Not flashing the cash so much during lockdown means I’ve a bit more in my purse’
❝ We have treated ourselves to a couple of staycation nights
Mum-of-two Heidi Mcalpin says she hasn’t spent much on herself during the past few months, but it’s a different story for her teenage daughter, Scarlett
My purchasing habits haven’t changed much during lockdown. I’ve never been one of life’s big spenders, so the lure of impulse online purchases has, thankfully, eluded me as I spent hours indoors clamped to the computer screen for work and entertainment.
When I do flash the cash, though, I tend to go big or stay home. And by that, I mean I’m happy to spend money on holidays and meals out rather than hairdos, make up and the latest fashions (as anyone who knows what I look like will testify).
For me life’s all about experiences rather than objects. The same, however, cannot be said for my teenage daughter, Scarlett, who has singlehandedly revived the fortunes of the high street. Or, more specifically, Ikea.
It all began with her being cooped up in her bedroom for several weeks of schoolwork, playtime and downtime. And it seemed the never changing scene of piled up clothing and discarded toys inspired her to get tidying. Yes, you heard right. A teenage girl actually tidying her own room! We’re talking full on Marie Kondo (that’s a Japanese cleaning queen, for all you uninitiated types), as trousers and tops got rolled and stowed with all the detailed precision of a serial killer.
There’s nothing sends a shiver up your spine more than opening a drawer and seeing row after row of colour-coordinated leggings and t-shirts staring back. Like that scene from Sleeping With The Enemy when Julia Roberts opens the larder to a display of food with all the labels facing forward.
This was all laudable stuff, but Scarlett had only just begun. After the clean-up came the desire to upgrade her wardrobe to a three-door affair complete with bespoke shelving and drawer system. “Just like Maria Kondo, mum”.
So off we headed to join the ravenous hordes queuing at the newly opened Swedish mecca. Carefully drafted design in hand, we assumed the position at the computer terminal as a friendly assistant turned storage dreams into flatpack reality. “How much is all that, then?” I asked cheerily. After all, Ikea is renowned for its bargain prices. “£492. That’s including the Komplement pull out trouser hangar and extra tall doors.”
Once I had lifted myself from the floor, I crumpled in the face of minimalist living and stumped up the cash.
The next couple of days saw dad wrestling with baskets, knobs and two-metre-high doors to build the wardrobe of Scarlett’s dreams. And, thankfully, her bedroom remains reassuringly clutter-free.
As someone who doesn’t spend, it has been the biggest purchase of lockdown, but one which, hopefully, will provide years of floordrobe-free bliss.
Aside from the big lockdown wardrobe bonanza, we have treated ourselves to a couple of nights staycationing in Fermanagh and the Sperrins.
A subterranean trip to the Marble Arch Caves, eating out in freshly reopened cafes and restaurants (still can’t get used to that) and overnights at Enniskillen’s delightful Dromard House B&B and quirky Sperrin View glamping pods cost us around £350 for a family of four excluding petrol.
Now that, to me, is proper tidy.
And not much change with lockdown spending means a bit more change in my wee purse.