Forevermissvanity - A UK Lifestyle Blogger

I Love Cosmetics New Collection Review

When I first started Forever Miss Vanity, my aim was to make it a beauty blog. I used to be incredibly passionate about beauty, skin and hair care. I used to spend a large proportion of my salary on beauty products and wouldn't think twice about splashing out on Chanel, Bobbi Brown or Nars. As time went by, I started falling out of love with beauty. I found products weren't as good quality as they used to be and so many things on the market felt too similar. Nothing really stood out to me and the further invested I became with vegetarianism and veganism, I also realised that there are too many big beauty brands testing animals.

These days I find it hard to get excited over makeup, but one thing I do love in body and skin care, even more so if it is vegan and cruelty-free. Recently I Love Cosmetics got in touch and asked me if I wanted to review some of the products and after seeing the bright colourful packaging and the fact that they are cruelty-free, I leapt at the opportunity.

I Love Cosmetics is a British beauty and skincare brand, established in 2009. Their four core values are fragrance, fun, refreshment and authentic. The fragrance is the heart and soul of their collection, they pride themselves on being fun, the aim to be authentic and every one of their products should be refreshing.

Glazed Raspberry Bath Salts - £8.00

One of the first products that I was eager to try was the Glazed Raspberry Bath Salts and they did not disappoint. All of the 'Glazed Raspberry' products smell incredible and these bath salts made it feel like you were soaking in a tub of raspberries. My skin came out feeling incredibly soft and refreshed.

Glazed Raspberry Body Wash - £6.50

I have been using this body wash for a few weeks now and it is a delight to use. The raspberry scent lingers on your skin for hours after your wash and the bottle looks great in any bathroom.

English Rose and Exotic Fruit Body Wash

The English Rose and Exotic Fruit body washes are travel sized and I'm currently reserving these for when I next go on holiday. The English Rose is a sophisticated scent and not overly floral and the exotic fruit has a really juicy orange scent.

Violet Dreams Diffuser - £15.00

As well as skin and body care, I Love Cosmetics has recently started selling candles and diffusers. The Violet Dreams diffuser smells lovely, but for £15.00 I was rather disappointed that the scent didn't stick around long enough.

Vanilla Milk candle - £15.00

The Vanilla Milk candle smells lovely and makes me think of cake. It has a really delicate smell that gently fills the air with a gorgeous, lingering aroma once lit. The candle has a burn time of 40 hours and I can see myself getting a lot of use from this over the winter period.

My life has been quite hectic lately (in a good way though). I've left one job, started another, been on holiday and started again. Whilst I've enjoyed all the excitement and the hustle and bustle of a busy life, it has been difficult to keep on track of everything - from scheduling time to go to the gym, to writing entries on here. When leading a busy lifestyle, it's incredibly important to learn how to effectively prioritise - not only so you can stay on top of your workload, but also so that you don't burn out or miss out on the things that you enjoy.

I've always been told that I have pretty good organisational skills both inside and outside work and that I'm great at prioritising, so I decided today to put together a short post on my top prioritising tips.

Make a note of your most urgent and non-urgent tasks

One of the easiest ways of figuring out what tasks you should prioritise is to create three columns and write down your urgent tasks in one and non-urgent tasks in another and the deadline besides them. Highlight the tasks that you need to do straight away so that they stand out and create a plan on how to tackle the rest.

Create a timing plan

Even if you haven't been given a deadline, it's always important to set one. Setting deadlines gives us a date or goal to work towards and gives us the kick we sometimes need to get tasks done. Be realistic and don't pressure yourself too much, unless you have left something until the very last minute.

Take one step at a time

Take one step at a time and try not to rush through activities. I always schedule my day out hour by hour so I know exactly what I'm doing and can stay on track of the time. I find that wearing a watch is less of a distraction than checking the time on my mobile phone. This gorgeous watch from Nordgreen* is one of the latest in my collection. It is sleek, sophisticated and perfect for wearing in the office. If you're in the market for a new watch, you can get 10% off by using FOREVERMISSVANITY10.

Do the tasks that you are dreading first

If you start with the tasks that make you the happiest, you will put off the ones that you don't really want to do. The best thing you can do is get the 'worst' tasks ticked off your list first.

Don't stress yourself out

Stressing yourself out leads to procrastination and anxiety and in the end, it is counterproductive. Try to stay calm, think logically and if you're struggling, reach out to your colleagues, friends or family for advice.

Focus on the end goal

Always focus on the end goal to help get you through your workload and think how much easier life will be once you get your task out of the way. Once you have done have your urgent tasks, you will be able to breathe a sigh of relief and a weight will be lifted on your shoulder. Getting your smaller tasks done will make you feel great that you are making progress.

What are your top prioritising tips?

There's nothing I love more than having a picnic in the sunshine with lots of food, drink and the people I care about the most. Picnics are a great way of enjoying the great outdoors, whether you're going on a long hike in the countryside or looking to relax somewhere close to home. When you live in urban surroundings, it can be difficult to find somewhere with a plot of land, but many cities do have wonderful parks like Park Square in Leeds, you just need to hunt them down.

Robinson's recently challenged me to enjoy a picnic in my favourite inner-city park. To help us enjoy our picnic in the sunshine, they kindly sent me a picnic hamper and a few samples of their Refresh'd drinks. This wasn't the first time that I had actually tried their drinks - I've been a fan of them awhile and couldn't wait to try more flavours. I find them incredibly thirst to quench and as someone who likes to monitor their health, I like the fact that they are made from natural spring water and real fruit and have only 55 calories per 500ml - compared to other alternatives on the market that are full of sugar, which I actively try to avoid.

My favourite drink has to be their Raspberry and Apple as it is deliciously fruity, but I also really enjoyed trying out all the rest of the flavours too - Apple and Kiwi and Orange and Passionfruit. I'm always on the lookout for new drinks to enjoy when I'm on the go - especially on the way to work in the morning, so it's great to find a set of drinks that fit into my healthy lifestyle, and they only cost £1.29.

Along with the drinks, I was given this gorgeous blue picnic matt from John Lewis, a Bluetooth speaker from Tesco (which has the best sound quality I've heard from such a small speaker) and a gorgeous pink rucksack from Swedish company Kanken. I've never been much of a rucksack person, but this rucksack is very feminine, fits lovely on my shoulders without looking bulky and is really comfortable. I can see myself going on lots of countryside walks in the future and taking this with me as it is very lightweight and looks really stylish.

Park Square in Leeds is a five-minute walk from the train station, situated in the financial district of Leeds. It is well kept with lots of beautiful flowers and seating and it is surrounded by Georgian buildings, giving you the sense that you have stepped back in time. The square has seen a wealth of history over the years and was home to brewer Joshua Tetley, the inventor Sir Clifford Allbut who invented the thermometer and renowned surgeon Berkley Moynihan, known for his pioneering surgical techniques.

What I love about Park Square is that it is in the heart of the city centre and attracts so many people from different walks of life and with different interests. During my visit, I saw students hanging out with friends, people on their lunch breaks and at one point a surge of Pokemon Go fanatics. Despite being in the city centre, the park remains quite tranquil and is a bit of a hidden gem, it's a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, whilst still enjoying the company of the residents of Leeds.

The sunshine in the UK is expected to last until September, so you have plenty of time to assemble your picnic kit and hunt down your favourite places. I know this picnic definitely won't be my last this summer.

*This is a sponsored campaign, but all views and thoughts are my own.

After a year of saving up for a house deposit, back in April, my husband and I became homeowners for the first time. It has been an exciting few months, planning out every room, turning these four walls into somewhere special that we can call our own. However, there's also so much that we discovered about home ownership that we naively never thought about. Owning a house definitely outweighs all the cons listed below, but for those looking into buying their first property, I thought I would put together a few of my key learnings from the last few months.

There's so much you have to teach yourself

Unless you want to spend a fortune on hiring plumbers, builders and general tradesmen, there's so much that you will have to learn and teach yourself when you buy a home. From picking up a paintbrush for the first time to wiring up lights and flat pack furniture. Don't worry, in time you will learn to distinguish between different pipes, screws and bolts, but in the first instance, it can be overwhelming. It's hard to imagine a life without Pinterest and YouTube tutorials giving us a heads up.

Building supplies are expensive

Building supplies can be incredibly expensive and soon add up. I was shocked to discover that on average it can cost £200 just to hire a skip to get rid of all our rubbish and since doing up our garden, we've already needed three of them. Whilst paint and wallpaper for inside the house can be bought at an affordable price, items such as taps can be more expensive than you originally think. Always compare prices to find the best ones to suit your budget and whilst sometimes it can be tempting to cheap out, always think long-term and consider quality or price.

You will begin to find flaws in almost every part of your home

Once you are settled in your home, it is likely that you will begin to find little annoyances, but the best thing about being homeowners is the fact that most of them are rectifiable. The worst thing is that you will become obsessed with D.I.Y and constantly be striving for a perfect home. Every day I'm finding new things that I would like to change.

You will probably experience buyers regret

Buying a house is one of the biggest purchases you will ever make, therefore it is normal to have some doubts - even after you have moved in. Once the thrill of being a first-time homeowner wears off, you may begin to discover a few bugbears, but it's important to remember that no house is without faults and you fell in love with that house for a reason.

Your house won't be Pinterest ready straight away

When you spend months planning out your dream home on Pinterest, when you eventually do move in, you just want everything done straight away so you can see your vision come to life. However, it's not as simple as it sounds. To make a masterpiece, things do take time and you would be surprised how long even the simplest of activities such as painting a room can take. Unless you're ready to commit several hours a night on top of holding a full-time job, your dream may have to take longer than you anticipated, but at least you know it will be worth the wait.

If you asked me last year if I could go a week without social media, I would have quivered at the thought. For the last seven years my life has revolved around social media, so much so that I've spent family occasions glued to my phone, missed out on spending time with my friends as I was too concerned about picturing the moment than speaking to them and every evening instead of enjoying precious time with my husband, I would be on my phone from the moment I got home to the time I went to bed.

Social media is a great way of staying connected, but at times it can turn into a bit of an obsession and really affect a person's mental health. I got to the point where I began comparing myself to other people, getting FOMO seeing people I cared about spending time with others and not me and I turned to Instagram filtering my life to make everything look perfect when it wasn't. This isn't social media bashing - I love social media and it is such a large part of my life and my job, if it wasn't for social media, I would have never built a successful blog.

I never intentionally went on a digital detox, it just happened. One day I just decided to log out of Instagram and put my phone down and hours later, I realised that I didn't feel the need to check my phone anymore. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks and I began enjoying the pressure-free, digital free life. I spent the time that I would have been editing photographs or on social media, learning how to cook, going out with my friends and husband and not worrying about curating the perfect Instagram shot, it was liberating.

My mental health improved

One of the biggest improvements I saw since stepping away from social media was that my mental health improved. I felt like I didn't have to be someone I'm not anymore and live up to the Instagram perfect life. I could relax and sleep better on a night without checking my phone at ridiculous o'clock too.

I learnt who my real followers are

Since taking a bit of a blogging break, my engagement across social has dropped tremendously - it is like starting from scratch all over again. I've lost a lot of followers and only get a handful of likes on Instagram now, but the people who are liking my posts are the ones who have stuck around for months or years and supported me through every step I made. I'm happier to have those people in my life, than a dozen fakes.

I'm beginning to love life again

Social media took me to quite a dark place after I experienced some horrible comments from trolls. It made me doubt myself and I became quite paranoid of the people hiding behind a screen name - do I even know them and if not, what do they have against me? Thankfully time is a healer and my time away has made me realise that the people who made those comments were just jealous of my life and right now I'm in a happier place than I've ever been.

It has made me reevaluate my blog for the better

My break from social has made me reevaluate my blog for the better and take a thorough look at the content I'm creating. It has made me realise that I would rather write about what makes me happy and what could be helpful for other people than write content just for the sake of it.

I can look forward to my life off my screen

The time I spend offline has given me the chance to focus on my life off screen by learning new hobbies and taking a closer look at my career. In the last few months, I've been able to spend more time cooking, I've made some improvements to the house and I've recently accepted a new job.

Have you ever taken a digital detox?

There's nothing more thrilling than walking around old landmarks, discovering the history behind them and trying to picture yourself in the shoes of the people who once walked there. One of the most exciting parts of a holiday for me is sightseeing, learning about the culture and being immersed in a world so much different to my own. Instagram is often filled with exotic snaps from faraway countries, giving the illusion that most of the best landmarks are on the other side of the world, but this isn't always the case. You can travel less than four hours to places like Spain, Bulgaria and Greece and see some pretty amazing sights.

Earlier this year I bought my first ever home and for the last twelve months, I have barely left the country due to saving for a house deposit. Now that one of the biggest financial hurdles is out of the way, I can't wait to get back into travelling and discovering new places. Today I've teamed up with Holiday Gems to give you the low down on some of the best landmarks across Europe and to show you the top five I've picked out for my European bucket list.

Greece - Parthenon

Greece is somewhere that I've always wanted to visit, but never really had the chance. I love Greek history and the food and my friends all rave about it. I'm hoping that the next 12 months will finally allow me to visit some of the Greek Islands and in particular, visit the Parthenon - a former Greek temple that was built in 447 BC and is dedicated to the goddess Athena.

Ibiza - Es Vedra

If you're an avid reader of my blog, you will know how much I love Ibiza and the iconic landmark Es Vedra. I've been to Es Vedra several times, but I love it so much that it will always be somewhere that I want to visit again and again. Es Vedra is a small island off the Ibiza mainland and is host to many myths and legends, according to geologists it is one of the strongest centres of magnetic forces in the world. Whilst you cannot board the island, many boat trips circle it and host swimming sessions around it and it makes for a wonderful day out.

Bulgaria - Rila Monastery

Bulgaria is a newcomer to my European bucket list. I didn't think much about travelling here until I saw that one of my friends had visited and I began Googling it. The country has lots of amazing architecture and the Rila Monastery is just one of the amazing examples. The monastery was founded in the 10th century and is now a World Heritage Site.

Mallorca - Palma Cathedral

I visited Palma when I was quite young and I remember walking by the cathedral, but for some reason, we were quite limited on time and we couldn't spend as much time there as I would have liked. One day I really want to return because it is such a beautiful landmark and Palma is also a wonderful, stylish city.

Barcelona - Sagrada Familia

Barcelona is again one of those places that I've always wanted to visit but never got around to it. So many of my friends and family keep telling me to take a trip there and I'm hoping that I won't let another year escape me without a visit. The Sagrada Familia is a listed World Heritage Site due to it being constructed by world-famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.

For booking holidays to Spain* or just to learn about the different places in Europe, Holiday Gems can give you plenty of travel inspo.

Do you have anywhere booked right now?

*Collaborative post

When I mention to people that I'm vegan and that I cannot eat milk chocolate, I'm often confronted with shocked and confused faces. "How can you live without Cadburys", they say and, "how can you even like dark chocolate." The truth is, before going vegan I never really liked dark chocolate. I would always avoid the Bournville in the box and I would sniff my nose up at dark chocolate even though people told me all about the health benefits. However, since becoming vegan I've discovered there's a lot more to dark chocolate than people realise and a lot of variety.

With the booming vegan market, there are more companies than ever before offering vegan chocolate from small independent stores on Etsy to the big established chocolate brands such as Hotel Chocolat. Vegan chocolate has also become a lot more experimental - gone are the days where vegans were just given the darkest, most bitter chocolates in the tin, there are now vegan 'milk chocolates' made from coconut milk, creamy vegan truffles and vegan honeycomb minus the honey.

A new brand that I have been excited to try is The Slabb. The Slabb is an online chocolate company owned by Holly & Stuart and as well as selling dairy chocolates, they have an extensive vegan range with a variety of unique flavours. In January, Holly and Stuart launched a Kickstarter campaign called the #100Slabbchallenge, to create 100 different flavours of chocolate this year, with each chocolate being limited edition and the 'Vegan Party One' is one of the chocolates I was given to try.

The 'Vegan Party One' is a rich dark chocolate topped with party favourites such as party rings, sprinkles, jam and vegan marshmallows. It is a fun party bar perfect for a girly night in or for those looking to add a little bit of fun in their lives. The ingredients complement each other perfectly with the party rings adding crunch and texture and the jam adding extra sweetness to the chocolate - it was great to see a vegan chocolate that had a lot of character and it isn't just the standard 'dark chocolate'. The party edition would make an ideal present for a loved one as it is so colourful, unique and charming and the packaging is girly, yet sophisticated. These bars retail at £5.50 which I think is a bargain for such a unique, limited edition product and I can't wait to hear about the next vegan chocolate they create.

Have you tried any of The Slabb products before?

Stock image

After a long, emotionally draining twelve months of saving, two weeks ago my husband and I officially became homeowners. It has been a strange process for us as we haven't been down the traditional route of buying our first home, our landlord several months ago came up to us and said he was selling the house we were renting and we just didn't want to leave. We have a lovely spacious garden - enough room for a house extension, the neighbourhood is lovely and quiet and five minutes one way we're in the countryside and another five-minute drive in the opposite direction and we're in the main town, it's a very convenient location. Knowing how much we wanted to buy the house we have been living in and waking up it seeing it every morning put a lot of pressure on us - when we started saving we had no savings in the bank and we only had a few short months to get enough money for a deposit. But we did it, with the help of a Help to Buy ISA we were able to put down a 9% deposit (which we worked day in and day out to save for, with no help from our relatives) and twelve months later the deeds have been handed over and the house is officially in our name.

When we started the house buying process, I was surprised by the lack of information out there for first-time buyers. It can be a little bit of a maze and if you get stuck with solicitors like ours who didn't inform you of the steps they were taking, it was very frustrating. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be writing a few honest posts about the house buying process, but today I thought I would jot down a few of my thoughts about what I learnt from buying our first home.

It can be very long winded

Firstly, the process can be incredibly long-winded, even if you're not in a chain. Once we had our mortgage approved, we assumed that the house would be ours overnight, but it took almost thirteen agonising weeks of waiting and it was an emotionally draining process, wondering each day if something was going to go wrong and we wouldn't get our home.

Emotions are high

I didn't expect to be so emotional during the process. What should have been one of the happiest times of our lives, was full of tension, anxiety and tears. In retrospect, I should have had more faith in our solicitors and ourselves that it would all be okay in the end.

You need to do research

Always do your research and make note of every step you need to take in order keep the ball rolling. There had been several times where our solicitors forgot to inform us of a pivotal stage in our mortgage application and because we had done our research, we were able to give them a steer in the right direction. On the other hand, don't get hung up on some of the horror stories that are out there, there's a lot of horror stories on forums and just because it happened to someone else, it doesn't mean it will happen to you.

Somethings don't always go to plan

Like everything in life, sometimes things don't go to plan and you need to make yourself aware of every eventuality. We had issues surrounding our completion date, through no fault of our own, but it all worked out in the end. The worst thing you can do is lose your stride - remain positive.

You learn who your best friends are

Buying your first home is an expensive process from saving up for the initial deposit to surveyor fees, bank fees and solicitor fees. When buying your first home it is very likely that you would need to sacrifice nights out and social events to save some cash. Luckily for me, I have the most supportive friends who were by our side all the way, but there was a few who were less supportive and didn't understand why I needed to save the money so quickly.

It's worth it in the end

Despite all ups and downs, you go through when buying a house, it is all worth it in the end. The moment where you get your keys or you enter the building that is finally yours is an overwhelming experience and something to be really proud of. I know how fortunate I am to have my own home and I'm looking forward to making it a space that reflects mine and my husband's personality.

Have you bought a home before?

I'm not usually one for eating junk food, but when I was invited to review Knaves Kitchen in Leeds and saw their vegan junk food menu, I knew it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. As a vegan, I'm always looking for exciting, unique dishes that challenge the perceptions of what vegans actually eat - we don't always eat salads and large plates of vegetables. Knaves Kitchen, situated in Oporto on Call Lane features a creative vegan menu, consisting of a vegan favourite 'seitan', which is a gluten meat substitute that can be made into a variety of complex dishes.

Dishes on the Knaves Kitchen menu includes lots of comfort dishes from 'fish finger wraps' to Katsu curries and onion bhaji burgers, all of which are reasonably priced and great portion sizes. Their cocktail menu is also just as creative - one of my favourites of the night being a pineapple concoction served with a side of frazzles to give it a sweet and savoury vibe.

The food at Knaves Kitchen was exceptional and the dishes that they were able to create with seitan were outstanding, you wouldn't even think half of them were vegan. Their kebab dishes were extra 'meaty', their tofu katsu curry had the perfect amount of crunch and their fish finger sandwich was heavenly especially the secret recipe for tartar sauce. The star of the show for me, however, was the onion bhaji burger, it oozed flavour, had the perfect amount of crunch and it was highly satisfying - so much so, that I dived straight in and forgot to take a picture!

If you're looking to experiment with veganism, but don't like the idea of going straight to the deep end with whole-food vegan recipes, I completely recommend visiting Knaves Kitchen - I would also suggest that those who eat meat give it a try, because Knaves Kitchen proves that life without meat doesn't have to be boring.

Have you been to Knaves Kitchen before?

Many of us are often guilty of rushing around at 100mph and not thinking about the consequences it could have on our health and wellbeing. It can be hard to face up to the facts that we need to take a break from the things we love, especially when it can be detrimental in some cases to our careers and the things we enjoy in life.

Over the last few months, my body has been telling me to take a back seat and I wouldn't listen. I thought I could continue living life in the fast lane, but my health began telling me otherwise. When I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid just over a month ago, I knew something finally had to give. My body was tired and rundown and I needed to re-energise myself before I ran my body too far into the ground. For the first time in years, my mental health also took a huge hit - I was grumpy, emotional and I lost my enthusiasm for life, my body just wanted to sleep and for such a long time, I was depriving it.

Last month I took my first ever month out of the blogging world - I stopped posting on social media, I switched off all my accounts and spent the time I would have been blogging with my husband doing the things we love together. I also developed a passion for cooking and realised how therapeutic it can be and for the first time in years, I didn't spend everyday panicking about my social media stats or whether my blog had any views.

For those of you considering taking a break, here are just a few ways that taking time out can help you in the long run.

You will have a different outlook on life

When you're tired and run down, the whole world seems a gloomy place. It's hard to stay positive and the smallest of things can leave us feeling on edge. Having a break will give you a chance to reboot your system and when you're feeling more energised, you can look at the tasks ahead with a lot more optimism.

You can spend the time trying new hobbies

Taking a break from one thing doesn't mean switching off completely. In fact, there are many hobbies out there that are known for boosting mental health such as painting and colouring or taking up gentle exercise. When I took time out of the things causing me the most stress, I turned to cooking and developed a passion for it. It became my new way to unwind and I enjoyed seeing my creations.

You can spend much needed time with loved ones

Life is just too short and we all have friends or family that we would love to spend more time with, but never get the chance. Taking a break from things that are becoming too life-consuming will free up time for you to spend with the people that mean the most to you. For me, it meant being able to relax in front of the television with my husband after work instead of going straight on my laptop or spending a weekend going for days out without having to worry about taking my camera or posting on social media.

It could improve your health

The more mental stress we put our bodies through, the more likely we are to become poorly or out of shape. Having that extra time from taking a break would allow you to spend more time cooking healthier meals, more time to exercise and do things that put you in a good mood.

It will make you more productive in the long run

Once your rest period is over and your body is feeling back on top form, you can go back to the things you enjoy doing with a new lease of life - things won't feel as stressful and it may ignite more creative ideas that you wouldn't originally have had.

Going on a blog break helped me gain a lot of perspectives and stupidly made me realise what I should have known before, that life doesn't revolve around what you put online. In fact, it has made me look at my blog in a very different light and helped me realise what I want from it in the future - my blog turned into a job when originally it was created to give me an outlet to express my emotions and do what I love doing, writing and that will be my main focus going forward.

Have you taken a break from something recently?

Saving money can be extremely difficult, but it's not impossible. It is surprising how much money you can actually save by cutting back on a few (not always all) luxuries and switching your products for slightly cheaper versions. Getting into the initial mindset of saving money can be hard at first, but if you have something you really need or want to save for, you can do it.

In the short space of twelve months, between my husband and I we have saved almost £10K. It wasn't easy - it took a lot of willpower and at times it was challenging, but we had a goal that by the beginning of 2018 we wanted a house deposit and we've done it. Although it has helped that we both have decent wages and we were able to put a big chunk of that money away each month, there has been plenty of other things that we have done to top up our wages and reach our money saving target. From mystery shopping to filling out academic studies, to selling on eBay and the odd flutter with match betting, there's a lot of money to be made online for those able to put the time in.

Below are a few hints and tips to inspire those looking to save up, whether you're planning on saving your dream holiday or a house deposit, a new handbag or a rainy day fund.

Analyse your incomings and outgoings

The first thing you must do when you're planning on saving money is to analyse your incomings and outgoings. Pay attention to your monthly bills and tot up how much of your wage you have left when everything has been paid for. Once you have your overall total, you can then give yourself a weekly budget of how much money you would ideally like to live on and put the rest into savings.

Make a plan

One of the best ways to stick to saving money is to write down a plan or have an overall end goal. Figure out what you want the money for, when you want it by and how you are going to do it. Set yourself monthly challenges and once you have reached half-way, reward yourself - it will keep you motivated.

Register for cashback websites

Make money back from any shopping you do by registering on cashback sites such as Top Cash Back or Quidco - you can earn a percentage of your shopping back by using an affiliate link on their website and you would be surprised how quickly it all adds up. Many banks now have cashback schemes and it is worth discussing these with a bank advisor to see if it is worth you registering. You may have to pay a small fee (we pay £5 a month), but we get almost £10 a month back based on all the bills that we pay.

Grab freebies with your weekly shop

Two of my favourite apps on my phone are Shopmium and Check Out Smart. These apps give you discounts and often freebies with your weekly supermarket shop. If you're thinking, what is the catch? There isn't any. These apps are set up so that you can try new products, in the hope that the brands will get new customers. Shopmium also has a market research section, where you can leave reviews of the product once you have tried them and these will be passed back to the company. Over the last year and a half I've had nearly £100 worth of freebies. If you would like your first freebie on Shopmium, register for an account and use KHUAAUYP to get a free jar of Nutella.

Sell your unwanted items

One of the quickest and easiest ways of making money is to sell your unwanted items on Facebook selling groups, apps such as Depop, Shpock or Vinted or on eBay. We all have items in our homes that we do not use on a regular basis, so it's always worth taking a hard look at these items and if you know they are never going to get used again, you can make some money from them.

Buy and sell for profit*

Buying and selling items for profit can be frowned upon, but if you have an eye for a deal and you know that you can make extra money from selling it on, why not? You can buy stock from car boot sales, charity shops or even grab items in sales on the high street. We found a vinyl player in a reduced section for £7.99 - brand new in the box, they were just selling this for old stock and we managed to sell it for £40. I also bought a beautiful pair of shoes for 99p in a charity shop and I didn't intend on selling them as I really liked them, but they didn't fit quite right - I gave them a £5 starting bid on eBay hoping that I would get £2-3 profit, but they went for £50! Of course, not all buying and selling for profit goes well, so you need to have a backup plan on what you're going to do with any old stock.

Help academics with their studies*

Another website that I really enjoy is Prolific. Profilic studies is a website where you can help university students with their research. The studies are incredibly varied and well paid and you it's worthwhile doing them as you know that you will be making a difference, helping students across the world with their studies. Over the last year, I've made £180 and could have easily made more if I dedicated more time to the website.

Surveys can be incredibly laborious, but if you have the spare time it is always worth registering to a few survey sites and doing these whilst watching television on an evening. Although many pay only 5 to 10p per time, it will eventually add up. Swagbucks, OnePoll, YouGov and Opinion Outpost are just a few of them, but it is worth looking around the internet to see which ones suit you and the time you have available the best.

Become a mystery shopper*

If you enjoy shopping and have a keen eye for detail, you should consider mystery shopping. Mystery Shopping is as the name describes, where you go into a shop pretending to be a normal customer, but you will have a set of questions you will need to fill in about the service. Mystery shopping is a great way of getting free meals, free food, free clothes and earning a bit of money on the side. There are many ways you can do this - you can register for apps such as Field Agent or go down the more formal route of websites such as Market Force.

Experiment with matched betting

Matched Betting isn't for everyone, especially those with an addictive nature and it can require some consideration, but if you are sensible with money and don't mind gambling, it can be a good way of earning a little bit of extra money. If you haven't heard of Matched Betting before, Matched Betting is where you take advantage of free bets that companies offer and place a bet backing both sides, making it a win-win situation. There's quite a lot of maths to do and it takes a lot of concentration, but if you follow many guides available online, there is money to make. We made just over £500 tax free last year before we had to stop - if you're applying for a mortgage, don't do any Matched Betting within six months of your application as it will show up on your statements and lenders do not like gambling as it shows risky behaviour.

Make money from your hobbies*

Finally, if you have a hobby that enables you to create physical or digital products or something creative that you can share with the world, why not consider making money from it? This can range from selling graphics online to selling artwork, making bathbombs or candles to even setting up your own blog if you are passionate about writing. These probably won't make you money straight away, but it's a great long term time investment and could pay off in the future.

If you are making money, even a small amount you may need to consider declaring this to HMRC - the items with asterisks next to them means that money will need to be declared as they are taxable incomes.

What are you saving money for?

When you first decide to go vegan or plant-based, it can be difficult knowing where to start when looking for meal inspiration, especially if you work long hours and don't have the time to cook. Whilst there's a plethora of meat alternatives on the market, consuming them every day isn't the healthiest option when you're trying to ensure that your recommended vitamin and mineral intake. As someone who has gone plant-based not only for animal reasons but for health too, I always try to make sure that I get as much food from all the vegan food groups as possible and plan out all my meals to get a head start. The majority of my meals are foods that I've chucked together last minute, although I do try to make sure I cook at least two recipes out of my cookbooks each week to help me learn new cooking skills and give me enthusiasm for my plant-based lifestyle.

This week marks six months of me being vegan and a whopping fifteen years of being vegetarian and nearly every week, I'm asked by family and friends 'what do I eat?' I'm lucky that growing up my parents and friends supported my vegetarian lifestyle and although many still don't understand, they have adapted well to me being vegan too. Today I thought I would put together a small overview of

some of the meals I eat each week to give those looking to go plant-based some inspiration.

Pulled jackfruit burgers

Pulled jackfruit is possibly one of my favourite quick meals to make and it is really low cost - if you have a Chinese supermarket in your local town, you can pick up a tin of jackfruit for only £1. I usually coat the jackfruit with paprika, garlic and onion powder then roast in my favourite BBQ sauce along with some black beans for extra protein. To accompany the dish, I usually make sweet potato fries and have either a side salad or some grilled veggies.

Avocado and hummus flatbread

If I'm working from home, I like to make myself either homemade soup or a fresh flatbread for my lunch, like the one above. The flatbread is made from 200g flour (or wholemeal flour) and a splash of water, salt and pepper and I usually mix some chia seeds for extra protein. The mixture is kneaded and then rolled out into the desired shape and lightly toasted in a pan. I've topped this with hummus, avocado and some veggies.

Scrambled ackee bowl

Ackee is one of the most underrated 'egg' substitutes when it comes to veganism - it looks like a scrambled egg and is really creamy and filling. Ackee is, in fact, a Caribbean fruit, but it goes so well with spinach, peppers and slices of toast. I usually season my Ackee with garlic powder, onion powder and some chilli flakes for an extra kick.

Jackfruit and mushroom stroganoff with horseradish mash potato

This recipe is from one of my Simply Cook subscription boxes where they send you a spice kit to make a specific meal. Instead of using just mushrooms I've added jackfruit for extra texture and substituted a few of the ingredients to make it vegan. In fact, a lot of the Simply Cook boxes can be very easily adapted to a vegan diet.

Fajita bowl with tortilla chips

One of my favourite recipes at the moment is this fajita bowl with homemade tortilla chips. The recipe was in one of my issues of Vegan Living magazine and it is incredibly easy to make. All you need to do is cook some peppers and red onion with chilli powder, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper with some tomato paste and then cut some large tortilla bread into triangles and bake them. There are many different recipes for this online and it's so easy to do - I've topped my bowl with some avocado and fresh coriander.

'Cream cheese' and sundried tomato sandwich

Sometimes all you need is a nice carby sandwich and my favourite one to make is a vegan cream cheese sandwich with sundried tomatoes, spinach and some balsamic. The cream cheese is made from soaked cashew nuts blended with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and garlic and onion powder.

Chia flatbread pizza with sweet potato fries

One of my weekend staple dishes is a homemade vegan pizza - which is really easy to make and affordable too. I made the chia bread by using part flour, part water, part chia seeds and mixing them all together to make a dough and then I grill it on the hob. I then add tomato paste and all my favourite veggies. Sometimes I will also add 'tempeh bacon' made by marinating tempeh in soya sauce, paprika and maple syrup. I usually serve this with sweet potato fries or wedges and a glass of wine to celebrate the weekend.

What are your favourite vegan dishes?

Buying your first house is a life-changing decision and even with the most straightforward of applications, there are always things that pop up that you can never quite prepare for. It's a journey full of emotions from the excitement of looking for your dream home, to the agonising and tense wait of house and mortgage offers. I always knew that applying for a mortgage wouldn't leave me skipping down the street to the bank, but I never expected it to give me the rollercoaster of emotions that it did. Today I've decided to reflect on the emotions I've had so far through my house buying process to let first time buyers know that you are not alone - it's such a momentous time in your life and it's bound to have anxiety attached to it, but also you shouldn't let this anxiety ruin your happiness because eventually you will own your dream home and it will be worth it.

Excitement

The first emotion that any first-time buyer will experience is excitement. It is a very exciting time looking through houses and knowing that one of them could eventually be yours. There's the thrill of being able to start planning your dream bedroom, bathroom and kitchen and knowing that when the house is yours, no landlord is in your way.

Self doubt

Once you've picked the house and it's time to get the mortgage, the self-doubt phase kicks in. S*** suddenly gets real and you have to be an adult and talk about complex financial decisions and prove that you're capable of managing your own money - not great when you look at your last three bank statements and realise that almost half of your wage goes on clothes shopping. You become critical of everything, analyse every fine detail and regularly ask yourself 'why would a banker trust me with a mortgage?'

Anxiety

Once you've had the two-hour long bank meeting, it is a waiting game to see if your mortgage has been accepted. Even though mine was processed within the space of three days, it felt like forever. The hours creep by, you check your phone every five minutes and then Google makes you paranoid when you accidentally stubble upon forums of people discussing their failed mortgage applications. You wake up every morning thinking, will this be the day I find out?

Relief

All being well, your mortgage will have been accepted and you enjoy your temporary state of relief - the bank thinks you're good to go and you can begin to feel optimistic. You can finally pop the fizz, have a quick 'yay us' moment and after a long, tiring wait, you are able to have a good night sleep before the next section of hard work begins.

Fatigue

The emotions of the last few days, weeks and months finally catch up with you and you begin to feel irritable and tired, but the hard work isn't over yet. You have to make sure the solicitor is in place, liaise with the bank and make sure all the paperwork is organised from your side. You feel drained all you want is a few days curled up on the sofa watching Netflix but don't lose sight of the finish line.

Second thoughts

Buying a house is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make and something you will be paying off for a considerable time of your life (unless you're super rich), so it's normal that at some part of the process you will begin to have second thoughts. These can range from thinking the house isn't quite big enough to being worried about the location and whether it is somewhere you would still want to live in 20 years time.

Last minute panic

Once the solicitors are involved and you have your eyes on the completion date, last minute panic will set in. It's the stage where the banks do their final checks and where you are so close to owning a home that it feels like a reality. The last-minute panic sets in as you realise the end is in sight and you don't want anything to go wrong and jeopardise it.

Elation

Right now I'm in the last minute panic stage, but I'm sure once everything is signed on the dotted line, the house is in our name and we have our own home, that the ultimate feeling will be elation. That euphoria of knowing you've done this - yes, you, the person who thought that going a month without Starbucks would be difficult or the person who never looked to the future and lived in the moment. There will definitely be a big bottle of champagne with my name on it when this is done and the process is finally over.

Life often has an annoying habit of getting in the way of the things we love, from busy work commitments to lack of money or suddenly making us feeling poorly or blue. It can be really hard to make time for the things you love when you have so many other commitments and only seven short days to fit them in.

This week I've teamed up with Virgin Trains on the East Coast to show how planning ahead can give you a head start and give you more time for the things you love. During the last week, Virgin trains on the East Coast have challenged me to work my way through my to-do list, comprising of things that I either needed to get done or have been putting off for far too long.

Booking a gym class

One of my first items on my to-do list was booking into a gym class. I've been paying for a gym membership for nearly four years which includes unlimited gym classes and I've never been to any of them. This was mainly due to my lack of confidence, but also partly due to the fact that I always forgot to book in advance and spaces would fill up. This week I booked myself into a class a few days early on my fitness class and then attended my first ever pilates class. It was fun, it really pushed me out of my comfort zone and it gave me the motivation to do a lot more of them.

Book a trip to London

The next item that I was keen to tick off my to do list was booking a trip to London. It has almost been six years since my husband and I spent the night in London and the last time we went, it was when we got engaged. Over the last few months we have been working really hard to save for a house deposit, so it was about time that we treated ourselves. We booked our tickets in advance on the Virgin Trains on the East Coast website travelling from Leeds to London and we managed to get tickets considerably cheaper than booking only a few days ahead.

Cooking from scratch

Meal prep or batch cooking is a great way to save time when you have a busy working week and something that I've been looking to do more of recently. I leave the house at 7am and usually don't get home until 7pm and I often feel too tired to cook, but I need to cook a lot from scratch due to my nutritional needs as a vegan. This week I bought lots of ingredients in advance and spent an evening cooking and freezing meals to free up space for the next few days. It felt like a big task, to begin with as I needed to cook several meals at a time, but it was great knowing that I could come home from work the night after and simply reheat my meal. I was then able to dedicate the time I freed up to blogging and even going to the gym.

Sorting out my photography

On Friday night, I spent the evening in front of the television, with a big glass of wine, printing off my travel photographs from 2017. Now we're in the digital age, most of us just keep our photographs on our phones or computers, but what happens if they break? Last year I lost a considerable amount of photographs when my hard drive broke and I was devastated. I kept telling myself that I would print off my photographs in future, but the months have crept by and until now I hadn't printed off any. Printing my travel photographs means that I have physical copies of my favourite memories and also that I can make space on my camera for more photographs of the things I love.

Spending time with loved ones

Last, but definitely not least on my to-do list was to spend much needed time with my husband. Although we live together, we rarely get to spend quality time together because we're too tired on an evening and we both have very hectic lives. We spent Saturday having a few cocktails then went for a meal at one of our favourite restaurants and it was great to be able to have a laugh together without feeling too rundown. It also happened to be the day that we finally put an offer down on a house and it was a great distraction whilst we waited for it to be accepted...hopefully we will hear back from them soon.

How do you make time for the things you love?

*Collaborative post

I Love Cosmetics New Collection Review

Six tips on how to prioritise + Nordgreen review

Urban Picnic in Leeds with Robinsons Refresh'd

Five things that they don't tell you about being a homeowner

What I've learnt from my recent digital detox

Five Landmarks on my European Bucketlist

Who said vegans can't eat chocolate? The Slabb review

We're homeowners! My thoughts on the house buying process

Vegan Junk Food at Knaves Kitchen, Leeds

Why you should never deny yourself a break

How we saved almost £10k in 12 months

What I eat in a week as a vegan

The Emotional Stages of a First Time House Buyer

Making time for the things you love with Virgin Trains on the East Coast