I am fully aware that I've been off the radar for nigh on a week, now. It's been a wickedly tough week - I've spoken to barely anyone and enjoyed it. It's not like me to be an introvert, but the last few weeks have been so gutting that I really just needed to get away from everything.
My relationship is over. Finito, crushed, ended, fin. My lust for travel and new-found ambition to see the world did not sit well with him indoors, and he made the call last Thursday. Yep, just after Ofsted. Joy.
So. I had two choices - did I head out to town, spending every last bit of cash I had on junk, clothes and wine, or did I head indoors, keep my head down and see what happened on the cashflow front? I'm really proud of myself, actually - despite Friday being a NIGHTMARE (I broke down, both emotionally and in the car, on the way to work), I still managed to get away with spending just £1.20 on lunch - I think I saw it as an accomplishment; something for me to focus on amongst all the effing angst. Saturday was little different; I spent the afternoon in London Town and all food, travel and the like was paid for. I basked in the sunshine and made sense of what it meant to be alive. I spent a fiver. Sunday, well - that was different.
You see, on Sunday, I went to see Laura. The art teacher. The red-headed hussy who put the whole bloody road-trip idea into my head in the first place. And...
We only went and booked the bloody thing.
Yup, you heard me right - 26 days, NYC to Las Vegas, via Philly, Wash DC, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, San Fran and LA. It's cost us £1500 each - well, I say each, but what I really mean is that Laura's awesome gran paid for everything, and now I simply have to figure out the best way to pay her back. Amazeballs.
So the challenge is now well and truly on.
With a week until payday, I did a bit of a cave-in on Monday when I spent a little cash in Tesco in order to cook dinner for a friend whose sofa has since become my haven and bed. However, if I add up the total outgoings for the week so far, I'd say I'm pretty much OK. I'm certainly not as far in the red as I could have been, had I succumbed to Topshop.
We'll see what the bank says come Thursday 31st...
From today onwards, it's regular posts as usual. No more feeling sorry for myself - it's way too stupid. I mean, come on - I've got a road trip to save for...
Cashmoney spent: A Breakdown
Friday lunch: £1.20
Sunday ticket to see Laura: £7.00 (honestly, Southern Rail - 50% off in advance!)
Monday trip to Tesco: £30.00
Graze lunch for Wednesday: £1.74
Beers in London: £8.80
Total: £48.74
Cashmoney saved: £0.00
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Day Ten: The Big O
We got the call at 2.00pm, Tuesday afternoon. The call every teacher hates. The big one.
OFSTED.
Panic ensued; computers crashed with the pressure of a hundred teachers planning; cakes were hastily bought and meetings were called. It was on like Donkey Kong. We were cacking our proverbials.
As it happens, the day went pretty smoothly - despite the constant stress cloud hanging over our shoulders, we actually did quite well. The inspectors seemed impressed and I managed to escape a single observation (which in a way, I was actually quite upset about - I'd planned some awesome lessons for my FULL DAY (argh!) of classes). Everyone maintained an air of jolly smiles and encouragement, and nobody had a breakdown - which is all one can ask for, I suppose.
However, it did mean that I had no choice but to head to Tesco for vital post-O recovery materials. Wine and ice-cream was the order of the day. I mean, I deserved it, right? So you can imagine my joy on arriving at Tesco to find a bottle of rose reduced to £2.19 and a tub of Ben and Jerry's brand new flavour, Coconutterly Fair, reduced to £2.14. I had been expecting to go way over my £5 limit, but this discovery buoyed me somewhat - one less thing to worry about, I suppose. AND the B&J's is also 100% Fair Trade, so I was also doing my bit for the environment. BOOM.
I feel like I'm actually starting to achieve something here. The column to the right of this post - the 'Countdown to a Grand' - has actually be counting up the sum total of everything I don't spend out of my daily £5. So, over the past ten days, I've actually averaged a saving of £1.20 a day - which means I'm living on far less than I originally challenged myself too. The countdown will inevitably go haywire come month's end, when I take stock of how much real-life cashmoney my endeavour has saved me.
Awesomesauce.
Cashmoney spent: £4.33
Cashmoney saved: £0.67
OFSTED.
Panic ensued; computers crashed with the pressure of a hundred teachers planning; cakes were hastily bought and meetings were called. It was on like Donkey Kong. We were cacking our proverbials.
As it happens, the day went pretty smoothly - despite the constant stress cloud hanging over our shoulders, we actually did quite well. The inspectors seemed impressed and I managed to escape a single observation (which in a way, I was actually quite upset about - I'd planned some awesome lessons for my FULL DAY (argh!) of classes). Everyone maintained an air of jolly smiles and encouragement, and nobody had a breakdown - which is all one can ask for, I suppose.
However, it did mean that I had no choice but to head to Tesco for vital post-O recovery materials. Wine and ice-cream was the order of the day. I mean, I deserved it, right? So you can imagine my joy on arriving at Tesco to find a bottle of rose reduced to £2.19 and a tub of Ben and Jerry's brand new flavour, Coconutterly Fair, reduced to £2.14. I had been expecting to go way over my £5 limit, but this discovery buoyed me somewhat - one less thing to worry about, I suppose. AND the B&J's is also 100% Fair Trade, so I was also doing my bit for the environment. BOOM.
I feel like I'm actually starting to achieve something here. The column to the right of this post - the 'Countdown to a Grand' - has actually be counting up the sum total of everything I don't spend out of my daily £5. So, over the past ten days, I've actually averaged a saving of £1.20 a day - which means I'm living on far less than I originally challenged myself too. The countdown will inevitably go haywire come month's end, when I take stock of how much real-life cashmoney my endeavour has saved me.
Awesomesauce.
Cashmoney spent: £4.33
Cashmoney saved: £0.67
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Day Nine: Passing on the savings
Since I started this challenge my eyes have been far more open for bargains than they used to be. We're a lucky society; gone are the days where there was shame in whipping out a coupon or three, or a discount vouchers - indeed, it's positively fashionable to be thrifty at the minute. Take a look anywhere on the 'net and you'll see blogs springing up everywhere, teaching you how to save money in all walks of life from home baking to rubbish recycling.
Whilst I'm not full of thrifty, DIY ideas for saving cash, I am good at finding great money-saving deals, cheap clothing and food and I can sniff out a bargain at fifty meters.
So, below are the first of my money-saving bargains - sent to me via email, post or just caught as I passed them on the street...
1. Pizza Express
Are currently running an offer for any pizza for £5.95 to celebrate the return of some old menu classics. Click here for the voucher - valid Sunday through Thursday at any Pizza Express restaurant.
2. Primark
Primarni Brighton are currently running racks and racks of bargains on the ground floor - sweatshirts for £3; dresses for less than a fiver; bags and hats for £1... Ideal if you're after some workout gear, cheap officewear or just want to grab a bargain. Experience has taught me that they won't be around for long, so be quick!
3. Southern Rail
I may be teaching an old dog new tricks, but it often surprises me how many people aren't aware that they can save up to 50% on their rail tickets if they book them online. Southern Rail run some cracking deals - you can get a one-way ticket to London for £3.75 (normally £14.90) by booking in advance, even if it's the morning you travel - it's easy to pick up the tickets at the station and takes no longer than buying them at the machine. Click here to buy.
4. Donatello's, Brighton
Are STILL running their awesome a la carte menu - two courses for £5.95 includes a choice of starter and a pizza or pasta dish. Their carbonara is second to none, though make sure you ask for spaghetti rather than penne. The best bit? Donatello's is something of a celeb hangout, with Noel Fielding, Jordan and other celebs having been spotted there in past months - you can star spot while you grab a bargain!
5. Frankie and Benny's
Currently running a 'Kids Eat Free' promotion. Click here for more info.
6. Cheetah's Gym, Hove
The cheapest gym in the city - if you don't mind getting down and dirty with the muscle men. At just £21 per month (if you sign up for 12 months), it works out at little more than a fiver a week - great for those who are saving their readies. I like to see it as character building - boxing classes require me to face the wall of muscle head-on in my venture to the downstairs training room - and the guys who work and work out there are actually quite lovely, despite their looks.
7. Hervia.com
If, like me, you're a Vivienne Westwood fanatic, then this site is ideal for you - all of the collections, all at a reasonable price - no cheeky mark-ups or eBay exploitation here. And they never seem to run out of stock! Sign up for updates, and you'll often be sent special offers including free postage worldwide. Snazzy. (I must stress at this juncture that so far, I have only indulged in window shopping - though I fully intend to own the butterfly trench by this time next year.)
8. Littlewoods.com
My one-stop shop for everything fashion. Collections from Fearne Cotton, Colleen Rooney and DVO are all priced for young earners and with the option to spread the cost for up to twenty weeks, interest free, you can have what you want earlier without the credit card guilt. It's also ideal for bigger purchases - TVs, consoles, electricals and furniture can all be bought here, too. However, I mainly visit for the shoes. Signing up is easy, and items are delivered to your door free of charge - returns also cost nothing. Boom!
More to follow - enjoy!
Cashmoney spent: £0.00
Cashmoney saved: £5.00
Cashmoney carelessly dropped on my classroom floor: £0.05
Total: £5.05
Whilst I'm not full of thrifty, DIY ideas for saving cash, I am good at finding great money-saving deals, cheap clothing and food and I can sniff out a bargain at fifty meters.
So, below are the first of my money-saving bargains - sent to me via email, post or just caught as I passed them on the street...
1. Pizza Express
Are currently running an offer for any pizza for £5.95 to celebrate the return of some old menu classics. Click here for the voucher - valid Sunday through Thursday at any Pizza Express restaurant.
2. Primark
Primarni Brighton are currently running racks and racks of bargains on the ground floor - sweatshirts for £3; dresses for less than a fiver; bags and hats for £1... Ideal if you're after some workout gear, cheap officewear or just want to grab a bargain. Experience has taught me that they won't be around for long, so be quick!
3. Southern Rail
I may be teaching an old dog new tricks, but it often surprises me how many people aren't aware that they can save up to 50% on their rail tickets if they book them online. Southern Rail run some cracking deals - you can get a one-way ticket to London for £3.75 (normally £14.90) by booking in advance, even if it's the morning you travel - it's easy to pick up the tickets at the station and takes no longer than buying them at the machine. Click here to buy.
4. Donatello's, Brighton
Are STILL running their awesome a la carte menu - two courses for £5.95 includes a choice of starter and a pizza or pasta dish. Their carbonara is second to none, though make sure you ask for spaghetti rather than penne. The best bit? Donatello's is something of a celeb hangout, with Noel Fielding, Jordan and other celebs having been spotted there in past months - you can star spot while you grab a bargain!
5. Frankie and Benny's
Currently running a 'Kids Eat Free' promotion. Click here for more info.
6. Cheetah's Gym, Hove
The cheapest gym in the city - if you don't mind getting down and dirty with the muscle men. At just £21 per month (if you sign up for 12 months), it works out at little more than a fiver a week - great for those who are saving their readies. I like to see it as character building - boxing classes require me to face the wall of muscle head-on in my venture to the downstairs training room - and the guys who work and work out there are actually quite lovely, despite their looks.
7. Hervia.com
If, like me, you're a Vivienne Westwood fanatic, then this site is ideal for you - all of the collections, all at a reasonable price - no cheeky mark-ups or eBay exploitation here. And they never seem to run out of stock! Sign up for updates, and you'll often be sent special offers including free postage worldwide. Snazzy. (I must stress at this juncture that so far, I have only indulged in window shopping - though I fully intend to own the butterfly trench by this time next year.)
8. Littlewoods.com
My one-stop shop for everything fashion. Collections from Fearne Cotton, Colleen Rooney and DVO are all priced for young earners and with the option to spread the cost for up to twenty weeks, interest free, you can have what you want earlier without the credit card guilt. It's also ideal for bigger purchases - TVs, consoles, electricals and furniture can all be bought here, too. However, I mainly visit for the shoes. Signing up is easy, and items are delivered to your door free of charge - returns also cost nothing. Boom!
More to follow - enjoy!
Cashmoney spent: £0.00
Cashmoney saved: £5.00
Cashmoney carelessly dropped on my classroom floor: £0.05
Total: £5.05
Monday, 14 March 2011
Day Eight: Boxing (or not)
Today I am officially kicking myself up the backside. With the failure that was the money-saving (ha!) weekend behind me, I'm now focusing on saving again and in addition to this, officially getting myself into shape.
Since Christmas it's been a total rollercoaster ride chez Rebby - there've been bereavements, new jobs, relationship woes, money issues and excessive insomnia to contend with. I've been yo-yoing almost as much as Kerry Katona when she was with Mark Croft, and I'm not just talking about my mood. My weight has, in the last, short three months, gone from a shade below ten stones, to nine stones and back up again. This has been mainly due to the fact that when I'm down, I rarely eat more than a handful of food at a time, but this has been massively counterproductive me for, especially since I've been up (and greedy) just as much as I've been down (and waify). I really needed to start focusing on my health and wellbeing.
So, here's the drill. Tonight, I'm returning to Cheetah's boxing class - good, old-fashioned Queensbury punching skills. I'd attended for months last year, but given up after my partner-in-crime Cat decided to make some changes and went travelling, leaving me with sweat-tastic men dripping their exertion onto my vest top. It was a bit too much for a lone girl to take, and I jacked it in. However, since my good friend Ray returned from his galavant around Oz and NZ, he's been keen to take up a bit of punching - and so I offered to do the same. Once a week, I'm going to kill myself in the ring, followed by three runs to build stamina. It's going to hurt.
The best bit about Cheetah's is that it only costs a fiver - yep, the exact amount I'm allowed to spend. Yes, it's filthy; yes, it's full of muscle men; yes, it's hardcore - but it's hella fun. More exhausting than a run, but less taxing on the joints; more fun than a cross-trainer but harder on the core - and let's face it, who doesn't want to be able to fend for themselves if a ruckus were to go up?! It also means I won't be in the pub, spending way more than a fiver - and I'll be able to strut my stuff in a bikini come my next holiday. Everything is a win.
So, right now it's off home, an hour on STP (I'm making that £15 back if it kills me), hair up, trainers on, gloves ready - and yes, that's fighting talk.
Since Christmas it's been a total rollercoaster ride chez Rebby - there've been bereavements, new jobs, relationship woes, money issues and excessive insomnia to contend with. I've been yo-yoing almost as much as Kerry Katona when she was with Mark Croft, and I'm not just talking about my mood. My weight has, in the last, short three months, gone from a shade below ten stones, to nine stones and back up again. This has been mainly due to the fact that when I'm down, I rarely eat more than a handful of food at a time, but this has been massively counterproductive me for, especially since I've been up (and greedy) just as much as I've been down (and waify). I really needed to start focusing on my health and wellbeing.
So, here's the drill. Tonight, I'm returning to Cheetah's boxing class - good, old-fashioned Queensbury punching skills. I'd attended for months last year, but given up after my partner-in-crime Cat decided to make some changes and went travelling, leaving me with sweat-tastic men dripping their exertion onto my vest top. It was a bit too much for a lone girl to take, and I jacked it in. However, since my good friend Ray returned from his galavant around Oz and NZ, he's been keen to take up a bit of punching - and so I offered to do the same. Once a week, I'm going to kill myself in the ring, followed by three runs to build stamina. It's going to hurt.
The best bit about Cheetah's is that it only costs a fiver - yep, the exact amount I'm allowed to spend. Yes, it's filthy; yes, it's full of muscle men; yes, it's hardcore - but it's hella fun. More exhausting than a run, but less taxing on the joints; more fun than a cross-trainer but harder on the core - and let's face it, who doesn't want to be able to fend for themselves if a ruckus were to go up?! It also means I won't be in the pub, spending way more than a fiver - and I'll be able to strut my stuff in a bikini come my next holiday. Everything is a win.
So, right now it's off home, an hour on STP (I'm making that £15 back if it kills me), hair up, trainers on, gloves ready - and yes, that's fighting talk.
UPDATE!
For shame, Cheetah's boxing class has moved! (Way to go telling us on the website, guys.) Got all the bloody way there to find out it's moved to Tuesday - and Ray's only bloody watching Paul tomorrow. Next week it is, then!
Instead, I allowed my fitness juices to run by having a neat little jog along Hove seafront - one of the best parts of living here is being able to go at your own pace, with nothing but the sound of the waves and your thoughts to accompany you. And believe me, I have a lot to think about at the moment.
So - what now?! I've actually had an excellent idea, and I'll be posting shortly - watch this space!
I'm starting to realise that this challenge is working in ways I never expected it to. Following the weekend of fail, I honestly thought I'd ruined everything - but on checking my bank balance, was surprised/shocked/somewhat bewildered to see that two weeks in, my account is still actually in credit. Yes, I know; it's something that's never been heard of or seen before. It would seem that as the week has gone by, I've been willing myself to stick to the limit; I've consumed less alcohol, I've eaten thriftier food and I've made my own fun (well, OK; I've DL'd Glee and watched a lot of Jamie's Dream School). I haven't actually missed the cash - nor have I missed what it brings me. In fact, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the things I actually want to achieve in life, and how I am going to get there. Money has always been a great obstacle to my achieving many of my life goals, and so this challenge has really opened my eyes to what I am capable of if I really try. And even though I failed by £15, my account is still healthier and by the end of March, the countdown to a grand is going to look a lot more impressive as I whack on the amount left in my account, thanks to this very challenge. I'm currently looking at over £100 - amazing. I've never ended the month with more than £10 in my account before - I normally rinse it for all it's worth.
I'm even thinking of continuing until I hit the grand target. Stuff a month. Let's go hardcore.
Cashmoney spent: £0.00
Cashmoney saved: £5.00
I'm starting to realise that this challenge is working in ways I never expected it to. Following the weekend of fail, I honestly thought I'd ruined everything - but on checking my bank balance, was surprised/shocked/somewhat bewildered to see that two weeks in, my account is still actually in credit. Yes, I know; it's something that's never been heard of or seen before. It would seem that as the week has gone by, I've been willing myself to stick to the limit; I've consumed less alcohol, I've eaten thriftier food and I've made my own fun (well, OK; I've DL'd Glee and watched a lot of Jamie's Dream School). I haven't actually missed the cash - nor have I missed what it brings me. In fact, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the things I actually want to achieve in life, and how I am going to get there. Money has always been a great obstacle to my achieving many of my life goals, and so this challenge has really opened my eyes to what I am capable of if I really try. And even though I failed by £15, my account is still healthier and by the end of March, the countdown to a grand is going to look a lot more impressive as I whack on the amount left in my account, thanks to this very challenge. I'm currently looking at over £100 - amazing. I've never ended the month with more than £10 in my account before - I normally rinse it for all it's worth.
I'm even thinking of continuing until I hit the grand target. Stuff a month. Let's go hardcore.
Cashmoney spent: £0.00
Cashmoney saved: £5.00
Days Six and Seven: FAIL
OK, OK, I admit it; I fell off the fiver wagon and had a massive fail this weekend. Partly due to a weekend that had been booked in London prior to Christmas, I ended up having no choice but to spend a tenner on my Oyster card in order to get from Victoria to King's Cross to Greenwich and back. However, a tenner was as far as it went; I was kindly bought dinner - a Gourmet Burger Kitchen special - from Dan, and I stuck to my 'no snacking' rule as strictly as I had all week. I refrained from splashing out in the planetarium gift shop (for the trip was to Greenwich Observatory for an 'Evening With the Stars'), and they provided free hot chocolate as we stood on the Prime Meridian. Incidentally, it's an evening I fully recommend to anyone who has an ounce of interest in the planets.
Sunday was little better - my mother is visiting and on my return from London I was swept into The Cricketers with my good friend Simon, who for the past month or so has spent more than his fair share of cash getting me good and drunk; I had to return the favour by purchasing him a cider. Thus, in one fell swoop, £15 had been deducted from my card, and I was well and truly off the wagon. The rest of the evening, though, was at mother's expense, and she very kindly treated us to a Pho noodle special, complete with drinks - so money was still saved...
I now have a lot of work to do to recoup the extra £20 spent over the weekend. I intend to hit Slice the Pie as soon as I get home, and I'm making the most of eBay and its resources to get rid of a few vintage dresses and shoes that I no longer want/need/wear. Hopefully I'll be back on track before long! (I've figured it out - 10 song on STP = $0.80 and 15 minutes of my time; therefore 1 hour of song reviews = $3.20... Part of the way there!)
Cashmoney spent: £25.00
Cashmoney saved: -£15.00
Total: -£15.00
Sunday was little better - my mother is visiting and on my return from London I was swept into The Cricketers with my good friend Simon, who for the past month or so has spent more than his fair share of cash getting me good and drunk; I had to return the favour by purchasing him a cider. Thus, in one fell swoop, £15 had been deducted from my card, and I was well and truly off the wagon. The rest of the evening, though, was at mother's expense, and she very kindly treated us to a Pho noodle special, complete with drinks - so money was still saved...
I now have a lot of work to do to recoup the extra £20 spent over the weekend. I intend to hit Slice the Pie as soon as I get home, and I'm making the most of eBay and its resources to get rid of a few vintage dresses and shoes that I no longer want/need/wear. Hopefully I'll be back on track before long! (I've figured it out - 10 song on STP = $0.80 and 15 minutes of my time; therefore 1 hour of song reviews = $3.20... Part of the way there!)
Cashmoney spent: £25.00
Cashmoney saved: -£15.00
Total: -£15.00
Friday, 11 March 2011
Day Five: Slice The Pie (Updated!)
OK, so it's the weekend; more specifically, it's Freitag Nacht. Which usually means I go to the pub/Simon's flat/a park bench, drink my body weight in boozes and head to The Pav, where infinitely more boozes are consumed, I dance my socks off and, if I'm lucky, I lose my purse/money/dignity.
However, tonight I only have £5 to play with, and so I'm anticipating that I'll either: a) be tucked up in bed by midnight, fresh as a daisy but lamenting my lack of a Friday Night-hair down; or b) sneak a hipflask full of vodka into my handbag to top up my lime and soda. Fnar. (I won't do b), mum, honest.) It's going to be tough, though I'm lucky enough to have Derren Brown tickets, which will inevitably take up most of my evening. I've been looking forward to this for actual months. I love the man. Nay, adore him. He's a demi-God. I'm excited to be amazed, amused and dazzled by his mind-wonder. I really hope he picks me to throw the teddy.
I wanted to share with you my latest money-making scheme, too - Slice The Pie. I currently work through their website as a scout, listening to and reviewing tracks. It's dirt-low cash when you first start - $0.02 per track - but as you get better, you have the potential to earn up to $0.20 per track, just for listening to a minutes' worth of song and chipping in your tuppence worth. Right now, they're also running a soundtrack scout room, which is paying a flat $0.08 per track, so if you're new, it's a good way to make a little cash without having to plough through thirty tuppence songs first. Today I spent half an hour on it, and came out $4.00 richer - considering I was also browsing Bookface, checking emails, reading Twitter and Lamebook and Regretsy during that time, it's not a bad deal, really. Ideal if you're a bit short - and they really do pay. So far, I've had $40.00 off them in all, paid through PayPal. If you're in a band, it's also great exposure - you can upload your tracks and even go for investment from the listeners. Schweet.
I don't want to prattle on about something everyone's already read humungous amounts about, but my heart goes out to anyone caught up in the Japan earthquake. Truly awful news. I've been checking up on proceedings throughout the day and it's taken my right back to 2004, when we should have been in Sri Lanka but instead, by some miracle, ended up on the West Coast of Africa, safe, watching the tsunami kills thousands. I'll never forget the sight of dead bodies piled up against the roadside. It's truly beginning to feel a little pre-apocalyptic at the minute - so many bad things have happened recently. If anything good can come of this, it's that it's only pushed me more to achieve my goal - things like these make you realise that life is short, bad things happen, and life can punch you in the face if you waste it. I will see the US. I will see Malaysia. And I will make the most of my money, and my life.
Cashmoney spent: £6.20
Cashmoney saved: £0.00
Slice The Pie earnings: £1.80
Cashmoney dropped by careless students and rescued by yours truly: £0.04
Total: £0.64
However, tonight I only have £5 to play with, and so I'm anticipating that I'll either: a) be tucked up in bed by midnight, fresh as a daisy but lamenting my lack of a Friday Night-hair down; or b) sneak a hipflask full of vodka into my handbag to top up my lime and soda. Fnar. (I won't do b), mum, honest.) It's going to be tough, though I'm lucky enough to have Derren Brown tickets, which will inevitably take up most of my evening. I've been looking forward to this for actual months. I love the man. Nay, adore him. He's a demi-God. I'm excited to be amazed, amused and dazzled by his mind-wonder. I really hope he picks me to throw the teddy.
I wanted to share with you my latest money-making scheme, too - Slice The Pie. I currently work through their website as a scout, listening to and reviewing tracks. It's dirt-low cash when you first start - $0.02 per track - but as you get better, you have the potential to earn up to $0.20 per track, just for listening to a minutes' worth of song and chipping in your tuppence worth. Right now, they're also running a soundtrack scout room, which is paying a flat $0.08 per track, so if you're new, it's a good way to make a little cash without having to plough through thirty tuppence songs first. Today I spent half an hour on it, and came out $4.00 richer - considering I was also browsing Bookface, checking emails, reading Twitter and Lamebook and Regretsy during that time, it's not a bad deal, really. Ideal if you're a bit short - and they really do pay. So far, I've had $40.00 off them in all, paid through PayPal. If you're in a band, it's also great exposure - you can upload your tracks and even go for investment from the listeners. Schweet.
I don't want to prattle on about something everyone's already read humungous amounts about, but my heart goes out to anyone caught up in the Japan earthquake. Truly awful news. I've been checking up on proceedings throughout the day and it's taken my right back to 2004, when we should have been in Sri Lanka but instead, by some miracle, ended up on the West Coast of Africa, safe, watching the tsunami kills thousands. I'll never forget the sight of dead bodies piled up against the roadside. It's truly beginning to feel a little pre-apocalyptic at the minute - so many bad things have happened recently. If anything good can come of this, it's that it's only pushed me more to achieve my goal - things like these make you realise that life is short, bad things happen, and life can punch you in the face if you waste it. I will see the US. I will see Malaysia. And I will make the most of my money, and my life.
Cashmoney spent: £6.20
Cashmoney saved: £0.00
Slice The Pie earnings: £1.80
Cashmoney dropped by careless students and rescued by yours truly: £0.04
Total: £0.64
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Day Four: Fuel
I really, honestly had no choice - I had to buy fuel today. It embittered me to see that prices have soared in the past fortnight to way over £1.34 a litre, but due to the lack of bus services heading towards school at the time needed and my flat bike tyre, it was a necessity to fill up and shut up. As I angrily counted my money away, I realised that having a car really is a massive luxury - especially now that we ladies have to pay the same premiums as the men. I really don't agree with this move; after all, it's been researched and proven that women do indeed have fewer accidents. Older people tend to have fewer accidents, and so their premiums are lower; why shouldn't it be the same for any other group? The EU are calling sexism; if that's the case then I'm also calling ageism, because surely it's also discriminatory to charge younger drivers more - we seem to not be looking at the proven chance of accident any more, so why penalise those with the least cash?
Speaking of which, we're all getting ready at school for the big march on the 26 March - England's biggest protest so far against the cuts. Teachers' pension contributions are set to go up by approximately £100 a month (for those on M4 on the scale), which is a massive hit for those of us living in expensive cities. To top that, the government, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to make a huge change to the pension scheme in that we no longer have our pension calculated from our final salary, but as an average from our entire career, which means that those who take maternity leave or have time off for sicknessreally do lose out. Add that to the widespread education cuts that have left SEN students without support, SureStart cuts that leave poorer and less educated families without assistance and help and the lack of tax for the richer members of society and this fiver challenge is beginning to take on a whole new meaning.
After all, there must be thousands upon thousands of people in the UK having to live on less than that every day - I'm truly starting to realise how lucky I am.
Cashmoney spent: £5.00
Cashmoney saved: £0.00
Cashmoney dropped by students and rescued by yours truly: £0.05
Total: £0.05
Speaking of which, we're all getting ready at school for the big march on the 26 March - England's biggest protest so far against the cuts. Teachers' pension contributions are set to go up by approximately £100 a month (for those on M4 on the scale), which is a massive hit for those of us living in expensive cities. To top that, the government, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to make a huge change to the pension scheme in that we no longer have our pension calculated from our final salary, but as an average from our entire career, which means that those who take maternity leave or have time off for sicknessreally do lose out. Add that to the widespread education cuts that have left SEN students without support, SureStart cuts that leave poorer and less educated families without assistance and help and the lack of tax for the richer members of society and this fiver challenge is beginning to take on a whole new meaning.
After all, there must be thousands upon thousands of people in the UK having to live on less than that every day - I'm truly starting to realise how lucky I am.
Cashmoney spent: £5.00
Cashmoney saved: £0.00
Cashmoney dropped by students and rescued by yours truly: £0.05
Total: £0.05
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Day Three: Forgetting an IOU
Today, I saw my bottom set Year 8s for the first time since I did a quiz with them, three weeks ago, and promised the winning team a box of chocolates. I had bought said chocolates three weeks ago, but on failing to deliver them they were subsequently used to bribe another set of "lovely" year 8 students, and all memory of owing the others was forgotten. Until this morning.
Knowing I only had £5 to last the day, I sucked it up and refrained from fobbing them off with a poor selection of Twixes and Mars Bars, instead plumping for a fat box of Thornton's. I know, I know - I'm just a nice person. However, this thoughtfulness did impact on me later in the day, especially since my graze box wasn't delivered on time - again. Only having 40 minutes to play with at lunch, zero petrol and a complete lack of willingness to spend cashmoney on food I didn't really want, I resorted to supping a hot chocolate, manning up and getting on with the last lesson sans lunch. Kind of sucky, but it meant I got to haul ass out of school at 3.15pm with a sterling excuse, and exactly twenty-seven minutes after emailing them to complain (signing off "yours in hunger, Rebby x"), graze had emailed me back to say they were giving me another half-price box and, on top of that, a free one too. You can't beat that for customer service!
I'm currently playing Jeremy Clarkson's fuel chicken game, and it's kind of fun. I just hope I don't run out in the middle of a junction or something - the gauge is getting dangerously low... I suppose I'll just have to suck it up tomorrow and spend a fiver.
In other money-scraping news, I managed to locate a further 54p in my jacket pocket, followed by another £2 in a different coat - it's actually amazing what you find when you look for it, and as hobo-ish as it sounds, it really does all add up. I'm over a hundredth of the way to my target, and I'm only three days in - I really do hope I manage to achieve what I set out to do. I suppose it'll be an achievement in itself - after years of spending money I don't have, I have never fully committed to a saving plan. Sure, I've put £50 away here and there, but for me, whenever I've come into money it's always gone straight back out of the account to pay off some other lingering debt, or I've headed down the shops to spend said cashmoney on clothes/food/booze/club entries. I spent a lot of my time kidding myself that I was thrifty because I bought stuff from charity shops and Tesco, but in reality, I wasn't saving anything - I was just buying more. In a nutshell, I suck at saving. I suppose if I manage to do this, I'll really have proved something to myself.
Cashmoney spent: £3.00
Cashmoney saved: £2.00
Cashmoney found in various coats and jackets: £2.54
Total: £4.54
Knowing I only had £5 to last the day, I sucked it up and refrained from fobbing them off with a poor selection of Twixes and Mars Bars, instead plumping for a fat box of Thornton's. I know, I know - I'm just a nice person. However, this thoughtfulness did impact on me later in the day, especially since my graze box wasn't delivered on time - again. Only having 40 minutes to play with at lunch, zero petrol and a complete lack of willingness to spend cashmoney on food I didn't really want, I resorted to supping a hot chocolate, manning up and getting on with the last lesson sans lunch. Kind of sucky, but it meant I got to haul ass out of school at 3.15pm with a sterling excuse, and exactly twenty-seven minutes after emailing them to complain (signing off "yours in hunger, Rebby x"), graze had emailed me back to say they were giving me another half-price box and, on top of that, a free one too. You can't beat that for customer service!
I'm currently playing Jeremy Clarkson's fuel chicken game, and it's kind of fun. I just hope I don't run out in the middle of a junction or something - the gauge is getting dangerously low... I suppose I'll just have to suck it up tomorrow and spend a fiver.
In other money-scraping news, I managed to locate a further 54p in my jacket pocket, followed by another £2 in a different coat - it's actually amazing what you find when you look for it, and as hobo-ish as it sounds, it really does all add up. I'm over a hundredth of the way to my target, and I'm only three days in - I really do hope I manage to achieve what I set out to do. I suppose it'll be an achievement in itself - after years of spending money I don't have, I have never fully committed to a saving plan. Sure, I've put £50 away here and there, but for me, whenever I've come into money it's always gone straight back out of the account to pay off some other lingering debt, or I've headed down the shops to spend said cashmoney on clothes/food/booze/club entries. I spent a lot of my time kidding myself that I was thrifty because I bought stuff from charity shops and Tesco, but in reality, I wasn't saving anything - I was just buying more. In a nutshell, I suck at saving. I suppose if I manage to do this, I'll really have proved something to myself.
Cashmoney spent: £3.00
Cashmoney saved: £2.00
Cashmoney found in various coats and jackets: £2.54
Total: £4.54
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Day Two: Grazing
Day two is going relatively well.
Last week I took up the offer of a good friend to get a free grazebox from graze.com, some lovely Londoners who package up healthy treats in a convenient A5 box and post it directly to your workplace. The snacks on offer range from olives to flapjacks, through an array of flavoured seeds, roasted/salted/honeyed/spiced nuts and crackers and dried fruit selections. I have to say, I was sceptical, but on arrival I was hooked - the food really does keep you going all day and there is a great balance of texture, taste and sweet/savoury.
I'm feeling kind, so as a gesture of goodwill to all of my followers (and I know there are simply hundreds), I'm going to give you a code that entitles you to a free box with another at half the price. All you have to do is type in the code on the homepage, select the foods you want using the 'bin/try/like/love' buttons and await your lovely lunch! Honestly, it's lovely. Boxes usually retail at £3.49, but these two come to a mere £1.74 - not bad for two lunches, and definitely good for us penny-pinchers!
Your free box code is: L6GT7KM
(Update - click HERE to go straight to the page without the fiddling!)
In other news, I found (hurrah!) £2.65 sitting in my car ashtray today, which cancels out the grazetacular luncheon and actually puts me into credit. Shazam.
I've also found myself picking up change in the corridors at work - skanky, I know, but it all seems to add up, and those kids know how to lose pennies. I'm making a killing in 1p pieces!
Tonight is Pancake Night, and we're going for the three-course spectacular - pancakes with cheese, beans/sausage and nutella - one after the other, in perfect succession.
Yum.
Cashmoney spent: £1.74
Cashmoney saved: £3.26
Cashmoney found in car: £2.60
Cashmoney found in corridors, as dropped by lazy children: £0.26
Total: £6.12
(But I still haven't bought me any fuel. Damn.)
Last week I took up the offer of a good friend to get a free grazebox from graze.com, some lovely Londoners who package up healthy treats in a convenient A5 box and post it directly to your workplace. The snacks on offer range from olives to flapjacks, through an array of flavoured seeds, roasted/salted/honeyed/spiced nuts and crackers and dried fruit selections. I have to say, I was sceptical, but on arrival I was hooked - the food really does keep you going all day and there is a great balance of texture, taste and sweet/savoury.
I'm feeling kind, so as a gesture of goodwill to all of my followers (and I know there are simply hundreds), I'm going to give you a code that entitles you to a free box with another at half the price. All you have to do is type in the code on the homepage, select the foods you want using the 'bin/try/like/love' buttons and await your lovely lunch! Honestly, it's lovely. Boxes usually retail at £3.49, but these two come to a mere £1.74 - not bad for two lunches, and definitely good for us penny-pinchers!
Your free box code is: L6GT7KM
(Update - click HERE to go straight to the page without the fiddling!)
In other news, I found (hurrah!) £2.65 sitting in my car ashtray today, which cancels out the grazetacular luncheon and actually puts me into credit. Shazam.
I've also found myself picking up change in the corridors at work - skanky, I know, but it all seems to add up, and those kids know how to lose pennies. I'm making a killing in 1p pieces!
Tonight is Pancake Night, and we're going for the three-course spectacular - pancakes with cheese, beans/sausage and nutella - one after the other, in perfect succession.
Yum.
Cashmoney spent: £1.74
Cashmoney saved: £3.26
Cashmoney found in car: £2.60
Cashmoney found in corridors, as dropped by lazy children: £0.26
Total: £6.12
(But I still haven't bought me any fuel. Damn.)
Day One: Already hitting a wall
So. I'll start by saying that I managed to go the entire day without spending a single penny - BOOYA.
However, I neglected to look at my fuel gauge and on driving home last night, saw that I am almost totally out of fuel. NOT booya. Which means only one thing: the next fiver will be used to eke out as much petrol as possible at as low a price as possible, so that I can get to and from work for the rest of the week. I'm hoping the sun stays out so that I can walk the walk and save on petrol costs - I mean, £1.34 a litre?! Come on. I might have to invest in a scooter.
However, as far as yesterday went, I went to work, came home, ate a wonderful creation thrown together from what was in the fridge (turkey, sweet potato, tortelloni and rocket, fact fans) and watched Glee.
Cashmoney spent: £0
Cashmoney saved: £5
It's going well so far - let's see what the rest of the week holds!
Rebby :)
However, I neglected to look at my fuel gauge and on driving home last night, saw that I am almost totally out of fuel. NOT booya. Which means only one thing: the next fiver will be used to eke out as much petrol as possible at as low a price as possible, so that I can get to and from work for the rest of the week. I'm hoping the sun stays out so that I can walk the walk and save on petrol costs - I mean, £1.34 a litre?! Come on. I might have to invest in a scooter.
However, as far as yesterday went, I went to work, came home, ate a wonderful creation thrown together from what was in the fridge (turkey, sweet potato, tortelloni and rocket, fact fans) and watched Glee.
Cashmoney spent: £0
Cashmoney saved: £5
It's going well so far - let's see what the rest of the week holds!
Rebby :)
Sunday, 6 March 2011
On the eve of day one...
I suppose there's no time like the present to start these things.
Following months of heavy spending and years of irresponsible money frittering, I have stumbled upon a chance to be part of a life-changing road trip across the US of A. Trouble is, I have zero cash to spare.
I debated setting up a money management system and even blogging about the trip, but I know myself well enough to know that it will take something epic to make - nay, force - me to save cashmoney. I needed an angle.
After a long and arduous thirteen minutes, I came upon an idea that I'd first seen at uni. A bunch of guys had been living on the equivalent of $3 a day to raise awareness of the plight of third-world countries, and in the post-experiment interview, they stated that not only had they learned what other people in the world go through when it comes to affording life's essentials, they had also learned the true value of money and the pointlessness of material objects. I'm a girl who likes her comforts - a true Taurean. I like booze, clothes, fast cars, expensive food and constant occupation. I bore easily and it's been approximately a year and a half since I last did something free. I would even go so far as to say that I've lost touch with low-cost living and no longer relate to that old adage the best things in life are free.
It was perfect.
So here I am, ready to embark upon the ultimate challenge... Can I live on nothing more than a fiver a day? A fiver - £35 cashmoney for the week - to live, travel, work and survive on Brighton's mean streets?
It means no wine. No clothes. No Nando's.
It's going to be difficult.
Here, you can follow my attempts to save the hallowed cash and see if it truly is possible to live on such little money in one of Britain's most expensive cities.
Wish me luck!
Rebby :)
Following months of heavy spending and years of irresponsible money frittering, I have stumbled upon a chance to be part of a life-changing road trip across the US of A. Trouble is, I have zero cash to spare.
I debated setting up a money management system and even blogging about the trip, but I know myself well enough to know that it will take something epic to make - nay, force - me to save cashmoney. I needed an angle.
After a long and arduous thirteen minutes, I came upon an idea that I'd first seen at uni. A bunch of guys had been living on the equivalent of $3 a day to raise awareness of the plight of third-world countries, and in the post-experiment interview, they stated that not only had they learned what other people in the world go through when it comes to affording life's essentials, they had also learned the true value of money and the pointlessness of material objects. I'm a girl who likes her comforts - a true Taurean. I like booze, clothes, fast cars, expensive food and constant occupation. I bore easily and it's been approximately a year and a half since I last did something free. I would even go so far as to say that I've lost touch with low-cost living and no longer relate to that old adage the best things in life are free.
It was perfect.
So here I am, ready to embark upon the ultimate challenge... Can I live on nothing more than a fiver a day? A fiver - £35 cashmoney for the week - to live, travel, work and survive on Brighton's mean streets?
It means no wine. No clothes. No Nando's.
It's going to be difficult.
Here, you can follow my attempts to save the hallowed cash and see if it truly is possible to live on such little money in one of Britain's most expensive cities.
Wish me luck!
Rebby :)
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