past 2, I have been genuinely broke after about a week and I was determined not to put myself in that situation again. Money is always tight when you're saving, but relying on Oliver to buy food is already old, for both of us.

I withdrew £200 on payday and put £40 in my purse for this week. I put 4 lots of £40 into 4 envelopes and labelled them for each of the 4 weeks until next payday. I can't spend money on my debit card if it's in my bedroom! This hopefully means each Friday will be a mini payday and I can still afford basics and even to socialize a week before the real payday.

We're both keeping an eye on ways to save money. Every little thing helps towards getting by on less than we're used to. We bought a giant fillet of salmon for £10 something from Morrisons, chopped it into individual portions and froze it. It'll do us for 3 dinners each and then a spare chunk for something else. Usually fish for one dinner for two people is £4, so this is thrifty and will see us further into to the month.

We stuck £60 each into a kilner jar for food shopping this month. We spent £38 today though, so I'm not sure how far that money will go. Still, it's better than having no idea about what we're spending on food. My friend Jill shares a house with 3 others and they write a menu each week, so they can plan and everyone gets to cook at least one night a week. I'd love to do this, since it must be really easy to budget for the one or two meals you cook a week. It's more expensive to cook for 4 people than just yourself but surely more economical to be buying more of the same ingredients than 4 different meals.

In my house, we work different hours and we don't all like exactly the same stuff, so it would be trickier, but I'd love to give it a go.

I'm hoping that these tricks will stop me from dipping into my savings a week before payday. Even just taking out £20 makes a difference to what I'll be able to take to South America with me. I'm casually eBaying my belongings, using cashback websites, budgeting, and trying anything else to save. I'm pretty much open to anything and I love a thrifty tip or two.

While we're away, we still want to be thrifty and have decided upon renting an apartment in Buenos Aires for a month, for the same price as staying at a hostel. We think this sounds indulgent and luxurious. I can't wait to wake up in a new city for a whole month, have somewhere to cook and relax that's just for me and Oliver.

We also found a few websites that let home owners list their properties for house sitting. While the owner is away, you stay at their house and walk their dog/maintain their garden/look after the property and in exchange you don't pay any rent! Brilliant idea. We've been guided to these thrifty ideas by Never Ending Voyage, a couple from Manchester who've been travelling the world on a budget. I can only dream.

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Still poor.

Come November, Oliver and I will be embarking on a journey for two, to South America for who knows how long, that is sure to outshine any solitary day in the city. That's almost the purpose of this blog, to have somewhere to share this trip with my family and friends.

I experience excitement, terror, fear, panic and daydreams at a impossible rate recently. I've been dreaming of a big trip like this for so long that it has to be a good idea. It has to be. But recently I was wide awake at 4am thinking "this is the stupidest idea anyone has ever had". Money is my biggest worry, as with most things in life. The fear is forcing me to make sensible decisions about money at every turn. So sensible that I talked Oliver out of a 30p bulb of garlic in Morrisons. I immediately felt terrible about this.

I'm living in some strange paradox. I have a savings account with a steadily rising balance, an unused credit card in a drawer, and a diet consisting of porridge and yoghurt.

Yesterday, we truly splashed out on about £3 worth of chorizo and made a casserole with some cheapo butter beans. It was a good weekend event. There isn't much else you can do on £3 but make dinner.

Payday is on Friday. The anticipation and excitement I feel on this last week of each month is better than a child feels in December. And it's all for the satisfaction and safety of putting near half my wage into my savings account. Pay my bills, pay my rent, set aside enough for birthdays and plans already made. At that point, I'm stoic, looking at my remaining £68. Thereabouts.

This is mostly exaggerated. Poverty is nothing new after prior employment by Odeon. Come November, I'll be living like a queen in Brazil. For about two weeks, then I'll remind myself to be sensible.

Here is our casserole prep...

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