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!

Happy New Year!

So the end of another year has been and gone! I don’t know where the time goes. It seems like just yesterday that I started 2008 by waking up on a Karachi winter’s day, feeling slightly hungover. This year the hangover was there, but instead of Karachi, I found myself in Crewe (equally as harsh).

Anyway in true New Year tradition I am going to indulge myself with some New Year resolutions and a Nida Rasheed stylee review of 2008. If you’ve got this far, please don’t feel compelled to read on.

RESOLUTIONS
1. Make the best possible next step.
2. Prepare for and complete something physically challenging.
3. Eat 5 pieces of fruit or veg per day.
4. Make a decision either way and stick to it.
5. Read, write and take photos regularly.
6. Eat Breakfast.
7. Significantly improve at the guitar.
8. Learn to drive.
9. Break 80
10. Learn to cook.

Review of 2008 in Question Form

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Volunteered at a music festival. It was Reading festival and a truly awesome experience. I met loads more people than I would normally, saw more character at the festival and generally loved it. I also saw Rage which was a bonus.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn’t make resolutions, but think I partly achieved my aim of having more direction in my life.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Pakistan (I was already there), India, Nepal and Scotland.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A place that feels like home. (As in not shitty student accommodation)

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 7th. I flew home from Pakistan after 10 months and surprised my mum at her 50th birthday party. My whole family was there and even some of my friends. It was easily one of the best days of my life!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Completing my traineeship, getting selected for my Masters course and getting through the Cadbury assessment.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not achieving a good balance.

11. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes I was in hospital for a while with Hepatitus A. I’ve also had a couple of nasty infections recently. I really want to look after myself better in 2009.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Shalwar Kammez with Paul Sloss in Lahore. It wasn’t so much the product but the enjoyment of buying it. We looked and bargained in every shop on the street before selecting our clothes. We then wore them together with such pride.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Taha Durrani – He (somehow) got engaged. I can’t wait for the wedding.
Kurt Archer also. I partly just want to write down this story so I don’t forget it. We were coming out of this nice restaurant when we saw a small girl begging on the street. It was the Karachi winter and she had no shoes on. This clearly broke Kurt’s heart. He sat on the step of the restaurant, took off his socks and put them on the little girl’s feet. He then turned to me and said: “They were my favourite socks.”

13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Various terrorists / politicians.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Travelling, as in actual travelling to new places, but also travelling between places in the UK. Trains are so expensive now. I don’t know why my friends can’t all live in the same place, prefereably Sheffield.

15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going home as a surprise for my mum’s birthday.

16.What song will always remind you of 2008?
Incubus – ‘Drive’
Frank Turner – ‘Photosynthesis’

17.Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Sadder. But not very sad. I was really happy this time last year. II. thinner or fatter? Fatter
III. richer or poorer? Poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading and learning Urdu. A golden opportunity was missed there.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Checking facebook and my emails.

20. Did you fall in love in 2008? No

21. How many one-night stands? No comment

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No.

23. What was the best book you read? ‘Twilight at Midnight’ – It was about the partition of India. I also started Alastair Campbell’s diary which is a classy read.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Frank Turner without a shadow of a doubt.

25. What did you want and get?
A place at Sheffield University to study journalism.

26. What did you want and not get?
Funding for my Masters

27. What was your favorite film of this year?
Charlie Wilson’s War, Lions for Lambs and Little Miss Sunshine. I doubt any of them are from this year, but I saw them this year so I think that counts.

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 25. On the weekend before my birthday I had lunch with some university friends and went out with some school friends. On the day I got stupidly drunk in the student union.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not sure.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Bargain centric. I have also noticed a lot of hoods and collars creeping into my wardrobe.

31. What kept you sane?
Blogging and my family.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man. That is lame. I don’t often fancy public figures that much.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
Pakistani politics, especially the rise of Zardari, although I feel disconnected from all of that now. The Democratic nomination (as opposed to the election) also got me going.

34. Who did you miss?
Taha, Sohaib, Nida, Klepo, Zafirah, Mikey, Kurt, Cileia and Seto amongst others.

35. Who was the best new person you met?
Rizwan of Queens English. He was a British guy with Pakistani origin who moved to Karachi with his young family to start his own English School. He was an inspiration. I think he has now closed the school and moved back to the UK.

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008
As part of my course I had to find stories in Rotherham. This led me to meet people that are making a big difference to the lives of people in their communities while going relatively unnoticed. The lesson is that people are generally good, and that you don’t have to be in the top job, or have had the best education to make a difference in the world!


That was a bit of a waste of time, but who knows, it might be nice to look back on this time next year!

Now this might be me, but I am starting to think that this credit crunch is causing a crisis in popular culture at the moment. My theory is that as times are so bleak, or atleast it feels like they are, people are turning to the past for comfort. All of the negative energy about the place is sucking the creativity and excitement out of people, the results of which are appearing on our television screens amongst other things.

It was Christmas day that prompted my thinking along these lines. At the festive period you expect a bit of reminiscing with your favourite characters, bands and soap stars. But this year it seemed to be extreme.

Let me show you precisely what I mean...

The biggest band in the country at the moment is TAKE THAT! – it’s not because they have had lasting success year on year to the present day. No it’s because they saw a gap in the pop market they could fill. Their example is now being followed by Boyzone!

We expect a new Wallace and Gromit at Christmas, and true to form there was a new one made for this Christmas. However it was more of a token effort, at a mere 30 minutes long! Just to show us what we were missing the Beeb put on an older and significantly longer episode shortly before the new one was screened.

The big story on Christmas Eastenders was the return of Nick Cotton. He has more lives than a cat. Do we seriously need him back? I hope Dot murders the bastard once and for all this time!

The Royal family was prime time Christmas special. – Although I am going to let this one go in the same vain I would with Only Fools and Horses.

The late evening special was a Christmas Blackadder.... documentary. It was a programme to say, ‘remember how great Blackadder was? Oh I wish it was still on now’ How disappointing! Was it just me that expected a new episode?

The worst thing is that now I have started to think along these lines, I can’t stop noticing the trend. For instance, I saw this morning that Mr Motivator is coming back to GMTV 10 years after he was last sacked! Surely he is too old for that game now.

I suspect I am just talking shit though. Maybe I’m about to go downstairs and watch a great new comedy, or listen to the next stadium filling band!

Or maybe I will just stick Celebrity BigBrother NINE on.