A recent series of events has led to me being seriously short of funds. Firstly, some little bastard managed to clone an Amazon payment and bust me £800 for something that I will never receive, then – only the night after – another little bastard stole my jacket from a bar with my ipod and headphones in the pocket. The next day I learnt that FitnessFirst were pressing me for an entire month’s membership fee because the processed my letter of notice a very convenience two days after the new month’s payment in advance was due… the fact that I had sent the letter a month in advance already seemed to be neither here nor there. Finally, and this one actually is my fault, I have been fined by the DVLA for not renewing a SORN status on my motorbike.
It has been an expensive week!
Subsequently, with all of the above in mind, I’ve decided to set myself a challenge for the next week. Inspired by Mark Boyle who is currently living off the land down in the West Country; I’ve decided to see whether I can make it to the other side of the week without spending a penny.
This obviously excludes rent that is already paid and [hopefully] we aren’t about to get stung by an unexpected bill or any kind.
The reason for this is, not only do I need to save up some money to get back to where I was only last week but also I am absolutely convinced that so much of my expenditure doesn’t really benefit me.
Now that cards are being accepted more and more around the East End I have slowly started creeping back into my old ways of picking up a coffee for no reason, buying myself ‘a little something’ every time I set foot in a supermarket and am forced to queue next to the confectionary and I simply do not need any more fancy socks – I admit, one of the stranger addictions one might have!
So the plan is to survive from right now through to the end of the working week (I have already made plans that I know will cost me money on the weekend) without spending a single penny of my money.
The important information before I begin:
In my kitchen I have the evidence of a rather hectic lifestyle, I am rarely ever home and my food supply shows it.
To my name I have:
· 3 x Instant Noodles of various ‘flavour’.
· 1 x 2 pint carton of full fat milk. Opened.
· 1 x 500ml bottle of Ketchup.
· 1 x Half eaten bag of Walkers Thai Sweet Chilli Crisp Sensations.
· 1 x Absolut Vodka Christmas gift set.
· 1 x Packet of Migraine pain killers… 2 left.
I think I have enough toiletries to make it through the weekend, the priority being deodorant and toilet paper… fingers crossed!
For the first time in a long time, I have a relatively clear diary for the week – there is so much to do at work that I can’t see me getting time to do anything other than go to the gym and that is also paid in advance.
As I am sure my evening plans will change, the game is to cycle there as usual and not drink/consume. I went a bit orthodox on the wider concept of LosingFace a while ago, preventing friends from paying for things for me etc, that was pretty tough and not always possible, I think this might be trickier.
I will also write every day with updates on how I am doing.
Let the games begin!
Oh! And one last thing, I just weighed myself; I figure the sudden halt to the pastries and hot chocolates that I usually devour will probably mean I drop a few.
I weigh 78kg today.
Rock on.
Losing Face 