Money Fritters 'Enough Now' DFW Diary - Chapter 2

Money_Fritter

Hi Folks,

Not posted for awhile; I have been quite busy in the garden.

Things are coming along nicely, but I must admit I think I have tried to do too much in my first yeat, oh well.

Fruit

The strawberries have now been planted into my raised strawberry bed and are doing ok so far.

The raspberry border has been constructed and the 4 raspberry canes I had have been planted; so far two have started to grow and leaves are forming

Salad and Veg

I have grown peas and mangetout in modules from seeds; after two-three weeks these have now been planted into the raised bed with a wigwam of canes to support them. I have also planted my onions (red and white).

I also have some nice small tomatoe plants and cauliflower and beetroot and some broccoli. I have also started to grow some lettuce in modules. However, there is still so much to do.

The potatoes are now growing fast, and there is always lots of watering to do and weeding to keep up with. The Rhubarb is also doing well.

Hopefully I will try and put some picture on my blog soon.

With respect to other stuff; I have completed the Sunderland 10K run; it was great fun and I finished in under 1hr, which was my target. I have got the bug as I have entered the Gateshead 10K run in June and I have the great north run in September.

The debt busting is steady at the moment and I really need to re-double my efforts.

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Oxfam Poverty ‘Below the line challenge’

Dear all,
Starting week commencing the 24th June, I will be participating in the Oxfam Poverty challenge called ‘Below the line’. The challenge has been set-up to raise awareness of extreme poverty, not just in third world countries, but here in the UK.
The challenge involves only spending £5 on food for a 5 day period. Also each daily total cannot exceed £1. However, as 5 days is not a full week I am going to live off £7 for 7 days.
The rules are as follows:-

• For the seven-day period you can spend no more than £1 a day on food and drink.
• This means you have a total of £7 with which to buy all ingredients for your meals.
• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
• For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.
• You can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless you include the cost of buying the item new in your budget.
• You can use food sourced from your garden as long as you can account for the price of production!
• No combination of meals on any given day can exceed the £1 spending limit. Remember this is a challenge to eat creatively and be enjoyed – don’t at any point deprive yourself of three meals a day.
• You cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards your fundraising goals are acceptable, and encouraged!
• You are allowed to drink tap water – remember you should try and drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day.

If anybody would like to donate towards this great cause then it would be greatly appreciated.
You can donate online at my Oxfam page
https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/garethcardus

Thanks for your help in advance.

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Hi folks,

Well back to work tomorrow after two weeks off; not looking forward to it.

The two weeks have flown by; however, I did manage to get some good stuff done in the garden. Here is the link for my last two updates

http://greenfingerjourney.blogspot.co.uk/

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Hi Folks,

Not posted for a while. I am still going, still trying to become debt free and still trying to grow my own food.

Anyway, I did my second 10k run on Sunday. I completed the Gateshead 10K run. I managed to post a time of 53 minutes 55 seconds. I was really pleased as I was almost 5 minutes quicker than my time for the Sunderland 10K run in May.

My next insane challenge starts today. I am trying to raise money for Oxfam for awareness towards poverty. So I have to buy all my food for the week for £7 and you can only have £1 day for food. If anybody would like to sponser me the link is:

https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/garethcardus


Anyway on Sunday I bought my shopping, it came to £6.75. So I have a massive 25p left!!!

Here is what I bought

6 Apples £1.19
1 baking Potato £0.40
Basic strawberry Jam £0.29
Tin of Red Kidney Beans £0.21
A bag of frozen mixed veg £0.75
A carton of chopped tomatoes £0.31
A Courgette £0.47
4 basic Yoghurts £0.33
A pack of 10 Beef stock cubes £0.15
8 Sausages £0.80
1kg bag of rice £0.40
A loaf of basic wholemeal bread £0.50
Sage and onion Stuffing mix £0.15
Tin of Tuna £0.80

So fingers crossed I can do this

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Hi Folks,

Well day one of my challenge was successful

Breakfast:- Two slices of toast and jam and a glass of water (8p)

Lunch :- Sausage and stuffing Sarnie a yoghurt and apple (52p)

Tea:- Veg Casserole and Rice (36p)

As you would expect the portions were small and tonight I do still feel hungry.

Oh well it is for a good cause, so please if you can donate.

Thanks

Money Fritter

beanielou

Hope it goes well.

Money_Fritter

Well if anybody is interested I had 1200 calories yesterday :eek:

The Sausage sarnie was actually the nicest meal, I think because it had sage and onion stuffing on which added some flavour to it.

I must admit the cheap jam for my toast in the morning is quite good, I don't think you can really tell the difference.

Money_Fritter

Hi folks

Day 2 of the Oxfam Poverty Challenge is complete.

Here is my top cuisine menu!!!

Breakfast:- Two Slices of toast with Jam and a glass of water (8p)

Lunch:- Leftover Veg casserole and rice from Day 1 tea. A yoghurt and an apple (52p)

Tea:- Stir fry courgette and sausage rice (31p)

The total calories for this fantastic feast was a massive 935 calories. I was a little bit concerned that I was not having enough calories so I had a lovely snack for supper (Not!!!!!)

Supper:- Two slices of toast with Jam and a glass of water (8p)

So my total calories for the day were 1201.

I am also a little bit concerned about the lack of vitamins so far and that fact that I am having a lot of carbs. I will see how much weight I have lost at the end!!!!

For Tuesday my calorie breakdown was 76% carbs (Target 55%), fat 11% (Target 30%) and Protein 13% (Target 15%). At least the protein is not too far away!!!!

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Hi folks,

Well day 3 is over and I am almost half way through the challenge.

Day 3 fanciful fantastic menu was:-

Breakfast:- Yep you guested it; Two slices of toast and jam and a glass of water

Lunch:- Leftover Sausage and courgette stir fry, a yoghurt and an apple.

Tea:- Tuna veg stir fry

My total calorie intake for the day was 1280.

For the day my calorie breakdown was 67% Carb (Target 56%), Fat 16% (Target 30%), Protein 17% (Target 15%)

I decided to spend my last 25p last night; as I only have 6 apples for the week and I only have 4 yoghurts for the week.

So I bought a pack of 6 large fresh bread rolls, they were reduced from 99p to 25p!!! bargain. So when I am hungry or need a snack to keep me going I can have a jam roll. Lol

Thanks to everybody who has donated so far, the total at the moment stands at £370.

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

I have had a sort through the finances today. I think with carrying out this poverty challenge it has made me realise that with a bit of hard work and willpower I can cut back with my food; so what else can I cut back with my money.

I have finished paying off my car now. :j
So that is one more debt done.

My total debt is now at £24590.54.

I really have not made a big dent into the debt in the last year or so. I need to get focussed again.

Money Fritter