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Mission Competition

Top Money Saving and Comping Tips from a 21 year-old Student keen to make my limited budget stretch the semester!

Follow me on Twitter:@LaurieBeat and Instagram: @lornab22 or email any queries to lauriebeat@gmail.com

Join the Facebook group for more tips and a comping community!

Luck and love!

Thursday 27 July 2017

Swagbucks: Top Tips to Earn Vouchers



Like more and more people in this increasingly technological world, I spend a lot of time with my eyes glued to a screen. The lure of Facebook, YouTube and Netflix all seem too much to resist. Surely there’s a better way to be using this screen time? Surely I can Swag some Bucks?

To put it simply, Swagbucks is a website where you complete tasks that you would be doing when online anyway, and get rewarded with a currency called Swagbucks. This adds up until you can swap it for gift cards. Some examples of ways to earn Swagbucks are:
  • Completing surveys
  • Watching videos
  • Using the SwagBucks search engine
  • Playing games
  • Shopping
If these seem like things that you would be doing anyway then that’s half the battle won! Sign up here and follow these top tips for making the most of Swagbucks.

1) Loyalty Pays


Swagbucks have a great system in place to encourage you to visit every day - every day you get given a daily target and each day you hit this target you get a bonus. Then, every 7 days you consecutively reach this target you get another bonus, reaching a total of 300SB if you manage to make it every day of the month. At the start of the next month, pick up your bonuses from the previous month, or else you will miss out.

2) Get into a routine


It is easier than you may think to visit Swagbucks every day - just add it into your routine and you'll hardly notice! For example, I always squeeze in a survey first thing in the morning as I eat my breakfast. Then, I will watch a few videos while I’m having my lunch and play some games in the evening after I’m finished studying. I would be on my laptop doing mindless tasks anyway, so why not earn some Swagbucks?

3) Searching for SwagBucks


One of the changes I hardly noticed was searching through Swagbucks. By setting your search engine to the Swagbucks one instead of Google, Bing or Yahoo, you have a chance to win bucks every time you search the internet. You won't win every time, and if you have won you won't get another winning search for another few hours, but the occassional 5-15SB really adds up.

As someone who has always used Google, I was a bit dubious about whether or not these search results would be up to scratch. However, the search engine is actually run by Yahoo, so they are pretty reliable. The only difference that I have noticed is that it’s not as good as Google at predicting what you are going to search for, but it’s a small detail in the grand scale of things.

4) Swag Button


Another way to easily integrate Swagbucks into your usual routine is the Swagbutton. This is a little icon on the top right of your toolbar (a bit like the Pintrest button) that means you can access Swagbucks  easily while elsewhere on the net. You can watch videos while on other sites (who doesn't love a good technology multi-task), use the search engine, and find quick links to shopping offers! Another bonus is that it gives you an alert when there is a new SwagCode available.

What’s a SwagCode I hear you ask?

Well, every so often, Swagbucks give out a few Swagbucks and all you need to do is enter a code into the appropriate box. These can be found on certain pages of the Swagbucks site and also are often posted on their Facebook page – so worth following them. You can also Google (or SwagSearch) for the latest codes, as there are some sites dedicated to posting up SwagCodes as soon as they are released (such as sc-s.com). But be aware that there is a time limit to each code, so enter it as soon as you see it!

5) Surveys


To earn large amounts of Swagbucks fast, surveys are the way to go. The rewards can vary from 20SB up to over 200SB but the time they take also varies massively. In addition, it's very common to get screened out and miss out on the full reward (but you do get 1SB when this happens). One 10 minute survey can be enough to hit the daily target - so if this is all you have time for, prioritise the surveys. For other great survey sites, check out this post.

6) Shopping


If you are someone that does a lot of online shopping, Swagbucks offers a certain number of SB per pound spent at specific stores. If you have installed the SwagBucks Toolbar you will automatically be alerted when you are on a site that offers SwagBucks for your purchases. It works in a similar way to cashback - the reward won’t be instant, as they have to make sure you don’t cancel or return your order. When making big purchases, you can really rake in the points. Also, look out for promotional periods where they offer things like double bucks on certain sites.

7) Videos


Who doesn't wish that you could get paid for all that time on Youtube? Well, SwagBucks offer something pretty close - although there is a 150 SB daily earn limit. You can pick from a wide variety of genres such as Fitness, Food, Entertainment and Fashion. I particularly like watching the trailers to the newest films that have come out, or doing Yoga along with the fitness instructor in the video. If ever there was motivation to work out, it’s getting paid for it! 


By combining all of these techniques, the Swagbucks can build up fast! I tend to earn around £10-£20 a month in Amazon vouchers – not enough to quit uni and live off, but a nice wee bonus when you want to treat yourself, or take the strain of the Christmas shopping debt. Last year, I saved up just over £100 of Amazon vouchers and got all my Christmas shopping done without paying a penny. 

Currently, I'm saving up my vouchers to buy a bike for getting to and from uni – something I couldn’t normally afford to buy. So even if you are on a tight budget, you can still treat yourself and your family, without breaking your budget. Sign up here and get earning!

Tuesday 17 January 2017

Unibox Giveaway: A Monthly Gift for Students



University can be a tough time for many young adults. For me, it was so tough that I left the University of St. Andrews after one year and took a year out to regather my jumbled thoughts. Now in my third year of a Geography degree at the University of Glasgow, I am more comfortable with being away, learning to be independent and managing the increasing deadlines most of the time. Most being the operative word. There are times at university when all we need is a wee pick me up - a phone call from the parents, a coffee with an old friend, or a wee care package coming through the door.

This is where UniBox comes in. Every month, they send out care packages to students around the UK, taking away the hassle of having to choose items to send and remembering to send it. Even if you are ordering it for yourself, it feels so nice to get a parcel all made up for you to open like a present encouraging you to power through coursework. The boxes are filled with items that every student will love (mine came with tea and chocolate this month, what more could I ask for?). All you have to do is sign up on their website and pick a subscription and they do all the hard work for you! There are two types of subscription to go for:

Monthly Subscription: This can be cancelled anytime before the end of the month (i.e cancel by the 30th January if you do not want a February box).

Pre-paid Subsciption: Chose from either 3-month or 6-month. These work out cheaper overall than the monthly subscription, but you cannot cancel as you can with the monthly. 

I received a January box to review, watch the unboxing below to see what treats I got!


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My favourite treats this month:



Tea. Anyone who knows me at all will know that I love tea. Black tea, green tea, herbal tea and....unusual tea (which popcorn definitely falls into the category of). Teapigs is a great company and a cuppa is the perfect way to chill out after a long day at uni. Also a great ice breaker with your new flatmates - who needs popcorn at a movie night when you can have popcorn tea!




 Now I love chocolate as much as the next person but I can be a wee bit fussy when it comes to the cocoa percentage (try not to judge me). This chocolate however beats the >70% rule by a whole 2%. Also it has honeycomb in it which is an instant bonus and is as beautiful as the Welsh accents of the country it is from. A company I will be keeping an eye out for in the future.




If you have been following my blog from the start (hello!) then you may remember that I made apple crisps as a way to save money. However tasty and money saving the DIY version may be, sometimes it's so much easier to have a bag of them for taking to uni. It can be really hard to satisfy snacking cravings when out and about, especially when surrounded by the vending machines on campus, so I'm really looking forward to having these as a go to healthy snack between lectures.






Would you like to win a February box for you or a student in your life? It will be a whole new box full of mystery treats for them to enjoy. Enter via the Gleam app below!

Can't wait? Get 15% off your first order using the code UNIBOXLORNA - Good luck! 

ENTER HERE


Luck and Love,

Lorna







Sunday 15 January 2017

#MakeUpFreeMe








January is a time of year when we are surrounded by magazines and adverts encouraging us to lose the weight we gained over Christmas and guilting us into splashing out on expensive gym memberships and fad juice diets that leave us hangry and skint. This year, I am setting a New Years Resolution intended to last longer than a diet and teach me more than a self-help book that ends up dusty on the shelf. Two weeks ago I embarked on a challenge that may seem easy to some and impossible to others – I'm going make up free for the month of January. For me, it lies somewhere between the two - I love a wee make up free day, but the thought of going out clubbing or to a fancy meal without it isn't something I'm comfortable with. I am doing this both to show that there is nothing wrong with embracing the natural us, and to raise money for the incredible eating disorders charity B-eat. To read more about my recovery and to donate, please visit my just giving page <here>.

Two and a half years ago, I was admitted to a general mixed psychiatric ward in which I would stay for 5 months and 5 days (not that I was counting). I learned a lot in this experience, but more than anything I learned that there is no such thing as a perfect body, but that yours is perfect for you. I am not saying that I love every inch of my body, I miss my thigh gap and toned abs, but I now have curves that make me feel attractive and like a woman, rather than a skeleton. I am learning to love my body for how it is, flaws and all.
A key to my recovery was to accept the natural me, to embrace the weight I became living the life that I wanted to live. I would rather weigh a little bit more and be able to enjoy the Sunday tradition of waffles for breakfast with my boyfriend, than sit miserably eating an apple, or have a crazy night out with my pals without worrying about the calories in every drink. As part of my challenge to accept me for who I am, I have set myself this task of going makeup free every day in January.


I am now two weeks into my challenge and have already faced some of the things I was most worried about. I had never been on a night out without makeup, and this week I discovered there are some major benefits to hitting the dancefloor make up free. For one, getting ready takes half the time (although at times, the getting ready is one of the best parts of the night) but most importantly, your make up with last the whole night - because you aren't wearing any, You don't need to worry about it getting ruined by some guy tossing drinks at your group. You can simply give him a wee glare and get back on with the dancing. Also, to wake up the next morning without massive panda eyes was a serious benefit, because however well you THINK you've taken off your make up after a night out, it's never enough.

Another big challenge for me was going to an interview without a layer of foundation and mascara to hide behind. It's almost a given that we dress ourselves up and present ourselves at our best when going somewhere that makes us nervous. Yet why I thought that urban decays latest products would make me any better suited for a summer internship at an accounting firm, I do not know. I settled for some glasses and a smart blazer instead, and got an extra 10 minutes in bed as a bonus.

 As well as the extra snoozing time in the morning, I am doing this challenge to show people that we can embrace the natural us, rather than striving to be like the unrealistically perfect, skinny and flaw-free models that we see emblazoned on magazines. It’s okay to go into a club without makeup, you can appear attractive to people as the natural you and a life without panda eyes is a good one. 
Halfway through the month and I still get nervous when taking photos next to friends who look beautiful with their long lashes and bronzed cheeks, and I am so aware of my face when filming videos for my blog but slowly I am starting to like my natural look. I care less about what people think, and realised that half the time people don't even notice I'm not wearing any make up, it's only me that cares. I still have challenges to go - a date night with my boyfriend and a family meal (that in my family is an occasion to get dressed up) but I am already starting to feel that this month may just extend into more of a life style, with just the odd special occasion allowing me to crack out the old eyeshadow palette...
Fancy joining me? Share your make-up free selfies on Instagram or Twitter with #MakeUpFreeMe and tag me (Twitter @LaurieBeat Instagram @lornab22) and please do share my just giving page link with it to help spread the word.




Having confidence in your natural look is the strongest kind of confidence a person can have.

                                        We are beautiful, exactly the way we are.

                                                           Let’s embrace it.

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Prize Unboxing: December 2016



Prize: Urban Decay Mascara Miniature
From: Artemis & Xena
Entry: Twitter

Prize: Beauty Bundle worth £110
From: odettebeauty
Entry: Instagram
Notes: only 38 entries!

Prize: Heeled Boots
From: FyoUK
Entry: Instagram

Prize: Slippers
From: The White Company
Entry: Instagram

Prize: AA Skincare
From: Set of 3 FaceMasks
Entry: Instagram

Prize: CocoVita
From: Coconut Oil
Entry: Twitter

Prize: Tote Bag
From: ASOS
Entry: Online Form

Prize:  Terex Truck Merchandise
From: terex Trucks
Entry: Twitter

Prize: 4 Cereal Bars
From: Good Full Stop
Entry: Instagram

Prize: ProperCorn and Beer
From: ProperCorn
Note: Still no sign of the beer

Prize: Jeans
From: jack & Jones
Entry: Instagram

Prize: Black Mud Soap and CC Cream
From: Spa Finder
Entry: Instagram

Prize: Oven Glove
From: Whitworths
Entry: Purchase Necessay
Notes: I burnt my hand because I only had one oven glove...

Prize: Protein Kit
From: Ripped Kit
Entry: Instagram

Prize: Only & Sons Power Bank
From: USC
Entry: Instagram

Prize: £200 Love2Shop Vouchers
From: Ski Yoghurt
Entry: Online Form

Prize: £20 MAC Voucher (Mascara)
From: No Idea
Entry: Create your lipstick style

So that's it, the last Prize Unboxing for 2016! My favourite prize has to be the Love2Shop Vouchers and I loved having a wee day out with my mum and us both picking some new outfits!

Luck and Love, 

Laurie