Ticketysplit - getting out for less on the train

It's 8am and I'm on the way to Birmingham for the day for a meeting. Buying a ticket should be a straightforward process, but it's not quite as simple as it seems, and with a bit of effort you can get a good deal and save a substantial amount of money.

When I first looked up the price for my journey today it was £148. Sharp intake of breath. I couldn't get a cheaper fare by going later as I needed to be in Birmingham by 10am, but then I remembered Ticketysplit.

Ticketysplit is a tool on the MoneySavingExpert.com website that allows you to look for the cheapest fare by splitting your journey into two and calculating whether buying two tickets, (one for each part of the journey) is actually cheaper than just buying one for the whole of the journey. So for example, if you are traveling from  Bournemouth to Birmingham and the train stops at Reading on the way it may be cheaper to buy a ticket from Bournemouth to Reading, then Reading to Birmingham than to buy a Bournemouth to Birmingham ticket for the same train.

It sounds crazy I know, but as in a supermarket, it's not always cheaper to go for the bigger pack, sometimes two smaller packs are a better deal.

So I put my journey into Ticketysplit to see what it would come up with. Ticketysplit only works with single fares at the moment, but it came up with the information that I could save money even by buying singles to and from Banbury which is a stop on my route, which would save me £30. I then took this one stage further, and looked at return fares to Banbury, then from Banbury to Birmingham. By buying a return from home  to Banbury, then a second return from Banbury to Birmingham, I can travel on the same trains at the same time for just under £62. That's a saving of £80 - over half of the original fare!!!  Crazy, but perfectly legitimate. So long as the train you are on stops at the station where you split your fare, you are not breaking any rules, just getting the best deal.

So, next time you have a lengthy or expensive train journey and want to get out for less, try Ticketysplit to see if you can get a better deal.

Three good things

Following on from yesterday's blog.

Three good things that I enjoyed yesterday:

Running with and talking to a friend.

Meeting with my book group.

Cuddling the Puppy in the middle of the night. I woke up and had problems going back to sleep, so ended up going downstairs to get a drink and had a cuddle with the puppy. She made me feel much better!


Three good things that happened today:

I met a friend's new puppy. An eight week old Springer spaniel. So sweet! And so tiny compared my puppy who seems enormous now.

Watching our puppy chasing leaves in the wind when I walked her this afternoon.

Having a long talk about serious stuff with my daughter.

Celibrating the Ordinary and Counting your Blessings

After writing a couple of days ago about an inspiring day out in London, I have been thinking about something I heard in the news earlier this week. Researchers from the Happiness Institute in Copenhagen split a group of daily Facebook users into two groups, and asked one to abstain from using Facebook for a week. At the end of the week the group that had stopped using Facebook reported less stressed, less lonely and more sociable.  One of the reasons for this may be related to something that consistently appears in investigations into happiness - that comparing ourselves to others can cause dissatisfaction if we perceive other people to have better, more exciting or more affluent lives than ourselves.

Personally, I enjoy using Facebook, although I don't look at it every day,  but I am aware of times when someone else's post can make you feel a bit left out, or more dissatisfied with your own life. I am also aware through having teenagers of my own and observing their friends, that today's teens seem to be more stressed, pressured and struggling to cope than I feel my contemporaries were at their age. I have wondered if part of the reason is that in today's world, where we are encouraged to think there are endless possibilities, that everyone can be famous and successful if you just try hard enough, that the flipside of this is that if you haven't achieved something amazing, you feel like you should have done so - after all, look online and everyone else seems to be having a better time than us.

So instead of writing about our great days out (as I did a couple of days ago!), maybe we should make more time to celebrate the ordinary in our lives, as some people already do on Facebook. A friend of mine takes stunning photos and regularly posts pictures of the countryside around her home in Yorkshire which always make me feel uplifted. And although we might get fed up with another funny cat video, they do at least bring a smile to our face if we have the time to stop and look.

Another suggestion that I have come across to feel more positive is similar to the old advice of counting your blessings.  The suggestion is that every night, you should think about three things that you feel grateful for, or write them down in a 'gratitude diary'. They don't have to be big or complicated, just small moments of something good. There is experimental evidence that people who have done this for a number of weeks have noticed an effect on their outlook which often lasts beyond the time frame of the experiment.

So, as I've been writing this, I've realised that I'm setting myself up for another challenge. To try out what I've suggested, and find three things to be grateful for every day. For the next week I will try and post every day to get myself into the habit. If anyone reading this would like to comment on their things to be grateful for, please leave a comment, it would be great to hear from you.


So I'll kick off with three things to be grateful for from yesterday.

Helping my son with his homework. He was grumpy to start with but I was able to help him when he was stuck, and it felt really rewarding by the end.

Walking the dog on a beautiful autumn day.

That my family are safe and well. I can't help thinking of the terrible news from Paris over the last few days, and what makes me feel particularly sad is the young people killed in the concert listening to the Eagles of Death Metal. My youngest son loves music including pop punk and metal, and loves it when his Dad takes him to gigs. In a few weeks time they are going to a similar concert in a small venue in London. My heart goes out to those in Paris and to mothers who have lost their children.

Not buying things in London - Lunch at the Savoy Grill and three free things to do in London

Even before I started my year of not buying 'things' I had already started asking for experiences rather than having more things for my birthday. So earlier this year when my birthday came my husband promised me a day out to do something special. It sometimes takes us a while to get round to organising things, but seven months later we finally headed up to London for lunch at the Savoy Grill. 

Expensive! I hear you cry - well, yes it is, but not as expensive as you might think - set lunch of two courses is normally around £28 per head although at this time of year the set menu is three courses for £35. A quick look at the menu of Pizza Express round the corner shows that 3 courses could easily come to £25 or more. 

So what did we get for the extra? 

Lunch in a beautiful Art Deco room. The amber tortoiseshell walls almost appear to glow they are so highly polished, there are beautiful Art Deco style chandeliers and wall lights and mirrored surfaces reflecting the light. The service was exemplary, the food delicious, and for a couple of hours, we were following in the footsteps of some of the hotel's famous guests, Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe to name just a couple. A friend of mine went a couple of years ago to the Savoy Grill for lunch for her birthday and sat next to Robert Redford and his entourage as he was in London promoting his latest film. No celebrities appeared beside us, but a lovely lunch nevertheless.

The rest of the Savoy Hotel is also refurbished in a beautiful Art Deco style, so even if you haven't the time or money for lunch, come into the black and white marble foyer and venture down to the little shop in the centre of the hotel to admire the beautiful handmade chocolates and just take in the atmosphere.

So what else did we do in London that didn't involve spending money on 'things', or indeed spending money at all?

View of Tower Bridge from the Sky Garden

Firstly, we visited the Sky Garden on top of the 'walkie talkie' building or 20 Fenchurch Street as it is properly known. This amazing public space sits under a huge glass dome rising three stories from the 35th floor, and has an indoor garden and the most amazing 360° views of London. It was a grey day when we were there, but we could still see the Olympic park to the east, and Wembley stadium in the West. There is also a snack bar selling drinks and refreshments and plenty of seating, so you can sit and relax once you've taken in the view.

Entrance to the Sky Garden is free, but there are limited places and you have to reserve your ticket beforehand, so see the Sky Garden's website for more details.

Liberty's Christmas Window

Secondly, we went to Oxford Street to look at the lights and Christmas windows. Liberty and Selfridges are famous for their Christmas windows, so we went to check them out. 

I wasn't sure about Liberty's Windows. Richly decorated and alive with pattern, it was definitely a case of more is more! It rather reminded me of an upmarket version of how Charity shop windows used to look ... but worth a look anyway.

Scorpio - Selfridges' Christmas Window

 

My favourites were Selfridges' windows. Based on a zodiac theme of reaching for the stars, they were definitely out of this world.

Thirdly and lastly, to enjoy London at it's best, we did what I always love to do in London. Ditch the tube and get out and walk. Some of the best finds are down tiny side streets, and the more you walk, the more you see. A couple of years ago whilst walking from the British Museum towards Oxford street I came across one such gem. A tiny artist's shop called L.Cornelissen and Son reminded me of the description of Olivander's wand shop  in Harry Potter. A narrow creaking shop full of all types of artists materials crammed into wooden shelves and drawers, the shop was established in 1855 and obviously hasn't been changed since. The very friendly and helpful staff stand behind a lovely old fashioned wooden counter in front wooden numbered drawers topped with glass jars full of rainbow pigments. The next time I was passing, I took my daughter in to show her the shop. The shopkeeper came over and asked if we were looking for anything in particular. 

'No', I replied, 'I just wanted to show my daughter your beautiful shop.'

The shopkeeper lit up with a huge smile. There are some lovely warm and friendly people in London, you just have to know where to look.
 

 

Books for inspiration - The Happiness Project

I love reading about other people's experiences when they have made changes in their lives and about what happened as a consequence, and as part of my blog I thought I would revisit the books that have interested and inspired me. The first one to get a mention has to be the one that inspired this blog - 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin.

In March this year I read an interview with Gretchen Rubin in The Sunday Times Magazine entitled 'Meet Gretchen Rubin, the Happiness Bully' in which In the interviewer talked to Gretchen about  her first book 'The Happiness project'. My interest piqued, I ordered the book from the library and set down to read.

In 'The Happiness Project', Gretchen writes about her quest to test of the theories of what makes us happier, taken from  positive psychology, science, philosophy and other sources or wisdom and applying them to her own life. Each month she focused on a different area and set herself challenges and resolutions that she would try to uphold.  She then examines how the changes she made affected her life and her perception of how happy she felt.

It's an interesting book to read, as Gretchen writes in an engaging and open style. She is also honest about the things that don't go according to plan, and you get a sense of a real person behind the book, rather than some idealized perfect lifestyle. She recognizes that her own needs and desires are unique to herself and that things that others might enjoy, such as socializing at parties, might not be what makes her happy - in her case she has a preference for curling up with a good book.

She covers a number of topics that research into positive psychology shows to be important for happiness including; our relationships with others, the need to exercise,  the need to find value and meaning in what we do, and to challenge ourselves. 

I enjoyed reading the book. It's not a scientific discussion of the theories of positive psychology (there are other better books on that), but rather an anecdotal and thought provoking account of her personal story, and others that share their thoughts on her blog. One of the values of hearing other people's stories is that it can inspire you to take action yourself, and when I read about her challenge to herself to start a blog, I thought 'I could do that too.' The joy of a blog is that there's very little to stop you getting started, once you have decided to be a blogger. You can set yourself a challenge to start then just get on with it! So  I have to say 'Thankyou' to Gretchen for being part of the inspiration behind my blogging about my own project of embracing the changes in my life.




 

The next step - 'Get out and Do' at Comic Con

For two months now I've been not buying unecessary 'things' and have also been working on decluttering the house and trying to make my life more streamlined. So far, so good. After the initial decluttering push, I've slowed down a bit, but am gradually chipping away at it, one messy cupboard or drawer at a time. But a couple of weeks ago I started thinking - what next? The idea was to clear some space in my life to do something new. To use my fledgling analogy, so far I have been busy defeathering the nest, but it's time to get out and start do a bit of flying.

So time to start on the next challenge - 'Get out and Do'.  Get out of the house and do something new or interesting.

Half term has been a great time for this as it;s a chance to get out with my teenagers. Part of the drive for this whole project comes from the realization that we're way past going down to the park to feed the ducks (although the puppy does add a new twist on that one..) and that we need to find new things to do together that will engage us all.

So with that in mind, on the morning of the first Saturday of the hoildays I find myself on a train to London with Milady de Winter from The Musketeers, Velma from Scooby Doo, and Bigby from I'm not quite sure what. For those of you in the know, you're right, we're off to MCM Comic Con in London.

I hadn't even heard of Comic Con until we discovered The Big Bang Theory on telly a couple of years ago. And even after we laughed at Leonard and the boys getting their car stolen while dressed in full Star Trek costume, it hadn't occurred to me that there were Comic Cons in the UK, and that you could just go along for the day in normal clothes. So when one of my daughter's friends went along last year, I was intrigued and thought that my youngest son would enjoy it, so when we had the chance last spring to go along together as a family, we took the opportunity and had a great day out.

For those of you not in the know, MCM Comic Con describes its events as 'The UK's biggest modern pop culture events'. If you like sci-fi, YouTube, Manga, gaming, fantasy, steam punk or just like to sit and watch people walk past in the weirdest costumes imaginable, it's the place to go.

It's also a great place to let teenagers off the leash. As the convention is all under one roof, once we had found our way around it was easy to let everyone wander around on their own if they wanted, with regular meet ups to feed the teens. So this time, while my teenagers roamed the halls stalking Youtubers, I was able to go a bit more mainstream and sat in on a really interesting Q&A session with the about half the cast of 'Humans' including the incredibly beautiful Gemma Chan. This was followed by another Q&A with a  number of writers from Dr Who including the very talented Steven Moffat. 

So, if anyone is looking for an interesting day out with teens - try Comic Con. You might even be tempted to dress up as My Little Pony.

Life lessons from a puppy - Don't put off till tomorrow...

It was a grey day yesterday. 

I intended to walk the Puppy round the block before I went out to Oxfam, but I ran out of time. So I gave her a quick chase round the garden and thought I'd do it later.When I got back from Oxfam it was raining. The Puppy doesn't like the rain. I spent 10 minutes cajoling her to walk about 5 yards down the road and then gave up. 

'Fine!' I said. 'You don't like walking in the rain, I'm not enjoying it either, we'll go home.'

Later, when the rain eventually eased, it was dark, and then I realised it was bonfire night. We played with the puppy inside, but she didn't get out for a walk. No problem I thought.

Until this morning.  

This morning was punctuated by  shouts of 'NO!' from various members of the family as Mad Puppy tore round the house, jumping up, playing tug of war with everyone's clothing and generally being annoying. I'm sure I heard the Husband threatening to send her back, but I think we'll let that pass under the circumstances...

I got dressed as quick as I could and took her out for a long dog walk with plenty of running around in the park. We got out first thing before it was too rainy, but the rain came on and we came back wet and bedraggled, but with waggy tails. 

So today's life lesson from a puppy - don't put off exercising till tomorrow when you really should do it today.