Hey Small Spender

One week on from my promise to control my cash flow and, so far, my £5 a day rule is working rather well.

The money from cashing in my Premium Bonds has been put towards a credit card debt and I even managed to sell something on Ebay for more than twenty pounds, which has to be a record for me.

During my year of not shopping I sold a jacket on Ebay and failed to take into account the fact that the buyer was overseas. She got a complete bargain at 99p and I ended up six pounds out of pocket to cover the postage.

Anyway, this week’s only weakness was forgetting I had committed to a work’s night out, but as the meal came to just £15 a head and I’d been carrying the same crisp fiver in my wallet for three days without breaking into it, the evening still fell within budget and I was able to enjoy my grub guilt free.

And it seems I’m not the only one to be curbing my cash withdrawals to a minimum.

HSBC and Barclays have said that their cash machines will soon be issuing £5 notes again to help credit crunch hit customers manage their money.

Let’s hope more banks follow suit and start listening to their customers’ needs again.

Hair Raising Recession

An article in the The Times magazine this week made me flick my fringe from my eyes and focus.

It seems that despite the recession, the last thing we want to neglect are our luscious locks. Hair salons say they’re bucking the trend for our desire to downsize and clients continue to pour through their doors, and I can totally see why.

During my year of not shopping, my hair became one of my biggest obsessions. I changed my hairdresser three times before settling for the skillful scissors of Liam at JDH. And why did I do that?

Well, because I had cut everything else in my life to the bare minimum and the only way I felt I could change the way I looked, or feel groomed without spending on new products and clothes, was to keep my hair in check.

The credit crunch might mean we can’t step out in this season’s sky high stilettos, but most of us can – and do - look like we’ve just stepped out of a salon.