How The Budget Challenge Came To An Early End

So, this post comes a bit late, but at the weekend I decided to finish my budgeting challenge.

If you've been following this challenge, you know it was a rocky month. The challenge was already on the rocks, and I had bent the rules a bit in order to continue. I had £16 left for nine days, which I knew would be doable, but difficult.

Then I had an encounter with a homeless man called Danny.

We've all been there, when a homeless person comes up to you and tells you that they are trying to get enough money together to go to a shelter. Sometimes you are inclined to believe them, and other times you are not. But I personally don't care whether it was true or not. What was abundantly clear was the fact that this young man was homeless, cold, tired and dirty, and he needed help. I try to make an effort to give money out to the homeless, and so I immediately handed him a pound. But then we got talking. It was obvious that Danny was not only physically starving, but he was also starved of attention. He wanted someone to talk to. So my boyfriend and I were talking to him, and he told us a little about himself.

He told us about how his state of health was so poor, that he couldn't drink hot drinks any more because they destroyed his gums. I could believe this looking at the state of his mouth, half empty of teeth and blackened. He told us about how some of the more violent people on the street harass him for the little money he manages to make. He told us about how one time he stayed in a shelter, his possessions and his sleeping bag were stolen, and that's why even though the shelters were more comfortable, they didn't feel any more safe. He told us that the reason he was trying to get to the shelter was mostly because he was desperate for a shower. He was holding a carton of whole milk in his hand, which I imagine was his main source of nutrition for the day.

A poem I wrote about the encounter

I think the reason he was sticking around to talk to us was because we, as a group, had shown him the most kindness he had seen all day. Between us he had made four pounds, and he only had two in his hand when he approached, so we had significantly boosted his earnings. He told us that he needed twelve pounds to stay in the shelter.

For a millisecond, mostly out of habit I imagine, I thought of how I needed to conserve my money for the sake of the challenge. This thought immediately repulsed me. There was no way I was going to hold back from giving to a person in need for the privilege of pretending to be poor. So I dug out six more pounds, and gave it to him.

Danny was overwhelmed, to say the least. And I was glad that I had done it. Whether his stories were true or not were irrelevant to me. I can't imagine what it would be like to be homeless. I could barely manage to stick to this challenge. And the way the homeless are treated in this country disgusts me. How can we call ourselves a civilized country when we can't even keep our citizens fed and sheltered?

So yes, I finished the challenge early. The finish line had been warped and altered so many times now I couldn't really see the point any more. But here are some good things to come out of it:

1. Because of the challenge, I have still managed to come under my usual budget this month despite buying a new phone. If I hadn't have done the challenge, I still would have lost my phone and bought a new one and therefore I would be in debt to myself, so yay for the challenge!

2. I have learned a lot about myself and my relationship with money. I am not as good at going without it as I thought! Even though the rules of the challenge were very clear, I was making compromises, knowing that it would make me end up over budget. I really struggled to tell myself no! It's important that I know this about myself, because I'm pretty sure one day soon, as a poor out of work actor, I am going to have to learn to make myself say no.

3. I have discovered I can still make delicious food on a budget. Good times.

4. I am now in the habit of looking for the cheapest thing on the menu. I feel this is a good habit to be in. In fact, I realized that a bowl of chips will fill me up fine! And this must be better for my waistline than the burger and chips I would usually go for, so I'm saving pounds in multiple ways.

5. I think, having experimented with being on a much smaller budget, I should be able to manage a happy medium between my old one of seventy pounds a week and the tiny sum of eighteen. Perhaps forty, that feels like a luxury amount now! If I can stick to this, I'll be saving thirty a week for when I have finished uni! Not bad at all.

So all in all, although it didn't turn out anything like I thought it would, I am happy with this challenge. But most of all, I have been really touched by my encounter with Danny. It seemed so perfectly timed, spooky in fact, and it really made me appreciate my situation.

It's also made me very thoughtful about the future. I have been becoming more and more passionate about the homeless situation ever since I moved to Birmingham. I really care about it, and I think now I've realized I want to do more than just give a quid out to each homeless person I see. I want to get involved on a higher level.

I haven't quite figured out how yet, but I will.

For now though, love to you all, and I shall announce my new challenge soon!

x

When Budget Met Crisis: Part Two

Hello friends

I am sad to report that this challenge is not going well!

The first two weeks I managed to keep in budget perfectly, despite the loss of all of my Tupperware.
Week three, however, has not been so successful.

It started well. I went out for a brunch meal with my cast and managed to only spend three pounds. My top tip for eating out on a budget, eat something before you go and then you won't be tempted by the big stuff, something small and cheap will do you fine and you get to spend some time with your friends.

Then the weekend rolled along and I made the executive decision to break the terms of my challenge, spending 15 pounds on a train ticket so that I could visit my Grandma. It was something my family had arranged, and there was no way I was going to let this challenge stop me from going. I don't see her very much, and it's important to take as many opportunities to do so that I can.

So I did that, leaving me with two pounds for the rest of the week, which obviously wasn't going to work out very well, seeing as I hadn't even done my food shop yet.

Then Crisis Number Two hit me.

And this is much bigger than Lost Tupperware.

Lost Phone and Lost Bus Pass.

I'd like to make it known here that I have never lost anything as important or significant as my thermos, phone, and bus pass. So this has been a very bad month for me.

It's felt a bit like this

So I had to get a new phone, and replace my bus pass of course. Now there was no way I was going to do this and stick to the terms of my challenge, so I took the opportunity to buy a phone I actually wanted (and was going to purchase with this months savings anyway) So I am now the proud owner of a windows smartphone - which, with the credit and charger, cost me £85. I also had to spend £5 on bus tickets (which I am sneakily reusing everyday until they notice and make me buy a new one) and £25 on a new pass, which should hopefully arrive in the next week.

Overall this crisis cost me: £115

Which I should have managed to save this month anyway - so that actually works out quite well (seeing as I probably would have lost these things whether I was budgeting or not!)

So technically, I have failed the challenge, by a long way, but I decided to just wipe the 'crisis money' off the slate and carry on as if nothing had happened.

And it's still not going very well.

For two weeks, turning down invitations out was not a problem, I was busy anyway, and committed to the challenge. But the more time goes by, the more depressing it becomes. I like being social and doing social things! So I had an invitation to go clubbing last night, which I haven't done in a long time, and I couldn't resist.

Club fee: £5. Taxi £3.

I've also done an £11 pound food shop this week, and had to put £3 on my printing account at uni so that is a grand total of...

£40 this week. When I should have spent just £20

So I've reached the end of the budget really, with nine days to go.

So Ashamed

So what now?

I suppose the challenge was kind of bound to fail the moment I spent £15 on a train ticket, when I only had £17 that week and hadn't yet bought any food. But I don't regret the decision. In my head, I had already saved a hundred pounds and I wanted to put that money to use right away in visiting my grandma.

So if that's the line of thinking I'm going with, that the fifteen pounds came out of my savings, then I suppose I can subtract that as well. Meaning I have spent £25 this week. This is still over budget, but next weeks budget was £21. If I take five away from that that leaves £16 from now until the 27th of February.

£16 in nine days.

Let's do it.

Super Cheap and Tasty Spaghetti Bolognese

Hello!

Due to this challenge I have had to figure out a really cheap meal that I could cook in bulk and eat hot or cold. And that meal was... SpagBol

I know, not the most original of cheap meals, but hey, it's a classic for a reason.

No, I did not take a fancy picture of mine, but I swear it tastes as good as this one looks!

Now I had never actually made a SpagBol before, so I was just kind of making it up as I went along, and what I ended up with was delicious, nutritious, and less than a pound a portion.

So here is my recipe :)

Ingredients:

Bought from Aldi:

500g Spaghetti - £0.20
3 tins Chopped Tomatoes - £0.93
2 tins Kidney Beans - £0.46
Family Pack Peppers (6) - £1.17
Pack of 3 Courgettes - £0.89
Onions - £0.59
Beef Mince - £2.59 (unfortunately it doesn't say how many grams on the receipt and I have thrown away the pack now! It was a fairly big pack, if that helps)

Total spend - £6.83

Items that I already had

Mushrooms
Garlic cloves
Balsamic vinegar
Oil
Mixed herbs

I'm not sure exactly what this costs but I'm pretty sure if you shop at the right places that all in all it would come under ten pounds.

This recipe makes Ten Potions :)

• Fry two onions and four finely chopped cloves of garlic until they are nice and soft and a light brown colour.
• Add in three chopped peppers (I used two red and one green) and fry until slightly softened.
• Chop up one and a half courgettes and add them to the pan. Fry until they start to brown.
• Slice as many mushrooms as your heart desires and add them too. Fry until they are brown and slightly reduced in size.
• In a separate pan, fry your mince until it is brown all over.
• Next, combine your browned mince with your veg.
• Add the two tins of kidney beans and three tins of chopped tomatoes. 
• Pour in a good few glugs of balsamic vinegar, and season with the herbs. 
• Leave to simmer.
• While your sauce is simmering, cook all of the spaghetti.
• When your sauce has reached the consistency you would like (I boiled most of the liquid off and kept it nice and thick) add in your spaghetti.

So this is definitely not a diet food. Lots of pasta, oil, and mince. But it is a good meal packed with loads of nutrition that will get you through the day, and it's so cheap! You could use whatever veg you wanted. I think the kidney beans are a good addition, as if you're making the mince stretch over ten portions it's good to add something else in for more protein, and they are only 23p a can!

Also, I did have most of a pack of onions, three peppers, some mushrooms, and one and a half courgettes left over to use in other meals (mostly omelettes - yum!) so that's a plus.

Best of all, it's really easy to cook. You may need to stretch it out over a few pans, as it's pretty hefty, but it's basically a one pot dish. Then you can split it into ten little tubs (always keep your takeaway containers!) and freeze it. It reheats no problem.

So if anyone else in the world wants to eat cheap and still fill their bellys with good food that's easy to cook - I would recommend this wholeheartedly. 

Enjoy.

Handling a Crisis on a Budget

Well

What a week I have had.

Before I go into it, I might as well say now that this crisis of mine is really a very minor one in the grand scheme of things, but nevertheless has really bothered me this week! Here's the story...

So for Christmas 2013 I got a brilliant thermos flask, which I have used almost daily ever since. I like a hot meal and so I use it to take hot food to uni. It's more expensive than your standard flask, about twenty pounds, but it really is excellent.

This week, I lost it.

Now normally, this would just be a bit annoying. I would tell myself off for being so careless, and then fork out for a new one. But it just HAD TO HAPPEN NOW, didn't it? Now, in week one of my budget challenge, just as show week is coming up - a week in which I need a lot of good hot food in me.

I wrestled with the dilemma of whether to buy a new one and break the rules, or to just go forth without one. My decision was made slightly easier by the fact that I would have to order it online, as they don't seem to sell my one in the shops. I didn't see the point in buying a cheap crap one, and all the ones I found were more for tea and coffee than for food. So it wouldn't be here in time for show week anyway, so I decided to just move on.

So I started making cold lunches again. On Thursday I packed both a lunch and a dinner because I was going to a poetry event in the evening. Of course, being on a budget I couldn't buy dinner so I made one. I had a lot of stuff in my rucksack that day, and so I had to put the lunches in a plastic bag.

WHICH I LOST.

So now my thermos and my two only lunch boxes were gone. I had lost all my food holding apparatus' in one cruel week.

Needless to say I had a day of absolute rage on myself (which I eventually meditated away)

Of course, I can't buy lunch or dinner because of this challenge. But with no boxes, I can't really bring meals in.

So I had to suck it up and buy a new lunch box.

As I say I start my financial week on a Friday, so this Saturday I went out with nineteen pounds to my name and bought a new box for a fiver. Leaving me with fourteen pounds. All of that I have since spent on food.

So I have managed to sort out the crisis AND stick to my budget, which I am very very happy about. However, I had actually hoped to come under budget, because next week the cast of the show I'm in are planning on going out for a meal, and I thought if I can save a fiver this week I could buy something better than a bowl of chips.

Alas, it can not be.

So thus far the challenge has felt like one big cloud of doom over my head - but as always there is a silver lining:

The fact is - I would have lost my thermos and lunch boxes either way. That was always going to happen. So even though it happened during this challenge initially seemed really annoying, it's actually a good thing. Because at the end of it I will be able to buy a new one with my savings, and I will still have loads left over. If I had done it any other month I would have probably paid for the thermos on top of the seventy I would have spent that week, and I would have forked out for some hot lunches in the meantime. But my challenge has made me more sensible than that.

And in a way it's already made the challenge quite interesting. My initial eighteen pounds actually stretched out quite well, and after a really successful first week I thought the month was going to be a breeze. But then this happened, and it made me think about how no matter how well you budget, sometimes life will just deal you a bit of a shit hand, and you just have to find a way around that the best you can.

So some food for thought there. Speaking of food - I am happy to announce that I managed to make ELEVEN portions of spaghetti bolognese for under a tenner. That is less than a pound a portion. And it's delicious. I'll save the details of that for another blog, but for now I shall just say that I am very very happy with myself.

Till then, let's hope this week is slightly less disastrous.

The Budget Challenge

Time for a new challenge.

I have been wanting to do something budget related for a while. I wanted to combine saving some much needed money away with experiencing a more restricted way of living. My initial idea was 'spend thirty pounds in thirty days' but I've thought about it a lot, and with the physical demands of my course I didn't want to risk not having enough nutritious food! It seemed like that was be a challenge I was bound to fail, so I took to google to see if there were any other budget related challenges out there.

I came across this.

It's a year long challenge, in which you increase your savings each week by a dollar, obviously a pound in my case, and by the end of it you have saved a tidy £1378 stashed away.

The first thing I thought when I saw it was 'why would you do it that way round?' The challenge gets more demanding and difficult as it goes along! It seems to me it would be more sensible to do it backwards - saving £52 the first week, £51 the second and so on. That way, you save a lot straight away, and week by week you not only have a lot saved away, but your budget is getting higher too, and the challenge is getting easier.

So I flipped it :)

And I decided to make it this months challenge to do the first four weeks of this system. (Which actually makes it a twenty eight day challenge, but I shall forgive myself) I will be saving £52 in week one, £51 in week two, £50 in week three and £49 in week four.

My usual maximum weekly budget is a very comfortable £70, so that leaves me with £18 for week one, £19 for week two, £20 for week three and £21 for week four.

Overall - I will aim to be spending £78 in one month instead of £280

So I've cut my spending to about not much over a quarter of my usual budget - which I think is pretty challenging! So I am satisfied with that.

Financially, I usually start my week on a friday (because most of my spending is on a weekend so I like to do that with a full budget) So I actually started this challenge two days ago. I have managed to only spend £10 on my food shop, but am already lamenting spending £1.50 on some takeaway chips (how expensive that feels to me now!) That leaves me with only £6.50 for the rest of the week! Let's hope I can make it stretch.

Twenty five days to go.