How we...

Four year anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary, four years ago we became Team Mozzy!  I thought on our anniversary I would write a post about how we navigated the financial minefield that is hosting a wedding.

Sam and I aren't very showy with cash, we thrift and save where we can and don't have a particularly spendy mindset.  The idea of spending thousands of pounds on a wedding, just one day in our lives after all, was out of the question and as anyone who has organised a wedding will tell you the second you use the word 'wedding' £100+ gets automatically added to your bill.

I should add that we had amazing support from family and friends throughout the lead up to our wedding, financial, creative, emotional the whole nine yards we couldn't have done it without them.  I would also add that a thrifty wedding is NOT an easy option and there were a few times we wished we'd just eloped but in the end it was totally worth it.

What we did...

• We sent out sunflower and cornflower seeds with our invitations and asked people to grow flowers to contribute to the decorations, we also grew sunflowers on the allotment and had them all over the venue they looked great!
• My mum was amazing, the night before the wedding she went to a whole load of supermarkets and bought up bunches and bunches of reduced cut flowers and created beautiful displays with them for each of the tables.  My aunt foraged in the hedgerows for brambles and other flowers to be included in the top table floral decoration all of it looked great.
• Now I appreciate that I'm lucky to have a sister-in-law who can rustle up amazing dresses and not everyone does but she made my dress and the two bridesmaids dressed for under £100 (basically just the cost of the fabric).  When I see that you can spend thousands on a dress alone, that blows my mind!
• We found a venue that was new to hosting weddings so managed to get the cost of hire for much less than the more established destinations.  It did mean we were guinea pigs for their processes and organisation but for the price of the venue hire that was definitely a sacrifice we were happy to make.
• We took a taxi to the registry office and to the venue.  Ok, ok that's not glamorous at all but we weren't prepared to pay upwards of £500 for a sleek car for what would have been a maximum of 20 minutes in transit.  Plus we didn't care that we rocked up in a taxi, and because we didn't care no one else did either.
• My mum and aunt were once again amazing, over several months they bought up white china from charity shops and car boot sales, it didn't matter that the styles were all different because each plate was plain white it matched enough and went with the relaxed feel of the do.  At the end of the wedding we sold most of the crockery back to the venue, (after our friends and relatives had taken what they wanted!)
• Months in advance of the wedding we made the most of supermarket offers on booze, after Christmas and New Year we were buying up Cava and Babycham like it was going out of fashion, on one visit to the supermarket we came out with two trolleys piled high which raised a few eyebrows in the car park!
• Our venue didn't allow foil confetti so I dried petals over the radiator for weeks and weeks!  I then went to Makro and bulk bought small white paper bags (like sweetie bags) and rubber stamped on each one 'I love you more than...' (mario kart or ginger chicken udon noodles for example)  and added them to each of the bags so each guest got a unique bag of confetti.
• Sam brewed his own alcohol, that stuff was rocket fuel but people seemed to enjoy drinking it, my favourite was the blackberry vodka, it tasted like liquid jam!
• My mother-in-law crafted knitted flowers that we used as napkin rings, people loved them and I saw lots of guests wearing them during the reception which was lovely.
• We bought up vases, water jugs, cutlery and cake stands at car boots the water jugs were plain glasses the vases were coloured glass.

What we would recommend...

• If you're looking to take a similar thrifty approach it is best to go into it without thinking everything will be matchy/matchy.  We knew we would be picking stuff up from car boots and charity shops so knew there would always be an element of unpredictability to it but that just didn't matter to us and added to the ramshackle nature of our do!
• Gauge early on if family and friends do actually want to help out and make a list of what you want them to do, don't be vague.  I probably was vague at times which may have made things frustrating for family helping us out so if I could do things again I would have a more structured plan.
• We asked guests to bring a bottle rather than a gift, others contributed by baking cakes to be included on our desert buffet (that went down a storm!).  Guests are super generous so try not to over buy your booze if you go down this route.  Sam and I were drinking Babycham for months after the event and took boxes and boxes of wine back to the wholesaler because our guests were so incredibly generous with the alcohol they brought with them.
• Our families had also been bringing wine back from their trips to France, this definitely helped reduce costs!
• If you are thinking of buying up plates and things for your do rather than hiring them make sure you know what you're going to do with them afterwards.  Whether that's selling them on, donating them to charity or giving them away to friends it is super stressful if you're left with loads of stuff after the event that you don't know what to do with.
• It helps if you go with the flow, things won't be perfect but that's totally ok, whilst there are many ways you can save money on your wedding there are many things that you really have to just shell out for and that can be stressful as well.  Have good friends around you for support and try not to take it all too seriously!

How to....

Yeah this sounds like a really weird how to doesn't it?  The thing is Sam and I pretty much exclusively shop at Aldi (but much of what I write here will also apply to Lidl) when we tell people this they look at us with the crinkled up face of disbelief, like it's not possible to do.  Well, yeah it is and we've saved ourselves a ton of money doing it so here are my does and don't s (free free to add any I've missed out in the comments!).

(It's worth pointing out that Sam is a vegetarian, I choose not to cook a separate meal for myself containing meat because frankly I'm just not bothered about eating meat everyday.)

Be prepared.

One of the great things about Aldi is that they have twice weekly special buys on all manner of random stuff from pillows to peonies, lunch boxes to lawn feed but once it's gone, it's gone.  My first tip would be to get the Aldi app on your phone it lets you know about the next three or so special buy days coming up and what's on offer.  If like us you own an allotment or have a garden it's worth waiting until they get their garden supplies in, we get all of our propagators, twine, pots and compost there (the compost is a bargain £1.99 for 40 litres).  The app allows you to plan ahead and compile a shopping list for your next visit.

Some of the other special buys I would recommend include their gin, tights, frying pans, spectacle wipes (yeah yeah I know), chocolate and wrapping paper.  I could add more to the list but things would get boring,

Know that you're there to get ingredients

One of the things that people don't get when we say we shop almost exclusively at Aldi is how can we get everything we need there?  Well I won't pretend that we haven't changed the way we purchase and prepare food, we make things from scratch a lot anyway but did have to plan what we were going to make so we could get the ingredients we needed from Aldi rather than going to another supermarket to get a ready made version.  You will get all of your basics there no problem, their fruit and veg is well priced (but can go off quicker than vegetables from other supermarkets) and things like toilet roll is cheaper than even the basics ranges at other supermarkets without having to use an entire roll to get your *cough* business done.

Abandon snobbery at the door

It took me a long time to do this.  When we started shopping there I didn't trust the meat, didn't want to eat any of the frozen food, wouldn't go near their beauty products at all but as I got over my own snobbery I realised just how much I have been paying over the odds for things.  The shampoo I get is 69p and is as good as the branded £4 bottle I would previously pick up, the painkillers work just as well as those from Boots, the cold meats and cheese taste A.M.A.Z.I.N.G and their booze is really, really well priced (beware like most other shops their prices did go up on booze over the Christmas period so stock up early for the cheaper price!).  You won't get the range of ready meals or the broad selection you get at the bigger supermarkets but if you weight that up against how much you could save, for us at least it seemed like a reasonable price to pay.

What do we get from other supermarkets/shops?

• Cat litter
• Indigestion tablets
• Mascara
• Roll on deodorant

Seriously that's it.

The Aldi cat litter is really clumpy and heavy, I haven't seen them sell indigestion tablets (uuuuuuuuugh having indigestion tablets even be on our shopping list sucks, getting old sucks!), their mascara is really bad and I haven't braved using their roll-on yet.

A note about how to be efficient at the check out

The Aldi checkout process seems to really freak people out, but guys it's really efficient and awesome, be cool!  Don't be one of those people trying to pack your bags at the till, just sling your stuff back in your trolley, pay and take yourself over to the handy shelf area where you can pack your bags at your leisure it makes the whole thing much less stressful.  Not only that the staff can get people through those tills fast, which means they're not paying staff to be sat there for more time than they need to be WHICH MEANS THEY KEEP STAFFING COSTS DOWN AND THEREFORE THE PRICES ARE LOWER!

Believe it or not this post wasn't sponsored, I just really thing that we need to change the way we think about food shopping!

How to...

I've been trying to decide if this is a weird 'How to' post or if it could actually be useful to someone, to be honest I'm still undecided but I figured if you've never sold at a car boot sale before there might be something of use to you here!

Backstory

So when I was a kid my mum and dad sold at car boot sales on a fairly regular basis, I dreaded it.  When you are five or six (I can't actually remember how old I was when I would go along) sitting around for three or four hours was mind numbingly dull, it wasn't until I was ready to sell some of my own toys that things started to get interesting.  Once I realised I could get cold hard cash for stuff I no longer used car boots sales became interesting and I started paying attention to how to sell.  I now do one or two big clear outs a year and sell at the afternoon car boot sale near us (there is a huge morning car boot very near us but on a Sunday getting up before six is not an option).

Your toolkit

One or two things to take with you to make selling a touch easier..

• Carrier bags, if someone is buying armfuls of clothes from you make their life easier by offering them a bag.  I know it's a car boot sale but seriously customer service is still key!
• Measuring tape, if you're selling curtains, bedlinen or furniture in particular it is really useful to take a measuring tape with you.  For example IKEA bedlinen is slightly bigger than standard UK bedlinen and not everyone works in centimetres so give your customers the chance to measure up!
• Scissors
• Sticky tape - emergency clothes rail repair, jigsaw box repair, you just never know when this will come in handy!
• Anti-bac wipes, if like me you're going around the house chucking stuff in boxes ready to sell you might not always pay close attention to the condition of things it's a good idea to have anti-bac wipes with you to give your goods and chattels and once over.  People are far more inclined to buy stuff that looks cared for than stuff caked in dust, plus it's a good time filler for those quieter moments.
• A hat. I've been caught out on this one waaaaay too many times, even if it looks overcast take a hat you don't know how the weather can turn and no one loves sun stroke.
• Snacks and plenty of water, again duhhhh I've been caught out on this one as well!  You don't want to be hangry on the day and you don't want to eat into your profits buying over priced food and drink on site.

Hints and tips

• Don't just sell any old toot, before you chuck an item in the 'to sell' pile ask yourself (and be objective here) would I buy this item myself in it's current condition?  If the answer is no then just throw it away (don't give it to charity if it's broken or too worn they get charged for throwing away the stuff they can't sell so you would be hindering not helping!)
• What are the high value items? Clothes in good condition from well know high street shops always sell well in particular jeans, CDs and DVDs used to, trade is slowing but still worth a punt, jigsaw puzzles in good condition, toys and baby clothes!  Now I don't have many of these to sell myself but if you have loft full of toys and baby clothes get yourself to a car boot you'll make an absolute mint!  (Worth checking on ebay first if you're selling toys like Lego and Playmobil as you might get more money for them selling them online.)
• Compliment your customers outfits/jewellery/shoes whatever, if they think that your styles align they're more likely to take a closer look at what you have on offer.
• I wouldn't bother pricing things up to be honest it's a waste of your time and stickers, have a vague idea of what you want to sell things for, start high (but realistic) and be prepared to haggle.
• By mid-afternoon you get a stream of people passing by but they've got stall blindness they have seen so many they've stopped looking properly and few like to approach a stall that doesn't have people looking at it, if you have someone with you get them to fake browse your stall picking things up and really paying attention to your items it will pique someone's interest and sure enough it attracts people over! (I know, I know this seems so manipulative but it does work!)

And finally....

So you've done three or four hours of selling, you've done pretty well and you've resisted the temptation to restock your car with bits and bobs from other sellers (hahahaha yeah right) but what do you do with the stuff left over?  If you're lucky enough to have storage chuck it in there wait a couple of weeks and do another car boot sale (perhaps after going around the house for another clear out?).  If that isn't an option then do consider donating to your favourite charity, I suspect charities are going to need all the support they can get in the next five years (significant look) but as I said before don't donate crap stuff, if it looks worn or is broken then just dump it.

Bonus photo?  This is me in 2008 when we left to go to the car boot sale that lovely March morning it was all clear skies and sunshine... and then the snow came, you'll see that snow does not deter a good car booter, the rummaging continued with vigour...

How to ...

I'm delighted to be working with George at Asda who have released an amazing Holiday Shop collection!  I will be going to Boston and New York for work and holiday at the end of May and was looking for sleek, professional items to take with me.  One of which being a new, super lightweight carry on (gone are the days of my battered old rucksack, I must travel in style now!).

Soooooo there was a time when I couldn't go away even for a weekend without a massive suitcase I thought I needed to bring several back-up shoes and outfits.  I don't know what I thought would happen if I didn't have several extra pairs of socks, or full size toiletries but as time has gone on and I've wanted to have more adventures but don't want to pay for extra luggage I've refined my own packing style which I'm going to share with you.

The basics

First things first get a super light suitcase, I used to have one that I picked up from Amazon for £13 it did several trips and I was perfectly happy with it but it was heavy before you had even added anything to it so I went for this one from Asda for what I consider to be a bargain at £35 (if you have a cat that can investigate it's good points then even better).

Shoes need to go at the bottom of the case near the wheels (I got these during a recent shopping trip to Cardiff, a similar pair can be found here), if this was a case going in the hold I would say cram it with toiletries but as this is a carry-on we know the rules, we need the plastic bag of joy, so instead cram them to the brim with your jewellery and scarves or socks.  Don't put electronics here or anything that could get damaged you don't want everything else in the case pressing down on breakables when you wheel the case along.  

I use a towel as a buffer between the hard shoes and any delicates and other clothes (is my love of animal print shining through here?).

The fine art of rolling

(btw this is the MOST flattering swimming costume I've found in years it has made me want to head to the pool again)...

Swimming costumes are perfect for plugging the gaps between awkward items like shoes, we're going on the principle that there are NO gaps (unless we want to bring back one or two souvenirs from our adventures which will fit perfectly between our shoes).

I invested in a hair straighteners heat resistant pouch mainly for when I cycle to work and need to sort my fringe out but it has come in very useful on my travels as well.  I don't always have time to wait for my straighteners to cool before shoving them in my bag and checking out.

Folding clothes for travel is a mugs game, if like me you have to pack several striped tops (seriously things are getting ridiculous around here  - this one was A BARGAIN £8) you need to tuck the arms in a roooooll your clothes, you fit at least an extra third in (in my opinion) you case.

A note on toiletries

You never need to take full size products I PROMISE.  If you're going on holiday with a group agree who will take which products like toothpaste (those products where brand isn't ridiculously important) and share amongst the group, when your holiday is done just ditch them (extra room for presents).  

I also try a squeeze in some slippers even in the summer, there is something comforting about them but also, we have all had that horrendous experience when you open the hotel room door and things are not quite as... lovely as we had hoped.  Slippers mean you don't have to touch mangy carpet.

And finally...

The entertainment bag is something that you will find convenient and your fellow flyers will also thank you for.  Put all the things you want to entertain you during your flight in a bag towards the top of your suitcase (opposite end to the wheels as close to the zip opening as possible) when you get on the plane open your case, whip out your bag of goodies, shove your bag in the locker and sit the hell down.  EVERYONE hates those passengers that fuck about opening and closing their bag trying to find their book whilst blocking the aisle.  Don't be that person.

Ok so you probably didn't learn anything revolutionary today but maybe I have inspired you to ditch the unnecessary 'just in case' items and perhaps you'll go for a week away with just a carry on?