Purchases, Melbourne, Thrift

I did declare another Frugal Feb at the beginning of last month but I wasn't so involved this time around. After all, my main expense - stuffing my face at every opportunity - was already covered by work while I was in Melbourne, and I'm trying to cut down on shopping.

Having said that, here is some stuff I acquired during Frugal Feb:

 

Windsor Smith black patent wedges, $64 (was $129.95) - DFO

Witchery pink jeans, $40 (was $99.95) and Witchery Kids leopard print belt, $7 (was $19.95) - DFO

 

I have wanted a skinny leopard belt like this for ages but the adults' ones are too big for my waist. I was so happy to find this one, especially at that price! From now on I'm doing all my accessories shopping in the kids' department.

This bracelet was a Valentine's Day present from Jimmy so it was free! Thanks James, I love it!

 

Our Man In Havana is borrowed from Jim and thus also free.  Watermelon came from the Salvo's store in Altona, I think it was $2.

 

Cotton On Body bras, $5 each - DFO. 

 

The Cotton On shop at DFO South Wharf appears to sell things from their stores overseas as well, because unlike the regular Aussie stores, this one had heaps of size 8 bras.  So if you're always searching for them like I am, you know where to go!

 

Target leopard print dress, $8 I think - Salvo's Altona

 

Howard Showers black dress, $40 (was $189 or something equally crazy) - DFO (Charlie Brown store)

 

I wore this dress three times while I was in Melbourne, i.e. once a week - cost per wear!  The first time was with black peeptoes and silver & diamante jewellery, to dinner with James.  The second was with the same shoes and the leopard print belt above, to Rockpool.  The third was with gold & black enamel earrings and my leopard shoes, on our awesome last night out.

 

You can't see it in this picture, but I'm pretty sure I wore my bee ring as well.  Buzz buzz.

 

Alcohol was another of my few expenses - I wasn't that restrained, but I did buy this on special!

 

Pilgrim navy camisole, $4, and Jacqui E raspberry knit, $6 - Salvo's Altona

 

Trying to pack light meant I bought most of my toiletries down there, then left them behind when I came home.  All of these were on sale, especially the body scrub ($3 I think, from DFO), the OPI You're A Pisa Work polish ($10) and the Hair Academy products from The Reject Shop.

 

I really liked the smell of the Herbal Essences shampoo.  The Taft hairspray is a new favourite, as is the Hair Academy pump action hairspray.  The Nivea lotion was like applying sunscreen, but gosh it worked well!

 

The body scrub smelled like the air fresheners in a shopping centre bathroom.  The John Freida hair stuff works pretty well but doesn't prevent static at all, and as the most expensive of the lot I really do not think it is worth a repurchase.

 

I bought these Kmart earrings for $6 (not on sale, that's just how much Kmart charges for earrings!) to wear with my black dress on our last night out because I was sick of all the jewellery I'd packed.  The J necklace is from Gloss, my favourite cosmetics and accessories chain - I think it was about $2 on sale.

 

 

So that's the lot! I am pretty happy with my purchases. I think I was pretty restrained considering, and quite practical too as I've worn/used almost everything already.  The total cost of all my clothes/accessories/cosmetics shopping plus two bottles of gin, three magazines and a few other sundries was about $330-$350 for the month.  It wasn't exactly the Struggle Street scenario of last year's Frugal Feb, but I'd call that pretty thrifty!

 

I was less thrifty with club entries, taxis and drinks when I went out, but I still reckon I would've spent about $300-$400 at the most.  It's a lot more than I'd spend normally but $100 a week for socialising isn't very much really, and for the amount of fun I had it's an absolute steal.

 

Last year I had lots of thrifty tips.  This year my advice is get a job at my work! (Disclaimer: the partying to working ratio will end up being like 1:100 - still beats most jobs!)

The Last Few Days In Pictures

Let's take a little look at what I've been up to lately.

 

I visited some op shops and in keeping with my shopping ban bought only this $3 retro pie dish. 

 

 

I am really pleased about this purchase. It is for when I move out next year, but I think I might have to use it before then.

 

I went to The Crest on Tuesday with Jim, wearing the pink blouse, navy cardi and navy jeans from my capsule wardrobe:

 

 

You can't see it here, but I was also wearing my purple flats, beige handbag and dangly silver earrings that I love.

 

You also can't see my face but I was wearing that too.

 

It was $10 schnitzel and pasta night.  I was going to be healthy, but the pasta was boscaiola so I figured I might as well have the chicken.

 

 

It was great.  And I ate all my salad too.

 

 

I ordered this Vodka Rush because it was only $4, but it was pretty yuck.  My sister would probably like it.

 

 

This Midori Splice cocktail was controversial.  They had a fancy little sign advertising the cocktails (all using VOK products so it must be a special VOK promotion and they send the signs out to pubs, I have seen similar elsewhere) saying "$6 cocktails" and they had added their own little sticker saying "Wednesday 7-9.30 and Saturday 9-11" or something. 

 

It was Tuesday, but I had seen a lady making some earlier so I asked whether they were doing them that night and the lady told me yes.

 

Then when we got our change it turned out she had charged me $9, because the $6 price is a happy hour special.

 

Funny how the sign didn't say anything about the $6 cocktails being a discount.

 

If you tell someone you sell $6 cocktails on Wednesdays and they ask whether they can buy one on a Tuesday, I think you should say "sure, but it will be $9", not just "sure!".

 

This is why we stopped going there in the first place, they are always doing things that are technically not that dodgy, but are just a bit tricksy.  Like when they have $4 house spirits and you order a gin and tonic and they charge you $6.50, and when you query it they say they used a different gin because they don't have any of the house.

 

 

 

Anyway, after that I had a $4.80 house gin and tonic (from a different bartender, who was great).

 

I also had a bet on the dogs!

 

 

I chose a dog called Leopard Print, because it was called Leopard Print.  After James put the bet on for me he told me it was the worst dog and would probs come last.  And I realised it was the one in the stripey jacket, yuck!  I had serious buyer's remorse.

 

Then it came second and won me $10.80! My financial woes are over! Thank you Leopard Print if you are reading!

 

 

Here's a funny ad I saw the other day:

 

 

If you want to join a club for old singles that is only open to university educated people, maybe there is a reason you're over fifty and still single.

 

Speaking of pretentious, here's Jim looking very spiffy on his way to his Summer Clerkship job at a fancy law firm in the city.  I won't say what it is but if you know me in real life I have probably told you already because I am very proud!

 

 

 

The decluttering continues:

 

 

In more cheerful news, James had this iced chocolate beverage from New Zealand Natural and it was amazing.

 

 

 

Here's yesterday's lunch:

 

 

And today's:

 

 

On Sunday Jim and I went to trivia night at Club Blakehurst and ordered this fantastic seafood board:

 

 

It was a little heavier on the fried foods than I'd like and I'm always upset that their "smoked salmon" is actually sashimi salmon, but you get a great variety and the prawns are superb, so for $42 I was pretty happy!

 

We didn't win trivia, but we won Everyone's Favourite Game (heads and tails) and the prize was a catering size passionfruit cheesecake that weighed over 3 kilos.  Really.

 

 

They gave it to us in the cardboard tray, but then they cut us each a piece and plated it up nicely with ice cream for free.  It was really tasty actually.  I may have had two pieces.

 

 

Jim and I went out for breakfast at the cafe in Flower Power, where I ordered poached eggs with Hollandaise:

 

 

And he ordered a big breakfast:

 

 

It was pretty nice but they didn't have any fresh juices, just stuff from a fridge plus coffees etc.  I really just want to have fresh juice with my breakfast.

 

 

 

A reward for a hard day's decluttering.  This icecream sandwich is from Aldi and it was actually so yummy, I wish it hadn't been the last one in the freezer because I could really go for another.  Hey Mum if you're reading could you please get me some of these next time you're at Aldi?

 

 

Smoked salmon pasta made by mum:

 

 

So yummy.  The salmon was really smokey and delicious.

 

 

And look what came for me in today's mail!

 

 

It's a beautiful Christmas card from my delightful friend Emily! Thanks Emily! Merry Christmas!

DFO and Other Bargains

 

A couple of weeks ago Jimmy and I went to DFO.  I was very strict and only looked at things I really needed.

 

 

Like these Leona Edmiston Pins grey tights, because they are my absolue favourites and I got a run in my other pair.  They were $12, which I thought was a rather good price for such nice tights.

 

 

I also bought this blue merino knit work top from Jacqui E for $15 and these Portmans sunnies for $5, because I have lost/scratched all my others except for a heart-shaped pair and a fluro pink pair, and I was starting to get embarrassed going out in public wearing novelty sunnies.

 

Then I went to Hurstville Westfield, which contains many of my favourite shops, such as that huge chemist on the bottom level that sells all sorts of discounted things you can't get anywhere else.

 

 

That Garnier body lotion is discontinued now and it is a favourite in our household, so I bought one for me and one for Mum.  The St Ives scrub, which is excellent, only cost $3.50!  The Marc Daniels serum was only $1.  I forget how much the mini deodorant was - you can probably get that anywhere, I just bought it for my travel toiletries bag. 

 

I was super delighted to find Betty Crocker candles there because I'd finished my strawberry one so I bought a replacement, and a coconut one for my sister.  I think they were $2 or $3 each.

 

 

Another shop I love is Gloss, which sells all sorts of cosmetics and accessories really cheap.

 

 

All of these were things I had been desperately looking for: nail polish remover pen ($4 instead of $14), an iPhone case (only $5, plus it's pink and glittery and therefore the best), spiral bobby pins for buns (super expensive but I got them for $3!) and this special glitter nail polish remover stuff.

 

I had read about these special nail polish remover jars on a blog somewhere, it's like a tub of nail polish remover but with a fancy sponge thing in it, and you just pop your finger in, rub it around if you like, wait a minute, then take it out and all the polish is gone.  It is really easy and efficient and somehow less drying than regular remover, plus you don't get white fluff from your Swisspers everywhere.  The review I read said they were awesome but unfortunately couldn't be used with glitter polish - a terrible shame, because that is by far the hardest polish to remove.

 

So imagine my delight when I discovered a special glitter polish one!  It can still be used for regular polish too, I tested it.

 

 

Anyway I was really happy about all my bargains, and especially happy because I only bought things that I needed and had on my shopping list.  Yay! Does anyone have any other bargain tips for me?

100

Hello!  Welcome to my 100th Post Bonanza, featuring all the usual things.  Like bargains:

This Miss Shop glitter wallet was on sale for $10.50.  Dorothy Gale would approve.  The other thing is a headband, $2 from Colette.  I discovered it can be a necklace to so it's double as thrifty.

I fell in love with Cotton On Body's Revolutionary bras because they come in size 8s.  Then they stopped making them.  But the other day I discovered that they had them back in!  I grabbed three - plain black, navy lace and pink lace.  Then when I got to the counter the lady told me all bras were 40%!  Can't even tell you how happy I was.  They're normally $30 (still great value), but I only paid $18 each.  I would have bought more but the other colours didn't have any size 8s.

I also bought the matching undies to the navy bra because I love to match (the black one didn't have undies, and the pink ones were sold out).  I had a 20% off coupon for full-price merchandise so the undies were $8.

Target has lots of things on clearance and they are a further 30% off at the moment.  So I bought this wardrobe essential:

I'm sure it'll be a staple.  I've already worn it once!  It left fluff on my top but I didn't care.  It came down to about $22.

I bought another two Ulta3s.  Sizzling Red is very similar to Scarlet but not dodgy.  Purple Pumps is very bright but it was only a dollar.

Now for some baking.

It was James's birthday the other day, and he wanted a My Little Pony cake.  At first I decided to make a castle with ponies on it, but it didn't work out that well.

I used the instagram filter that disguised its hideousness the most, but it's still pretty woeful.  I didn't even bother finishing it.

Instead, I did cupcakes with a Rainbow Dash theme:

These were really easy to make.  I was pressed for time so I used a Betty Crocker chocolate fudge packet mix.  Hers are the best packet mixes, but I still didn't love it.  Nobody else seemed to mind though.  I made thick white buttercream icing (other kinds look better for decorating but they taste awful so it's pretty pointless) and coloured it with the blue colouring that comes in a bottle on its own.  NOT the one that comes in a box of four colours.

While the icing set I prepared the decorations: rainbow Sour Straps lollies chopped in half for the rainbows, and marshmallows chopped in half for the clouds.  When the icing was set I cut the cupcakes to make two little slots on each, then stuck the sour straps in.  I dabbed a little extra icing onto the marshmallows to stick them down.

To serve, I arranged the cupcakes on my Coles tiered cupcake stand and stuck James's Rainbow Dash figurine (sneakily stolen from his house when he wasn't looking) on the top.

Here is the same picture with a different filter, which disguises Rainbow Dash but makes the colours look 20% cooler.

Speaking of pictures where the colours look cooler, here is a giant box of Nerds that Emily gave me the other day.  What an awesome friend; thanks Em!

And now for some food that someone else cooked!

James and I had dinner at Seven Lantens in Sylvania.  It's a Japanese/Korean restaurant that was very lovely, but quite expensive.

That's the entrance - pretty groovy, huh?

Soft Shell Crab Roll, $18

Hu Yao prawns, $18

Beef Tataki, $18

Vegetarian Gyoza, $9

All the food tasted really great, but it was quite pricey, and you would need more than four plates to fill you up (you can order big main meals there too though).  I would definitely go back for a special date though.

We'd planned to get Bay Vista afterwards, but unfortunately there was a huge line.  But here are some pictures from another time, so let's just pretend, shall we?

Yum.  Here's something less yum:

My Mum kindly bought me this World Kitchen ready meal pasta thing to take to work.  It was really gross.  I didn't even finish it, which is really weird for me.  I'd never buy it again and I must insist that you don't.  I don't even understand how something as simple as pasta could be made to taste so terrible.  The chicken had a weird jellyish texture and the sauce was just rank.  Please don't eat this.

I spent ages searching Instagram for a filter that made it look not like dog vomit.  That's the best I could do.  It was worse in real life.

Last night I went out to Nada's Lebanese in Surry Hills though and it was the bomb.  We ordered a $27pp banquet thing, which included hummus, babaganoush, tabouli, seven different meat and vegetarian dishes that I don't remember, plus coffee and sweets.

This hummus was truly spectacular.

The falafels and ladyfingers were stand-outs too.

The one thing I didn't care for was the dolmades.  It wasn't the restaurant's fault; I just really don't like them.  But there was more than enough of everything else so I didn't go hungry. 

Anyway, they more than made up for it in other areas.  I went with Meg, Elise and Becky (hello girls!), and Nicky (hello Nicky!) met us later.  We were still at the restaurant so she joined us there while we finished up.  She arrived just before the sweets were served, and look:

They gave us five, even though we only paid for four!  They also served tea and coffee for all five of us and there was no extra charge for any of it.  On top of that there was no corkage charge either.

It was so delicious and the service was great and I will be back for sure.  Thank you Nada's Lebanese for a fantastic dining experience!

Here are some friands that were also quite good:

One of our clients at work brought in a big plate of them for us.  Isn't that so nice?

And speaking of nice, while my neighbours across the street went away to Canada I fed their cats again, and look what they (neighbours, not cats) brought back for me:

The Maple Tea is really lovely.  I haven't tried the Maple Syrup yet but I am excited for the next time I have pancakes.  I just love that beautiful glass bottle.

Well, that's all I have to say about my ordinary life for the moment.  Thanks for sitting through this a hundred times, you guys!  I'm not really sure why you do, but I appreciate it all the same.

If you really enjoy Expect Cowgirls, you can also Like the Official Facebook Page and, if you're sick of waiting forever to see pictures get uploaded you can follow me on Instagram (@shippitydoodah), or on Tumblr for all your Harry Potter Meme needs.  Technology, huh?

If you're really committed you can also leave a comment and tell me, which of these 100 posts have you liked the best?  Maybe a specific one or maybe just a category, like "the ones with food" (haha, that would be ALL of them).  Don't forget I have more Ulta3s for leavers of comments!