IDEAS FOR THE PERFECT NIGHT IN

I hate the term, "staying in is the new going out", but when it comes to how I like to spend my evenings now, it seems only appropriate. I might only be in my 30's but long gone are the days of going out to a club with friends and coming back at five in the morning, with one shoe missing and no idea of when it came off - true story. Now, we'd much rather go out for something to eat, enjoy some wine and hear ourselves speak. Something your mum used to say right? Yup, I'm turning into that kind of person. But I'm really trying to watch the pennies to save up for a new car (my dream car would be a mint coloured Fiat 500 if you're wondering, but I suspect it's every bloggers dream, especially if they watch LLYMLRS with her gorgeous little Lily-mobile), so a night in is standard for me nowadays. I thought some of you might be in the same boat, so today I wanted to highlight three ways to spend your evenings without spending much, if any, money. 

Pamper, pamper, pamper

Sunday night is always pamper night for me. It's where I get all my lotions and potions out, scrub the last seven days off my skin and get ready to start the new week all fresh and beautified. I'll start by getting a long hot soak with some Epsom salts, which are great for detoxing the skin, and once all the salts have made their way into my body I'll rinse off with a cool shower, wash my face and exfoliate my whole body with both a scrub and a mitt. I'll also defuzz and pop a deep conditioning treatment on my hair. After the shower I'll cleanse my face once more, pop a towel on my head to let the conditioner soak in and boil the kettle ready to steam my face. I like to do this once a week to make sure all the crap has come out of my pores. And finally I'll give myself both a manicure and a pedicure. I'm usually in bed for 9.30pm on a Sunday, so this pamper ritual really relaxes me and gets me ready for the, usually busy, week ahead. 

Boxset and popcorn

A classic night in idea, but getting some popcorn and sweets in whilst you catch up on your latest boxset addiction is my idea of a great evening. I don't have Netflix or anything like that because of my stupid limited Internet dongle, but I'm always happy watching both my Friends and Sex and the City reruns. I highly doubt I'll get bored of either soon, and still find myself laughing out loud to Friends even though I've watched each episode a zillion times. I'm also partial to a little reality TV, so if Real Housewives of Atlanta, Dinner Date or The Bachelor are on, then please don't disturb. I was never really a soap kind of girl, but now my guilty crush Danny Dyer has become a main fixture of Eastenders (it can't be that guilty of a crush however, when Great British Bingo recently voted him Britain's Favourite Soap Star I might like to add), I'll also pop that on to perv whilst cooking my dinner. 

Cooking from scratch

Which leads me to my final suggestion - creating your favourite meal from scratch. A night in allows you to time to get in the kitchen, dust off your recipe books and make something delicious - be that an old classic or something you haven't tried before. I'm doing exactly that tonight as one of my favourite, but time-consuming, things to cook is chicken and chorizo risotto and seen as I've just filled my fridge with the usual payday ingredients (anyone else live like a king a week after payday, and a peasant the three weeks leading up to the next?), I decided tonight I'm going to cook a really nice meal, and sit and the table and enjoy it. With Friends playing in the background, and conditioner in my hair. 

Are you a night in fan like me, and if so, what's your idea of a great evening indoors? 

*Post in partnership with Great British Bingo