Well… hello there! It’s been awhile but I needed some space from everything, and now I’m back with an update!
I still haven’t bought trainers, but I have been saving money! And I have t bought everything just because I want to, so baby steps!
I did however, partake in the Feel Unique beauty kit. You can basically chose 5 luxury samples a month, for £16.90 including postage. And I took full advantage of that!
I’ve had beauty subscription boxes in the past, but always deemed them a waste of money, as it was things I didn’t really want. But the beauty of this? It’s not a subscription, if I dont want anything one month, I’m not beholden to a subscription service. And I get to pick exactly what I get.
Albeit, they are samples so they’re small, I’m glad for the opportunity to try products I normally wouldn’t. For example, I’ve wanted to try some Charlotte Tilbury for awhile now, but I just couldn’t justify the price point, so being able to get a sample of the face powder and a good sized eyeshadow pencil included was amazing!
Erno Lazlo ANYTHING is a god send. And if it’s available every month, I will be getting whatever is on offer, because I’m obsessed, always have been. But again, can never justify the price!
The Givenchy lipstick is a colour change one. And I just love Givenchy. And I have a really tiny YSL handbag that I use everyday. So mini lipstick is great for keeping in there.
And the Clinique is actually a really good sized sample. But I picked that up for my mom!
I don’t actually have any comments on the products themselves, because I haven’t tried them properly yet. How ever, I can safely say I like the concept of the Beauty Kit. I’m able to try products I normally wouldn’t, and it’s not too much money either!
I’ve never seen a bitmoji sticker that sums me up more accurately…
Hi, I’m Kye from 1BrokeGirl91, and I have a serious spending problem.
I’ve had a spending problem for years. And I mean literally years. I had a credit card and a few online catalog accounts online and loan for a holiday… and I got in to a fair bit of debt. Thank god for my IVA debt agreement otherwise I would still be floundering around just paying minimum payments everywhere!
I’ve lived on a tight budget for quite awhile now, to get myself back on track, but lockdown has pushed me right back into my old ways. I’m fortunate enough to be at home without working, whilst receiving my full pay. And I could be save. And I should be save. But there was a small nagging voice in the back of my brain, reminding me that I would never again be this fortunate to have excess money to this abundance again.
And I cracked.
I have bought some truly pointless things. Speaker lightbulb? Got it and it doesn’t bloody work properly. 3D hologram pyramid? Got it, bored of it within a minute. Heart shaped hair bun maker? Still waiting for the bloody thing to arrive. Replica Louis Vuitton hoops and replica Dolce & Gabbana bag? You best believe I ordered both and paid far too much money for each.
Have I ordered anything I actually need? Well, no, no I haven’t. But my problem is I’m bored. I’m not stimulated enough in my mind and I’m occupying myself with online shopping. And I’m struggling to say no to anything. But now, the time has come to put my foot down…
I’ve tried to work out if there is anything I do need to buy. And well actually there is. New pair of trainers. My old faithful black running trainers (that barely even run for a bus in the 2 years I had them) finally fell apart after nearly daily wear. And I do have those horrible clunky balenciaga trainers that literally cut my feet to shreds. So I’m going to allow myself to shop for trainers. Just trainers. And only one pair.
I don’t need anymore clothes. I don’t need more makeup. I certainly don’t need any more home deco. It’s time to take back control completely, and stop making frivolous purchases all the time!
I’ve deleted the shopping apps from my phone, apart from Prime Now because that’s where I get my food shopping delivered from (great set up, I order and it comes the same day from my local Morrison’s) and my pet supplies like wood shavings and hay I’ve set up on a monthly subscriptions so I don’t even need to be logged in to get them.
I’ve even decided to stock up on sparkling water and fruit juice instead of spending £35 a week on Diet Coke…
I can only buy trainers.
Just trainers.
Fingers crossed for me, I need to get this under control!
I’ve been giving this blog some real thought. I’ve been blogging on and off for years, and used to mainly do beauty blogging, something I really enjoyed, and that I still wanted to dip in and out. But I’ve really been thinking, do I actually need a niche?
The last few days I have sat and brainstormed 57 blog posts ideas. And I’ve managed to loosely start to group them in to different categories that I feel interest me, or that I can give some useful input to.
Category Breakdown
All about me| this category is for anything directly related to me, be that books, films, make up or skin care, and being such a generic category, this one gives me the freedom cover pretty much anything I want to.
Moving out| this is a series more than a category, mainly aimed at subjects and lists of things that I wish someone told me when I moved out. No one ever tells you to buy salt, but it’s definitely on the list of necessities!
Story times| well this category is self explanatory. I’ve worked some very random jobs in my time, and has some rather bizarre things occur, and this is the category you’ll find them in…
Shopping| Again, self explanatory. If I buy anything I feel is worth noting, it will be shared!
Cooking with me| I show you what I’ve been cooking.
And finally,
Challenges| be that not washing my hair for two weeks or living off a food budget of £7 a week, this one is more interactive, and if there are things you’d love to try (the No Poo movement, for instance) just let me know and I’m willing to be the Guinea pig!
So, that’s what to expect from this blog of mine. Now I’ve got some plans and structure, I really do feel ready to dedicate some time to it, and look forward to the journey 🖤
Well, hello there my loves! It’s a new week so I decided to start it a little more up beat. Last week was a little heavy, but it’s time to push forward and take some positive steps!
So, I’m currently the heaviest I’ve ever been. I’m 13stone 3lbs/84 kgs/185lbs… and I’m only 5ft5”. I’m currently between a U.K. size 14 and 16. And I don’t like it. So I woke up and decided that things need to change. But it’s not easy for me. I’ve never been one for exercise so I had to ease myself into it. And decided that 30 day fitness challenges were the best way to create a new habit and exercise daily.
I’ve also set myself a daily step go of 5000, which I know is low. But it’s something I’m going to have to build up to gradually, and if I start setting goals that are too big, I don’t want to get disheartened when I don’t reach them. So the plan is to start small!
I also subscribed to something called Team RH. It’s a fitness programme on Facebook and it seems to be a well thought out programme. My Fitness Pal wanted to set me a calorie goal of 1200 calories a day. Far too low in my opinion, so I’ve gone for the 1700 a day Team RH recommended.
I won’t be updating weekly, but I may check in at the end of the 30 days, just to see if I made much progress!
I’m also putting the 4 challenges below, just in case anyone would like to follow along 🖤
That’s probably quite a controversial title, but you’ll have to hear me out why, for me, quarantine came at a time I needed to have some solitude and peace.
You see, all my life I’ve been a support and carer to my family. My dad was ill from when I was 2, he had a huge stroke in 2004 just before I turned 13. And my mom has always suffered with severe anxiety and depression. My wayward brother was rarely around, so I saw my family through a lot of crisis’ when I was growing up. And in doing that, I never learnt to deal with my emotions, and filed them away to store and feel later. And I never did. I’ve gone to funerals of relatives and close friends, and I didn’t shed a single tear, because I was too busy holding the hands of others.
Then last year I lost my Dad, my best friend, on Halloween. Although he had been ill for years, he was plodding along. And out of the blue, we lost him to another massive stroke. And I had to support my mom and brother through it. And ultimately, it was me who made the decision to turn off my dads life support. And with the help of my aunt, we made my mom see it was for the best. He was brain dead. And due to the damage to his brain stem, there was no way he was coming back.
And from there, I again took over the support of my mom. She lost her best friend of 49 years in one night. And he took his final breathe with just her in the room, holding his head in her hands as she spoke to him. And for months, I was her pillar of strength, just like I always had been.
It was me who found the suit and shoes she wanted him to wear. It was me who made most of the big decisions for her. Always comforting her. And never dealing with my emotions.
As months have gone on, she has got stronger. And I was slowly realising that I needed to deal with own grief. But in my head, it sounded ridiculous. How do you explain to the world around you that you’ve just started the grieving process months after the death of the most important man in your life. It sounded stupid to me. I was crying at random things, even walking to work I was finding it hard to pull myself together, when all I really wanted to do was let go.
The main issue is, I’ve never let anyone else in. I’ve always been the problem solver, and never asked for help. But the longer I left it, the more I felt that this was having the potential to harm my relationships with everyone I cherished. There was only so many nights I could wake my husband up crying without being able to explain why. And I wouldn’t want to trouble my mom, when all she needed was for me to comfort her.
And then corona virus happened.
And as a family, we’ve prayed for loved ones to pull through, lost loved ones without saying goodbye.
Yet through all this. I was beginning to feel relief. My husband still had to work through it all. And as weird and as selfish as it seems, this was truly a blessing. I had hours to myself. I could look through photos with tears streaming down my face. Letting my grief out and mourning the future memories I couldn’t create anymore, whilst cherishing and laughing at the ones I’d never forget.
I got to rest when I had a bad night and didn’t sleep. I got to cross stitch to entertain and quieten my mind to stop the 12653 tabs my brain had open from freezing and working over time. I even got to journal and collect my thoughts, so I could finally get them to make sense.
But most of all, I got to grieve. And I got to a point I could understand and articulate how I was feeling. I stopped feeling crazy.
And I finally got to take a moment to remember the man who held my ha d my whole life, and never let me down 🖤
So whilst my heart breaks for the tragedy in the world that is happening. Whilst I feel as lost as everyone else with what will happen through this.
I’m happy to be just as lost as everyone else.
And I’m happy to fill the whole in my heart with all the memories I hold so dear. And most of all? I’m happy that I’m not lost in the thick fog that was my own head anymore.
So, I can already feel myself regretting this blog title. But it’s 10:30 on a Wednesday night, my husband is fast asleep next to me, and I’m 8 episodes in of season 3 of 2 Broke Girls on Prime, and as I have no female friends, 1 Broke girl it is!
I won’t lie, I’ve been blogging in and off for literally years. And up until tonight, I probably hadn’t blogged in about 2 years. But loneliness in quarantine, not being at work and general boredom has brought me back. Is this temporary? Maybe. But who really know. I’ve got some vague ideas of what I want to garner from this blog for the foreseeable future. But I think it’s best to just see how this pans out…
1BrokeGirl91 