Hack-y New Year

I am horrendously ill with a nasty cold, cough and sore throat, and am tired of the pain and the general annoyance of it all.

There, I've gotten all my complaining out of the way :)

I wandered down to the high street - I had managed not to shop for an entire week! It isn't that impressive considering what I spent last time I went shopping. But things such as milk do eventually need replenishing, plus, my home pharmacy has been seriously depleted by the flu.

Also, I mainly wanted some postcards for entering more competitions. Ahem. Alas, I left it a bit late for the tourist shops, and I lucked out in Poundland. I did, however, spend unplanned money in there. £6.50, in fact. That place has quicksand for a floor.

Christmas cards, cupcakes,
candy canes and glue.
Not pictured:
hair dye and five pairs of socks.

The cupcakes and candy canes were a necessity. The cards, being A5 size, are being cut up to make 40 postcards. At less than 2p each, they're also a quarter of the price of ordering bulk postcards online.

Also spent: £12.00 worth of sprays, drops and tablets to fight the lurgy. £8.40 in stamps to enter competitions. £5.09 at Tesco on survival topup food.

BLINK and more than thirty quid is gone!

Arrived: a mini, nay, a tiny hair straightener that I ordered off Amazon a while back. It works, it just takes forever due to its size. But it was £2.29 including postage and it's really only for my fringe at the front, so it's still good!

Plans for new year: eat cupcakes and stay home :)

Competitions Round Up December 2019

So here is the list of items I've won for December 2019. I have only really concentrated on comping for the latter half of the month, but I thought it would be interesting to keep track of what's come in.

£5 ?? Reindeer jumper
£7 Amazon voucher from an author
£50 voucher for recycled travel mugs (I got six mugs for this!)
£20 raffle ticket on Rev Comps for the R1M Motorbike & Cash Mega Draw (yeah, I can't ride, so winning one of the bikes would've been funny lol)

Total: £82 for two weeks.

I calculate this as "earning" £2,000 per year. Except for the fact that you can't pay bills with any of these things. And it's not quite enough to retire on just yet! :D If I had valued them according to what I would have paid for essentials, and ignored the things I would not have bought, then I would have earned... £300 per year. However, for the purposes of my 2020 £2020 Challenge and my January £3 Challenge, I will be counting competition earnings as full value income.

Let's see how January goes... lately I've had more energy for comping than doing surveys (me lazy).

The January £3 Challenge: A Challenge-Within-A-Challenge

I have already briefly mentioned the 2020 £2020 Challenge (whereby the aim is to earn an extra £2020 in 2020, by means of extra earnings effort outside of your salary). But I've seen another one recently and I think it might give some added "oomph" and not take quite as long :)

It's the one-a-day challenge, and it operates month-to-month. (There are a lot of hyphens everywhere, evidently.)

The deal is that you set a goal to earn each day, and you see whether you're reaching the average each month, and you keep increasing it until you can make £10 per day. That'd be well over the 2020 £2020 if I could manage that - and looks very ambitious! - so I'm starting with £3 per day for January, which I should be able to manage.

If it proves too easy, I'll then set a higher amount for February.

Realistic plans beat a New Year's resolution any day, in my humble opinion... what's the point of a resolution if you haven't figured out how you'll keep it? So here's one for me. The January £3 Challenge. Watch this space.

Achievement for the day: blog facelift.

Freebies: two pints of milk, half a loaf of bread, four mini omelettes, butter, cherries, tonic water, orange juice.

Disgustingly ill with a cold (lost another week of work). Still working my way through holiday food leftovers!

Post-Christmas Food Coma

So as I hinted earlier, I ventured into the supermarket on Christmas Eve. It's a good thing I didn't plan on a budget challenge because the total was horrific, and I didn't even go over-the-top (compared with lots of people).

It's been quite a long time since my shopping bill last started with a 4, put it that way.

Included in the shop were some yellow sticker bargains:

Bread, apples, chicken pie, cooked chicken, chocolate eclairs and sliced turkey

These are not even insane discounts either - I suspect Boxing Day will see a mad pile of yellow stickers at the shop but I don't think I'm mad enough to go! I'm kicking myself for not buying another four of the chicken, though.

Not included in the pic were a whole roast chicken (no halves left!), coleslaw, hummous, trifle, ham, fruit cake, sprouts, fruit, nuts, biscuits, crisps, and most importantly, a huge box of Guylian chocolate seashells. And more bits and pieces that I needed and which weren't really Christmas treats.

I really do have an insane amount of food here and I'm hoping I can delay my next shop by about seventeen years. Wish me luck.

Merry Christmas

Sooo I slept late because I can, then relaxed and ate chocolate for breakfast, because I can. The plan was to take a picnic lunch down to the waterside.

And here's the picnic lunch:

BBQ chicken, ham, turkey, bean salad, coleslaw, tomatoes.
Chocolate seashells, chocolate orange, Pringles, cheeses & crackers, mince pie.
Trifle and apricot.
And it's not coffee in that travel mug.

And here's my face squinting, and me crying in the incredibly hot and bright glare.

Just kidding, I'm not publishing that photo. But in all seriousness it was actually too hot and bright to eat there. I packed up and went in search of a shady place, but then I couldn't find a dry bench, so I came home. I did take a bunch of selfies of course, but most of them show me with eyes shut haha.

The waterside was incredibly busy with people considering it's Christmas Day. I only saw one restaurant open and it was mostly empty. There was a huge number of people just ambling along in the sunshine and wishing each other a happy day.

The plan now is to relax, watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, drink my cider, win both a motorcyle and a Jaguar in the raffles this evening (there might be a flaw in that plan) and just generally do whatever I wanna.

I hope your day is filled with whatever you wanna. x

Holiday Time

I've been in two minds about what to do with myself on "the day" and I've struggled to decide. Part of me thought I should go to the community centre to have lunch with everyone else who was alone. Part thought I should watch Christmas movies at home with a decadent lunch, and part of me wanted to pretend the day doesn't even exist. It's the third Christmas I've spent alone, but I think this year it got to me because I've been a bit down over the past few months and spent far too long thinking about my lack of friends.

My last blog entry went live early in the morning before I went to work on the 22nd... so I'd thought I had a nice enough birthday. People were kind, I got cards, they simply thought of me, it did wonders for my mood. But my dog, I really do work with the loveliest people. We had another group lunch the following day and they even brought out a sensational Baileys chocolate cake complete with a firework sparkler ♥

And I had some really nice conversations with thoroughly good people. Good people really are great, you know? One thing that stood out was that people are all doing different things... some are working, some will be with family, some with friends, some at tables for 20 and some by themselves. And it's ok. There's not a rule that you have to do Christmas at all, or even in a certain way.

So I've decided for Christmas that I won't be doing the cooked hot dinner shenanigans like last year. Instead, I'm thinking cold barbecue chicken and coleslaw. It's thoroughly Australian, so why not? Besides, I brought home a plate of mixed cheese, some crackers, mini mince pies, and other bits and bobs from our lunch... and I managed to resist the cheese for more than 24 hours! I also need to be watching the live raffle draw at 5pm to see if I win the motorbike (I got a free ticket from Rev Comps).

Entering a supermarket on Christmas Eve is shopping hell, but I'm now contemplating just such madness for my barbecue chicken and my coleslaw.

Sun Rotation Complete

I survived another one... a few extra grey hairs and wrinkles! And a few lovely gifts from people. :)

I also had the "joy" of my benefits application being completely cancelled due to "not providing evidence". Nobody in either the phone centre or the job centre is actually sure which evidence I didn't provide. They eventually collected evidence that I still study, still have a home, still exist and still have a bank account. Last month I earned £2 too much to get anything and what's the bet this happens again and all the paperwork gets cancelled in mid-January again without warning...

YES it's a great system. YES it's a good use of taxpayer money to have me sit there for half an hour while they click things, apologise to me and curse at the screen in confusion. Yes. Cough.

I have been turning on the blow heater when the wind outside is howling, and I sure felt the sting of the power costs this week. My meter is coin-operated (don't get me started) and before, I was mostly just annoyed at having to find coins for it. Now I'm annoyed that my radiator turns off during the day. Oh well. I will have to rug up and be less of a sooky baby.

Six of these bad boys!

I'm trying to be more active with earning money online, but it's a trap hahaha - some sites can easily keep you busy all day and only hand over a pittance as the reward. Time to get more selective methinks and stick to the best ones!

Recieved: £4.55 from Crowdology.
Also, my recycled coffee cups arrived from rCup :)
And 8 free organic flavoured teas from Pukka.

Ooh, and I found a free way to enter a regular raffle - well free as in "send a postcard" entry. So not quite free, but definitely cheaper than buying the ticket. I have ordered a 30-pack of cheap postcards off eBay and will knuckle down and start entering this way, and try to keep my hand off the expensive tickets!

So I Went To The Beach

I might have accidentally gone into work on the wrong day. Might. I'm admitting nothing. (In my defense, I had merely forgotten that my regular work days change over the Christmas period.)

So anyway, I walked down to the beach, because why not?

Click to view full size

It smelled amazing. And sounded lovely. And was rather too cold for a dip.

So I am currently arguing with myself on the merits of a winter wetsuit. (It's a bit too cold for my shorty wetsuit, and that is my argument. However, wetsuits cost money, which is also my argument.)

Spent: £3 on a casserole dish which fits into my mini-oven, as I didn't have one. Annoyingly, I couldn't find one with an oven-proof lid, but at least it has a plastic lid for the fridge.
Spent: £210 on MOT and four new tyres for Pugsley, whose shoes were a little bit worn out, but who otherwise came through unscathed.

Mystery solved: The gift voucher was for a company which manufactures kitchenware products from recycled materials. I found some cool stuff in their shop and they were kind enough to waive the shipping cost, so once the parcel arrives I will post pics :)

Your Parcel Has Been Delivered

Size: XL (Extra Ludicrous)

My who-what? What parcel? I was a bit worried when I got this text message today, thinking that one of the gifts I bought was perhaps delivered to me by mistake, grrr. But when I grabbed the mail I got a nice surprise, a reindeer jumper that nobody had even told me I had won! Yay :)

It's a very, very generous "medium" size (eyeroll lol), but on the plus side it is made of fleecy fabric and good quality, so I'm very pleased and it's perfect for me.

I'm currently trying to use up the food in my cupboards. I was quite frustrated at just how much I had stockpiled as I packed to move house. There's no excuse for expired food and I need to stop stashing so much away. I am thinking it's time for a food challenge - maybe £10 max spending for 7 days? Watch this space.

Pugsley is booked in for his MOT, so fingers crossed that the mechanic doesn't find anything needing fixing.

Received today: a kitchen plug. Honestly, it is ridiculous to say so but this little piece of rubber really cheered me up because washing up without one is tedious and annoying! #smallthings

I Won: A £50 gift card from a competition in Good Housekeeping. I don't actually know which competition or where I can spend it, as all they've told me is that the prize giver will be in touch... I hope it's not a gift card for a luxury men's shoe shop buahahaha!

The Dance

Me, who earned £10.00 from a fifty-minute study today on Prolific --->

Also me, who won a £7 Amazon voucher from a competition.

I also got my first Testable Minds survey which paid $6.00. Can't complain about the amount, that's for sure! I've only just joined, and it's supposed to be similar to Prolific. I don't really know how this site will go activity-wise, but I have high hopes.

I finally bit the bullet and reduced my credit access. The banks are understandably surprised - "You do understand that this card isn't costing you anything because you aren't using it? And you still want to close the account?" Uhuh.

The card that I kept, which I use for my everyday spending, has a horrific balance this month. Moving house is expensive. I won't have any problem covering it, it's just a sobering total to look at (more than double my usual monthly spend). I'll just keep reminding myself that life is going to be cheaper than it used to be!

Got a gift voucher from work, lovely surprise! :)

I Dared

After many excuses over a long period of time, I went out and behaved as a semi-social being for an evening. I chatted with several new people (slow clap for me) and have tenative plans to keep in contact with a couple of them, so, who knows?

Obviously, I ran out of confidence fairly quickly, and I made it an early night. But still, it's a start, right?

The next step is to be so scared, that I make excuses for so long, that new people forget that I exist... not really ideal, but it'll take effort on my part not to just stay a hermit.

Observation: I have very few clothing options for "going out" which won't result in hypothermia.

Observation #2: Walking back up "Heartbreak Hill" on the way home was incredibly uncomfortable and left me completely out of breath, and I still feel horrible half an hour later... Yes, I do still have the last dregs of a chest cold, but I really need to regain some fitness.

Rude Awakening

Yes, I had one this week, and no, it's not a figure of speech. I was woken up by a small child, howling, over and over. A moment later I realised it was actually the wind howling in through the ancient wood sash windows behind my secondary glazing. Buahahaha.

Work Christmas lunch happened :) Obviously I ate too much and then ate more of it the following day. I don't seem to have much trouble eating when someone else cooks it! And the waistline knows it... I really need to get back to the gym. I had a one hour walk during the week and it was lovely, and reminded me how much I miss exercise.

I think I've settled in at work now, I'm getting better at managing my time. I do still need a second job though so that I can think about a home loan. The search continues.

Struggling with motivation for my studies. As usual.

In: £2.50 from Opinion Outpost for surveys done
In: Free measuring jug from some freebie website
In: stacks of soap and cleaning products I didn't remember I had
Out: £3.61 for naughty McDonalds lunch

I have updated my Surveys list and it now appears as a permanent page at the top of the blog.

Previous landlord has confirmed no issues, and I will have my full deposit returned :)

The Passage Of Time

Sometimes when you look back a bit, you realise that what seemed paramount... really and truly, just isn't as important as you think. Sometimes it just needs time and perspective and the will to let anger go.

Observation: there are not enough easy-to-find guided meditation videos on YouTube and if I weren't busy coughing so much I might create a few. The ones I've listened to either have people who babble on and on or talk about weird stuff. My original teacher in Old Town, despite not being great in her lectures, was really good during the guided meditations and paused quite a lot to let people drift and relax.

#2: the bath is a good place to meditate.

#3: vegetarian sausages can be chopped and thrown into pound shop vegetable soup, improving both.

I have spent some time this week entering competitions, after learning that there's a lady out there who spends two hours a day entering comps and "earns" £15,000 per year from it. I would be happy taking in £1k and obviously would prefer not to spend two hours a day filling in forms. Half an hour is my limit before I go a bit spare and I've little patience for crap requiring me to "tag a friend" or "tell us in 20 words or less".

Unfortunately most of the competitions I find are for things I could neither sell nor use, like a trip to Bermuda for two, or a newborn photoshoot. Even for food and grocery giveaways, I'd rather have the moolah than a case of organic peanut butter. One must continually hunt for the cash prize giveaways.

Old Town flat is officially over and done with, cleaned, tidied and closed the door. Keys returned. As I was taking that last and final look, I actually had a moment of sadness where I thought I might cry. But driving home, car full of stuff and singing Christmas songs, I reminded myself how wonderful it is to be free, to live anywhere I like. ♥

The 2020 £2020 challenge

So this is an idea shamelessly stolen from the MoneySavingExpert's forums, where people are aiming to earn an extra £2020 for the year and putting it into their signatures there. I first thought that it wouldn't work for me (I would continually forget about what I'd earned, I'm sure) but maybe it'd work on my blog.

Some participants say that you can't count where you're buying stuff at a saving, you can only include actual income. Some say you can count the whole amount. I say: that if it's an item you'd have bought at full price, you can count the saving, but only when compared with the brand you'd usually buy. They allow you to use extra hours at work, but I think that's cheating since my income is a bit variable in the first place. Here's the official list:

Overtime / second job
Daily clicks
Interest from bank accounts
Supermarket / shopping vouchers
Yellow sticker savings
Mystery shopping
Survey income/vouchers/gift cards
Profit from selling on eBay etc
Cashback for purchases
Competitions
Freebies

In any case, it might be interesting just to see the pennies I gather, plus my book and art royalties. The latter two are laughable amounts but I suppose it all adds up?

Sidebar widget: done.

2020: not started yet!

Secret Santa is sorted for work. Fortunately, I drew someone easy to gift, and had something already that will work perfectly.

Bored Of Food, As Usual

...and choosing dinner was too hard so I bought spag bol stuffs for a change. So, predictably, it tastes like nothing and I can't eat it. Yawn.

I did manage to get to Old Town and should hopefully only have one more trip to finish cleaning it.

Missed two days of work due to this stupid cold!

#foodResults:
- The spag bol ended with me feeling incredibly ill and I am afraid to eat the four remaining portions.
- The hash browns are awesome, despite being oven-cooked, and have established themselves as a better alternative than chips.
- The vegetarian sausages, while looking like sausages and sort of tasting like sausages, have the texture of soggy bread. I drowned them in salsa.

Rules Are Rules

So Universal Credit has told me (1) I have earned too much, so will get no benefits; (2) I need to prove my new address before the next payment date, and (3) as I am working, they will leave me to meet my commitments on my own. These caused both me and the work coach to laugh ironically. I mean, imagine I ignored the UC rules and they punished me by taking away some of my £0?

There's a local sporting club with a regular "documentary night" each week, and I'm trying to gather the courage to go. It's BYO fish and chips. We'll see. I'd probably make fish fingers at home and take them along in foil.

Tonight's food: hash browns done in the mini oven (for testing purposes in case I go to the club, obviously) and vegetarian sausages, because they were 6 for £1 and obviously need to be tested as well.

Rampant Tightarsery

I spent £19 in the supermarket for the week. I am actually annoyed at the fact that I'm annoyed at £19. I came home with eclairs, chocolate, mince pies, and soft bake cookies. I eat so little that it's really, really bad to be eating "garbage" calories. If I just ate by appetite, I'd end the day having eaten only a piece of toast and whatever milk is in my coffee.

But it got me thinking. I recently skipped a brilliant comedian because it was £25 and I can just watch telly for free. It's not even an obscene amount when I go out so rarely. I am also avoiding a thrillseeker-type activity I have wanted to try for years, because it's £120 for two hours. I just can't bring myself to spend money because I always worry about saving money.

Dinner: half a tin of stewed steak on toast. Pros: It's nice enough and it's £1 a tin from the pound shop. It's a change from beans on toast. Cons: a £1 tin of stewed steak is mostly gravy, so I had a boiled egg for the protein. As usual. I'm absolutely sick of boiled eggs!

Free from work: two cans of lager.