How I "Spent" My Day: Christmas Eve Eve

To be honest, Christmas Eve Eve wasn't super "wow", nor super "last-minute-Christmas shopping hectic"... it was quite like a normal "home day". For some reason, if we're home on Saturdays, I tend to spend most of it cooking and baking.  Not that I don't enjoy doing both, but I do wish I could get to something else in the house. I really must strive to do that. 

My day started at the gym with my friend - an arm and shoulder workout. A few hours later, at about 9:30, I left my local Morrisons shop this morning with a smile on my face.  After having been there since 7:50, having spent the majority of it waiting for my Christmas order, I could have very, very easily left feeling very upset.  Instead, I had received FANTASTIC customer service just minutes before.

For a second year, I made a Christmas order from Morrison's - a ham, a pork pie for Jeff, a Christmas tree cake and a robin cake - yep, two cakes.   I selected the 8:30 pickup time, but arrived at Morrison's just before 8:00am to get a few more things to "survive" through Boxing Day.  At about 8:40, while I was bagging my groceries at the checkouts, I looked to my left and noticed a queue of customers.  It was customers waiting for their Christmas orders.  "Oh, great, it's happened again", I thought.  Just like last year, the delivery was late, so staff were scrambling to get the orders together.

I went over to Customer Services to enquire about my order. The young man behind the counter told me the lorry was late, so the orders weren't ready, but I was welcome to have a complimentary tea or coffee in the cafe.  I was actually impressed that the staff already had a plan to appease the customers while they waited for their orders.  I got my cappuccino and waited about 5 minutes in the cafe, then the same young man came over to tell me that my order was ready.  I joined the queue and waited... and waited... and waited.

As you can imagine, I became more agitated as I waited and was asked my surname numerous times.  The queue thinned out and I was the last one standing there.  I received numerous apologies but still no order.  Finally the customer services manager came over to find out what I was doing still standing there. I explained that I understand that the lorry was late to arrive, but the disorganization and the lack of staff to help sort it out was simply not good enough.  Somehow I remained calm while the refrigerated and frozen items I bought slowly came to room temperature in my shopping bags.

The customer services manager surprised me by offering me a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Cava "to put a smile on my face".  I thanked her, but said that I'd rather have a small discount off the remainder of my order.  When I placed the order, I paid a £20 deposit.  She walked away and came back moments later with a lovely bouquet.  When another member of staff brought my order up in a large box, she explained that the pork pie I had ordered hadn't come in, so they replaced it with another one.  "I sure hope they don't charge me for that pork pie after waiting all that time", I thought.  A £10 pork pie for free would be nice!

The customer services manager then rang through most of the items, except the pork pie and the partially-thawed bag of peas I grabbed while I was waiting. £35-something rang up on the till, but she said that she didn't want me to pay for it.  Twenty pounds would have come off that for the deposit, but she gave me at least £15 worth of food for free plus the lovely bouquet!

She told me she wanted me to walk out of there with a smile on my face.  I thanked her and walked out slightly embarrassed for being doted upon.

Once I got home - and calmed down a hysterical 3-year-old - I made a small batch of my slow cooker bolognese.  This is the link to the recipe: http://littlespicejar.com/slow-cooker-bolognese-sauce/, but I don't follow it to a "t".  I also add probably 1/2 a cup of lentils to the bolognese not only to add a bit of fibre to the sauce but to "bulk out" the ground beef/mince.  Sometimes I add the cream, sometimes I don't.

The kids and I made cut-out Christmas cookies today after lunch, which I do enjoy, but admittedly, it is slightly frustrating.  The main thing is that the girls enjoy it and we have delicious cookies ready for Santa's arrival.

Our friends visited this afternoon for a short while, which is always nice, but always too short.  We've always been touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity.

Fast forward to now, and this is my view. A simple, cosy evening. Jeff and I are watching "It's a Wonderful Life", the Yankee candle my friend surprised me with lit in the background. I'm sitting in our comfy recliner typing this post and while sipping a small glass of Chilean Merlot that was leftover from my work's Christmas party.

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings", George Bailey's little daughter says in his arms in the last scene of the film. George's house is filled by the people whose life he's impacted and for whom he is so grateful.  I am grateful for your support of my blog and want to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas.

Find Pennies on Your Receipts

Let me ask you something - do you check every, single receipt you're handed to make sure that you were charged the correct price for what you bought?  If you honestly answered "no" to this question, then you may be losing out on your hard-earned money. 

Far too often shops, restaurants and service providers unknowingly, or even knowingly, charge you a different price for a product or service than what you expected to pay based on the offer advertised or the price sticker on the shelf.

This happened to us this evening. My lovely in-laws offered to pay for our meal out; when the receipt came after my mother-in-law paid, I reached for the receipt (I hope she didn't mind!) to check that we were charged the correct price for our meals.  We went to a pub restaurant that a friend had recommended that had select £6 meals Monday-Friday all day, which my in-laws took advantage of. My husband and I ordered a curry meal "deal" that included a drink.  So we were being careful with the meals we purchased.  When I reached for the receipt, the first thing that caught my attention was that there were too many items on our bill.  I scanned down the list of foods on the receipt.  Ok, actually we did have all of that.  But something still didn't seem right.  Then I spotted something suspicious: my daughters' children's meals were itemised instead of just saying something like, "Kids meal £5.99". So out came the calculator on my mobile.  I added up the prices of each of the items on the kids' meals, and just as I thought, we were charged £1.06 more for each meal.  Whoa!

Of course, I went up to the till... waited until someone was able to help me... she blah blah blahed about how something was taken off but they had forgotten to take off something for the kids' meals... blah blah blah... just give me the £2.12 you overcharged my in-laws already!

I did walk out of the pub with a huge sense of pride knowing that I hadn't let the restaurant get away with overcharging us.

So, what can you do to find some extra pennies?  Ideally before you pay for something, check over your bill to make sure that all of the prices/charges are as you expect them to be.  If you aren't able to check your bill before you pay, such as at the supermarket, step to the side after paying and quickly check that you were charged the correct prices.  If you are in a hurry then, at least check the receipt when you get home... and add it to your budget.

Oh, and do speak up.  It is worth it.  Try not to be embarrassed about asking for your money back or a price check.  They sure weren't too embarrassed to take your money or wrongly charge you! The more you practice checking your receipts and, if need be, getting some money back if you were wrongly charged, the sooner it will become a habit and you'll be finding the pennies to put back in your pocket.

A Bad Hair Fortnight

Ok, I'll admit straight from the get go that I made a money mistake, actually TWO money mistakes, when I recently went to get my hair cut.  After not having my hair cut about 5 months, I finally made an appointment at a nice salon I've been to a few times before.

This is my Before Do.

I spent about 2 months deliberating about where to get my hair cut. I repeatedly considered 3 choices:

#1) at the nice salon where I'd pay the most money, but it'd be in a nice atmosphere, with a massage chair while my hair was washed and a nice coffee and biscuit. Oh, and the scalp massage always feel so nice while the stylist washes my hair.

#2) at the small salon at the gym I go to. I went to her in September, nothing really wrong with my experience there, except it wasn't at the nicer salon, but at the gym I go to 4-5 times a week.  I just wanted to walk in different doors and not be in the gym atmosphere!  But still, I think I got a nice coffee.  This salon is also sort of expensive.

#3) at the home salon of a friend from playgroup.  Although this was the most affordable option I was considering, I simply wanted to feel pampered since I don't go to salons very often, nor do I go for massages, manicures, facials or anything like that.

When I called to make the appointment, I was given the option of two stylists, one for £30 and one for £38. I made it a point to explain that I wanted the stylist to make recommendations for my shorter hair style, because I wasn't entirely sure of the new hair style I wanted.  The lady on the other end of the phone explained that everyone in the salon should be able to do this, but I still chose the more expensive stylist because I thought she'd have the most experience and, thus, give me a better-looking new hair style.

So, two weeks ago I walked through the doors of the nice salon. I got my hair washed but the massage chair wasn't turned on. Bummer.  I should have asked for it to be turned on.  I drank my nice coffee while my hair was cut.  Although I thought I explained pretty well what I wanted, the stylist didn't cut my hair short enough nor graduated or angled. She was about to finish my off my hair, but I hesitantly said that my hair wasn't as short as I had expected it to be.  She seemed frustrated, told me that she'd shorten my hair but she'd have to switch the next client to another stylist. "That's fine, do what you need to", I thought, "but I want my hair to be shorter."

My hair looked pretty nice when she finished putting some waves into my hair with a flat iron, but when I went to pay, I was slightly dismayed when I told it would be £45.  "Didn't the lady on the phone say it'd be £38? Oh, well, never mind," I thought.

I walked out the salon pretty happy, but saw my reflection in the shop window I was walking past.  My hair didn't look like I had explained at all!  The next morning, after washing and blow drying my hair, I thought my hair looked... well... boring. Like just a straight bob.  I am sure I asked for a graduated/angled bob with layers!

This is how my hair looked after my first appointment, but in the evening, so the waves had fallen out a bit.

After talking about my hair with a few friends - one even commented that my hair didn't look like it had been cut by a professional at all - they all encouraged me to ring the salon again to make another appointment. I've never done this before!  I really lacked the confidence to do this, but finally got up enough courage to write an email on Monday.  Wednesday came around and still no reply. So I rang the salon... 3 times... no answer!  I rang back earlier today and explained the situation. I also questioned being charged £45 for my hair cut.  "Your appointment took longer than an hour because your hair was long and wanted a complete restyle and your stylist's next client had to be moved, so we had to charge an extra £7." WHAT?!?!  How is it my fault that the stylist didn't cut my hair short enough the first time around?!  Isn't a hair cut, a hair cut?? "Ok, whatever," I thought.  She still hadn't offered another appointment, so I didn't debate this extra charge with her.

The lady begrudingly offered me an appointment for Friday afternoon.  The now more confident me had asked, "Just to clarify, I won't be charged again, will I?"  I returned to the salon, could tell straight away that they weren't happy to see me again and started to explain to the same stylist I had before exactly what I wanted... again.  I didn't think I'd have to show her a picture because she's a professional and should be able to make suggestions for my hair, but I did anyway. She said, "At least you brought a picture with you this time."  Huh?! I just sat silent although I was seething inside.  I couldn't wait for her to finish. We chit chatted a bit and she cut off more hair all around.  Man, I didn't want it shorter, just taken up at an angle in the back!  I thanked the stylist for her time and walked out.

Here's the "After" cut.


Needless to say, I will NEVER walk in that salon again.  I know it took a lot of explaining to get to the "Lessons Learned", but here's a few big things I've learned:

#1: The amount spent on a hair cut may not reflect outcome.  You may pay less on a hair cut and get a fantastic cut or, like me, you may pay more and not walk out with a less-than-fantastic hair cut.  Although I know that I will likely go to my friend I've been to before next time, I should have asked around for recommendations for stylists.

#2: I should have contended the extra £7 charge for "my" going over time.  The extra charge wasn't discussed with me nor was it my fault that the appointment went over my allotted time.  When I arrived at my appointment, we discussed my shorter cut, so it wasn't a surprise to the stylist that I wanted a new cut and that it may take a while.

#3: If you're completely restyling your hair, take a photo or two of the style you like.  I didn't think I'd need to do this with an expensive, experienced stylist, but I guess it's very helpful.

Please let me know if you have any other additional tips to finding a stylist, understanding pricing at a salon and translating an idea for a hair cut to a stylist.