Book recommendations, extroversion and a bit of a plan.

I came upon the idea of starting a blog during a particularly reflective moment whilst heading home on the No. 3 bus and reading The Thrift Book by India Knight. My boss recommended the book to me after I declared that I was pretty sick and tired of being too poor to do half the things I wanted to do this year. 2011 looked set to be filled with nights out, festivals and indulgent holidays and I had no clue how I would end up doing it all on my limited budget. So I bought it, read it, and have tried to keep it in mind ever since. I simply can't recommend it enough. It's not about being a dirty, thieving stig in order to not spend money but more about how to be a bit cleverer about what you're spending your money on and if it's really adding any value. Simple stuff, but being clever doesn't always have to be complicated. 

Moving to London in October 2009 was both the best and worst thing I ever did. Best because it was good for my social life, my career and growing up. Worst because I have never, ever been so in debt. London is notoriously expensive, obviously I knew this before I moved here, yet somehow it didn't become apparent until I was shelling out a small fortune to live in our tiny flat just south of the river and living off something akin to a prison diet. I don't have significant outgoings (no mortgage, car payments or offspring to cover) yet I do have a lively social life, small(ish) obsessions with fashion & beauty and the ability to sink a lot of gin. It all adds up and I am finding it increasingly hard to keep up. Ditto my friends. We are all in our mid 20s, the majority of us are still working our way up the career ladder and none of us ever seem to have any spare money. The week before pay day can get pretty depressing for us all.

Of course the simple answer would be 'just stay in, don't shop and don't spend any money' but I can't. I just can't. I am a true extrovert not in the sense that I am incredibly loud and outgoing (although I can be, the gin helps), more in the sense that I get my energy from being around other people rather than spending time alone. I actually hate being alone for more than a few hours. Leave me to my own devices for a day and I tend to do absolutely nothing of value. I am pretty incapable of entertaining myself beyond the internet and watching the telly and even that can only stretch so far. I just sit there bored out of my mind and wishing I was doing something, anything, else. Just as long as it was around others.

So this weekend saw the kick off of London Fashion Week. Now, I'm not cool enough to be heading to any of the shows or parties or anything. Goodness me, no. But a quick browse of Time Out London did result in finding various fashion events going on which were open to the public and most surprisingly, free. So I corralled a few friends together and suggested we check out a couple of things this weekend with varying success. For example, jewellery-making workshop in Selfridges: Good. 'The Future of Fashion Exhibition' in Covent Garden: Bad. But all fun with friends, and most importantly, completely free. And I had a bloody lovely weekend. 

The epiphany to actively seek out fun and free stuff to do whilst exploring London and chronicling the results in blog form came at that moment on the bus, flicking through The Thrift Book for the umpteenth time, proudly cradling my new and admittedly hideous necklace and thinking about the lovely couple of hours we'd just spent doing something really fun for nothing. Blogging about my thrifty endeavours seemed to be a sensible way to stick to the cause. I want to have more lovely times out and about with my friends and I guess I'll tell you all about it on here.

Watch this space.

Anna

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