Ruth Rules

Only in Essex would this happen!

My new KA (he’s called Percy)

My courgettes are growing

Once upon a time used to be a member of Fitness First. I started to get annoyed with the lack of classes my local FF offered me so left and joined the local leisure centre. Not only was it cheaper to be a member of but I got more for my money. Then they refurbished the gym and I really did not like it. They out treadmills in front of majority of the mirrors leaving only the ‘heavy weights’ section clear. I am not a heavy weights kind of girl and I was very put off going in there by all the big men who were only concerned with lifting more and more! They also re-did the changing rooms and left the showers open, without doors or curtains. Now call me a prude if you want but I like showering in private. All in all it started putting me off the gym and I found myself going less and less. The one thing I was dedicated to thought was my Monday night yoga class.

Yoga gives me such a sense of well being and stretching is really important as I get such a stiff back half of my body. But all in all it seemed like a lot of money to be paying for one class which, since I have started me new job, is not even amazingly convenient to get to. So this got me thinking about how I could still do yoga but at a time more convenient for me. The solution – yoga at home. Now I am the kind of person who need someone telling me what to do in order to do it so yoga at home wasn’t as simple as laying my mat down and cracking on. Then I found, through the joys of google, online yoga classes. I looked through a number of websites and most required a subscription fee to view their videos. YogaYak however offers free online classes. They have a limited number compared to the other paid websites but all the classes I have tried I have thoroughly enjoyed.

This has allowed me to cancel my gym membership, thus saving me money, and allowed me to do my yoga at a time that suits me. That time is getting closer and closer to 10pm every night but at least I am still trying! I think eventually I will pay and download a selection of classes from one of the other websites so I have them to keep and can rotate through the ones I like. But for now I am happy with the ones on YogaYak, especially the back and neck class. The money saved will be going straight onto my credit card to help clear that.

The courgette plants have now gone into the garden. The big one has rooted well and now has at least 6 leaves! The little one is still little although new leaves are growing, just small ones. Hopefully this will provide us with staggered growths of courgettes. I think we are a long way off that yet though.

The spinach and mixed salad leaves I planted are growing well, although I think some weeds are also growing amongst them which could be an issue when it comes to eating! The spring onions dont seem to have worked at all. I found 2 little shoots that could possibly be spring onions but I am not holding my breath. I need a container to grow them in I think.

I am excited about the prospect of being able to bring salad into work for lunch that has come out of my own garden. I am sure some pictures will follow.

So I have a new job. It is a contract job working for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. I will be working with in IT training in social care. It should be interesting, and is only for 4 months until my Masters starts. The best part for me though is the money. It is almost double what I was earning working in my last post. And when saving for a Masters the extra money is extra handy. Since it is working in London it does mean I have had to pay out for a season ticket for the commute, which isnt cheap, but I am still making more once you deduct that than I was in my old post.

Which is also a bonus since I just bought my first car :) I need one to commute to and from my Masters so started saving a while ago. Then the idea little car popped up, but it was slightly out of my budget. I would literally never have found as good a deal as I had with this car so my Dad lent me the money. This, plus the insurance, means more debt added to what I owe :( It is rubbish but, fingers crossed, I will be saving in the long run by buying a newer car. It is a 2008 Ford Ka. I get to pick it up on Saturday. A photo will be posted :) I am going to call him Percival, or Percy for short.

So as part of my trying to be frugal I have decided that rather than always buying new clothes I need to get creative with the ones I have. I mean I have tonnes of clothes and I know there is stuff that sits in draws never worn for months and months at a time.

So based on this I have been reading up on a lot of different things to inspire me. Firstly I have been looking at blogs such as whatiwore & Style on a String for some inspiration. I have also been looking at websites such as Thread Banger for ideas on customising.

And they have done a pretty good job of inspiring me! I have found myself putting together outfits that I never have worn before. And planning outfits around an item I know I havent used in months. It is challenging me to be creative with what I have already. It also inspired me to tidy my wardrobe which I did on Sunday.

What I would like to do now is start customising the clothes I currently have and ideally make my own. The problem at the moment is time. I know my mum has her old sewing machine in the garage that I could use and I know I could do it but I am always busy!

I have a couple ideas for some easy projects to do already - I have a pair of trousers that are too short for me so I am going to make them into shorts. I also want to try and make a sleep mask (I keep waking up early due to the sun!) So that, and the fact I am learning to knit, should keep my evenings at home busy!

So I sat down yesterday and looked through my current credit card debt and worked out how much was left to clear and how much I would need to put aside each month to clear it ready for my masters. I wont go into massive details as my debt is not something I am proud off. Anyway I have worked out that to clear all my debt and leave me with a little amount of savings for my masters I will have a budget of £200 a month. This is after all my outgoings. So that will be £200 a month for travel, presents, clothing etc. It should prove interesting. I think I can do it but I will def have to give up the shopping. I think I am going to record my spending on here too so I can keep an eye on my spending.

In aid of my new thrifty living I reserved some library books and picked them up today. They are:

• The Thrift Book by India Knight
• Yeah! I Made it Myself by Eithne Farry
• Ultimate Sewing Bible by Marie Clayton

I’ll let you know if I learn anything useful from them!

I’ve got blogging fever. A different blog for different things.