After all the activities during Jump Start January I noticed that some things needed to be reprised and built upon, and also that quite a lot had been missed out and needed some attention, so I’ve decided to have four more Jump Start weeks during the month of February. Here they are:

1. Fun/happy stuff week (joy! treats!) 2 – 8 Feb

2. Friends (social on a budget) 9 – 15 Feb

3. Freelancing (projects! troubleshooting!) 16 – 22 Feb

4. Fitness (like Free Fitness February last year, but more bijou and compact) 23 – 29 Feb

The more eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this will be F-F-F-F-February, which is perfect because I’ve just seen the late night weather forecast and it’s going to be farkin’ freezing. If you’d like to join in or just see what the Dickens I’m getting up to, the Twitter hashtag will be #4FFeb.

And it’s also Day 1 of Week 1 – today I’ve been reviewing Instructions for Happiness… by Susie Pearl to get in the right mood and challenge the old grey matter. I’ll post that tomorrow, along with the plan for the rest of the week.

What are your plans for February?

They have several offers available at any one time (just scroll down to see the full range below the featured offer), and I had the chance to try the mixed Discovery case of twelve wines from Virgin Wines in the second week of December. Well, rude not to, right?

The RRP of the case was £120.88, and the Gumtree offer was a reduced price of £49.99 plus £6.99 for delivery. This represented a very decent discount, and there was also the promise of two Dartington Crystal red wine glasses included in the order.

I placed my order on the 9th of December, and it finally arrived on the 23rd of December, due to a few problems with the courier company. When it came through the door, everything was in perfect condition. including the delicate, excellent quality pair of wine glasses.

At this point there was only one appropriate course of action – get stuck into the wine. We chilled down a bottle of Finca Beltran Seleccion Chardonnay Viognier 2010 (Argentina) and got swilling and slurping. It’s an unusual blend of white grapes but I really loved it, half dry and half fragrant with notes of peach, apricot and green melon. The standard RRP is £8.99, which I think represents good value for money even before the discount.

The Dartington glasses were put to good use when we tested the next bottle, a Vina Ecoyen Reserva 2002 (Spain). The large goblets allowed us to clearly see the edge of the wine next to the glass, which showed us that the wine was nicely aged and that much of the harsher tannin had already dropped out. It wasn’t entirely promising on the nose although it definitely wasn’t corked, but on tasting it was a medium-soft red, with juicy notes of cherry, damson and black fruits.

The RRP is £9.99, and it’s an easy drinker that would go with most food. The Gumtree deal meant it was less than half price, and again I think that’s a lot of quality for not a lot of money. While it isn’t the best £10 red I’ve ever tasted, it’s amazing for what you’d actually pay (less than £5). The Beau pilfered half a glass of it for a casserole sauce when I wasn’t looking, and the results were delicious.

I’m looking forward to trying a few more of these over the next couple of days, and will update this with tasting notes from the next couple of bottles. Based on the sample so far, including the lovely pair of glasses, I’ve been very impressed with the quality of wines compared to the low price. We’ve since bought a second case, as part of another Virgin Wines Discovery Club offer – taking up the Gumtree daily deal automatically signs you up to use this club if you wish.

Full disclosure: first case of wine provided by Gumtree, second case of wine bought by myself.

Have you tried Gumtree’s Daily Deals yet? What about Virgin Wines? Please let me know.

Thank you all so much for your support in the last three months, it means a lot to us here at Golightly Gardens. Love, peace and mulled wine to you.

Back in a few days, having a little break now.

Penny xx

“These had better be edible, Humans.”

To enter, all you need to do is write ‘Happy Christmas Penny Golightly’ in the comments box below.

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner chosen using random.org, no cash alternative. Winner chosen on 28th December. Multiple entries will be disqualified.

Today’s advent calendar entry is a prize draw to win a fold away shopping bag with leopard print handles. These are great for trips to the market, or lugging your duty free when you’re on your way back from holiday.

Want to win? Just leave a message below saying ‘I’ve got Christmas in the bag’ and we’ll see who wins in a few days’ time.

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner chosen using random.org, no cash alternative. Winner chosen on 28th December. Multiple entries will be disqualified.

No pic, sorry, in a rush. They are very nice though!

To enter the draw, just leave a message in the comments, saying ‘I’m taking note’ and you might be the lucky recipient.

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner chosen using random.org, no cash alternative. Winner chosen on 28th December. Multiple entries will be disqualified.

In 2012 there will be all kinds of interesting things coming up on the site, and you’re all welcome to join in. First of all, I’ll be shunning those unattainable New Year resolutions (too much pressure) and filling January with daily ‘microresolutions’ – that’s doing one simple, easy thing every day to improve personal finances and/or quality of life. It’s called Jump Start January and it’s going to be happening on pennygolightly.com and The Lean Times websites, along with anyone else who wants to give it a go. More details to come after Christmas, and if you’re a Twitter user please keep an eye out for the #JSJan hashtag.

Meanwhile, in the last few years the cost of living has risen quite dramatically, but wages haven’t kept pace with this. If you’ve always been reasonably good at finding deals, budgeting and keeping the bills down then you’re probably already finding that there isn’t much left to pare back any more. The squeeze is on. One option for many of us hoping to maintain our standard of living is to earn an extra few quid here and there outside the day job, so with that in mind The Extra, Extra project begins in the first week of January. Watch out for that over in the Features area of the site where you can track my personal progress.

Finally a quick reminder. In February, if you’re within reach of London and hoping to grow your own veggies and herbs in a small space (allotment, garden, window box, windowsill) there’s My Seedy Valentine, an event where you can swap seeds with other gardeners. Most packets of seeds are far too big for a small growing space, so this allows people to buy fewer packets and swap anything surplus for free  to get more variety into their plot. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll email you the location nearer the time.

Want to try your luck? To enter, just leave a message in the comments box below saying “Sienna who?” and you might just be the winner.

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner chosen using random.org, no cash alternative. Winner chosen on 28th December. Multiple entries will be disqualified.

Want to win today’s prize? Just leave a comment in the box below, saying ‘best face forward’ and you might be first name out of the hat.

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner chosen using random.org, no cash alternative. Winner chosen on 28th December. Multiple entries will be disqualified.

If you’d like to win this book, just leave a message in the comments box below saying “veg out” to enter the competition.

T&Cs: UK entrants only please, winner chosen using random.org, no cash alternative. Winner chosen on 20th December. Multiple entries will be disqualified.