Miss Penny's Money

Uh-oh, confession

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:30:18 +0100

I finally cracked and did some shopping of a non-essential nature. Granted, I did go via Quidco for a 12% cashback, and used a 1% cashback credit card, and it was fairly useful stuff that will get used a lot.

But where did I go...?

Yep, my old favourite, the La Senza sale. For £23 I bagged a new bra, two pairs of gym shorts and a gym top.

For once I was sensible and steered myself away from the frillies. But if you're feeling flush, I can heartily endorse everything in the Evita pure silk range. The mocha chemise, for example, is half price at £15, currently in stock in sizes 8 to 16. Would make a very stylish girly gift (you don't even need to know her bra size), and could easily be hidden away until a birthday or Xmas.

As ever, the search function on the website is pretty unreliable, so try a basic search, then do as many category searches as you can think of as well. It's often the only way to ferret out the bargains. Also try the 'clearance' category (link on the top right of the screen).

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Current sales and discounts

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:08:07 +0100

The latest Motley Fool sales and discounts list has something for everyone, from high street fashion to Wii games for under a tenner.

Well worth a look.

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See a £10 exhibition for 40p (no catches)

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:46:43 +0100

The Hayward Gallery is charging only 40p entrance to everything this Friday (11th July) to celebrate being open for 40 years.

No vouchers or 2-for-1s needed, just turn up any time between 10am and 10pm. FP review and details here.

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The proof is just a pudding

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:56:51 +0100

The proofs of the latest book have arrived, and my worst fears are confirmed. It's been 'outsourced' to another country, and whoever has laid out the pages and 'proofed' it has put more mistakes into it than they've taken out.

I've looked at 10 pages so far, each with at least 2 obvious mistakes per page, so we might be looking at 300+ corrections. For crying out loud, they've even got the TITLE wrong on the FIRST PAGE.

These ridiculous cost-cutting measures are going to come back and bite publishers on the arse soon enough - non-fiction in particular needs to appear polished and credible otherwise the brand gets tarnished pretty damned quick.

Fortunately for the publisher, I take some pride in what I do, so the final product will be in much better shape. Or heads will roll.

I was planning on working on the bargain book this week, but needs must. Anyone got any bargains for me today?

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Further gym weirdness

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:18:47 +0100

1. Man who kept shouting out 'gnnnuuurrrggghh', 'heurrrrggghhhh', 'YES!' etc every 5 or 6 seconds on all the weights machines. This prompted the real bodybuilders to raise conspiratorial eyebrows amongst themselves. It's just not how these things are done, so shurrup.

2. Strange noise that went on for about 5 minutes in the women's changing rooms, until my curiosity got the better of me and I had to look round the corner to find out what the dickens was happening. An odd little woman had decided to apply body lotion all over her entire skin by literally SLAPPING IT ON, and then slapping it some more instead of rubbing it in. Took her 10 minutes in total to get bored.

3. The woman who decided to dry her hair while she was stark naked, and who also decided that she would plant her feet wide apart and bend right over to dry her hair upside down, thus giving the entire changing room a full 'ringside seat' view of her arse and 'lady-bits'. Cheers love, but maybe you could put a few clothes on first next time.

I am thinking about trying out a new gym on Friday, after my course has finished.

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Online shopping challenge

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:59:00 +0100

Interesting article at Motley Fool. Shows some of the shopping categories where you can make the biggest savings etc - worth a quick look.

It also shows you some of the areas where shopbots (price comparison websites) do and don't pick up the bargains.

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Biggest sales list seen so far

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:12:41 +0100

This one from Time Out is the daddy of all sales lists to date: Time Out summer sales.

I can report that Wifey has had some good luck with the Liberty sale already (beautiful silk scarves and cosmetics bags at less than half price, and even lovingly giftwrapped for free).

Meanwhile, I'm being 'sensible', i.e. not spending too much on non-essentials so that I don't feel pressured to rush back into taking another crappy job. Looking at it that way, it seems like a good trade-off.

Please go forth and shop for me by proxy.

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High street sales and more

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:35 +0100

The sale season is upon us, with some rather good discounts. Motley Fool have kindly rounded loads of them up into one handy list.

I liked the look of that 6-man tent, down from £250 to £35. Then I remembered that ATP and Supersonic had ruined me for camping FOREVER. What? I have a bad back lately innit, no lumpy ground for me poor beleaguered spine.

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Flying visit

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:59:36 +0100

Hello Voxers! Here's a handy list of sample sales from Urban Junkies. The first few entries are a bit out of date, but just scroll down and you'll see all kinds of goodies.

Urban Junkies sample sale list

Must dash, I'm off to see a man about my poorly jaw. What fun.

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Where the hell have I been?

nobody@vox.com(Ms P) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:51:47 +0100

Er, yeah. Not near the interwebs every day. But alive and well, fear not.

I've been buying lots of books on Amazon and catching up on my reading, going out for coffees, catching up with friends old and new, watching the DVD backlog, making tasty food, getting a bit of exercise and all that. There's also been some dressing up and partying, and I have disco-red toenails for the first time in ages - always a good sign.

And, most importantly, relaxing for a few days and not working for arseholes any more. I've had some osteo on my back, which is improving a lot, and going to the float centre to take the pressure off the whiplash in my neck and generally mellow out (there's a 3-for-2 deal on at Floatworks).

EDY has unfortunately been rubbish about the whole resignation/bullying/taxi accident/bad back thing, and he still won't go to the docs, so has now been read the riot act. Hmmm. Meanwhile, two other very-not-ugly men have asked me out for drinks, which has cheered me up a bit even if I did the decent thing and said no.

Looking forward to a fun and silly weekend, and may even bake a cake tomorrow. Next week I'll start writing more of the latest book, and spend some time in town being a culture vulture around all the free exhibitions.

For a total layabout, I feel quite busy. Funny that.

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