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Money not so funny

25th September 2009 by Helena 11 Comments  

Am I the only person out there who isn’t saving any money? A financial advisor came to see me the other day and suggested we put away some cash every month for our future. “Even if it’s only 500 pounds a month”.
Only 500 pounds?? I almost fell off my chair. We’d be lucky to have 5 pounds a month left over. So I started to try to work out where we could cut corners.

leo and piano
As I write Leo is learning to play the piano. We spend hundreds of pounds a year on their “activities” which include golf, tennis, ballet, musical theatre, football and guitar. The music lessons are by far the most expensive. So far all Leo really does is play Old McDonald had a farm over and over and over again. But I’m sure things will improve.
Playing the piano is one the things I always wish I could do. In fact in England I even started having lessons. I never got to the giddy heights of Old McDo but I loved it.
So what else? Well, there are life’s little luxuries like Laura Mercier Primer, matching underwear and manicures. Can I do without them? No, obviously not. What about Rupert’s golf lessons? Those we can definitely do without, he’s good enough at golf. If he gets too good at he’ll beat his boss, then he’ll never get a pay rise and we’ll never start saving.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2009


Filed Under: Money, blog --> Tagged With: funny, money

11 thoughts on Money not so funny

  • Dawn says:
    25th September 2009 at 9:24 am

    Ah but saving money is great once you get into it! Even if you can only save a little bit, it is lovely to see it grow — and eventually, once you have a nice bit saved up, it can give you a kind of freedom …..

  • Dianna says:
    25th September 2009 at 5:59 pm

    so the trick about saving is… just do it. If you wait to find the money in your budget probably not gonna happen.
    Need to be the first thing you pay..yourself.

  • The Pineapple Tart says:
    25th September 2009 at 6:33 pm

    I think you’re approaching this problem from the ‘wrong’ direction. Instead of focusing on the expenditure, you must instead comfort yourself with the huge amount of money you’re saving by living in AUH. Essential grooming is so much cheaper – waxing and threading and Moroccan baths and manicure/pedicure etc are eye wateringly expensive in UK…
    And as for the designer clothes clearance sales – Stella McCartney is as cheap as, but so much more cheerful than Karen Millen or Whistles

  • mimi says:
    26th September 2009 at 12:25 am

    LOL at this! Does Rupert read your blog?

    I\’m with Pineapple Tart- viewed as \”saving money\”, what you spend seems much better value.

    Anyway, what\’s the point of saving money instead of living your life? Get out there and enjoy every minute of it, dance with life, play the piano (or golf in Rupert\’s case) with it, shop with it, etc. I don\’t think you need me to tell you that- you\’re already doing it. It\’s not a rehearsal, and it\’s important to get the most out of it.

    Financial consultants only want you to save so they can recommend an investment policy, which you\’re charged administration fees on, even when it loses money.

    The only saving I do is a change jar- here you buy them (oops, spending to start saving!!) and it has a slot you put coins in, with counter that updates the amount. Then you blow the lot on a treat.

  • Antonia says:
    26th September 2009 at 10:19 am

    Mimi is absolutely right!

  • Kate says:
    26th September 2009 at 1:23 pm

    I would like to know your secret to time management. How on earth do you manage to fit in kids, school runs, a raft of after-school activities, yoga, a full-time job and writing a novel????? No wonder you have no time to save money!

  • helena says:
    26th September 2009 at 4:52 pm

    I have taken your advice and spent most of the day at Dubai Mall. I feel so much better, thank you!
    Hx

  • Aina says:
    26th September 2009 at 9:51 pm

    great post, you know when sometimes i read your blog i get reminded strongly of Becky Bloomwood from the confessions of a shopaholic series you really got some similarities together

  • Jennifer says:
    26th September 2009 at 11:15 pm

    I highly recommend saving. You’ll never regret it.

    I have a certain amount taken out of my paycheck automatically, and I never miss it.

    The annoying thing is, as I see my income grow, the money seems to disappear proportionately…somehow. And yes, the first things I always want to sacrifice are my husband’s hobbies.

    Even if you save less than what the financial planner suggested–say, 300 instead of 500–if you break that down weekly, it seems much easier to manage.

    Good luck!

  • Amber Lee says:
    7th October 2009 at 10:37 am

    I would have to agree with Jennifer, but I grew up relatively poor. I’ve never had a manicure, except for my wedding, and I’ve never had a facial. I’ve always done things from home.

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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