Getting my spend on

I love TKMaxx. I hate it too - it's impossible to find anything in there if you're actually looking for it -but when I don't need anything that shop is suddenly filled with treasures. I just had a very successful trip and here's what I got.

• Christian Dior Dolce Vita parfum, 7.5ml - on clearance for £14. Pure perfume for £14? Bargain and a half, and I absolutely love this fragrance for wearing in cold autumn weather such as we're having now.

• Calvin Klein Contradiction parfum, 15ml, marked down from £75 to £20. I haven't opened this yet as I am considering flogging it on eBay; I do like Contraction, but I don't really wear it any more, so it might be wasted on me. I'd love to see how the pure perfume wears compared to the eau de parfum which I owned before, but it is sealed and I don't want to open it unless I'm keeping it.

• Red wool winter coat, very stylish, £40. Marked down from £155 on the price tag, so I feel like I got a great deal, but I wouldn't ever have paid £155 for it so that deal probably isn't quite as good as it looks. But it's a great coat and definitely worth more than I paid, anyway.

• Selection of Le Creuset stoneware rectangular dishes, marked down from £28 each to £10 each. We already have quite a lot of Le Creuset dishes and saucepans given as wedding presents, and they are lovely to use, so I was thrilled to be able to add to the collection.

• Pack of four Max Factor Lipfinity lipsticks, in wearable shades, for £10. I wear these anyway and they are normally something like £8 each, so this was a great find.

• Scholl Party Feet gel cushions, down from £5 to £2. I don't normally wear strappy sandals or high heels, but if we are in the country at the end of October we are planning to attend a black tie event that will necessitate dressing up. Now I feel prepared!

All in all, a very successful trip, except from the point of my bank balance. No regrets.