The trouble with blogging

My blogging life started a little something like this:

I had an idea. That idea was to try and turn over a new leaf and become a saver. Read about this decision in my first ever post here.

I then had a second idea. Why not document my trials and tribulations in a blog? This would give me an outlet for my love of writing and provide a free hobby as per the saving strategy outlined. It would also make the mundane and painful task of saving into a project. I like a project.

The truth, readers, is that the blog project is going far better than the saving project, but if you’re a reader, you know that anyway.

They say that writing regularly is a path to self-discovery, a chance to work out what you want to do.

Now the irony of the blog going well is that I definitely haven’t worked out what I want to do, furthermore I’m pretty sure my life is rather boring. But I have been discovering. And what I have discovered is that blogging is not without its pitfalls. And currently mine are twofold.

1. The Loss of Secrets.

There is something nice about having a secret and keeping it just for you. It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling. Now, I’m not talking about the kind of secrets that ruin families, eat you up inside, or come out in the Queen Vic on Christmas day. No, just those pieces of information you like to occasionally hold onto for yourself.

Like, perhaps, finding your first grey hair. I blogged on this very matter (you can read it here) and ever since have felt people’s eyes searching through my thick dark hair for a rogue wiry grey ‘un. Well, you can all stop bloody looking, because I plucked it out.

The day after I had posted this, a friend sent me a link for hair dye. Oh, the hilarity.

When I find the hint of a moustache, you can bet your life that only me (and my beautician) will know about it.

2. The confusion of my identity

If one more person tells me that Money Saving Madam wouldn’t be very happy with i) my holiday planning ii) my popping out for a cappuccino iii) my weekend plan, I am going to pitch them clean through the window.

I AM her people. She is me. This isn’t an alter-ego; this is the story of my attempt to save. Read the strapline: One girl. Trying to be frugal. Mainly failing.

I do not leave work, go into the phone box at the end of the street, spin around, and become a caped-credit-score crusader. I wish I did, but the reality just isn’t that exciting.

I am trying people.

Clothing shopping habits have taken at least an 80% cut. I bring a neatly parcelled packed lunch into work daily and am limiting my amazon book habit to 2 books per month. I cleared my credit card details from all websites, giving myself an extra few moments to decide I don’t need/can’t afford said item. I even gave up meat for a month to see if the cost saving was worth it. (Conclusion: it wasn't.)

I am not a hypocrite, nor a super-hero.

But I have cleared my overdraft.

Consumerism: 0    Money Saving Madam: 1