Bathroom Storage - Cool
Wednesday 2nd July, 2008 - £8,850.98 in debt…
Things I learnt in June:
1. Temping agencies must be treated with caution until you actually start the job.
2. Fortunately, unlike my previous agency, Office Angels gives me sick pay, bank holiday pay, petrol allowance and the baffling “subsistence”, which I think must be sandwich money or compensation for my house sliding down a cliff.
3. Filling out forms on Consumer Pulse is a fine and noble pastime but, as it turns out, they only pay you for 20 items per month! Fair enough – I was running out of imagination anyway.
4. Budgeting is fun and fascinating, but only if you do it properly and be reasonable with yourself.
5. I don’t really need a bathroom storage unit.
6. Ice cream bad; mystery shopping good. My favourite mystery shopping company so far is GfK.
7. The Barclays personal reserve may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
8. If I keep an eye on petrol prices and drive like an OAP looking for a parking space, I might save some money.
9. Texperts and AQA could offer the answer to everything, including my prayers.
10. If all else fails, I can always talk to lonely old men about bottoms.
Tired of this
Friday 13th June, 2008 - £8,920.19 in debt…
Guess what! I’ve got a job! Again!
This time I’ve been interviewed and approved and told that I start on Monday, so fingers crossed. I’ll be working three days a week, which is absolutely bloody perfect, and it’s a marketing job so it’s actually something worthwhile rather than the usual Photocopying And Tea-Making Assistant roles you normally get from agencies (this one is Office Angels, who seem efficient and organised compared to the rest of them). Hoorah hoorah hoorah.
It means I’m still observing my £20-a-week regime until the 27th, so my budget for the coming week is £18.47 (as I was tempted by ice cream and overspent last time). And I still haven’t got my dad anything for Father’s Day. I am rubbish.
Ice Cream - Budget Buster
Wednesday 11th June, 2008 - £8,920.19 in debt…
Budget for June 6th to 12th = £20
Spent = £21.53
Remaining = -£1.53
Oops. My first week of so-called “budgeting” and I’ve failed. I’ve disappointed you, I’ve disappointed my bank balance but, most of all, I’ve disappointed myself. For the remainder of this afternoon, I’ll be sitting in a corner and thinking about what I’ve done.
It all started innocently enough - it was hot and I needed ice cream. It wasn’t a luxury purchase - I might have died without it.
Then my £10 voucher arrived so I had to pop into town to buy my Juno DVD. Unfortunately it was £3.97 over budget and parking was £1.10. On the plus side, while I was there I did some mystery shopping and earned myself a tenner.
Soon after, I got a call from Office Angels asking if I could register with them. You know the drill - do a couple of typing tests, balance a beach ball on my nose, donate some bone marrow. The usual. So that was another £2 to Plymouth City Council, which I imagine they’ll spend on decontaminating the car park.
So there you have it: Over budget by £1.53 and I can’t spend anything until Friday.
I’ve cancelled tonight’s planned cinema trip and invited a friend round to watch my new DVD instead. I should be earning brownie points for doing this sort of thing, but apparently I just have to be happy that I’m not spending anything. Whoopee.
