So I figured what better way to restart this blog than to have a catch-up and fill you in with what exactly I've been up to in the last four years. Here is a quick run through of the major events worth mentioning:
1. I got a Master's degree in Clinical Neuroscience. It sounds impressive but it's not because I've forgotten it all.
2. I moved to London properly proper grown-up adult style into a nice flat with nice people and everything (as opposed to the dodgy flat with dodgy landlord next to a dodgy prison that I was in before...different story).
3. I met a potato. So now this tiny potato has been joined by a slightly bigger potato in the quest for potatopia. And the best part is he's got Irish blood. You couldn't write this stuff.
4. Jobs. Oh God, let's not even go there right now. Let's just say I could write solely about job rejections on this blog and have enough material to last me a lifetime (it is a feat of human nature that I still haven't learnt how to write a decent application all these years later).
5. I got Instagram finally! Only a thousand years after everyone else. I've had it for 6 months now and I have 2 photos up. Woohoo! Come follow my barren landscape @ruthosully.
Wednesday 8 March 2017
2017
Well.
Four years went
pretty quickly didn't it? I only turned around for one minute and before you
know it, its four years later and my poor old blog has been well and truly
abandoned.
I've been back in
Kent visiting my parents lately, after finally accepting that I can't keep
using my old bedroom there as a storage unit, so off I trotted to declutter my
past from their present.
It was whilst
sorting through old notebooks and papers that I came across pages and pages of
annotations of the London 2012 Olympics, scribbled down hastily (and illegibly)
during those two amazing summer weeks. The point being that I would transform
it into a blog post highlighting the best moments, which I never got
round to doing. No surprise there, not getting round to things is a regular occurrence in my personal life.
Written alongside
my miniature Olympics dossier, I had a list of other future
blog posts which also never got written. Looking over it inspired me to consider starting this blog
up again; have a project, do something, and keep a focus. Having done some soul
searching lately and acknowledging personal shortcomings, this seems like a
reasonable project to pour my efforts into (yes bloggy, I'm
using you for personal gain, whilst simultaneously providing myself with a new excuse to procrastinate from a 'Father's Day 2015' scrapbook I haven't finished yet).
It's good timing
really as I have the time and means now to write, which I was lacking when I
stopped writing before. I've left my really stressful job and am in the
decompression stage as I figure out what to do next. Funnily enough, my
"all eggs in one basket" tactic didn't pay off and I didn't get
shortlisted for the job I had decided I would get and was *supposed* to start (why does no one else realise how perfect I am? ugh) leaving
me in quite the quandary now.
Wednesday 8 May 2013
The Money Experiment
Lately, a lot of conversations
with my friends have centred on how little disposable income (money/cash/dolla/wonga)
we have due to the cost of adult life in the South East combined with the
relatively low income we earn from our retail jobs. The days of student living
are long gone, along with the beloved student discount and it’s becoming
painfully apparent how hard it is to save for the future once all monthly
expenses have been paid.
Of the two jobs I have (both
part time retail work), the monthly salary I get from the (much) smaller
contract covers all my bills and monthly expenses, leaving me with just the
second salary to save and put away for the future. Considering I spent January
and February paying back the £330 bill for my 12 year old car’s servicing, my
March salary is the first wage this year I can actually squirrel away untouched
in my bank account as long as I don’t go
withdrawing from it.
Twenty minutes ago I was clearing
out old receipts from my purse and counting my pennies when I had the idea that
I will set myself a mini mission for the whole of April: To go the whole month
living off the money I currently have in my purse. No more withdrawing from the
bank, no more paying for things on debit cards- April is going to be a
sincerely frugal month to see how little I can spend and how much more I can
save.
The Rules:
1.
Any monthly payments
direct from my bank account to their respective creditors will be excluded from
expenditures*.
2.
Any money that is
owed to me and paid back to me during the month can be added to the kitty as
‘spending money’.
3.
Any spare change
found in my clothing or in my car can be added to the kitty as spending money
and used to spend during the month of April.
4.
Only in emergencies or
special circumstances will I use my card to withdraw money from ATMs, pay for
things in shops, or pay for things online.
5.
4 Cont. Any money I
spend via my card will be deducted from the kitty.
6.
The experiment will
cease at my next payday, 26th April.
*The only direct
debit payment I have is my monthly phone bill of £10.54.
I will record my daily spending
on this blog as a record to see how much I really spend in one month and where
I can cut back on.
As of the 31st March 2013, I have a grand total
of £40.15 in my purse to last me the whole month. And a quarter tank of petrol
in my car. I have a feeling this £40 may go very quickly indeed.
The Spending Log:
1st April: When I first started working at The Body Shop,
I used to park in the shopping centre car park 2 minutes walk away from the
shop. I would be losing a quarter of my shift’s pay for the luxury of being
able to park nearby, let alone the fact the machines seemed to enjoy swallowing
my money (a running total of £8 gone never to be seen again). Sometime in
January I discovered a residential road 15 minutes walk from the shop that I
could leave my car in and avoid the daily stress of breaking notes into pound
coins for the ticket machine. I park there now the majority of the time, as I
did today, instantly saving £5.
During today’s shift, two old
school friends came in to surprise me at work (the best kind of surprise) and
we arrange an evening of drinks and nibbles a la Wetherspoons tomorrow evening.
Day 1 of my frugal month and I’m already committing to spending money eating
out, but technically it’s a special occasion because I haven’t seen them for so
long and Spoons is good value for money.
4pm, post-shift trip to Boots, I
need a new lipgloss and deodorant. On discovering that lip glosses now cost
£6.49 for a tube of liquid the consistency of syrup, I refrain from the
purchase and resolve that my tin of Vaseline will have to act as lipgloss
substitute for the foreseeable future. Deodorant wise I pick out the new
product by Sanex that has the introductory offer of 99p and use my Boots
Advantage Card to pay for it.
At home in the evening, I check
my messages and see another friend has suggested a Spoons night out this week.
Beginning to wish Spoons did a loyalty card. Perhaps I can get away with a tap
water…
Total Expenditures Today: £0.00
Total Savings Today: £5.00 car
park, £0.99 toiletries.
Total left in the Kitty: £40.15
2nd April: Again, avoided the car park, instead lost my
dignity trying and failing miserably to parallel park in a space that was
clearly too small for my car. I’d brought my morning tea in an insulator mug
(saving money on café made brews) and made a little packed lunch to eat between
shifts (resisting my usual Boots meal deal lunchtime splurge).
In the evening I met with my
friends in Spoons and bought the veggie burger and drink deal for £4.19, which
is really good value, and ridiculously scrummy.
Total Expenditures Today: £4.19
Total Savings Today: Parking & home-made tea and lunch ~ £8.00
Total left in the Kitty: £35.96
3rd
April: There was no traffic on the way to work, with it being the Easter
holidays and all, so I was super early and decided to have a browse round the
shops. Rosie had mentioned last night how Office had a sale on at the moment,
so as if possessed by the God of Sales I found myself drawn there and
would you believe it, they had one pair of cute black shoes left in my size
that would be perfect for work. I’d been on the lookout for new work shoes for
ages but had no luck, so when I should see those dainty size 4’s looking at me
I just had to have them; they were £5 having been reduced from £18, so it
really was fate. I can’t deny fate.
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Sensible work shoes: The £5 shoe of the £1 fish world.
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Still
had time to kill so popped into the newsagents and bought some polos for 69p, I
literally haven’t had polos in years but mints are really useful if you work in
retail and need refreshing during a long day. You could also say I’m buying
them on behalf of the customer’s benefit, God forbid I ever eat a tuna and
onion sandwich for lunch.
At
work we launched a new product, the Vitamin E BB Cream which is an extra
moisturising version of the current BB phenomenon dominating the cosmetic
world. I tested it and it covered the perma-bags under my eyes- I like it
already. Whenever a new product is released, all the staff get to take home a
full size sample to use and get to know better, so I got one for free! Perks of
the job.
At
home, the arrangements for tomorrow’s Spoons trip have been finalised. I have
already decided I will be boring and not buy any food, especially as I have a
vegetable pasta bake waiting in the fridge for me that expires tomorrow.
Total Expenditures Today: £5.69
Total Savings Today: £5.00 parking, free BB cream worth £10.00.
Total
left in the Kitty: £30.27
4th
April: Petrol.
The
bane of my life. The metaphorical parasite to the metaphorical host that is my
car.
I had
waited until I had the tiniest drop left in my tank before admitting defeat and
filling up at the petrol station. I purposely went to the cheapest provider I
could find, the Shell garage in St.Johns which was selling unleaded for 136.9p,
plus with my new Shell loyalty card I collected my first 20 points. It’s all
about saving for the future…in about two years I’ll have enough points to get a
£2.50 fuel voucher, just think how happy I’ll be when the time comes!
I
didn’t want to, but I had to put in £20, which took me to half a tank full.
I’ll probably need to top up another £20 in two weeks, which won’t be possible
seeing as I’ve only got a tenner left in the kitty. I’m going to have to recall
some debts or find some spare pennies down the back of the sofa pretty soonish.
Despite
my expensive morning, I had a midday bargain when I used my O2 Priority App to
pick up a free packet of Percy Pigs from Marks & Spencer, saving me £1.39.
I don’t actually like Percy Pigs so I put them in the staff room for the
others. Still, I was pleased with my ‘purchase’.
Spoons
take two in the evening: I had committed to the idea of my vegetable pasta bake;
I was going to save money and wait until I got home to eat. However an hour and
a half later hunger began to set in, my friends were about to order, the menu
looked so good…so I gave in and bought the 824 calorie chocolate fudge cake.
Due to the wizardry that is meal deals, because
Ellie was buying a curry, my desert became £1.35 cheaper so instead of
logically thinking, “I’ve saved £1.35, I should keep this for another day”, I
then rebounded and ordered a big tea to go with it, saving myself just 20p
overall. I also then felt really lame
drinking a tea in a pub at 8pm.
Hello, old friend.
It was absolutely incredible though, so delicious,
and I only really regretted it during the last few mouthfuls when my stomach
felt so full that it might actually burst. A good substitute for dinner I feel.
In other news, nearly ran over a
dog on the way home. (No harm done, dog was fine, he strolled off the middle of
the road and into a driveway as I neared. Very surreal).
Have arranged to meet another
friend at fancy (expensive) café tomorrow. More eating out!! My purse can’t
take it.
Total Expenditures Today: £23.25
Total
Savings Today: £1.39 sweets.
Total
left in the Kitty: £7.02
5th
April: Slept through my alarm this morning so had 15 minutes to get ready
before having to leave for work this morning. I thought I was going to have to
park in the car park for convenience sake, but miraculously no traffic meant I
had enough time for my trusty residential spot, and I’d even found the time to
make a tea in my insulator mug and a cheese sandwich! The sacrifice I made for
this breakfast was the fact I looked like the underside of an old shoe, but hey
ho.
Arranged
to meet a friend at Basil café in Tunbridge Wells after work. Neither of us had
been there before, but I will definitely be back, it’s my new favourite place.
Before meeting my friend, I sneakily had a tea in the staffroom so that I
wouldn’t have to buy one at the café, ergo saving money.
However,
clearly not learning from the previous nights spoons lesson, again I rebounded
from my smugness at ‘saving money’ and spent £4.85 on a halloumi and roasted
vegetable Panini rather than a couple of quid on a cheese sandwich. I blame the
halloumi. It’s such a delicious delicacy that I only eat a few times of year,
and to see it on a platter in front of me I was hypnotised, I had to have it. Regretting
that purchase already as now I have £2 to last me until payday (26th
April, 21 days away).
In
other news, got a letter from work today that says I’m getting a 19p pay rise
which is quite a substantial difference. Definitely going to be rolling in it
come April payday. (Not being sarcastic, I am genuinely excited about this pay
rise).
Total
Expenditures Today: £4.85
Total Savings Today: Car park £6.00, Tea £1.60
Total
left in the Kitty: £2.17
Wow,
I can’t believe in 5 days I’ve spent £40. It didn’t even last a week. In
fairness, I never eat out as often as I have this week, it just so happens that
with it being Easter, friends have come back from uni/have time off work so I
couldn’t miss the opportunity to meet them. Fortunately socialising goes hand in hand with eating and drinking, and even though it's expensive I wouldn’t have it
any other way.
I’m now
going to have to chase up the £16 my brother owes me to keep me going a little
longer and I know I’ve got some coins in my car so it’s not the end just yet!
6th
April: After
acquiring the £16 I was owed, my total has been bumped back up to £18.17. I
didn’t buy anything today thus prolonging this mission by another day. At work,
I finally picked out 2 of the 5 free make up items each new employee gets,
choosing a set of eye shadows and a new bronzer, together worth £32.
At home I start browsing ebay
for a rabbit bed. I’d seen one in the pet shop earlier in the week and thought
that it seemed like a reasonable and justifiable expenditure that is completely
essential to my rabbit, Widow Pickles, quality of life. The pet shop one was
£11 though, way too expensive. I found
what appeared to be the same brand on ebay but for £3.83 + £2.70 p+p.
Impulsivity and temptation get the better of me and I order it, spending £6.53
in total. I don’t know why, but being so focussed on money lately has seemed to
made me spend more of it, and even though I’ve made a lot of savings from savvy
shopping, it’s ended up backfiring on me as I keep thinking I have more
disposable cash to spend than I do.
I ended the day finding 1p under
the sofa.
Total
Expenditures Today: £6.53
Total
Savings Today: £32.00 makeup, technically saved £4.47 by opting for cheaper rabbit
bed online, again paid no car park, £6.00
Total
left in the Kitty: £11.64
7th
April: Didn’t
go out today so didn’t spend any money, hooray. In fact, two items I put up on
ebay sold; a t-shirt for £1.04, and a jumper for £1.02, adding £2.06 to my
earnings of the day. Obviously I’m aware that the items sold for pittance, but
I see it as making a tiny bit of money from clothes I never wear whilst clearing
out my room at the same time, so it’s win-win for me.
Total Expenditures Today: £0.00
Total Savings Today: +£2.06 from ebay sales.
Total
left in the Kitty: £13.70
8th
April: Went
to town to meet a friend for brunch but beforehand I went to the bank to
deposit £4 worth of 1p and 2p coins I’d been saving up for donkeys years. When
I got there the bank lady said that one of the bags weighed in as only having
99p, which either meant I’d counted it up wrong or a penny had fallen out
somewhere in my bag. I’m a very pedantic penny counter so my instant reaction
was to audibly gasp with horror at the error (the scandals I get up to; my life
is the basis for an episode of Last of the Summer Wine) unfortunately I couldn’t
find one more single penny in any pocket or crevice of my bag to make up the
pound which meant I could only deposit £3.
Next
stop was the 99p store, which I was ridiculously excited to go to. It’s been ages since
I’d been there, and I was anxious to get my fix. I’m a big fan of their prices,
particularly when it comes to toothpaste, why pay £2 for branded toothpaste in
a cosmetics store or supermarket when you can get the same product for 99p at
the 99p store? It was my lucky day today as they had an offer, buy 2 Colgate
toothpastes (my brand of choice coincidentally) and get a third for free!
AMAZING. Whilst I’m on the subject of Colgate, my one Colgate fact is that in
the Philippines, ‘colgeyt’ is the colloquial term for toothpaste, cool huh?
Heaven
I
complimented my toothpaste treasure with the one remaining bag of mini eggs in
the whole store, they weren’t even in their correct place, clearly a sign of
fate if I ever saw one. So, £1.98 on toothpastes and 99p on mini eggs came to
the grand total of £2.97 at the till point. I did consider handing over my
remaining bag of 99 penny coins but the queue was quite long so I refrained.
After
that productive 30 minutes, it was time to meet up with Charley for some grub at
the holy land of all yummy mummies, Finch House. After silently cursing the
café for not having their tomato soup as their soup of the day, I settled on a
tuna and cucumber baguette and a pot of tea. I was expecting to pay £5.15 but
for some reason the baguette came up 25p cheaper on the till than advertised in
the chiller, warranting a little victory dance as I handed over my fiver.
We
finished up and I headed back to my car, more efficiently than I had estimated,
which meant the £2.30 I’d paid on car parking for 2-3 hours wasn’t necessary, I
would’ve got away with paying the £1.70 fare for 1-2 hours (60p!! 60 precious
pennies wasted!). However seeing as I saved 25p from the till error, I only
lost 35p, so swings and roundabouts really.
Total Expenditures Today: £10.17
Total
Savings Today: Deposited £3.00 into the kitty, 25p from the baguette, plus can I
just re-iterate how good that toothpaste deal was, 3 toothpastes for £2.00!
Total
left in the Kitty: £6.53
Uh-oh, I’m back down to a handful of pound coins once again. It feels like I’m riding
the high tide of boom and bust- some days I have all the money in the world,
then the next day nothing but a grain of sand to my name. I don’t think this
‘experiment’ is going to last much longer.
9th
April: Spent no money today which is good, but because I worked at both shops
today I drove about 25 miles in total, meaning my car has just guzzled away at petrol,
and already it looks like I’m going to need top up sooner rather than later.
Today
was a loooooong day, super busy at both jobs so I was feeling pretty stressed,
tired and hungry by the end of the day. My hypothetical Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs is resembling a squashed Toblerone triangle at the moment and I’ve got it
all again tomorrow.
Total Expenditures Today: £0.00
Total Savings Today: Car parking £5.00, lunch £3.00
Total
left in the Kitty: £6.53
10th
April: I really, really wanted to park in the car park today. I was still tired
from yesterday and was looking to conserve energy but the stingy in me refused
to succumb to handing over my precious gold especially as I’m low on funds. I
took the right turn into the residential road and was driving along…went past
my normal parking spot which was taken…went a little further…still no spaces… a
bit further…eventually ended up miles away. Then it started raining. At the
time I felt pretty unlucky and manifested this in the form of audible grumbling
as I trudged up the hill (reminiscent of Carl from Up) but now in hindsight I’m
so glad I didn’t give in and waste money on the car park.
Celebrated
with my monthly £2 allowance on Glamour Magazine (it’s essential to my
wellbeing).
I had
also planned to buy lunch today, giving myself a £3 allowance, but when the
time came I decided to forego shop bought and instead made it back home in time
to have a quick cuppa and some toast before setting off again. For some reason
today’s shifts just went so slowly, it doesn’t help that my watch is still one
hour behind from Daylight Saving Time, but every single minute seemed to draw
out twice as long today.
Total Expenditures Today: £2.00
Total
Savings Today: Car park £5.00, lunch £3.00
Total
left in the Kitty: £4.53
11th
April: Spent nothing today, and turned down the opportunity for a trip to
Spoons with friends due to my poor pea-brain being overworked this week,
inevitably saving money. Also found 10 Euros
in my pocket, not quite the same as finding a tenner but it’s still currency!
Total Expenditures Today: £0.00
Total
Savings Today: Car park £5.00
Total
left in the Kitty: £4.35
12th
April: Popped
to town today to post the two items I’d sold on ebay. Even though the buyer
pays for the postage, I always forget to include the cost of the envelope so I
lost £1.10 using my own money to pay for packaging.
I then
went to WHSmiths to pre-order Dan Brown’s latest book, Inferno, putting down a
£3 deposit, to which I’ll add another £7 to when the book comes out in May. It
did mean I got another book, Sanctus, for free so really it’s as if I’m paying
£5 for each book, which is a really good deal.
The
rabbit bed I’d bought off ebay had arrived in the post when I got home, and it
was absolutely tiny! Widow Pickles would just about fit one of her gigantic
ears in it, let alone her whole body. I’m going to have to return it. I checked
the returns policy and it says that I have to pay for the postage to return it,
and that I’ll just be refunded the £3.83 for the bed. Annoying, as it means I’ll
be throwing £2.60 into thin air. Not a very successful saving money day.
"Large" rabbit bed Not a real rabbit
Total Expenditures Today: £1.10 envelopes, £3.00 deposit for book.
Total Savings Today: Got a book worth £7.99 for free.
Total
left in the Kitty: 25p.
13th
April: As I only have 25p left in my purse, and have spectacularly failed my
mission to make £40 last me a month (it was never going to happen) I can
declare that the challenge is over.
However,
in just two weeks I have already learnt a lot about my spending habits that I wasn’t
aware of before, and the constant reminder in the back of my mind about being
careful with my money did serve to save me car parking and lunch expenses on the odd days I would've usually splurged.
For pure
curiosity I’m going to continue keeping a log of my expenditures for the rest
of April just to see how much I really spend in a month, especially as I won’t
be as restrained now I have no ‘kitty’ limit. Welcome back, Debit Card.
14th
April: It’s just as well the “frugalness” finished when it did as I was back to
zero petrol once again. I topped up another £25 at my new favourite Shell
garage in St. Johns. Now that I
have their loyalty card, the desire to get points which will one day lead to
rewards is probably the main reason I fill up there now. Points mean prizes!
(B. Forsyth, 1996).
15th April: Returned the
tiny rabbit bed back to the ebay seller, spending £2.60 on postage. Then consequently
spent another £11 on rabbit related necessities; food, sawdust and an £8 wooden
tunnel that she can hide in when she’s scared (which is 90% of the time). As
the pet shop had run out of bags big enough for said tunnel, they popped it in
a canvas bag which they had lying around, it’s quite sturdy and useful so I
feel like I’ve gained a free bag that will come in handy for beach trips in
the summer.
16th April: Long day
at the shops again, needed some proper fuel at lunch to recharge my batteries
so I got a cheese sandwich from Boots (£1, can’t go wrong). An absolute bargain
compared to what other places charge.
Turns out that free book I got when I pre-ordered Dan Brown's upcoming novel turned out to be pretty good. In fact I couldn't put it down. It's part of a trilogy, and conveniently there were vouchers inside for the next two in the series, so I used one of them to get the second instalment, The Key, for £3.99 instead of £7.99.
My bargain books
17th April: Didn’t spend
any money today.
18th April: Again, not a tuppence was spent.
19th
April: After my shift finished at The Body Shop I picked up some Vitamin E
facial oil which I’d been meaning to buy for months after my friend/colleague
recommended it to me. It’s meant to be really good at improving dry skin and helping
skin to heal, quite frankly I could do with a crate of the stuff, but one bottle
will do for now.
20th April: Clare,
coincidentally the facial oil recommender, was hosting her birthday
celebrations in London tonight which I’d eagerly been anticipating and all
spending was to be excused under the justification that it was a special occasion.
Which was just as well as I mistakenly paid for a travelcard instead of a
single on my way up to London, costing me an extra £3.80. Whoops.
When we arrived in London we
popped to Tesco’s for nibbles and drinks, where I fell for the old-age impulse
buy of the sweets littered near the till point, upping my spend to £5.99. I
clearly was a bit jellyfish brained today as it then transpired I hadn’t topped
up my oyster card correctly at the station, so had to fork out £2.40 for the
bus (I wasn’t bothered about any of this though, as it was strictly a special occasion).
Too busy staring at the Shard to top up my Oyster correctly
When we got to the venue later that evening it was a £5 entry fee (not bad for
a Saturday night in London) and then I spent £7.95 on a cocktail, gave a friend £5
that I owed him, then put £5 on my oyster for the bus home. All in all I spent
about £47 (including the train home the next day) which really isn’t bad for London
and besides it was such good fun, totally worth it.
The birthday girl partying like it's 1999.
21st April: No money
spent today.
22nd April: Today I had one
mission on my mind, to go back to Boots and buy that lipgloss I’d wanted since
the beginning of the month. I don’t know if my newfound spending bug was due to
the weekend festivities, or the fact that payday was upon me, but I did go a
little bit mad in Boots.
Not only did I get the lipgloss,
but also an eyeliner and a mascara (it was on offer! Made a saving of £7) I
then bought two hair dyes (also on offer, saved £4) some aftersun (saved £2.50,
another offer), three packets of face wipes for £5, which was a ridiculously
good deal, and some hair ties. Oh and some shampoo (half price, saved £2) and
two chocolate bars (2 for £1). I ended up spending about £23.50 but all of it
was in a deal, so I must’ve saved a billion pounds, whilst earning £2.50 worth
of points to spend in the future.
23rd April: A customer
came into the shop today with the most amazing leopard print leggings so I
asked her where she got them from and she replied ‘Topshop for £10’. So,
straight after work I hot footed it over the road to investigate and sure
enough there they were. Topshop was having a mini sale, and although the
leggings weren’t in my size, something else caught my eye instead, a green zip
up hoody, in my size, for £10. I had bought the exact same hoody (in burgundy) in
the boxing day sales for £15 and haven’t stopped wearing it since, and although
it’s increasing peachy weather these days, the green hoody would be a good investment
for this winter, plus it was a bargain at £15 cheaper than its usual selling
price.
Outside Topshop was a man playing
the bagpipes, which was such a beautiful sound to hear, and made me feel so happy
inside, I just wanted to throw all my money at him. Obviously I couldn’t do
that but I gave him a pound for his troubles anyway.
24th
April: So far I’ve still managed to
avoid paying car park fees when at work this whole month, opting to walk
instead (and spending saved money on food). After finishing work I met
with my friends fan club at Spoons (we're officially regulars now) and ordered a £4.19 jacket
potato for dinner, yum.
25th
April: Found £20 in an old purse when I was tidying, which was a very welcome
surprise, and just as well as the old hot wheels had ran out of petrol again,
requiring me to top up another £15 worth. I also then spent 63p on biscuits.
26th
April: PAYDAY. Hallelujah I made it to
the end of the month. Seeing all my expenses written down has made me realise
just how quickly little things add up, I’m really shocked at how much goes on
petrol, and I’ve learnt I need to be careful not to make silly mistakes that
end up costing me money (overestimating car park, postage for ebay, buying a
bed for a rodent, clicking for wrong train ticket, etc).
Since the
end of April, and payday, I’ve filled up another £30 of petrol, been to London
twice, attempted summer clothes shopping, been to Spoons twice, had another £30
night out with friends, spent nearly £10 on sweets, and £6 in Costa Coffee, all of which makes me cringe with annoyance at how
anti-productive I am to my own savings. In fairness, I am resolute that
I will spend less this month, in fact, on the latest Spoons trip I just used a
voucher for a free hot drink and didn’t buy anything else, which is a good
start.
Though I may start playing the lottery just in case....
Monday 8 April 2013
Happy Birthday Blog
Would
you believe it, thetinypotato blog is
now over a year old!
This would
have been much more poignant if I’d acknowledged the anniversary in February
when it actually turned 1 but I was on one of my sporadic blogging hiatuses and
completely missed it.
But! There’s
no birthday better than a belated one, so to celebrate I've assembled a
selection of the best pictures of dogs celebrating birthdays in internet
existence:
Headdresses are taken very seriously in the pug underworld.
Next it'll be 4am drunken shenanigans with traffic cones at roundabouts.
These dogs are loving life right now.
Now for some pugs in genuine denial that they've become another year older:
This is not the elegant birthday celebration I had envisioned.
A flaming, inedible stick? What sorcery is this?
And two dogs who would do anything for their cupcakes:
Nothing is more important in life than this cupcake.
Could watch this video endlessly.
And of course, probably the most famous birthday dog on the interwebs:
Riley the smiling birthday dog.
Thank
you to my loyal following of approximately 7, and to all those who happen to
click on the occasional self promotion links I post, and those that merely
happen to stumble upon it (literally through stumbleupon.com).
Just
for your interest, the Top 3 most viewed posts from the last year were:
1. Job Rejection No. 2
(glad to see you’re all getting pleasure from my misery)
2. Centerparcs: An
Anecdote
3.The
unluckiest/luckiest holiday
Here’s to another year of long post blogging!
Ruth.
P.S. If anybody has any birthdays coming up, might I recommend you celebrate in style with the birthday potato rather than a birthday cake? My long-time favourite card designer, Edward Monkton, has created a birthday card acknowledging the extraordinary prowess of the humble potato. Love his work, he's nearly as mad as me: http://www.edwardmonkton.com/
Thursday 31 January 2013
Centerparcs: An Anecdote
The last time I went to
Centerparcs I was 13. I don’t remember a whole lot except that it rained, I
made a nifty pair of earrings at the craft club, and my mum nearly got left
behind in the car park.
Returning 9 years later, sans
parents but with two cars full of friends, I had a feeling it would be an
entirely different experience as an adult rather than a child. In total we were
7 young adults (6 girls, 1 arguably lucky boy- rumour has it large same sex
groups aren’t permitted under the suspicion of being a stag/hen party) staying
in the woodland lodge accommodation (third from the bottom in terms of price
but it was luxurious by our post-uni standards). We
paid £45 each for our four-day four-night trip, which I thought was a total
bargain.
When we arrived we prioritised
what we would do. First stop: food. We went to the Asda’s round the corner to
stock up on the basics- tea, coffee, pasta, & alcohol- instead of using the
onsite supermarche (their word, not mine) which obviously is more convenient
and comes with the added bonus of tiny weeny shopping trolleys, but is more
expensive. It was a no brainer to go to Asda’s. Perhaps that's why Centerparcs lodges are so cheap because a lot of money is made through
the onsite supermarket and food outlets. There were no Pizza Huts or greasy cafes,
but rather a Strada and Café Rouge.
When we returned, the car park
was teeming with arrivals, I was honestly really surprised how busy the place
was, considering school had started again. I had thought we might have the
whole place to ourselves, but instead we were mere small fish in a lake of
retired couples and young families.
Next job: Bikes. It’s
practically illegal not to get a bicycle when you go to Centerparcs. It’s
bordering on a cultural ritual. Considering most of us hadn’t ridden a bike in
years this was going to be an interesting experiment as to whether old dogs
forget old tricks. To hire an adult sized bike for the four days sets you back
£25, a little bit expensive I think but if your lodge is far away from the main
centre then it’s worth the money. I tried to get away with hiring a kiddy’s
bike which would have cost me £17 for the week but I wasn’t allowed despite my
pleas that I am the size of a child and therefore should be treated as one. These
people have no sympathy.
With it being practically pitch
black as we left the bike centre, we rode our little bicycles back to the lodge
with the moonlight shining on us and our hats and scarves flying in the wind.
It really reminded me of that scene in E.T when Elliott & co are cycling down
the road.
Cycling home
The lodge itself, as I alluded
to before, was impressive. All the furnishings looked new and there was even a
chalkboard on one of the walls. Ingenious. The lounge area was really cosy and
we quickly adopted our spots on the sofa. There were two fridges and a
dishwasher in the kitchen which was highly exciting, and the bathrooms were
divine- all shiny metal and tiled floors, radiators that stretched from floor
to ceiling and the welcoming sight of lavender hand soap. Best of all though
was the duvets; they were so thick and fluffy to the extent that it felt like
you were in a cocoon when you were underneath them. One morning I was close to
metamorphosing into a butterfly but then I remembered I was a human not a
caterpillar.
Kat being the organising mastermind
behind our trip chose to have our lodge right next to a lake so that we could
feed the ducks in the morning. This was my main concern- I would not leave this
land without feeding the ducks. The only
problem was it was so cold outside that the lake had frozen over and there were
no duckies in sight. However after returning to the warmth of the lodge a
little feline friend appeared at our patio door which Beth fed some premium
salmon. Centerparcs is all about the trees and the animals
so at least one animal was helped with its search for food during the cold weather.
The view from our lodge
The evening consisted of trying
not to asphyxiate ourselves using the gas oven (one of the few cons of the
lodge, and a big pain at that) as we relentlessly attempted to turn it on,
followed by a game of Articulate, a few evening tipples of the good
stuff and a movie.
First stop the next morning was
the Pancake House which we cycled to. It was a beautiful winter’s morning,
fresh, brisk air permeated by the warmth of the sun. Even though it was our
first real day cycling it became apparent that within a very short time our bums
would be suffering from the uncomfortable nature of the bike seats. It’s a mystery
how Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy do this 24/7.
With our pancakes devoured, we
cycled down to the leisure centre to see what the happenings are down that end
of the village. Turned out, all the happenings were there. We had a look round
and planned our activities for the next day before returning home to change for
the pool.
I was very excited to visit
Poolio Iglesias (the pool) and to test out all the water attractions. It’s
certainly a highlight for most people visiting Centerparcs I think. It seemed
smaller from my perspective now compared to 9 years ago, and it would be nice if
there was one or two more water slides to mix it up a bit, but we sure did make
the most of the slides they had on offer:
The White Slides. These slides
are inexplicably evil; I remember my encounter with them many years back and
the throbbing pain they caused me on impact with the water. I glared at them
with steely eyes. They would not win this time. Precisely 0.5 seconds after
propelling myself down it I was in the water with that oh too familiar feeling
of hitting a brick wall. Ow. We still went on them again and again and again
though.
The Rapids were my favourite, they’re
really not that bad (apart from when you get stuck in a strong whirling current
and become the landing cushion for a grown man coming down behind you). I found
them much better and easier to endure as a marginally taller and stronger adult
rather than a feeble child. We tried to be creative on the main drop by forming
a conga line but suddenly realised the error of our ways when we failed to
slide down due to too much friction. Slightly embarrassing considering people were
waiting behind us for us to hurry up, intently watching us as we shuffled down
the slide inch by inch like an obese slug. Squeaky noises included.
The Green Slides. These two
slides are pretty fun if you can gain speed and shoot down them, not so fun if
you don’t and plod down them at 5mph. They should consider sending more water
down the slides so that people go faster.
The Lazy River & The Wave
Machine. The lazy river is a prime example of the best things in life being the
simplest (which slightly contradicts my reasoning for why I love the rapids and
slides so much but hey ho). It’s a small channel circling around a rock with a current
just strong enough to propel you around it gently. I presume it’s called the
Lazy River because it’s for people who are too lazy to swim.
The wave machine on the other
hand is ideally for people who can tread water well and for a relatively long
period of time. Unlike me who held onto the side of the wall the entire
duration. You do start to get weirdly seasick after a while actually but it’s a
good little attraction for the whole family.
Lastly, a quick dip in the
plunge pool to send a shock to the system before retreating to the hot Jacuzzi is something that just has to be done.
Trip to the pool over, we headed
back home for the evening’s festivities. Which consisted of a competitive game
of Scrabble, drinking, drinking games, cards, extreme chalkboard desecration, a
fantastic game of sardines and playing 40/40 into the early hours of the morning.
The things we get up to, golly!
This evening however had a
dramatic twist to it. This was the evening of the 15p bag.
Richard and I had gone cycling to
the supermarket to buy some ketchup, some burgers, some burger buns (for him) and
some coca cola (for me). I got my coke and he got his various items. I was
paying at the till and the cashier asked me if I needed a bag, I said I did,
she said they cost 10p for 3, I said okily dokily and got 3 bags.
THE PLOT THICKENS.
We left the supermarket happy as
larrys, only for Richard to realise he’d forgotten the ketchup– the most vital
ingredient of all- so we headed back. Whilst I was waiting for him I checked my
receipt and saw I had been charged 45p for 3 bags. No no no, this cannot be,
the lady said they were 10p for 3. The scallywag cashier had since gone, in
those dastardly minutes between us leaving and returning so I took it upon myself
to ask a different cashier. I told her I’d been charged 15p each per bag and
that I was only using two anyway. She said they were 15p, despite there being
two signs within my reading distance that they were 10p each (and really that’s
what I should have been charged them as under the Sales of Goods Act 1979).
Anyway, I get my 15p refund for the bag I’m not using but sadly the tealeaves have
got away with an extra 20p of my hard-earned cash. The moral of this tale is
that no matter how small, you should fight against injustice and lies until rightfully
vindicated.
Day 3 and it was the day of
activities. After a morning rally of the water slides we cycled back down to
the leisure centre where we hired out two badminton courts and had some good
old fashioned hand eye coordination sports. On the way down however something
happened that I genuinely didn’t think happened outside of movies- Beth went
head over handlebars on her bike into a bush and was pulled out by a handsome
man jogging by (whose fault it was in the first place incidentally). I didn’t see
it happen, only the aftermath of her emerging from said bush, but luckily she
was alright and we persevered on.
Badminton turned out to be super fun, I don’t
know if that’s because I like playing it, or whether it’s the endorphins
talking but it was really good, and cheap too, £3.50 for each person (inc.
hiring court, rackets and shuttlecocks).
Following that, four of us split
off to do roller skating whilst the other three watched on like proud parents
before joining the other grown-ups in Starbucks for a well needed caffeine fix.
Although supposedly meant to be a roller skating disco (images of a disco ball
and leg warmers come to mind) the music blaring out alternated between current,
upbeat hits, to depressing 80s power ballads. Slightly weird.
The week in general went by seamlessly because we were pretty much all in agreement with what we
wanted to do every day. Evenings were pretty much the same every night: manoeuvring
around each other in the small kitchen, putting the logs in the fire, and
trying to consume all the alcohol we brought via a variety of games.
Day 4, our last full day: This
day was a chillaxing day which started off by us cycling halfway to the leisure
centre then locking our bikes up to catch the ‘land train’ the rest of the way.
Why it is called a ‘land train’ despite the fact that it isn’t a train and that
trains are on land anyway, I do not know. It looked more like a long squashed bus than a
train, so really it should be called the Sausage Bus if anything. Once we got
to the centre our whole afternoon consisted of playing pool. It became
something of a tournament, with us taking up 3 tables in the pool hall.
Personally this was my favourite part of the whole trip, and the irony that I
could play pool in any pub round the corner from where I live was not lost on
me. It really is the little things in life that give the most enjoyment!
Following our pool extravaganza, we did the other activity I’d been waiting to
do all week…we fed the ducks. It was such a cold day, and they were in the cold
water, they must’ve been so cold, but then we came along and tried to feed as
many as possible with what we had. Happy days.
Make way for the Sausage Bus
We returned to our lodge for
cups of tea and coffee before setting off for an evening trip to the pool. On
the way we dropped off rubbish in the dumpsters where Kat subsequently became
acquainted with an abandoned swimming noodle and decided to bring it with her
to the pool (not sure if that’s the technical term for one of those long
flotation devices but it seems an accurate description).
Swimming in the heated water of
the outside swimming pool with the cold evening air on our faces and complete
blackness of the sky above was pretty special. You could see the steam of the
water rising into the air and before long it was beginning to snow tiny
snowflakes making it all the more surreal. We went on the rapids another couple
of hundred times, it was after all our last night, then finished with a long soak in the 33 degree Jacuzzi. Kat’s dirty noodle turned out to be a dearly treasured
accompaniment on our last evening.
Day 5- Home Time! Despite all the weather warnings earlier in the week about heavy snow due
to fall, until I saw it on the Friday morning, I never really believed it could
snow so much in one night. But it did. At one point it looked likely that we
might end up stranded overnight in the emergency snow bunker Centerparcs was setting up in a restaurant. Luckily a
couple of hours later, after talking around to incoming visitors and getting
weather updates it seemed safe enough to drive home, and lo and behold it
stopped snowing just as soon as both cars set off. My only final comment of the
holiday was that we stopped at Fleet Services on the way back, which I’d always
heard was one of the best service stations around, so I was expecting 5* hotel quality
when we pulled up, but I was disappointed. It was nice and new, but it was tiny,
was there a whole other section that we missed? Is a Starbucks drive-thru
really necessary? I don’t understand.
Overall Verdict: Go to
Centerparcs. It’s good, organic fun.
The memories I won’t forget:
All of us on the sofa having breakfast and watching
the news about that helicopter crash in London
Swimming in the outside pool at
night catching snowflakes on our tongues with a sky full of stars above us
Going to bed at 1am Thursday
night to no snow, waking up 8am Friday morning in bleedin’ Narnia
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