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!