Sarah's Diary

Week 1

When I first moved to London it took me a while to get registered with temping agencies and get enough work to do more than cover basic expenses.  I guess it was a couple of months until I moved out of a friends where the rent was cheap for the box room and got a room in a shared flat.  Even then it felt quite insecure temping, and the flat that I could afford had big drawbacks.  Although I had savings which I had to rely on to begin with I was very wary about going through these too quickly when I didn’t know how long I would need to last.  I guess my weekly budget for quite a while was similar to what I will be on now.  In fact, when I used the CAP calculator my weekly disposable income turned out to be £83.  Either I had calculated it wrongly, or this is just due to my fixed expenses being small in relation to my actual income.  So I worked it out again, based on the fixed costs I had at that time, living in a grotty basement flat etc.  I reckon that £50 a week is a fairer reflection on what I would have to spend each week if I could actually put up with that flat now.

Ash Wednesday
I have to admit that a certain amount of preparation went on for Lent this year: a shopping trip on Shrove Tuesday to buy a couple of presents.  Admittedly, one I should have sent a few days ago anyway, and the other was just reacting very quickly to the news of my new nephew.

Money-wise I was unaffected today in that I had enough in the fridge to last one more day, and since I was singing in church tonight I would not have spent any money in any case.  The only change was getting up early to make my sandwiches.  This is something I have periodically tried to be more disciplined about.  I’ve never lasted more than two weeks of that regime before, so I’ll see how I get on.

I also made a rough list of expenses I know I have coming up: a wedding to go to and present to buy, a haircut, a conference I want to go to.  I will have to be organised to make sure that I can manage these expenses, although none of them are big enough in themselves that I would need to think twice about them normally.

Thursday 26^th February
I set a food budget for £20 per week, but in fact I should be able to cut this down a bit by going to the Turkish supermarket down the road instead of to Sainbury’s.  They stock most of what I need, but it means shopping takes a bit longer with a longer walk back.

Friday 27^th February
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to cover my train fair home for Easter unless I started saving now.  Fortunately, I have discovered that the coach is half the price, and, since there are engineering works on the trains, only takes one and a half hours longer in any case.  I will still need to be very careful if I am going to cover the wedding present for Richard, which I need to pay for next week.

All this careful planning had made it seem as if the challenge might not be so difficult after all, particularly since this week has been a quiet one anyway.  With choir three nights out of seven because of Ash Wednesday I haven’t had to think about not spending money very much.  I guess it began to hit home that it might not be as easy as I thought when a friend I haven’t seen for a while invited me to the theatre.  It is a show I would really like to see, and a good chance to catch up.  The tickets aren’t actually too expensive, so I think I will go.

Saturday 28^th February
I doubt if today would have been much different even if it wasn’t Lent because I have been quite lazy recently organising to see people at the weekends.

Before I started this challenge I decided that one thing I would need to cut out was the snacking while I am in town.  Despite obviously taking sandwiches with me, you can’t plan for exactly how long you will be gone, and so you get hungry.  I realised today, I don’t usually get to the point of actually being hungry without buying something to eat.

And another thing I had forgotten about not having any money is walking past lots of shops and cafes that you can’t even go into.  With my regular income there are of course shops I would never go into except by mistake, and then it’s embarrassing and you have to pretend to be looking at something and then scoot out as quickly as possible.  But where before there were only the elite shops which were really totally out of my league, now it is the majority of shops and cafes which either I can’t afford to go to, or I don’t want to be tempted in and spend the money I have put aside for phoning my sister, or the wedding present etc.

Since I didn’t have anything to do, I ended up walking a beggar round to the hostel and giving him the money for a few nights.  I wouldn’t be able to afford this out of my weekly allowance, so I am calling this charitable giving.  I’ll work out later whether I want to take some out of this out of the weekly allowance.  Anyway, it seemed wrong not to help when it is so freezing at the moment.  What I hadn’t banked on was nearly an hour’s walk and getting chatting, which gives makes things uncomfortable, since it brings up the question of how involved you want to get in someone’s life.  But quite apart from that, it made me realise that, because this challenge is actually possible, it’s easy to feel very proud that you managed.  Rather than increasing sympathy, you could even end up wondering why other people can’t.  Talking to someone who has rather more than their spiritual well-being at stake, does put it into perspective.

Sunday 29^th February
Church this morning and then half the afternoon spent e-mailing.  I wasn’t sure if I was cheating here, because I know that before a recent pay rise I could never have afforded internet access at home.  But I was mainly doing voluntary work, which was impractical from internet cafes to the point that I never contributed much.  The cost is pretty similar at home or at the café, since I’m on pay as you go.

We also pay our BT line rental and then for me just £2.50 a month to have free off-peak calls.  I spent more of the afternoon and evening on the phone, both to my sister in Africa on a cheap phone card and various UK calls.

Monday 1^st March
Proverbs  14:31
To oppress the weak insults the Creator; Kindness to the needy honours the Creator.

Tuesday 2^nd March
The end of the week and I have the twenty five pounds left over that I owe Mum for my share in a friend’s wedding present, but only by watching literally every penny.  Hopefully next week I will be able to ease off a little because already I am fed up with my own company in the evenings.  I’d like to be able to go out a couple of times.

Wednesday 3^rd March
A week in and I am sick of having to plan everything and of my own company.  So I have arranged to see a few people.  Just working out roughly how much I could spend on a couple of drinks or some food means that I will have to be just as careful as last week on the daily expenses.  I thought I would be able to ease off a bit with that big expense out of the way.  Looks as if I will have to put the hair cut off.  I should try and put aside a few pounds each week in case anything crops up.  At the moment there isn’t much slack.

Suddenly all the food in Sainsbury’s looked so appealing today when I went in to get a loaf of bread.  It is crazy because what I have actually been buying food wise isn’t so different from usual apart from cutting out bought sandwiches and snacks.  I guess it’s not being able to treat yourself with food, or at least not without knowing that something else might have to give.

Sunday 7^th March
A bit of a gap in the diary because of a night out on Friday and then ending up staying at a friend’s on Saturday night.

Since then some contradictory thoughts have occurred to me.  Firstly, that despite there being a certain tension in having to avoid normal habits and constantly stop myself getting things I might want, there is a freedom in having this imposed restriction.  Certainly it means you have to work out very carefully what your priorities are; I can’t afford to drink and buy some of the presents I need to get people, or save time with ready meals and phone my sister in Tanzania.  Although usually I have enough disposable income not to need to think about money all the time, my spending priorities don’t tend to reflect where I like to think my real values lie.  I had never sat down and thought this through before, or planned my budget for different parts of life.

But thinking again about the text for the week, about not worrying about the future in material terms.  It is much easier to do this, or to think you are doing this, when you don’t have much money.  One of the freedoms of this challenge is that it takes away the fear a bit of losing what you have, realising that it is difficult, but possible to cut back.  At the same time, I am realising how many of the things I pride myself on are only actually possible because of having more than I need.  Being an ethical consumer, or giving to charity are like a badge of pride in some circles.  On this minimum wage budget, those choices aren’t taken away from you totally (for example I got a week’s worth of organic vegetables from the farmers’ market for less than ordinary stuff in Sainsbury’s) but they are certainly greatly reduced.

And then I have to say on Saturday night I forgot all about the challenge for perhaps the longest time so far.  I had gone round to a friend’s to discuss things to do with a charity we both volunteer for.  A chat turned into supper, which turned into staying the night.  Of course it helps that the friend has a big house with a spare room, but I didn’t feel like it was cheating.  Unlike when a friend took me out for dinner in a restaurant, I could repay this evening.  Having less money makes you realise how important these friendships are because you can’t fill empty time with shopping or going for drinks with people unless you really want to see them.  Having a social life that revolves round pubs and restaurants makes it almost impossible to sustain friendships with people in a different income bracket too, as I realised after leaving college.

I spent more on food this week, although I should have some to carry me through to next week.  But I still should have ten pounds over since I don’t have anything planned for Monday or Tuesday.  This is quite a relief since I have an expensive week next week.  I’m showing some Russian charity workers around London and I reckon I will need £20, maybe more if we eat in town. 

Wednesday
Just when I felt that I had got used to my new budget, adjusting my habits and not having to think quite so much about what I could fit into it, along comes the phone bill.  I was proud of myself that I had saved £10 last week because I have visitors this weekend that I need to show round London, which could be expensive.  And now this and more will go on the phone bill.

I hadn’t realised either how being paid weekly rather than monthly affects your thinking and how flexible you can be with larger expenses.  On the one hand you have to think ahead because even an extra £15 can catch you out, on the other it is quite a struggle to save even ten pounds in the week.

I know for example that I should go to the dentist soon but, even though I never usually need work doing, I don’t think I could afford a check-up.  Any exceptional expense such as several prescriptions to pick up at the same time would mean cutting expenses down to the absolute essential, just food really once the rent is paid. 

I’m also realising that I can’t afford to use some of the ways I used to save money, like bulk buying or taking advantage of two for one offers.  It is very easy for shopping bills to shoot up when you get carried away with these offers.