I have the cheek to write that when I am a member of a saving website, but it's true. Although me and my fiance have decided that we're not going to get married until 2009 I want to start saving now. I have tried to put some money away but I don't think it's enough. Also, I don't want to be the one that saves all of the money and pays for everything. We're hoping to book something next year and then we'll have plenty of time to pay it up. I did have some money put aside but my mum needed it so I gave it to her, so now I only have a pathetic £20 to put towards a wedding.

I haven't written in here for months! I should be ashamed of myself. I need to start getting in the habit again though...my boyfriend proposed on Friday and we're getting married in a couple of years. I can't wait!!!

I decided I better update my blog. I'm ashamed to admit it but my savings have not gone to plan. I ended up taking out the loan for the graduate endowment because realistically there was no way I could save the full amount.

My boyfriend and I just celebrated our 4 year anniversary this month. We have finally started to take a proper look at houses, since we're planning on moving out at some point this year. We found a website which lets us look at different houses, all we have to do is include what we want in the search criteria. I was very impressed. I thought we would just be looking through newspapers. So, what do we want?

- A two-bedroom house
- I don't want to live in a flat
- gas central heating
- parking space (I'm hoping to pass my driving test this year)

The average rent for a 2 bedroom house seems to be £500, which I cannot afford right now as I am still waiting on starting this other job. I've done a lot of phoning but still I haven't started, they need to find something for me. I'm waiting on a local primary school getting in touch. (I could have started at another place last week but I was doing overtime at the supermarket, we had a visit.)

We are hoping to move out later on in the year i.e. August/September, just to give us a chance to put some money aside.

This month I am spending a lot, but I'm hoping to save some money too. This month I am spending money on:

bills
meeting my friend for dinner today
anniversary meal with my boyfriend
driving lessons
night out for my birthday

The friend I am meeting today is going to Australia for a year in a couple of months, so I don't mind spending money for that. I haven't seen her since October.

I don't need to go out for my birthday or anniversary but I want too.

My blog anniversary was on 14th January. I've been keeping this blog for just over a year

I wish I could participate in the new challenge but I don't think I will manage to save the money that I need too. When it's over in April I will still save money. I'm not feeling confident about this saving at all. If I'm being realistic then I should admit that there's no way I can save this money, not in three months. Maybe I could just send the money that I do save and then they would know that I tried?

Quiet new year overall.

Let's see how 2007 turns out.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas tomorrow.

Between now and Christmas, I only have one day off from work. We've been really busy recently. Next week will be worse.

I have to buy a secret Santa gift for work. I only have to spend £5 so that's fine. Apart from that I have a couple more presents to buy.

I've got a new driving instructor. I had my first lesson this week and I booked my test today, it's not until January though. Driving lessons are more expensive this time, I'm taking two lessons a week rather than one. One of my friends has booked her test already and she's only just started taking lessons, some people have all the luck.

Started Christmas shopping.

My job interview is on Tuesday. If it doesn't go well I've made sure that I'm doing a lot of extra shifts at my current job over Christmas. If I do get it then I will keep my current job for a while longer.

I was working the other day when a girl who I have worked with for years handed in her notice. She's still going to work in customer service, but at least it's another job.

My job is annoying me right now. I don't know if it's because I've been searching for another job for months, or because I'm not happy with the pay... People are leaving all the time. I don't like my hours either. I'm never usually like this, I'm just in one of those moods.

I suppose I should be happy that I have a job.

I applied for some jobs last night so hopefully a new job will come along soon.

I've been on the internet looking for a new driving instructor. I think I will book a block of lessons and hopefully book a test after that. My theory expires next year so I have to pass before then. So, I am sticking with driving lessons.

I quit my driving lessons today. I'm not getting the hang of it and it feels like it's a waste of money and time. I told my instructor. He thinks I should get back to him at the weekend and think about it more.

I got a letter today telling me to phone a number to arrange a job interview. It's not till November and it's a temporary position, but at least I've got to the interview stage.

My blog entries have been few and far between. So what have I been up to? Well I've mostly just been working - and trying to save money. I've added money to my challenge but I don't know the exact total.

This week is an easy week at work since I have only worked one day extra. I will regret it when I come back from my holiday but I need a break.

I've decided that volunteering is the best thing to do until I find another job. Hopefully it will help me find one. I have applied for jobs and I haven't heard back from them. My CV doesn't look the best, so the more experience I get, the better. My travel expenses will be reimbursed when I eventually start a placement (I'm still waiting to hear from them) so I can add that to my challenge.

I have the day off work to go to a BBQ that my boyfriend's mum's work has every year. Free food and free drink! It's great! Back to work tomorrow though for a ten hour shift.

I wasn't going to officially start looking for another job until after my holiday. Anyway, that all changed today when I was reading a graduate magazine. One graduate, who has a better degree classification than me, has spent over a year looking for a proper job. She filled in over 100 application forms but has only had 4 interviews!

I've just spent about half an hour registering my details on a graduate website. One thing was clear: I need experience. I uploaded my CV but I had to make some changes first. This website will email me if there are any vacancies which I'm interested in.

In other news I'm still waiting for the volunteer centre to get in touch with me about my placement. I need experience! Retail experience just isn't helping me. I also need a driving licence.

I filled in an application form and posted it away yesterday. Today I emailed the recruitment centre and asked them to send me an application pack for another vacancy which I'm interested in. I hadn't planned on starting to look for a job until after my holiday, but I seen these vacancies and thought "why not?" If anything it will give me practice filling out application forms.

I walked my dog today so I have £1 to add to my challenge, but I haven't done that yet. Before I go to bed, I'll add it.I also have other savings that I've made while shopping to add - but that will have to wait until I get paid. My challenge has really been neglected for the past while.

After my holiday I might change my contract, just in case the overtime stops when the summer ends. I doubt it; a lot of people are leaving.

During August I need to put aside spending money and preferably put money into my ISA. I also need to put more money towards the challenge.

I also have £3.20 to add to my challenge for not buying my magazine in July.

I have an honours degree in Psychology. I don't know what I am going to do with it. I've been looking into further study and they all say that experience is essential. Working part-time in a supermarket definetly won't help me. I need proper experience. I don't have the best degree classification so that really doesn't help me. If I do end up doing further study, I'll need to find out about funding etc. I've emailed a few institutions and asked for more information on their courses. I can only wait and find out.

Actually, it's not new. I bought it from a charity shop. I plan to use it a lot. There's some pasta recipes which I will definetly use for work. Taking sandwiches all the time is boring.

I've just been reading some of my previous entries. I should have actually saved the money instead of just writing about it here. I would have had a better start on saving this money if I had done that. What was I thinking?

There's this woman in my department in her early fifties who keeps on pestering me about when I'm going to leave the supermarket. She's been like this every since she realised that I graduate this year. Yesterday she asked me if I had started looking for another job. I said I hadn't. Her response: "So you're just going to waste your degree and spend the rest of your life here?" I told her that all the jobs I've looked at say you need experience. I've decided not to tell people in my department anything, especially this woman who is really friendly with my manager - she even does the rotas. It's none of her business so I don't know why she keeps on asking me; clearly she wants rid of me. She would be the first to tell my manager if I had applied for other jobs.

During June:

- I completely maxed out my overdraft
- I borrowed money from my mum
- I went to my friend's wedding and hen night with borrowed money
- My OH even helped me out with money
- I abandoned my challenge during the last two weeks of the month

All in all, a really bad month. I hope this month's better.

There was a 25% off sale at work yesterday on clothes, that was before staff discount. My OH bought me a lot of clothes, he filled one of those little trolleys. I put a lot of it back. He spent about £80 on me after discount and it's all for going on holiday. He's really getting better at picking clothes for me. I told him I would buy him a game for his XBOX 360 when I can afford it.

One of my close friends is getting married today. I had to borrow money from my mum to go. I don't know exactly where the registry office is so I've ordered a cheap rate taxi. Hopefully we'll get the bus back to save some money. I think I might have to order soft drinks at the reception. I'll be having a three course meal there so I should be fine. Maybe I should just order water instead?

I passed!!

I thought I got them in July but I checked my university's website and it's tomorrow. I'm working all day tomorrow so I'll have to check them when I've finished.

I sent an application form to Volunteer Scotland and they got in touch with me today. I'm hoping to get a placement there so I can get some experience so I can get a better job.

A few days ago I emailed one of my mum's friends to see if there were any job vacancies at her work. She replied today and said there were two; she gave me their number. I might just get an application form and see.

I think this is too much because I should be focusing more on graduation since I haven't got everything ready for it e.g. shoes, bag, additional tickets (if I pass). I really shouldn't be applying for jobs when I don't know my results.

Ideally I would like to try the job where my mum's friend works (21 hours),volunteer for one day and still keep my part-time job (15 hours). I'd still have driving lessons to fit in too. My mum thinks it would be too much; my OH doesn't even know about this one yet. There's no way I can do everything, but I could try. I might just fill out the application form even though I said I would wait till September before applying for a job. I might not even get it.

It was so nice to check my mail and find that a comment had been added to my blog.