Ghostmadlittlemiss' first diary! Wish me luck!

ghostmadlittlemiss

My support worker/notetaker has a copy of the needs assessment and the Disability Office at uni has another one. Mine's been mislaid but I can easily get to see their copies. I pay the internet and phone bills, send them the receipts then they send me the money back. I'll definitely be pushing it as much as I can. Sorry for the quick reply, I've got to rush off for the bus in a sec and I won't be back online until 6. Thanks for replying, talk later.
Kayleigh

ghostmadlittlemiss

Just sat in the library, killing time. I'm off to get the Sikhism books in a sec, just thought I should do a quick update first.

I've got the form for a emergency loan in my bag and I'll be handing that in tomorrow. So as long as I get it, I should have another £60 on Fri. :j It's a cheque so I won't have the actual money until about Weds/Thurs but it should really help. James is giving me £55 on Fri as well, £15 for my National Express tickets and £40 from the Sims games. It looks like things are finally coming together! :j
Kayleigh

ghostmadlittlemiss

Turns out I didn't have time to get the Sikhism books. They will have to be done tomorrow, along with the passport form.

My housemates have paid up for this month's internet, giving me a extra £5 or so. I'm staying with the same budget of £20 for this week though so the £5 can go in my bank for next week. I've decided to get garlic bread at the SU before I go to the Globe on Thurs, as it's only £1.20 at the SU and it's about £2.30 at the Globe. That should leave me with enough to have a drink that night, then I can get a sandwich when I get home. My grandma's posting me a spare lunchbox so I can take sandwiches to uni in future and she said she'd send another £5 giftcard for Sainsbury's along with it. So that's another week's food shop paid for! :j

I'm having a sandwich and some warm milk then off to bed. Here's my list before I go.

Housework

Sort clean washing.
[STRIKE]Pots.[/STRIKE] Done.

Uni

Hand in Emergency loan form.
Sikhism books!!!
Passport.

General

[STRIKE]Mystery shop.[/STRIKE] Done.
Pay £5 into bank.
[strike]Daily scratch.[/strike] Done.
[strike]Pick up car.[/strike] Done.

I've getting the car back tomorrow. Let's hope the repair bill is less than £400. I'll write again tomorrow.
Kayleigh

ghostmadlittlemiss

£460!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: The repair bill itself was bang on £400, the VAT was £60. So that's me completely screwed for the rest of the month. I'm going to talk to someone at Student Finance about what I'm meant to do to get by. As a precaution, I've also rung up Lloyds and requested my PIN to be re-sent to me as I've forgotten it. I'm hoping I won't need it but I'm starting to think I will. I'm having a sandwich for lunch then going to pay £5 into my bank account. After that, I'll go up to the uni and see what they say. This mess just seems to be getting worse and worse.
Kayleigh

ghostmadlittlemiss

I've talked to someone at the uni and I might, MIGHT, be able to get the amount I need loaned to me. It'll mean living off £10 a week for a while but it's better than using the cards again.

As you can see, not much done today. I really must try harder. I did a mystery shop at Pizza Hut tonight, that went well. I had a lovely Chicken Caesar Salad, it was absolutely huge! I'm only just getting hungry again now. I think I'll skip my pre-bed sandwich tonight, I'm really tired and I just want to get to sleep.

Housework

[STRIKE]Pots.[/STRIKE] Done.
Sort clean washing.

Uni

Sikhism books.
Passport.

General

[strike]Pay £5 into bank.[/strike] Done.
[strike]Daily scratch.[/strike] Done.

With any luck, I might actually get up in time to go to tomorrow's lecture. :rolleyes: Talk soon.
Kayleigh

ghostmadlittlemiss

Of course I didn't get to class, this is me we're talking about. :rolleyes:

I'm going over to Sainsbury's in a minute to pick up some cans of soup for this weekend, just in case James' uni won't let me eat there. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. And even if they do, they'll do for lunch instead.

I'm nervous about the new budget of £10 a week but hopefully, I should be able to keep to it. I'm hoping to have another pot to put whatever's left of the week's budget in each week, for anything I haven't budgeted for. I'll have a look to see if my housemates have left any cans for recycling, I can use one of them.

I''ve got to get going now, I'll write again later on.
Kayleigh

Head-Out-Of-Sand

Hey Kayleigh!

Sounds like you've had a tough few weeks - it all happens at once doesn't it!!

Do you like stuff like chilli/bolognese etc? While you're trying to cut down, why not make a massive batch of something using value brand ingredients and freeze portions for the week? It can get a bit repetitive but it's a great way to make your food budget go further while you're struggling.

Well done on all the mystery shopping, every bit helps! I've done a few myself recently.

Are you still buying any food while you're out? Maybe as an emergency thing you could ban yourself from that until you're a bit better off? (go to home bargains or somewhere like that & buy some cheap cereal bars to keep in your bag for emergencies!!)

Good luck, you're doing really well & you've had a difficult few weeks money-wise!

ghostmadlittlemiss

@ Head-Out-Of-Sand - Thanks for the message. And yes, things do all seem to happen at once with me. Everything's going great, then it all goes downhill and stays there. I'm just waiting for it to come back up again.

Batch cooking is proving a bit problematic at the moment as I've got half a shelf of a tiny freezer, nearly filled by a bag of frozen peas. So I'm eating peas with everything to try and clear them, then I'll see if I can give it a go. I keep saying I can't, but it would be worth trying.

I'm trying to cut down on buying junk while I'm out, I've only had one bar of chocolate this week. I'm having garlic bread at the SU tonight because I haven't got the lunchbox yet but I'll just be having sandwiches next week. The cereal bar thing sounds a good idea, I'll put that in next week's food budget.

Got to go, have to catch the bus. Talk later.
Kayleigh

Head-Out-Of-Sand

Hmmm... well, how about something like making up a batch of pasta sauce (someone mentioned a good recipe earlier in your thread) & keep it in the fridge and use it over a few days, you just have to make the pasta up then.

Or could you look into getting hold of a mini-freezer by freecycle? (I know you're not keen after your last experience!) having freezer space reaaaaally helps if you're single - I find if I'm not using the freezer, so much stuff ends up going off.

Don't worry, there's always an "up" somewhere, just keep on going & things won't always feel so difficult!

ghostmadlittlemiss

The pasta sauce is a good idea, I'll try giving that a go. I've suggested another freezer to my housemates more than once but no one else wants one and we don't really have anywhere to put one. The house I've moving into in July has a bigger freezer though, so I'll definitely be able to batch cook then. Plus, I get it pretty much to myself all summer. That's if the job goes ok, that is.

Again, killing time in the library, as I do every week. It turns out the SU doesn't serve food after 3, so I'll see if Amy fancies splitting a bowl of chips with me at the Globe. If she will, that'll bring me in 20p under what I expected to spend.

I might go outside and ring James in a minute. I'm bored and I'm really hungry. The next bus arrives soon but I want to wait for the 6 o'clock one. Then I can go down with Amy and I won't be tempted to buy food with no one to split it with. I'm trying really hard to stay on budget and it's only the 1st week! :eek: Tell me this gets easier with practice.
Kayleigh