Looks like I enjoyed my G&T rather too much judging by the spelling mistakes!

Today was Xmas shopping day. It went rather well. In my world that means I didn't spend any money!

It was my fault I suppose. Me and my daughter had left late for the Metro Centre. Usually if the approach roads are busy the parking is busy. Well this afternoon the approach was quiet but there was no parking to be had. I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest. Christmas time at the metro centre is, obviously, heavy shopping time. Would the crowds have stayed away as the weather has been so bad or, as the weather has let up today, comparatively speaking, would all the shoppers come out of the woodwork?

Well it was definitely the latter.

One of my pet hates of the Metro centre is that you have to almost pick your car park before you have even arrived and if that is full the road system is such that you almost have to go back to the A1 and start all over again. I visited 3 car parks in the space of an hour and found nothing.

In frustration I left and set off for Newcastle city centre (which I much prefer as it happens), found parking immediately and was able to shop at leisure.

As a calming sop to my frustration, my daughter suggested we just saunter around a bit and not actually shop. Excellent! We found a cafe and had coffee and snack and then just looked at stuff. No money changed hands.

I looked at some expensive crockery, played with an ipad, selected my next TV and had a obligatory visit to Claire's (for my daughter). And all I spent was £10 on coffee and cakes.

Well I escaped spending money today but tommorrow I return to the Metro Centre with both my kids and I will be spending money