The £40 Student Challenge - Sensing victory

As a child I was crazy about Manchester United. I used to live for them. I think it all started when as an 8 year old child I found a poster of Ryan Giggs in the wet play magazines. I still had Manchester United wallpaper when I brought my first proper girlfriend round at the age of 17. By that time I had grown out of the wallpaper, but can you imagine? It couldn’t have exactly got her going!

Anyway I will always remember the FA cup final in 1994 when Man U hammered Chelsea 4-0. For the last goal Paul Ince rounded the keeper and in front of an open goal slid it across to Brian Mcclair to tap into the net. It was at the stage when they knew they had done it so were sort of taking the piss. They couldn’t believe how easy it had become!



Well I am in that stage of the £40 challenge now. This week has been a breeze. £20 on shopping and a couple of pounds on newspapers has left me with a tenner in my pocket with barely 24 hours left. With that in mind I have started to get a bit cavalier in my actions.

When my alarm went off this morning, I looked at it, gave myself a wry smile and thought to myself ‘sod making sandwiches. TODAY I’m having a Boots lunch!’

Then this evening I was craving a chocolaty treat to go with my cup of tea and crossword. Again, ‘sod it, I’m going to the vending machine.’ I wouldn’t usually pay 60p for a twix, but TODAY I can smell victory.

P.S I suggest you watch that video....Man U were exquisite!

The £40 Student Challenge - Why is the world against me succeeding?

Do you ever have those days when the world seems to be against you? Today has been one of those days. Just as I seem to take one step forward in the £40 pound challenge I am knocked 2 steps backward with great force. Maybe the world is punishing me by ensuring I don’t succeed because I have made such a big deal about something that isn't that hard.

I will indulge myself and demonstrate exactly what I mean…

Example 1
I went shopping today and as I walked round the supermarket I noticed something very peculiar. Literally everything I had bought full price last week was now on special offer. It was almost as if the manager had used my old receipt as the basis for this week's lost leader campaign. Sandwich meat; buy one get one free, oven chips; half price, cheese; half price, pasta sauce; buy one, get one free. I dread to think how much I would have saved if the same offers were in place last week.

I'm not letting the bastards get me this week though. I bought everything that was on offer. The only things I bought that weren't on offer were apples, milk and bread. I've got 8 cans of beans in the cupboard - 2 four packs for £3. You can't beat that.

Example 2
As I walked out of the supermarket the handle on one of my bags snapped sending glass jars crashing to the ground. My shopping (and jeans) was covered in a mix of mayonnaise and mascarpone pasta sauce. It was a disheartening moment. Two old ladies came and gave me one of the carriers they keep in reserve especially for situations like that.

When I carry my shopping home I expect a sturdy handle. I thought this was the basis of a sound argument and I marched back into the supermarket to express my concern at the frailties of their carrier bags.

But the lady I met with a stern stare was so nice. She gave me tissue to clean myself up and fetched replacements free of charge. If I make it under budget this week it will be her I have to thank. Such human kindness makes life worthwhile.

Example 3
I was disappointed with myself yesterday because I didn't have my own lunch and resorted to a Boots specialty meal deal.

However just now I went make 2 delicious sandwiches for tomorrow. But disaster struck once more when I realised I didn't have cling film or foil or anything for that matter to wrap my sandwiches in. What do I do? What is the point of having bread, turkey and cheese if you have nothing to wrap the finished product in? If I just put them in my ice-cream tub will they go stale? I despair!

The £40 Student Challenge - Week three, living within my means

It gives me great pleasure to be writing this with a hangover. With a little help from my friends I managed to get a bit drunk last night.

It was Tolu’s birthday and I had been saving my last fiver for 3 days so I could buy myself two well deserved pints! However whilst planning the night with Nick we decided the money could go further if we bought some cans beforehand. My fiver got me 5 drinks in the end.

Then I met my housemates who treated me to a couple more drinks. It was just what I needed and much appreciated!

But this is all beside the point.

The good news is that I have change for my £40 this week. In my wallet is 25p which I will re-invest into next week’s budget to get myself a real treat - Maybe a fudge bar!

The key to my success this week has been not buying any food or drink out. I have had packed lunch, complete with orange squash every day and have snacked on apples and oranges instead of chocolate buttons and cake. This has been the first week in quite some months that I have not had a boots lunch.

I still need to refine my spending on my shopping though. My arithmetic failed me while walking round Somerfield this week and I ended up spending £27 on Monday when I thought I had £20 of shopping in my hand. Careful scrutiny of the receipt showed it was me who had made the mistake and not the cashier. Still, I think this is the best I have done in terms of balanced lifestyle and balanced spending.

I am now £8.21 over my budget with a week to go. Will I do it? I just can’t bare the suspense.

The result of a David Holmes style journalism education

It was quite funny today, I phoned up a local cambridgeshire paper enquiring about work experience and spoke to one of the subs. He couldn't help me, but said he would pass on a message to the editor. The conversation went something like this...

"So what is your name?"

"Andrew Webster"

"Normal spelling for Webster"

"Yes, W E B S T E R"

"Great, and what is your phone number?"

"07786588677"

"Ok, let me read that back to you 077 865 88 677"

"Perfect"

"And you are from St. Neots"

"yes"

"N E O T S isn't it?"

"yes"

"thanks a lot, I have written that down and will pass it on to him."

That is a man who has clearly been drilled on the importance of checking all details no matter how obvious they appear, even when taking a message on a post-it note! I imagine I would now be the same.

I'm going to read up on Evans' just in case the Editor asks me about it when I eventually talk to him.

The £40 Student Challenge - Week Two

Wow, week 2 is over and disaster has struck! There has been a mis-calculation! The sub total reads for the week £49.89, thus indicating that I’m some sort of extravagant bastard! I thought I was heading for just under the £45 mark.

However it doesn’t feel like I’ve been that extravagant. I’ve been restraining myself as far as possible.

Analysing the Brown Book it seems that there were a few anomalies to my prudent spending this week that have led to my downfall.

Boots Lunch Deals = £5.98

Beer = £13.25

Contribution to Birthday Boy’s dirty pint = £1

The last is a bit of a giveaway to where I have come unstuck. This week I have attended two birthday celebrations. At both I have drank the minimum 2 pints needed on a night out to make it anything like worthwhile. I even went in one bar and didn’t buy a drink so not to go over the budget. It was depressing.

To give myself some credit, when you look at this picture taken earlier today you can see the clear signs of budgeting...

1) My Sunday dinner consisted of mashed potato and a whole can of beans. Buying a primary (meat) product today would have put meat meals towards the end of the month in jeopardy.

2) How do you think I am looking? – Slightly gaunt? OK, well maybe that is an overstatement, but I have cut out all snacks and treats, and actually think I am losing weight! Today I saw buy one get one free on chocolate fingers and would have usually taken full advantage. But today I walked on past muttering to myself ‘needless cost, needless cost Andrew’

3) See the tea cup on the table – I’m on 4 cups a day to fend off my snacking urges at the moment. I plan to come down on my tea consumption in the next 2 weeks. But still, it shows my intent.

4) As you can see I am surrounded by newspapers. Although this might seem like a needless expense, newspapers have been my key source of entertainment this weekend, with the cross words being the highlight.

So at the half way point I am £8.46 over budget, desperate for a night out and going cold turkey on chocolate, cakes and biscuits. Still my resolve is high as I march in to next week full of confidence I can do it in £35.

A Day in the life of Andrew Webster

8am – Wake up to the sound of my alarm. Look at the mentor duty phone next to my head and think ‘phew, I’m so glad I was not phoned in the middle of the night to attend to a drunken student who had recently been dumped by boyfriend / passed out / slipped on the ice / insert common undergrad crisis.’ Press snooze.

8:08 – Press snooze

8:16 – Press snooze

8:24 – Press snooze

8:32 – Jump out of bed thinking I will be late meeting Nick (and getting to university)

8:33 – Receive text from Nick saying ‘c u at 12 lol’

8:50 – Leave house with 3 pieces of raspberry jam on toast in one hand and my phone in the other frantically calling people to find out where the lecture is.

9:07 – Walk into the lecture late. Thankfully it has not started.

10:00 – Go and stand on the Union concourse in the bitter cold and snow giving out chocolate love hearts to BOYS and girls in front of a stereo blasting out Phil Collins Love Songs. This was the latest marketing strategy of the University project I work for. Hopefully we didn’t put anyone off coming to our next event. Life doesn’t get much more degrading than this.

12:00 – Go to a lecture about the incredible advancements in multi-media technology that are shaping the media... the sound doesn’t work.

13:00 – Go to a workshop on using photoshop. Eat Sandwiches that have been kept safe in an old ice cream tub.

15:00 – Go back to work (university project) to write a powerpoint while university staff talk about the results of their personality tests in the background - I bet I can guess the answers.

17:00 – Buy the Guardian, full of news that is now out of date. Think about how good a pint of real ale would taste.

17:30 – Arrive home, check facebook and start writing pointless blog.

18:00 – Go to a mentor team meeting. Stand outside for 20 minutes before going inside. Then listen to a lot of people talk about how they are trying to ruin students’ fun by telling them to stop making noise and throwing snow (still the students persist).

19:00 – Cook dinner - it’s chicken thighs for the third day in a row. I had to buy in bulk to meet my stringent budgetary requirements. It a beautiful dinner well complimented by cheesy mash and beans. Sadly its completely undermined by Masterchef playing in the background.

20:00 – Leave for the pub. It’s Chris’ surprise birthday party which I am late for. Have 3 pints and some good chat about the general state of things. Buy Chris a pint and help eat his birthday cake.

00:00 – Leave the pub with Nick, Ciara and Mike. Resist the temptation to flutter money away on a donner kebab despite how good it smells.

00:40 – Watch the Mighty Boosch. Realise I have been wearing my underwear the wrong way round all day.

01:00 – Turn the Mighty Boosch off. Update my brown book with ‘Beer £7.25’ and throw away the Guardian I never read.

01:01 – Turn on Radio 5 live and go to sleep!

Day 10 - It's not gone quite as expected!

So it’s time to update my progress on the 40 pound challenge.

With one week over you could say I have had some success. According to the Brown Book I spent £38.57. However I have to admit that the Brown Book was mislaid for a few days meaning I am relying on my rather biased memory to re-trace my steps.

Furthermore as I look down the list of 'essentials' I see 2 Boots lunch mega deals and one McDonalds large extra value meal. There is also no sign of any food shopping thus reminding me that vegetables were few and far between last week.

But perhaps the biggest extravagance was the trip to the AIESEC conference, where if it wasn't for the generosity of my best friend Aled Owens, my spending would have been extreme over the weekend. Regardless of that, the AIESEC conference did cost £11 in travel and I HAD to buy a couple of drinks, one of which was £3.25 (not even for me I hasten to add).




So what have I learnt from week one?

Well basically that I am lucky to have made it under the budget, and more importantly that I need to be more organised and disciplined in both my spending and my recording!

This week is already off to a better start on that front. Two days in and I have been food shopping, meaning I have something more healthy than tomato soup and porridge for dinner. I spent a whopping £18.56 on Tesco blue and white stripe products. Most impressively I think I bought a kilogram of meat for £4.71 which might even see me into next week.

In saying that I have already spent £22, meaning I am halfway into my budget already, with a couple of nights out on the cards this week. Hopefully I can be more disciplined in resisting the Boots lunches and get at least 2 pints for £3.25 in Sheffield.

Day 4.

So far and so good on my little challenge.

According to the brown book, I have spent £5.31 and we are on the 4th day.

My early strategy has evolved around using up all of the food that I have got in my cupboards first. However I have run out of primary products (the phrase I am using to describe meat) That meant yesterday I had to replace what would usually be some sausages, or maybe a piece of fish with cheese on toast.

Therefore my dinner consisted of cheese on toast, chips and beans. I can't say I had ever had that combination before and to be honest it didn't really work. But still, it was better than popping over to the uni canteen and wasting £5. I also offset the lack of veg with an apple and orange for dessert.

Shopping trip is coming up though, and the pub quiz on Thursday so I think things may get a little harder from here.

Tightening my belt!

Andrew Webster is a man who has been living beyond his means!

To pay for this degree I am doing I had to take a huge loan. However the bank misjudged my maturity when giving me the money. It wasn’t the size of the loan that was the problem. No I am perfectly capable of spending that amount of cash. It was the fact that they paid all of it into my bank account at the same time, expecting me to budget throughout the year.

Now I wouldn’t say that I have been living the high life. But I have been failing to pay attention to my dwindling pounds as I buy the odd £5 CD or swan off to London to go drinking with my friends.

Well things have to change. I need to tighten my belt. The dog is at the door, and things can’t go on as they are!

In order to combat the sticky situation I find myself in I have decided to appeal to my competitive, sporting nature and set myself a little challenge.

I ‘Andrew Webster’ of sound body and mind will spend no more than £40 a week on living costs for the whole of February.

Now I almost feel guilty saying this, as I know there are people all over of the world with greater needs than me, who survive on far less. In Pakistan my wage was equivalent to £40 a week and I lived quite happily.

However I am not proposing that I close the doors to the world and live on lentils. No I am proposing that I adapt my life style to live more economically with the hope that these habits will stay with me for years to come. Who knows, they may even make me rich one day and they will certainly help pay the rent for the next few months.

Threats to success

In terms of changing my living style there are a number of red flags that threaten to de-rail me in my challenge.

1. I am partial to a beer
2. I like eat meat in every meal
3. I tend to visit friends outside of Sheffield regularly
4. I am a man who likes a chocolaty treat in the afternoon
5. I am partial to buying lunch from Boots (£3 meal deal is excellent value, but may be too extravagant for my needs now)

I will be paying special attention to these things to ensure that I do not fail!

Accountability

To help me I will be recording all of my purchases in this little brown book.

I’m glad I have finally found a use for this brown book. I got it for Christmas from my dad nearly 5 years ago when we had a £5 limit on presents. Ever since then I have been trying to find a use for it, without wanting to commit to idle notes thus belittling its importance to me. It will now become an integral part of my makeup.

I will also be posting on my blog to share my woes or successes.

If I find £40 is easy to live on, I might lower it too. (lots of people have already pointed out that £40 would be far from a challenge for them...thanks)

Let the tightening begin!