Ten Pound Pom - £10 a week challenge

£10 a week, 10 Years Later.

2020-07-29T12:28:00.007+01:00

This week the news came in that Boris is aiming to tackle obesity here in the UK, due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the associated risks from the virus if you're overweight. Naturally much of the conversation has turned to Britain's poverty levels and how it's awfully difficult to have a healthy diet when unhealthy food is cheaper. It's made me think back to my time of living off £10 a week for nine months, and I decided to re-read this blog and the posts I wrote almost ten years ago, back when I was twenty years old and in my second year of University. Re-reading it I have so many thoughts, and wanted to just write a 'follow-up' post ten years on. Not only to clarify a few things and reflect back on the challenge, but also acknowledge my own privilege and the thoughts I have on the fact obesity and an unhealthy diet is intrinsically linked to poverty.

Me today

The idea behind the £10 a week challenge

The idea for living off £10 a week originally came in the summer of 2010 when I was told how much my student loan would be for the following year. I wasn't eligible for any grants and the loan was so small it only just covered my rent (I went to Brunel, so the housing prices were London-level), and even with my minimum-wage weekend job, I panicked and thought I would have just £10 a week to spend on food and everything else once I'd paid my monthly bills (gas, electric, water, broadband, mobile phone) and car costs (I owned my car but still had to pay for insurance etc, which wasn't cheap as I was so young).

Like everything in my life, when I panic I plan. I plan in order to have a bit of control over a situation and put my mind at ease - to show myself I really could do it if I had to. I told my parents, and my parents being very comfortable - and this is where my immense privilege comes in - told me they would support me so I wouldn't have to live off £10 a week.

I'm fully aware how incredibly lucky I was, and so many parents are unable to support their children through university like that. However, by then I had already come up with my plan, and intrigued, I wanted to see if I could genuinely live off £10 a week for the University year. I declined their offer, and decided to go with the budget and turn it into a charity challenge to try and do some good and raise some money for charities that meant a lot to me.

Then that evening, we got a call telling us my aunty had passed away very suddenly, and at a very young age. This made the decision even easier, and I chose to support two charities that had supported her during her battle with Lupus and APS/Hughes Syndrome, in addition to Tommy's (who helped me after my first miscarriage in May 2010, and also then helped me after my second in 2018), and Home Start, a charity that dedicates volunteers to helping families with young children living in poverty or who just need a bit of extra help if a parent is disabled or suffers from mental health issues.

Flaws in the challenge and how my mindset changed

Immediately there were flaws in the challenge. I was very young and as it was so rushed, I didn't really consider certain parts of it. Like would family holidays count? What about when I went home on the weekends to work at my part-time job? I just sort of muddled along but looking back, if I did anything like it again I would absolutely consider all of these before starting. Likewise, my mum did a classic mum-move and filled my freezer drawer (I was in a shared house so only had one drawer for my stuff), my cupboard, and my fridge shelf before I started, so I already had pretty much everything I could need to keep me going. She bought me huge bags of pasta and rice so I didn't really have to re-stock those at all.

Now, this wasn't a challenge to try and live how those struggling in poverty live. It wasn't trying to emulate that, it was purely a personal challenge to see if this privileged young woman from Surrey could essentially go nine months without new clothes, going out, entertainment, concerts, good food, eating out, and all the things I was blessed to be accustomed to. In some ways I regret creating a slightly problematic charity challenge out of some people's real day-to-day lives and struggles. But having grown up going to Catholic schools where we were encouraged to only eat rice for one day each year to show us how those living in poverty feel, at the time I didn't really think about how it could be slightly crass to raise money by playing poor out of choice.

Despite this I don't regret it. I raised over £2000 for charity and learnt a huge amount, and if anything it was a very personal journey that allowed me to consider those with less than me in a more empathetic view. For example, I used to vote Conservative, now I tend to vote Labour. I'm slightly unusual in that I voted conservative when I had very little myself, as that's how everyone I knew voted, and as I grew in my career and earned more money and paid more taxes, I switched to Labour. I guess I realised that everyone, no matter their upbringing or socio-economic status, deserves the basic human rights of education, healthcare, a home, and food. Usually it tends to be the opposite - people want handouts while they are poor students, and as they earn more and pay more taxes, they turn Conservative because they don't want to lose their money to supporting others.

I also now donate each week to food banks (and please, if you give a food bank donation, think of the small things that may brighten someone's day like giving chocolate and biscuits etc, instead of *just* pasta and tinned vegetables!), and at Christmas I do a 'big food bank shop' each week leading up to Christmas throughout December.

The experience and unhealthy diet

Despite having a freezer drawer and cupboard stocked before I started (already a large advantage over people who genuinely have to survive on £10 a week), my diet was unhealthy. Not only because I couldn't afford fresh fruit and vegetables each week, but because I didn't know how to cook with them. I was twenty and had very little cooking experience, I didn't know how to cook cheaply with cheap ingredients. And fundamentally I think this is one of the biggest barriers when it comes to the alignment of poverty and obesity.

If people aren't taught to cook, or if they don't have the instruments to cook, then they're not going to make healthy meals. Like me, they'll end up living off pasta and tinned tomatoes, cereal, rice, baked potatoes, and crumpets. They might have jelly for lunch, as I did one day. They might even treat themselves to chocolate and biscuits instead of vegetables, just as I did, because they're sick of eating tinned food and stodgy carbs.

So if my diet was unhealthy because at that age I could barely cook and just didn't have the confidence to try cooking new things (one big worry was always that I would buy expensive ingredients, and destroy what I was trying to make so it would all be a waste and I'd be left with something inedible), despite having recipe books at my advantage, I think it gives you a good idea of why so many people living in poverty also struggle with cooking.

There are now bloggers out there, in particular Jack Monroe, who have done an absolutely incredible job of producing free resources online, as well as cookery books, on how to live on a very small budget and cook delicious, simple and healthy meals. Back then no one really produced cookery books on budget cooking, and there was little information online. And although we can tell people to just look online or buy a cookery book, what if they can't afford the internet or to buy a book? And what if libraries don't carry Jack's books? And that's before we even take into consideration those who are disabled and might struggle with cooking and utensils etc.

Ultimately, as long as it costs less to buy a pack of pasta and pack of biscuits than a box of blueberries or multiple items of vegetables to create a decent meal, obesity and unhealthy eating will always align with poverty. The government doesn't need to add calorie labels to menus, it needs to increase access to fresh and cheap fruit and vegetables, as well as accompanying proteins like meat and fish.

Despite eating far less during the challenge than I would before the challenge, the unhealthy foods I ate meant I had gained around 3-4kg (almost half a stone) by the end. Granted, this isn't a huge amount, but over time that all adds up.

What I would do differently

These days I'm a much more capable cook, and I honestly have looked back through my old blog posts and wondered what on earth I ate and how I survived. If I did the challenge again, or found myself living in poverty and struggling to put food on the table, I would absolutely use Jack's recipes to help me. Her meals all cost pennies per portion, and her recipes make it seem so easy and simple to cook. She uses a lot of tinned fruit and vegetables but turns them into decent and reasonably healthy meals!

I also seemed to buy a lot of chocolate while on the challenge, and honestly, I wouldn't take those small treats away if I had to do it again. It was something that made me happy, but I would buy own-brand chocolate instead of 60p bars. When you're living off pasta and potatoes and unable to go out and enjoy yourself with friends, buying own-brand chocolate is a small price to pay for a bit of happiness and comfort each week.

Challenge-wise, I would do many things differently. The rules would be different, it would be more thought-out as well as being more sensitive to those who genuinely have to live off just £10 a week. Despite being absolutely cringed-out by so many of those old posts, I won't be editing any of them or deleting them. They're a window into that time of my life and although embarrassing at points in their naivety and ignorance, I'm still proud that I managed to raise so much for charity and stick to it even when it got hard. I will never forget the day I could finally go shopping again. It was back in the days when leggings were fashionable (lol) and so I'd been walking around in my leggings that had holes in them, and a cardigan that was also full of holes. Buying new leggings and a cardigan were such simple things, but for the first time I felt truly grateful for my purchases.

These days I have a very good job and earn a considerable amount of income each year. It still blows my mind to look back at when I would work on a reception desk earning just over £5 an hour, and look at how far I've come. And although I've worked hard and carved out my career all by myself, much of my success has been as a direct result of the life my parents gave me and the privilege I had of just being born to parents with generational and earned wealth. Without my education, I wouldn't be where I am, and without my Dad's contacts, I wouldn't have got that first internship.

I'm still very budget-conscious and always love a good deal or offer, but am also immensely lucky that I can buy things without really worrying about the cost. A far cry from those student days, and something I like to pay forward in my charitable donations in addition to the large amount (just under 50%) of tax I pay. Recognizing and accepting our own privilege is something we need to be unafraid of, it needs to be talked about more openly and I'm not ashamed to admit that I was able to build a career because of my upbringing. But why should others, who are just as capable as I am, suffer and not be given opportunities just because they didn't have the same socio-economic (and, let's face it, white) upbringing and privileges, as me? I think this is one of the key reasons why I'm more socially liberal, and why donating to food banks and supporting charities is so important to me. We can't fix the issue all by ourselves, but we can help with our vote, our voice, and our money.

1 Year.

2011-10-07T10:47:00.002+01:00

So it's been just over a year since I started my challenge, and about 3 months since I finished it. It's crazy to think that this time last year I was living off a tenner a week to raise money for charity. And although I raised over £2000....I would never do it again. It's only now that I can look back on it and realize how stressed I was...like, crazy stressed. And I missed out on SO much! It's only been the past couple of months that I've actually gotten back into going out and having fun...and it is amazing. I didn't realize how much I missed it or took it for granted before!

I have learnt some lessons, I am still buying Sainsbury's basics range...although I treated myself to 'real' yoghurt's instead of the basics range (if you can remember my post, they weren't nice). And even though I have treated myself to new clothes, I now make sure that it's either something I NEED or it's in the sale...although I did treat myself to a new pair of Kurt Geiger shoes, which I didn't need at all...but they were on sale ;)

I look back and I still can't believe I sacrificed my living standards for NINE months, to raise money for charity. Yes it was a good thing to do, and I guess you would call it selfless, but still...I was living off rubbish. I gained 3kg from eating crap food. I couldn't go out and socialize with friends as often as most people, and I couldn't get the bus if I was tired after Uni...I had to walk. So I'm happy to admit I am glad it's over.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated, you helped me raise over £2000 for the four charities, with all of it going to VERY worthy causes!

Also I have a new blog! www.luxlife-blog.com

Royal Overseas League Article.

2011-08-26T09:17:00.002+01:00

For the past couple of years I have been a member of the Royal Overseas League. They were kind enough to write an article in their magazine (Sept-Dec issue) about my £10 a week challenge, which I received in the post yesterday. It was a great article, unfortunately they got a couple of important things wrong though...the title they put was '£10-a-day charity challenge' £10 a day - I wish haha! If you are here and reading this because the that article sent you here, then it was £10 A WEEK...not a day. It also says in there that I live with my parents...this is also wrong. I DO NOT live with my parents. I live with some friends in a house in London near our University, which we rent ourselves.

I do feel that these two vital bits of information are mis-leading....anyone can live off £10 a day, and if I lived with my parents surely I could have eaten their food?

But no, it was £10 a week (£1.50 a day), and I lived in my own rented house....so I had to buy all my food etc myself, and pay for it all myself with that £10 a week budget.

If you are here from that article, please take the time to read through my blog which will explain everything to you, and if you would like to donate you can do so by clicking on the 'Just Giving' widgets on the right hand side of this post ---------->

Updates

2011-07-01T11:56:00.004+01:00

So it's been just over 2 weeks since I finished my challenge, I'm kinda missing the whole blogging thing, and I'm actually struggling to spend a lot of money :/

I now seem to have something in my head telling me not to spend a lot of money, and to budget constantly.

It's been lovely flashing the cards around again and it's amazing to be able to go out when I want and spend money on eating out *mmmm pancakesss and smoothie*.

I am also SO glad that Coca Cola bought out their 125 year anniversary coca cola bottles AFTER I finished my challenge, because although they're only £1.99 each at Selfridges, delivery costs are £4.95! Oh...yeh...btw...I collect coca cola bottles :/ sad I know, but I love them!

So far I've raised £2029 including gift aid and offline donations. If you would like to donate please read the information below, choose which charity you would like to donate to, follow the link to the charity Just Giving page by clicking the name of the charity that's in red, and then click 'donate'. It takes less than 30 seconds to donate via Just Giving and you can do it from all over the world, using any debit or credit card, and they also accept paypal :)

HUGHES SYNDROME FOUNDATION

Hughes Syndrome causes headaches and migraines, memory loss, dizziness, strokes, heart attacks, blood clots in the arms/legs and lungs - all of which are potentially fatal. It is also a leading cause of recurrent miscarriage. We aim to achieve earlier diagnosis and treatment of Hughes Syndrome.

HOME-START GUILDFORD

Home-Start Guildford helps parents build better lives for their children. Trained volunteers provide practical and emotional support to parents with at least one child under 5, who are struggling and who may be suffering from post-natal depression, illness, disability, bereavement, isolation, multiple births... or just not coping. With your help, we can give parents the strength they need to do what has to be one of the toughest, but most rewarding jobs anyone can do. We can help them to be the mums and dads their children need them to be. Parents supporting other parents: a simple idea that really works!

TOMMY'S - THE BABY CHARITY

Tommy's funds medical research into the causes of premature birth, stillbirth and miscarriage, and provides an information service about health in pregnancy.

LUPUS UK

LUPUS UK is the only national charity supporting people with the immune system illness Lupus. It has a number of groups throughout the UK and supports over 6,000 members through these groups. It also provides funding for medical research into this life threatening and debilitating illness.

You can now donate via text!

2011-06-23T10:15:00.003+01:00

Great news! You can now donate to my Just Giving pages via text!

All you have to do is text 'TPPT70 £5' to 70070. So it's quicker and easier than ever! So no one has any excuses now...now go donate everyone who hasn't already!! I'm still over half way off my target.

Thanks :)

The Bupa 10k Results are also up;

I'VE FINISHED!!!!

2011-06-16T07:44:00.003+01:00

So it's Thursday, and I have now officially my £10 a week charity challenge! It has been a very long 9 months...9 months of eating basic food, 9 months of not buying new clothes, 9 months of wearing leggings and a cardigan full of holes, 9 months of not being able to go out whenever I want, 9 months of not being able to spend what I want when I want, 9 months of sitting in my room watching movies online, 9 months of scrounging food of parents and friends, 9 months of desperately trying to raise as much money as possible for 4 very worthwhile charities, 9 months of explaining to people what I'm doing and why, 9 months of explaining the rules and how it works to people, 9 months of basically living in poverty...oh, and running 10k in boiling hot heat through the middle of London without my asthma inhaler.

Thank goodness it's all over!

BUT

I do still need donations! My target is £4000....so far I've raised almost £1800 including gift aid and offline donations. So please please donate to these amazing charities! You can choose just one or you can donate to more than one. Every little helps, for example, if everyone on my Facebook friends list donated just £1, we would raise almost £600. And then if everyone suggested it to their friends, and all of their friends donated just £1, we would raise thousands!

So just think, if everyone on my friends list donated £10, we would raise almost £6000!!!

The two charities with the least amount of donations are Home-Start Guildford and Lupus UK, so if you would like to donate please donate to these two first;

Home-Start Guildford Just Giving Page

Lupus UK Just Giving Page

So here is my very last budget list;

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Budget:

£2.99 - Pot of Raspberries - M&S

£3.50 - Salad - M&S

£1.50 - 2 chocolate bars - M&S

Total = £7.99

Final thoughts:

Would I ever live off a tenner a week again? Um...if I had a choice...No. It was hard. And there were times I felt like I really couldn't do it any more, but each time I felt that I just thought of the charities and why I was doing it.

Was it worth doing? Yes. It was rewarding and taught me the values of budgeting. I now know of ways to save money when shopping (using vouchers is a main one!), and I now understand when I want something compared to when I actually NEED something. So I won't be making the mistake I did in my first year of Uni where I spent money so needlessly.

Would I recommend it to others? Yes, but not for the same amount of time. It would be good to do for a month or two, just to teach people the values of budgeting and learning what you need compared to just what you want. 9 months was a huge challenge, and a very difficult one. It tests you and pushes you to your limits and is also unhealthy - I gained 3kg during the challenge because I was eating awful foods...I can't wait to buy loads of fresh fruit and veg!

So I guess this is the end. I will post more updates on how I'm finding it living off a 'normal' budget, and also how I'm getting on with the sponsorship donations. But for now, I'm off to buy some new leggings and a new cardigan so I no longer look like a tramp. Toodles x

1 WEEK TODAY!

2011-06-09T20:27:00.002+01:00

I FINISH 1 WEEK TODAYYY!! WOO!

Just had to share that with y'all :)

I've raised almost £1800 so far, but with a target of £4000 (£1000 for each charity) I've still got a way to go yet! If you would like to donate please CLICK HERE and choose a charity to donate to. And remember you can donate to more than 1 if you feel generous ;)

10k Run and only 2 weeks left!

2011-06-06T17:37:00.008+01:00

So I only have 2 weeks left of my £10 a week challenge! Woo!

Chris and I went back to Uni for a couple of days last week so we had to get some shopping in. Lol we went to ASDA and Chris kept putting things in the trolley that went over my £10 limit (seriously...as if I was gonna spend over £3 on Jack Daniels sauce!) so he was getting kinda annoyed when I kept making him put things back. In the end he got so fed up he just bought his own food. My Aunty later pointed out that we should have done a £20 budget instead of £10 because there were two of us.

My mum and I did the 10k run in aid of Tommy's last Monday. They were handing out free lucozade and snacks so I got loads :P

It was so tough, It was boiling hot and they only had one water station at around 3k's. I had to stop at the paramedic station half way round for a puff of someone else's asthma inhaler because I left mine at home :/ oops.

It was an amazing experience though and it was for such a good cause. Whenever I was slowing down and felt like giving up, there would be someone there cheering us on and it made me remember exactly why I was doing it. We raised over £400 for Tommy's - the baby charity, and are welcoming as many donations as possible for this amazing cause.

Tommy's research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth and provide help and support to those who have been affected. With 1 in 4 women losing a baby to miscarriage or stillbirth, everyone will know someone who has lost a child.

From my £10 a week challenge and the 10k run I have raised £1772.61! We're almost half way to my target of £4000, so please please keep donating :) It's for four very good causes!

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Budget:

£2.50 - 8 tins of tuna - ASDA

£2.50 - Lasagne dish - ASDA

£1.66 - Chicken breasts with a tomato and pepper sauce - ASDA

£0.50 - Carrot batons - ASDA

£1.00 - Mushrooms - ASDA

£0.60 - Chocolate - Work

£0.50 - Crisps - Work

Total = £9.26

Center Parcs

2011-06-02T14:44:00.005+01:00

23rd May - 29th May 2011

This week me, my boyfriend, my best friend, her partner and my god-daughter all went on holiday together to Center Parcs at Sherwood Forest. We got a really good deal and Chris wanted to go away somewhere so he offered to pay my share...obviously I agreed! Turn down a free holiday? I don't think so! It only cost about £400 for 4 adults and an infant for 4 nights in an executive lodge! Bargain!!

We had a fantastic week and it was great to catch up with Anna, Allan and baby Rosie. She's so gorgeous, and a complete joy to be around. And she's REALLY good...she only ever cries when she's hungry or tired!

We spent loads of time in the pool (it's free :P) which Rosie loved, and then we also went on a boat ride (which she also loved...until it got cold...).

There are some photos at the bottom :)

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Budget:

£3.00 - boat ride - Center Parcs

£2.75 - My share of the huge ice-cream sundae at Hucks

Total = £5.75

Me and my beautiful God-daughter Rosie

The boys cooking our BBQ

Rosie loving the pool!

Me and Anna with the huuuuge ice cream sundae at Hucks that we all treated ourselves to :)

it only cost £11 for all 4 of us!

London

2011-06-02T14:34:00.002+01:00

16th May - 22nd May 2011

This week I got treated to lunch and the cinema by my boyfriend, and then we went to London, so I paid for my own ticket :P which used up most of my budget! We did heaps of free stuff when we got up there, we walked everywhere and went all over the place. Chris was really mean and took me into Harrods and up Oxford Street...but obviously I couldn't buy anything, which was very frustrating.

This week also marked 1 month until I finish!! Only 1 month left! I can't believe I've been doing this for 8 months...it's actually gone pretty quick :/

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Budget:

£8.80 - Train ticket

£0.60 - Chocolate - Work

Total = £9.40

FREEE!

2011-06-02T14:22:00.004+01:00

9th May - 15th May 2011

So I am now officially free from Uni! It is now officially the summer holidays! I had my last exam on Friday 13th :) And my boyfriend Chris arrived from Australia the day before on the 12th (which means I get to go out for dinner for free :P) so I'm now super happy that he's here and exams are over :) wooo!

After my final exam I went for lunch with the girls at Loco's, th

e Uni bar. They do the nicest food everrr and its super cheap!

Oh, you're also probably wondering why I've hardly brought shampoo/conditioner and deodorant this year haha...I had heaps of points on my boots card so I've been using them all up...I only have a couple of hundred left now from the thousands I had when I started :(

BUT I did buy some Frizz Ease hair product from Sainsbury's the other day because it was in the clearance section reduced from £5 or something! I even got a photo :)

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Budget:

£4.00 - Lunch - Loco's

£0.60 - Chocolate - Work

£1.00 - Hot chocolate - Work

£2.30 - Frizz Ease hair product - Sainsbury's

Total = £7.90

Figs!!

2011-06-02T14:08:00.005+01:00

2nd May - 8th May 2011

So after months of searching and waiting, ASDA FINALLY do tinned figs in syrup! Yummyyyy!!! I got 2 tins :) they're only 80p each! Was so excited when I saw them on the shelf...which is kinda sad. But hey, that has what my life has become from living on a shoestring...getting excited about cheap but yummy food.

Now that I'm back home for the summer I'm not spending money on food, so hopefully I might be able to treat myself a bit :) I'm back at Uni ever so often just for a night or so, which is why I got the spaghetti and meatballs...I'm lazy and couldn't be bothered to cook.

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Budget:

£1.60 - 2 tins of figs - ASDA

£1.30 - Spaghetti and meatballs - Tesco

£0.60 - Chocolate - Chocolate from work

£5.00 - DVD - HMV

Total = £8.50

Healthy start :)

2011-06-02T13:59:00.003+01:00

25th-1st April 2011

I was determined to have a healthy week, so I went into Sainsos and just went straight to the things on my list. I didnt go anywhere near the cookies or chocolate! Unfortunately my healthy week only lasted a week.... :/

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Budget:

£1.00 - Carrot Batons - Sainburys

£1.35 - Rye bread - Sainsburys

£1.89 - Basics chicken slices - Sainsburys

£1.39 - Basics Avocado x 4 - Sainsburys

£0.65 - Wheatbran breadsticks - Sainsburys

Total = £6.28

My Birthday!

2011-04-27T12:55:00.003+01:00

Well last Monday (April 18th) was my 20th birthday! I feel old...and my boyfriend was so lovely as to remind me I'm half way to being 40...

Anyway, my mum took me and my brother (dad was working) to Portsmouth (gunwharf quays) for the day, where all I bought was foundation, seeing as mine had just run out. Then we went out for a family dinner in the evening which was lovely, aand after that I went out into town with the girls :) I was on tap water but then i was bought something a bit stronger lol!

Apart from working I've been trying...note...trying...to study for my exam next week. I can't do it. I hate exams...I'm awful under pressure and can never remember anything I've learnt. I just freeze as soon as I enter the room and my brain becomes a big foggy mess!

Oh, and we also finished the Wave Stone advert! So I will put that up when the website goes live next month :)

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Budget:

£9.29 - Foundation - Boots

Total = £9.29

Easter holidays!

2011-04-21T09:20:00.002+01:00

Well....I can't remember what I spent last week. I have a weird feeling I didn't spend any money...I can't remember handing over any cash, and I've checked my bank statements to see if I used my card at all and I haven't used it for weeks :/ Confused!!

So I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait until I remember for the budget section!

All I did last week was work, go running, and edit The Wave Stone advert...hmm...*trying to remember what I spent money on*

Usually I write it all down in a notebook...but for some reason I didn't last week...which also makes me wonder if I spent anything!

Well, apart from apparently not spending any money, I'm enjoying the Easter Holidays and being back home :) home comforts are good. And it was my birthday on Monday...but I will tell you about that in next weeks post.

OH! I just remembered!! I bought a bag of dried figs for £1.38 from Tesco's! And I had lunch with a friend on the day we were editing :)

I can't remember exactly how much lunch cost...I just remember it was under £5...so I'll just put it down as £5.

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Budget:

£1.38 - 250g Dried Figs - Tesco

£5.00 - Lunch - Uni Canteen

Total = £6.38

The Wave Stone

2011-04-13T19:08:00.005+01:00

So because I'm back at home for the Easter Holidays, I've been able to spend money on things others than food for my fridge! I went out for dinner with a couple of friends last week, we went to Zizzi's and used a voucher :) With the voucher we shared a starter (dough sticks - yummmmyy), and then I had a pizza...with extra avocado :P We stuck to tap water, so the bill with the voucher only came to £8 each! I worked quite a bit last week, and then I also filmed an advert with a friend (I directed, she filmed) for the new 'Wave Stone' product that's being released next month :) we're now in the process of editing. So I will keep you all updated on that! You can also get updates by joining the Wave Stone facebook page - clickon the following link; facebook.com/wavestone (Yes it looks really dodgy...but I promise it's a massage stone. And strictly for external use only.)

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Budget:

£1.89 - Lunch at work

£8.00 - Dinner with friends

Total = £9.89

Alex Rider - The Final Chapter

2011-04-01T12:04:00.005+01:00

28th March - 3rd April

So since I was about 11 years old I've been really into a book series called the 'Alex Rider' series. Some of you may have read the books. Like Harry Potter, I've grown up with the books. Each year I've waited patiently for the next one to come out, bought the new book as soon as it was released, and then stopped whatever I was doing or had planned to read it. A lot of people grow out of books, but I became so hooked on these that I never grew out of them, I just grew up with them :)

So my excitement at seeing the new book advertised in Waterstones last week, turned to sadness as I realized it was the last one. It was half price if I pre-ordered it so instead of £6.99 it was £3.49. And I even got another free book with it!

I went to pick it up last Thursday morning, as soon as it came into store, and nearly started crying as the guy handed it to me...all I could think was, 'this is the very last time I will buy one of these books...my childhood has ended'.

The Harry Potter books finished a couple of years back when I still considered myself a 'child', but with my 20th birthday coming up in a couple of weeks....I just couldn't help but feel like my childhood was officially over. It's strange how a character in a book can have such a huge influence on your life. My mum got me started on the books when I was certain I wanted to work for MI5 when I was older....the books actually changed my mind, as I realized I could never be a secret agent when I was terrified of heights!

But from the very first chapter of 'Stormbreaker', I was well and truly hooked. The only negative about the books is they all have different covers, instead of being continuous...which really annoys me, because then they don't look good on my bookshelf.

I have all 9 books proudly displayed on my book shelf;

Stormbreaker,

Point Blanc,

Skeleton Key,

Eagle Strike,

Scorpia,

Ark Angel,

Snakehead,

Crocodile Tears,

Scorpia Rising

I finished the book on Saturday - it was amazing. And so sad. I won't give away any spoilers lol. But I'm glad it had a 'sort of' happy ending :)

Also, my mum and I ran/walked 2.9 miles last week! It took us 40 minutes, and we ran half and walked half :) So that's half way to the 6 miles (10k) we need to do at the end of May. We did ruin it afterwards though...my mum treated me to a Burger King :/

How could I say no!? I haven't been able to afford a Burger King since last summer because it's so expensive now!

The rest of the week I basically worked full time at the Spectrum, as it's now the Easter Holidays!! So I'll be at home even more :)

I didn't actually do anything else last week apart from work :( how sad!

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Budget:

£2.41 - Dinner at work

£0.89 - Ice cream - Wimpy

£3.49 - Book - Waterstones

Total = £6.79

Bowling and ASDA!

2011-04-01T11:50:00.004+01:00

Oh wow. I can't remember what I did last week. Umm...ok, freaking out.

Well I remember going to ASDA for my food shopping...aaaand, oh yeh and I went into town and wandered round looking longingly into shop windows. But I did get some gifts, which cheered me up...even though the items aren't for me. And then I had work, and Uni, and the rest of the time I walked the dog, went running and watched movies lol! Oh yeh and I went bowling with the work crew! Because we work at the Gym in Guildford Spectrum, we get bowling for only £1 per person per game, and we had 2 games, so that only cost £2, which suited my budget very nicely :) so I had a lovely evening out with everyone.

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Budget:

£1.86 - Bag of grated cheese - ASDA

£1.33 - Chicken Korma with rice - ASDA

£2.00 - BBQ Chicken Pizza - ASDA

£2.00 - 2 games of bowling - Guildford Spectrum

£0.89 - Ice cream - Wimpy

£1.00 - Weight Watchers cookies (x18) - Poundland

Total = £9.08

Comic Relief Week

2011-03-23T18:50:00.006+00:00

So last week was Red Nose Day (Comic Relief)...this has absolutely nothing to do with my challenge...I didn't even watch it because I was working all night, but I did see this video. Peter Kay and Susan Boyle. Awesome. Fantastic. Hilarious. Amazing.

I love Peter Kay so much...he NEVER disappoints! Everything he does is incredibly funny and has my rolling on the floor clutching my stomach from laughter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQhCiGZupcU

So anyway, last week I had to re-stock my fridge (£6.51 to fill it), which ate up most of my budget :( But I did have some money left over to buy myself an ice cream at work, and also a bar of chocolate :P Which I shouldn't have done...but I've been working so much lately I needed it.

Last week not a lot happened...I just worked a lot and went to Uni.

I've posted a photo of Eric Elephants below my budget, so you can all see them and go buy them...they're amazing. They're the same as M&S's Percy Pigs, but instead of being £1.29 or something stupid, they're only 39p and taste even better!

Also, I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated the past couple of weeks! I'm so overwhelmed by people's generosity and so grateful. A couple of hours ago we hit the £1000 mark! So we're a quarter of the way there :)

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Budget:

£0.76 - Bag of 7 pears - Sainsos

£0.45 - Milk - Sainsos

£0.59 - Crumpets - Sainsos

£1.00 - 2 Bags of 5 cookies (so 10 in total)...they were doing buy 1 get 1 free!!! - Sainsos

£0.29 - 4 Basics Fruit Yoghurts - Sainsos

£1.33 - Box of 5 Cheez Dippers - Sainsos

£1.00 - 5 bananas - Sainsos

£0.70 - 4 Baking Potatoes - Sainsos

£0.39 - Eric Elephants - Sainsos

£0.89 - Ice Cream - Wimpy's

£0.60 - Chocolate - Work vending machine

= £8.00

Fed up with living off a tenner a week

2011-03-14T16:29:00.006+00:00

So I guess I told you about my most exciting event from last week in my previous blog post. I got 2 books for a total of £5.10 from British Bookshops in their closing down sale! So I'm afraid I haven't got much else to tell you, other than the training for the Bupa 10k is going...ok. I'm still having problems with my bum jiggling when I run...and my asthma's been playing up, so I'm off to get a new inhaler tomorrow :)

Also I'm a bit worried because I've been getting chest pains and heart palpitations/flutters?! It's really annoying and uncomfortable! Hmm...I'll ask the doc when I go to get my inhaler tomorrow. Also I'm really annoyed that my blog has all of a sudden stopped letting me use paragraphs...it's quite happy to let me have paragraphs when I'm writing or editing a post...bt when I publish it it ignores my paragraphs and bunches it all together :(

I've also been finding it really difficult to not spend money...and I'm kinda getting fed up with this whole living off £10 a week thing. I miss things like going to concerts, getting my eyebrows done (personally I love it and I actually find it a relaxing 10minute luxury for me), going out for dinner with friends, or going into London whenever I want. I've discovered I can buy books with my budget, and I guess if I really wanted I could go to Primark for cheap clothes...but to be honest I have so many clothes I just don't need any new ones at the moment so I'm still wearing what I bought a year or two ago. So it's more the big 'looking forward' to things and events I miss. I'm just bored with everything right now and need something to look forward to.

Good news - so far I've raised £922.58 including gift aid.

Big thanks this week to Adam Read for his very generous donation, and also Nick and Karen Chapman.

Also, last week I watched a TV programme called '23 Week Babies -The Price of Life'...it literally reduced me to tears...I was bawling my eyes out! It's on BBC iplayer for you to watch, and even if you just watch the first 10 minutes it will make you realize why we need to raise money for Tommy's. We need to help Tommy's raise money so they can carry out research to try and prevent babies from being born so early to give them a better chance of survival.

You can only watch it in the next couple of days though before it's 7 days is up and it gets taken off iplayer.

Watch '23 Week Babies - The Price of Life' here.

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Budget:

£2.10 - Book

£3.00 - Book

£0.60 - Chocolate Bar

£0.80 - Special K Bar

= £6.50

World Book Night

2011-03-08T13:04:00.011+00:00

This week has been brilliant! I've got so many new books...and they only cost me £5.10! On Sunday at Waterstones they were giving out FREE books for their World Book Night 2011...I got two, 'Agent ZigZag' and 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. And then today British Bookshops had 70% off all books because they're closing down this Thursday due to Administration. So I was very excited to find a clothbound hardcover puffin classic of Peter Pan, for only £3 reduced from £10! And it's RRP is £12.99! So I basically got £10 off it. And then I also got a Nicholas Sparks book 'A Message in a Bottle'. They came to a total of £5.10 so I'm even considering going back in tomorrow to see what else I can find! I'm spending the majority of this week at home anyway so I'm tempted just to spend my whole £10 budget on books. Anyway, so that's this week. But last week I didn't spend anything on food either because again I was home all week. I'm getting so lazy with being at Uni, so the only way I actually go out running and training for our 10k run is with my Mum dragging me out of the house every night. I really need to get the balance right between living at Uni AND training by going out running. I think I'm just gonna have to get the girls to drag me out the house and lock me out to make me run. I just don't really fancy running around Hillingdon and Uxbridge...I'm kinda scared my trainers will get nicked :/ Basically I need to start living at Uni again and spending money on food...coz I kinda feel guilty not doing that :S I've just been really down the past few weeks about not being able to treat myself and spend any money...so it's been nice spending money on myself for once instead of on food. Also, do you think I should include charity donations in my £10 a week budget!? I'll put a new poll up so you can all decide... Here's a couple of photos of my new books and my very pretty Peter Pan book :) So anyway, last week's budget was;

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Budget:

£5.00 - I sponsored my friend Ross who ran the Bath Half in aid of MERGE
£0.60 - A pack of Mentos
£1.10 - Car Park fee

= £6.70

Annual Family Holiday - Egypt

2011-02-28T13:23:00.006+00:00

So last week was our annual family holiday, and this year we went to Taba, Egypt for the week. It was all-inclusive pretty much 24 hours a day....so lets just say I made the most of it...and gained 1kg in the process :P

I did stick to my £10 budget while I was there though and only bought a cute little wooden and mother of pearl box and I managed to haggle (how amazing is haggling!!!) and got the guy to throw in a couple of postcards for free so I didn't go over my budget :)

It really was a magical holiday and I'm so grateful to my parents for taking us there. It was so exotic and 'Arabian'...like something out of Aladdin! We stayed at the Sofitel Taba Heights which was one of the most beautiful hotels ever...it was set right in between the Sinai mountains and the Gulf of Aquaba, looking out over Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

I was really worried at first with the revolution going on in Cairo, but when we got to the resort I couldn't believe how quiet it was! There were only British people there because all of the Europeans had left, so the hotel only had a 35% occupancy. We were talking to the waiters in the restaurant and they were saying because we were in the Sinai region there were no troubles there...they even consider it a different country! Our Assad (our waiter who served us every mealtime the whole time we were there), said that it wasn't considered the real Egypt because it used to belong to Israel.

The staff at the hotel were sooooo nice and couldn't do enough for us! We also made the trip to St Catherine's Monastery and the Burning Bush in the Sinai Mountains, which was so surreal and as a Christian I felt so honoured to be able to see where Moses had actually spoken to God and received the 10 commandments. Just to be standing where Moses had stood thousands of years ago, to actually walk around a Monastery and view Icons that were thousands of years old! They also still have the relics of St Catherine there, and her thumb is actually on display! I understand some of you may not be as excited by all this as my Dad and I were...which is fair enough lol :P

It was also amazing seeing the Bedouin people and seeing how they live. Some of them still live in Caves in the mountains and travel around the desert with their camels and tents.

We also went swimming/snorkelling in the Red Sea and it was like swimming in a fish tank, the coral and fish were incredible! Really wish I had an underwater camera...but couldn't buy one before we went because of my £10 budget :(

If you ever get the chance to go there, DO! Ignore the warnings about the troubles and just do it, you won't regret it. It really was the most amazing place.

I really really want to go travelling around the Middle East now (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia etc). It's just like a completely different world to ours.

My brother, mum and I at St Catherine's Monastery

St Catherine's Monastery....yes I climbed a mountain to take this photo.

Bedouin People at St Catherine's

A camel that we thought looked a bit like our puppy dog Dylan

The Red Sea by our Hotel

Half Way!!

2011-02-28T13:14:00.003+00:00

Apart from officially hitting the half way mark, It was a pretty boring week. This was the week before we went to Egypt so I spent most of the week at home packing, helping sort out the house, helping mum with last minute things and working. Basically all I spent was about £3 on my lunch at work, I decided to treat myself to a Costa Coffee pannini....lets just say it wasn't the best customer service I've ever experienced. So I complained to head office...much to the Manager's annoyance. Anyway, I won't go into details but lets just say I won't be eating there again.

Oh and I also bought Easter Eggs for my family.

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Budget:

£3.00 (ish) - Lunch at Costa Coffee

£4.00 - Easter Eggs

= £7.00

I can't remember!

2011-02-17T16:19:00.003+00:00

Wow...I can't even remember what I did last week :/ how bad is that!! I know I didn't do a lot...hmm...

Ok then, so I'll move onto what I spent and then I'll edit this part when I finally remember what I actually did.

____________________________________________________

Budget: 59p - Crumpets - Sainsburys

50p - Basics Natural Yoghurt - Sainsburys

£1.00 - White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies - Sainsburys

£1.00 - tin of Rice pudding and a tin of Custard (buy 2 for £1) - Sainsburys

45p - Milk - Sainsburys

72p - Basics Tomatoes - Sainsburys

73p - Ground Cinnamon - Sainsburys

36p - Tangerine Jelly - Sainsbury's

9p - Basics Strawberry Jelly - Sainsbury's

£1.00 - Bananas - Sainsburys

50p - Car Park fee

£3.05 - I sponsored Emma Sheppherd to run the London Marathon

= £9.99

Letter to people without chronic pain - Lupus & Hughes Syndrome

2011-02-09T21:25:00.001+00:00

This letter was posted on the Hughes Syndrome Foundation Facebook page. It is a letter to people WITHOUT chronic pain. Lupus and Hughes Syndrome both give sufferers chronic pain. Please take the time
to read this. It is important.

Claudine Goze-Weber
LETTER TO PEOPLE WITHOUT CHRONIC PAIN

'Having chronic pain means many
things change, and a lot of them are invisible. Unlike having cancer or being
hurt in an accident, most people do not understand even a little about chronic
pain and its effects, and of those who think they know, many are acutally
misinformed.

In the spirit of informing those who wish to understand,
these are the things that I would like you to understand about me before you
judge me....

Please understand that being sick doesn't mean I'm not still
a human being. I have to spend most of my day in considerable pain and
exhaustion, and if you visit, sometimes I probably don't seem like much fun to
be with, but I'm still me--stuck inside this body. I still worry about school,
family, my friends, and most of the time, I'd still like to hear you talk about
yours too.

Please understand the difference between "happy" and
"healthy". When you've got the flu, you probably feel miserable with it, but
I've been sick for years. I can't be miserable all the time. In fact, I work
hard at not being miserable. So, if you're talking to me and I sound happy, it
means I'm happy. That's all. It doesn't mean that I'm not in a lot of pain, or
extremely tired, or that I'm getting better, or any of those things. Please
don't say, "Oh, you're sounding better!" or "but you look so healthy!" I am
merely coping. I am sounding happy and trying to look normal. If you want to
comment on that, you're welcome.

Please understand that being able to
stand up for ten minutes doesn't necessarily mean that I can stand up for twenty
minutes, or an hour. Just because I managed to stand up for thirty minutes
yesterday doesn't mean that I can do the same today. With a lot of diseases
you're either paralyzed, or you can move. With this one, it gets more confusing
every day. It can be like a yo-yo. I never know from day to day, how I am going
to feel when I wake up. In most cases, I never know from minute to minute. That
is one of the hardest and most frustrating components of chronic
pain.

Please repeat the above paragraph sustituting, "sitting",
"walking", "thinking", "concentrating", "being social" and so on....it applies
to everything. Thats what chronic pain does to you.

Please understand
that chronic pain is variable. It's quite possible (for many, it's common) that
one day I am able to walk to the park and back, while the next day I'll have
trouble getting to the next room. Please don't attack me when I'm ill by saying
"But you did it before!" or "Oh, come on, I know you can do this!" If you want
me to do something, then ask if I can.

In a similar vein, I may need to
cancel a previous commitment at the last minute. If this happens, please do not
take it personally. If you are able, please try to always remember how very
lucky you are--to be physically able to do all of the things that you can
do.

Please understand that "getting out and doing things" does not make
me feel better and can often make me seriously worse. You don't know what I go
through or how I suffer in my own private time. Telling me that I need to
exercise or "do seomthing to get my mind off of it" may frustrate me to tears
and is not correct. If I was capable of doing some things any or all of the
time, don't you know that I would? I am working with my doctor and I am doing
what I am supposed to do.

Another statement that hurts is, "You just need
to push yourself more, try harder..." Obviously, chronic pain can deal with the
whole body, or be localized to specific areas. Sometimes participating in a
single activity for a short or a long period of time can cause more damage and
physical pain that you could ever imagine.

Not to mention the recovery
time, which can be intense. You can't always read it on my face or in my body
language. Also, chronic pain may cause secondary depression (wouldn't you get
depressed and down if you were hurting constantly for months or years?), but it
is not created by depression.

Please understand that if I say I have to
sit down/lie down/stay in bed/or take these pills now, that probably means I
have to do it right now - it can't be put off or forgetten just because I'm
somewhere, or am right in the middle of doing something. Chronic pain does not
forgive, nor does it wait for anyone.

If you want to suggest a cure to
me, please don't. It's not because I don't appreciate the thought and it's not
because I don't want to get well. Lord knows that isn't true. In all likelihood,
if you've heard of it or tried it, so have I. In some cases, I have been made
sicker, not better. This can involve side effects or allergic reactions. It also
includes failure, which in and of itself can make me feel even lower.

If
there were something that cured, or even helped people with my form of chronic
pain, then we'd know about it. There is a worldwide network (both on and off the
internet) between people with chronic pain. If something worked, we would know.
It's definitely not for lack of trying. If, after reading this, you still feel
the need to suggest a cure, then so be it. I may take what you said and discuss
it with my doctor.

If I seem touchy, it's probably because I am. It's not
how I try to be. As a matter of fact, I try very hard to be normal. I hope you
will try to understand. I have been, and am still, going through a lot. Chronic
pain is hard for you to understand unless you have had it. It wreaks havoc on
the body and the mind. It is exhausting and exasperating.

Almost all of
the time,I know that I am doing my best to cope with this and live my life to
the best of my ability. I ask you to bear with me, and accept me as I am. I know
that you cannot literally understand my situation unless you have been in my
shoes, but as much as is possible, I am asking you to try to be understanding in
general.

In many ways, I depend on you - people who are not sick. I need
you to visit me when I am too sick to go out...Sometimes I need your help with
the shopping, cooking or cleaning. I may need you to take me to the doctor or to
the store. You are my link to the normalcy of life. You can help me to keep in
touch with the parts of life that I miss and fully intend to undertake again,
just as soon as I am able.
I know that I asked a lot from you and I do thank
you for listening, it really does mean a lot.'