Tock!

[j4]

Time passes. More stuff gets done.

Supermarket success: one bag of Taste the Difference Jersey new potatoes for only 60p in the end-bin, which will do nicely for lunches; a sweetheart cabbage (also reduced) and some bacon for dinner (a cabbage, bacon & cheese bake which we ended up combining with the leftover pasta, and very nice it was too if I do say so myself); and some little pears (reduced -- spot the pattern) as snack-food for work. Didn't impulse-buy anything unless you count the pears, and that's really to save me buying less healthy and more expensive things later.

I've been slipping a little on the not-spending-money front: bought two summer tops on the market (8 quid for the two of them) and henna from Lush (and some shampoo, but I need to wash my hair with something, and the Lush solid shampoos last longer). Also bought a "Saint" book on eBay, but that was only 99p (+p&p). However I still think I'm doing a bit better than I was before, and now I've transferred the cc balance to an interest-free one that's another 10 quid a month or so that I'm saving.

Started reading one of the books on my immediate to-read pile, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and decided that it's not really worth finishing -- feels like DWJ on autopilot, perhaps it's just intended for a younger audience? Or perhaps it's that I find DWJ less convincing when she's writing about wholly/mostly 'fantasy' universes, and at her best when she's writing more explicitly about the points where the lines blur between fantasy and the 'real' world. (See: Fire and Hemlock, Witch Week, Homeward Bounders -- in a way they're all stories about the power of myth/story, which is something that appeals to me a lot.)

I must convince myself that I really don't have to read everything in the world, or even everything in the house.

Having said that I did get through most of the first chapter of The Muse in the Machine: computers and creative thought by David Gelernter. It's interesting, but a lot of it seems quite obvious to me.

I also made progress on my dress for Glastonbury.

Comments

[j4.livejournal.com]

Okay, point taken, but one of the things I'm trying to hang on to is that if I slip a little it's not the end of the world, and I just have to try to slip less in future, rather than giving up in hopeless despair of ever saving any money. It hasn't "wiped out the advantage" from transferring the balance, that's a completely negative way to look at it -- part of the advantage of the transfer was in actually getting round to doing something about it, I can start paying the cc balance off now without feeling that I'm just pouring money down a black hole because I will be actually paying off the debt rather than just trying to keep pace with the interest.

And part of the reason I wanted to free up that money is that I'd rather be able to spend that 10 quid on something I want (whether for myself or for somebody else) than on making HSBC richer. I don't want to hoard money; you can't take it with you when you die, you know.

So yes, I have accounted for buying some frivolous stuff, because frankly if I don't I just get miserable. 8 quid is about three pints round here, for heaven's sake; and the tops will last longer than the beer.

[juliet]

Sounds like a v sensible attitude. Being in a similar position financially atm, I am not beating myself up about cracking and buying CHEAP BOOKS last week, because they will make me happy & slipping once in a while is *not* the end of the world. It's not even that hideous a crime.

(The trick, of course, is to think that whilst *at the same time* firmly reminding oneself that whilst slipping once in a while is OK, this does not mean that slipping *all* the time is OK.... :-) ).

BTW, sorry you couldn't make it to Panic last night, but it sounded like it would have been a bit of a bad idea for you, & certainly driving a long way whilst tired is *not* a good plan. Will see you at Glastonbury!

[j4.livejournal.com]

(The trick, of course, is to think that whilst *at the same time* firmly reminding oneself that whilst slipping once in a while is OK, this does not mean that slipping *all* the time is OK.... :-) )

Oh, yes, indeed. :-) Will not slip all the time. But I find it much more constructive to think "Hm, probably didn't need that really, will think harder before spending next time" or "okay, I bought that stuff I didn't need, that means I really can't buy any more lunches in town this week so I will just have to get up and make lunch before going even if I feel tired and lazy" rather than "STUPID! STUPID! You will die miserably in poverty while everybody else you know becomes happy, successful and rich beyond your wildest dreams!"

I wish I could have made it to PANIC, but I really do think it would have been dangerous trying to do the driving. Though in the end I didn't get to sleep till after 2am anyway, again, and now am utterly knackered. :-(

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

And also, tbqh, you have bought a bargain. Minimalist, low cost living isn't about not spending all the time, it's about spending within your limits. And part of spending within in your limits is sometimes saving money by spending it. ie buying six tubes of toothpaste when a three for two offer is on. You spend eight quid on two tops. That's not disastrous. Next time you see a top you want, you won't buy it, because you've just bought two tops. But you bought those two tops cheaply, ifswim.