Housework? Cool. 

Tuesday 10th June, 2008 - £8,920.19 in debt…

First things first: I’m not temping this week. After an extended goose chase on Friday afternoon, I was eventually informed that the company in question didn’t need me any more. I had to phone my agency four times to learn this.

I’ve worked for agencies before, so I can’t say I was surprised, but the money would have come in handy. I could direct them towards this blog as an emotional blackmail ploy but, for that to work, they would have to have beating hearts in their chests rather than the bundles of offal and grit that clearly reside there. Not that I’m bitter.

Obviously this means that budgeting will be even more important in the coming weeks. So how’s it going?

Thanks for asking. It’s going like this:

Budget for June 6th to 12th = £20

Spent = £9.07

Remaining = £10.93

(By the way, if you want to budget without going the Spendaholics ‘cold turkey’ route, there’s a good budget calculator on the FSA website. It will tell you how much cash you’ve got at your disposal.)

Anyway, my method isn’t going too badly it seems. That £9 was spent at the pub on Saturday evening - a friend of mine suggested a pub far cheaper than our local, and I leapt on the idea like it was a lemon-filled Krispy Kreme. I also wangled a lift (and a drink or two, I think - can’t quite remember).

I’ve managed not to spend anything else at all, but that’s down to dumb luck really. Just before I instigated my budget regime, my boyfriend and I had stocked up our cupboards at Tesco and the petrol gauge in my car was looking pretty healthy.

If I’m still on this budget next time I’m out of food, petrol or hair dye, I might have to go on some sort of rampage. But, essentials aside, I’m enjoying a new-found appreciation for the cheaper things in life - sunny afternoons, housework and Doctor Who.

There are a couple of things I really need to buy at the moment - Juno on DVD, and a bathroom storage unit - but I’m biding my time until my Consumer Pulse vouchers come through. I hope any visitors to my house don’t expect to be impressed by a neatly-organised cosmetics collection before settling down to watch a distinctive and quirky comedy drama. They will be sorely disappointed.