One Week Energy Saving Challenge – Could you live without your creature comforts?

When MoneySuperMarket recently got in touch to tell me about their One Week Energy Saving Challenge, I was immediately nervous at thought of what it might entail, but being a home owner (and bill payer…. urgh) I was intrigued too. Let’s face it – I love my creature comforts, I’m permanently attached to my phone and my laptop and couldn’t live without warming my bed with my electric blanket. I think I’m 100% sure I take my electrical items for granted on a daily basis, racking up somewhat expensive electricity bills along the way, no doubt.

So with the thought of saving money making my ears prick up, I eagerly asked for some more details. Turns out, MoneySuperMarket are asking bloggers to sacrifice one of their prized electrical items for one week, to see how it affects daily life. The idea being we realise how much we take these luxury items for granted and realise how much money they could be costing us too. Sounded right up my street, I thought I better say yes and give this a go.

I pondered over which item to give up. My first thought being my phone, but I realised quickly that would be a stupid idea, what if I broke down, what if I needed to call 999?! We all know those are the sensible questions but deep down I was wondering how I’d cope without snapchatting my dinner and daily dog walk. Next up was my laptop….. but a week without my blog and bedtime Netflix also filled me with the chills. I decided in the end, I would give up my electrical hair styling devices, I’m a blow dry addict but this is an area of my life where I could save time and money so I thought I’d give it a go and as I’d been such a wuss about giving up my phone or laptop, I decided not to just give up my hair drier, but I would do a week without straighteners too. Cue fizzy haired the cold wet head and frizzy haired selfies!

To get me through my week, I scoured Pinterest for Wet Hair Styling Hacks and soon realised with the right products, there is no need to add heat to style your hair. I stocked up on Sea Salt Sprays, Glossy Serums and Texturising Sprays and just waited to see what my hair did when left to dry naturally.  Usually I will blow dry my hair daily and sometimes straighten it too, so I’m sure my hair was grateful for the break from the heat! It took me a few days to get the balance right, but around Wednesday I slipped into a routine where I could successfully style my hair with not too much fuss. On the odd day I woke up and my hair was a real mess, I popped it into a bun and no one was any the wiser.

I also documented my whole journey through my Snapchat, my new addiction. Posting entertaining frizz-filled selfies around 7am every morning certainly was a new experience to my usual over-edited Instagram arena –  I’m so glad these things delete after 24 hours – cringe. However, this was the first time I’ve documented a blogger challenge on snapchat and it made me realise it’s such a fun way to share progress quick and easily everyday and I did have a laugh with it (so shameless plug, add me ‘fizzy-peaches’ – ta).

Overall, my energy-free week went smoothly, the positives of leaving my hair to dry naturally however was that it was soooo much quicker to get ready in the mornings, and certainly gave me confidence in a few more techniques for those mornings I want to hit the snooze button a few more times!  But I have to say, I did notice the big difference of not having my styling tools at my disposal. I managed to look presentable everyday, but leaving the house with a wet head of hair is pretty chilly when you you live right on the seafront and I’m glad I didn’t have any big nights out or evenings to glam up, as the sea salt look doesn’t suit every outfit! It really highlighted how much I take having these things for granted and how comfy my life is with all of these creature comforts around me.  It made me wonder what things would be like if I could no longer afford to pay the bills or these things broke and I wasn’t able to replace them.

Life Saving Products: Blonde Addict Gloss Serum | TRESemmé Divine Definition Spray | VO5 Rough & Sexy Sea Salt Spray 

It might not have saved me too much money by ditching my hairdryer and straighteners for just a week, but over the year it really adds up. Thinking about just getting ready in the morning –  I have a shower, I have the lights on, my music playing, my underfloor heating on and then I use my styling products then I might catch up on the latest news or social media posts over a coffee – thats a lot of electricity and thats all before 8am! So now I’m a home owner I’m inspired by this blogger challenge to make sure I’ve switched to the cheapest deal possible to get the lowest electricity prices. This week has shown me I never want to go without my creature comforts, so I better do everything I can to ensure I can afford them!

This post is in collaboration with MoneySuperMarket, but all thoughts,
frizzy haired tales and cringey Snapchats are my own