Tuesday, February 10, 2009

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.

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