Life Traveller. Been Somewhere. Going Somewhere.

I was just thinking to myself, that's odd, according to my stats, no one has visited me today, but someone has commented. Very weird. Very weird indeed, you daft old twit, it's still October 31st, and not November 1st. p.s. you don't suppose twit is like feck, do you? I hope not, since I would never refer to myself as a tw*t. Now the stupid thing (not me, but the blog site) isn't separting paragraphs, which is why all of this is jumbled together.

My daughter, the Younger, came round this morning for breakfast bearing fresh bread from the supermarket; also tea bags as I ran out of them last night. It was such a pleasure eating breakfast together. I'm so glad she lives nearby. Pity my other daughter lives so far away. At least she lives in this country, so I'm grateful for that.

My little granddaughter went off to school dressed as a witch today and very excited. She's going to a halloween party this evening - something else she's very excited about, particularly the fake blood. Even though it isn't part of the normal get-up for a witch, she really wants some. Funny little thing.

We all experience pain, emotional and physical, and here is a good place to write about it, to read about it, and to know we are not alone in this.

After my self-imposed challenge, I celebrated my achievement by going to a tapas bar the following day with my daughter and granddaughter. As daughter and myself wanted to drink, we went into town on the bus. Sangria was quaffed with the excellent meal, and then I had a very sweet and most delicious orange liquer to finish, whilst the daughter had a liquer coffee. As we left the restaurant my head was feeling rather fuzzy, and I seemed to be having trouble controlling my feet. It seemed that alcohol was having a very potent effect on me. Maybe that's what happens as you get older, I thought. Although you do understand I'm not old, don't you? Somehow I managed to stagger home whilst wondering if I was experiencing a Juzzy-type moment (or two). Straight to bed. Next day - ill. So - it was some virus and not the drink. Which is why I'm only just blogging about this, and not straight after it happened.

What I wanted to say about the £2.50 a day experience is that it is possible to live healthily on that amount. In fact, it's possible to live on less, because what really happened is that after the first very expensive day, I was actually living on £1.95 a day. It is possible, but not very easy. It requires planning (which in my case was rather lacking) and judicious shopping. Also it helps to grow your own fruit and vegetables.
One of these days I'll do it again, only better, I'm going to see how cheaply one can do it with planning, but without any own grown food, but don't worry, I won't subject you to a day-by-day account again.

It looks like the recent unpleasentness that Helly was experiencing has led to a mass blog clear-out of unwanted 'friends'. I've survived a couple of these so far - thank you Juzzy and Avrilo. I would have hated to have been removed by either of you, as you're a couple of my favourites.

I'll be doing my own cull later - only one or two to go, as I'm usually pretty sure about whose invitations I accept or who I invite, and I've never wanted more friends here than I can comfortably read. Everyone has their own level that they're comfortable with. Moondancer is one of those people who has hundreds on his friends list, yet he comments on my posts and I've seen him frequently commenting on others too.

I'm sorry that Helly100 has deleted her blog. Although she wasn't on my friend's list I liked reading her from time to time, and I loved that she possessed the body that ice cream built. 365daystolive has also deleted her blog (she was a recent friend on my list) and I don't know why, but I understand she's been here before as wifey (which caused me some confusion on Captain Autumn's blog) and deleted that one. I'm sorry to see her go as I liked the way she wrote and found her blog very interesting. Rhythm has deleted the content of his blog and not filled it with anything else, so he is being removed from my list as his user pic freaks me out a little.

It is a good idea to periodically go through blogs on the friends list and get rid of those we never read, or those who never post, or who we've found we're not interested in after all. I've just realised I've not deleted anyone before, so I'm not sure how to do it. Looks like I'm about to find out.

I've not been around much this week - that's 'cos I've been being ill, and I do being ill so well that I couldn't concentrate my mind on anything I read here. Apart from that my head was killing me and my eyes were balls of pain almost popping out of it. Oh it's been such fun, head-spinning, body-aching, totally being unable-to-do-anything, other than spend most of the time on my back and in misery, and occassionally contemplate the fact that I used to spend time on my back doing far more entertaining things. Why is it that when I'm ill as I can possibly be I think about sex? Crazy wanting most the thing that you're least able to do. I did try it once and my head nearly exploded with pain.
So, I'm back, sort of. I've glanced round some blogs but there are so many entries that I've missed I just don't know where to start. I won't attempt to catch up on everyone tonight or it will become something of a chore, and I don't want chores, I want pleasure.
So ends the first post-viral post.
And as an afterthought, is it possible to get high on cough linctus?

Breakfast - sliced tomatoes on toast
Lunch - 5 fishfingers and cooked carrots - 43p
Fruit - apple
Dinner - Ready meal chili con carne (Reduced from £2.99) - 60p
Treat - Bar of Green and Black's Organic chocolate with almonds - £1.65

Total for the day - £2.68
During the course of the two weeks I used some olive oil which I'm guessing cost about 40p,
Total spend - £34.43
Amount left over - 97p

Now to delete the cost of items left over that I included in the amount spent:
2 homemade bread rolls - 11p
most of 1.5 kilo bag of new potatoes - 40p
about quarter of a loaf of Hovis - 25p
2 lemons - 16p
some Organic cream - 15p
some soured cream - 15p
Some soft cheese - 75p
Total = £1.97 + £0.97 above = £3.05

Actual cost of food consumed during the two week experiment is £31.49

Average Cost of food per day was £2.25

I'm not in the least photogenic these days. I look in the mirror and see an attractive enough face. I look at a photograph of myself and I really don't like what I see at all. What do other people see, I wonder. It's not something I can ask them though, is it?

At last the final day of my little experiment has arrived. Before I start it, here are the figures for yesterday.

Breakfast - Two bread rolls with tomato
Lunch - Homemade pasta sauce and vegetable spaghetti - 83p
Dinner - Homemade green been soup and two bread rolls with butter
Supper - Large Chocolate Chunk Cookie (reduced) 15p

Total for the day - 98p
Total spend so far - £31.35
Amount left to spend - £3.65
Average Cost per day - £2.41

I'm going to get myself a treat today. I wonder what it will be. Anyone care to make a guess?

Why, why, why can't I ever catch up with all the blogs I'm interested in reading? The more I read, the more there is to read. I just can't keep up.
How does everyone else manage?

Well, does anyone feel like making me smile?

Breakfast - Sliced tomatoes on toast
Elevenses - Large Chocolate Chunk Cookie (reduced at Sainsbury's) = 15p.
Lunch - Five cod fish fingers (Aldi) + sliced tomatoes = 43p
Dinner - Homemade green bean soup(23p) + homemade rolls with butter(56p) = 79p
Fruit - Remaining grapes

Total for the day = £1.24
Total spend so far = £30.37
Amount left to spend = £4.63
Average cost per day = £2.53

Home cooked items remaining but already accounted for:
8 Bread rolls
green bean soup
cooked carrots

Nicked off ajnspencer, who got it off Helly100

Wearing: Tracky bottoms, T-shirt, hoodie, socks, slippers. All black with exception of slippers.

Thinking: Must keep my eye on the time so I don't miss Extras.

Doing: Blogging, drinking tea.

Wishing: You don't want to know.

Feeling: Better than yesterday.

Listening to: The whirr of my computer

Lunch - last of vegetable risotto + extra cheese = 30p.
Supper - toast with home made chicken liver pate

Total for the day = 30p
Total spend so far = £29.13
Amount left to spend = £5.89
Average cost per day = £2.64

Michael St.Mark showed some concern yesterday because I've been eating white rice, so as it was already cooked I added more green beans to it today to lessen the impact of the white stuff. Unfortunately this means more rice tomorrow just to finish it off. I do like rice, but not every day. M St.M pointed out that white rice is not filling and causes hunger within 30 minutes. I wonder if that is why I felt so hungry yesterday. Remember the extra meal? I'm not ill today, so the rice must have been the cause. Halving the amount of rice and increasing the green beans considerably seems to have had the right effect.

Today:
Breakfast - Sliced tomato on toast
Lunch - Vegetable risotto + cheese 12p+25p = 37p
Dinner - Fried chicken livers, new potatoes, onions, carrots
Fruit - Banana + grapes
Total = 57p

Other items:
Chicken livers - 39p.
New Potatoes (Aldi half price offer) 49p.
Grapes (Aldi) 99p.
Rest of Organic Butter 44p.

Total for the day = £2.49
Total spend so far = £28.83
Amount left to spend = £6.17
Average cost per day = £2.88

The frozen chicken livers cost 39p - at least they did two years ago when I bought them. It's amazing what lurks in my freezer. I had to add more butter because I used it for cooking the chicken livers and to make some pate out of them.

Apart from the £6.17 to last me for the next four days I still have:
Tea Bags
Sliced Hovis (I freeze it and only take what I need to toast for my breakfast each day)
Skimmed Milk
3 lemons
Butter
Cream
Soured Cream
Soft Cheese
Grapes
New potatoes
And, of course, my garden produce.

I've enjoyed the feedback I've been getting, and have implemented all suggestions for meals. Thanks to all who kindly made the suggestions. angelkirstin, apart from providing me with a tasty recipe, even went one step further and worked out some menus based on what I had left to spend and what I had left to eat. Link here if you're interested in having a look. Thank you ak.

They won't allow anyone wearing a backpack to enter their premisses. The backpack has to be handed in on entering. Fair enough. If you've got an account with Harrods it's free to do this, but if you haven't then you have to pay £2.50 for the priviledge. It's always the better off you are, the better off you are. So woe betide you if you're not dripping diamonds or dropping pound coins on the floor. Oh yes, there is money on those floors, because quite frankly if they drop a coin, it just isn't worth their effort to pick it up. After all what is £1 or £2 to the average Harrods shopper?
And here I've run out of steam because the smell my dinner cooking is wafting up the stairs, and if I don't go down to it, very soon to be replaced by the smell of it burning - an increasingly frequent occurrance.

Juzzy suggested I eat rice 'cos it's cheap. Even he can't have imagined how cheap it would turn out to be. After some searching I found a packet of risotto rice that I'd paid the reduced price of 10p. for. I've no idea what the original price was because it wasn't on the box. The rice was three years out of date, but I cooked it anyway. For lunch I had vegetable risotto made with 4p. worth of rice, organic chicken stock (reduced to 20p.) and vegetables - well onions and beans anyway. With cheese grated on top it was remarkably good. I had to have an extra meal today as I'm feeling very hungry. I had my dinner just after 5pm and had some supper about an hour ago. Bad sign - I usually get hungry when I'm about to be ill. The mackerel pate was supposed to be for my daughter, but she didn't want to take it, so I was pretty pleased to have it after all.

Breakfast - toast and tomatoes
Lunch - vegetable risotto (24p.) + grated cheese = 49p.
Fruit - apple and banana
Dinner - homemade organic pork patty + cucumber salad = £1
Supper - toasted bread with mackerel pate = 60p.
Total = £1.89

Other items:
1 pint of organic skimmed milk = 41p.

Total for the day = £2.30
Total spend so far = £26.14
Amount left to spend = £8.86
Average cost per day = £2.90

Breakfast - Sliced tomatoes on toast
Lunch - Same as yesterday's dinner (I forgot to put it in the fridge, so thought I'd better eat it) = 66p.
Fruit - banana and apple
Supper - Bread with Home-made mackrel pate (made with mackerel £1.19 from Aldi) - half of it, the rest being for my daughter = 60p.
Total = £1.26

Other items:
6 unwaxed lemons = 97p. (reduced from £1.39)
Taste the Difference Soft Cheese = 99p.
Total = £1.96

Total for the day = £3.22
Total spend so far = £23.84
Amount left to spend = £11.16
Average cost per day = £2.98

Am I going to make it?

A little note about how I'm working out the cost of what I'm eating - if it's down under 'Other items' then I don't include that in the cost of the dish, as for example today to make the mackerel pate, I also used lemons and soft cheese but showed the price as 60p since I didn't want to count the cost of the same items twice. It's difficult to work out the cost of a spoonful of cheese and half a lemon. But I did include the cost of grated cheese with the pasta as it conveniently worked out at 1p. per gram. Thought I'd add that - I don't want you to think I'm pulling a fast one or anything.

Any questions?

Half way there now, and not finding it so easy. I'm having to consider everything I allocate my money to. Thank goodness this isn't for real, and that I know at the end of it all will return to normal. But having said that, I don't think it's as difficult to live on benefits now as it once was. Not too much fun all the same I'm sure.

Day Seven:
Breakfast - two bananas
Lunch - freshly baked bread, tomatoes
Dinner - pasta and sauce with spicy kabanos, with grated cheese on top = 66p.
(another portion of the same for another day 41p. without the cheese)

bunch of bananas (reduced price) = 10p.
small loaf sourdough bread, baked by me = 21p.
half pack organic butter (will last until the end of next week) = 45p.

Total cost for the day = £1.42
Total spend so far = £20.62
Amoount left to spend = £14.38
Average cost per day = £2.95

Avrilo suggested pasta with tomato sauce and chorizo, but as I'm having to cut back now, I bought some spicy kabanos from Aldi instead, and used half the packet. 66p. isn't bad for the main meal of the day, but then I did have the homegrown tomatoes and onions for the sauce, with just a very small amount of tomato puree - not sundried this time.

KandAmoist is looking for some answers here. Maybe you can help him? Thanks.

After consultation with my blogfriends about whether I should include the cost of fish and chips so generously provided by my daughter yesterday, I am going to follow their advice and not include them, since people on benefits do get treated. So for the time being I'm not going to include the meal, but I think I'll see how much I would have spent at the end, if I had included it, that way the wolf will be sated and the sheep will remain whole (old Polish proverb).

Day Six:
Breakfast - sliced tomatoes on toast
Lunch - fried onion, tomato and apple (as suggested by angelkirstin on Day Two) eaten with green beans.
Dinner - fish and chips generously provided by my daugher, and cucumber salad provided by me.

Total cost for the day = NOTHING
Total spend so far = £19.20
Amount left to spend = £15.80
Average cost per day = £3.20

THIS GIFT LIFE - I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT.
How can I be so indifferent towards something so precious?

Every so often my daughter likes to come over with her child for fish and chips - from the chip shop. I told her I couldn't afford it, in my new poverty-like state. What we usually have is a portion between the three of us. So, one third of a portion would cost about £1.50, but really I didn't want to 'spend' so much of my meagre dosh today, so she said she would pay for it all and then I would have a free meal. But I still don't know. Even though I'm not paying for it, should I account for it in my daily total or not? Help Please!!

After two chicken escalopes for my dinner last night, I didn't feel like eating breakfast this morning, also didn't feel up to doing any 'real' cooking so just defrosted the pancake batter left over from the other day.

Lunch - toast with sliced tomatoes, grapes from yesterday
Dinner - apple pancakes

Total cost for the day = NOTHING
Total spend so far, still = £19.20
Amount left to spend, still = £15.80
Average cost per day = £3.84

Lack of appetite and energy has ensured no money spent today. HURRAH!

Today - getting those figures down:
Breakfast and Lunch - Hellman's Mediterranean Pannini (reduced from £2.50)(it was big enough for both meals) = 50p
Grapes (with some left over for tomorrow) 360grams = 71p
Dinner - chicken escalopes (reduced from £2.29) with cucumber salad = 70p

Total for the day = £1.91
Total spend so far = £19.20
Amount left to spend = £15.80
Average cost per day = £4.80

I would never have bought the prawns I had yesterday, or the chicken escalopes I had today under normal circumstances. I tend not to buy seafood that has been reduced as it sometimes smells (and is) off. As for chicken , I only like the thighs, but the escalopes weren't too bad, the coating adding some flavour whilst a drenching at the table in lemon juice added some moisture. As for the pannini - a sandwich a day past it's use by date is not the greatest, but it was tasty. If I hadn't been doing this, I would have only had half of it for breakfast and thrown the rest away. No, if I hadn't been doing this, I wouldn't have bought it at all.
There really were some super bargains at the supermarket yesterday

. . . Not very well at the moment. Up until now, I have averaged around £6 (actually £5.76) per day , but that includes over £6 spent on essentials that should last me for a good part of the two weeks.
Up until yesterday (with the exception of the soured cream which cost 20p more locally than from the supermarket) I was using food I already had in the house, checking through what old till receipts I had and making a note of the cost.
Yesterday afternoon I went to get the weekly shop and it was quite a different experience to usual. Suddenly things that I normally picked up, without considering the cost of to any great extent, seemed very expensive. I was really having to think about what I was buying instead of piling into the trolley whatever took my fancy. I got quite a few reduced price items, and some of them were real bargains - organic chicken stock reduced from £1.49 to 20p, five bananas as mentioned yesterday for 10p. My best bargain was at M&S though, and before anyone says anything about shopping there on a limited budget, I had a voucher for a free 25g trial pack of Parma ham. It being the last day of the offer, there was none left, and the assistant I spoke to gave me a 100 gram pack instead. For free. I walked out of the shop with just that ham and nothing else. I'm really going to enjoy it.

Breakfast - maple syrup pancakes = 65p. I'm not counting the cost of the syrup. I don't know how much three tablespoons would come to, and anyway it's about two years past it's best by date. (I only used half the mixture and froze the rest, but 65p. was the cost of all of it, so if I am able to use the rest it will be a 'free' meal.)
Lunch - Ribeye steak (considerably smaller than the last one) and tomatoes = £1.95
Supper - Prawns, reduced price = 70p. plus toffee apple 25p. (also reduced).

Total for the day = £3.55. Oh dear. This isn't so good yet. But I have been to the supermarket today and bought some foods at reduced prices including a bunch of five bananas for 10p. Yes, ten pence.

Total spend so far = £17.29 - that's almost half my total budget!
Amount left to spend = £17.71
Average cost per day = £5.76

I discovered that my expensive organic lettuce was so much past its best that I had to throw it away. I'm not too distressed because it means I can take the cost of it from the amount spent so far. I'll buy a cheaper one next time. I can't afford to be entirely organic. Consumed today:

Breakfast - toast with sliced tomatoes
Lunch - Homemade pasta sauce served with green beans = 83p (Pasta sauce made with 500gr organic minced beef - £3.00; jar sundried tomato paste £1.13 (they were three for the price of two, so that brings the cost down); carrots, onions, tomatoes. I got five large portions out of the sauce, and I could have made it six).
Mid-afternoon - apple
Dinner - Mushrooms fried with onion and mixed with soured cream = 39p and lettuce salad made with one third cos lettuce (not organic, from Aldi) found lurking in the depths of the salad drawer = 16p.
Total = £1.38

Extra 'Bought' today:
Organic carrots 65p.
Soured cream 99p.
Total = £1.64

Total for the day = £3.02
Total spend so far = £13.74
Amount left to spend = £20.66
Average cost per day = £6.87

Just to explain a little about showing how much is spent. The mushroom dish didn't just cost 39p. That was the cost of the mushrooms themselves. The onions were from the vegetable garden and the soured cream is accounted for further down, as I only used part of it and the rest will be used for something else another time.
I hope this isn't confusing and doesn't look as though I'm not counting certain items.

Questions and suggestions are most welcome.

Well, I've made an expensive start because I'm using up some of the food I already have. So the damage for today is:
Breakfast - Crusty Roll = 29p, Salami = 75p. Total = £1.14
Lunch - M&S Pizzetta = £1.99, Tomato and Onion Salad. Windfall apple. Total = £1.99
Dinner - Ribeye steak = £3.00, cucumber salad. Total = £3.00
Total for day = £6.13. Not a very good start.

Also to be included in the amount spent should be some other items which may or may not see me through the two weeks, and the cost of which will not be itemised daily.
Organic Tea Bags (80) £1.29 (from Aldi)
Original Hovis Wheatgerm Bread £.97 (from Sainsbury's)
Organic Cream £.79 (Sainsbury's)
Organic Skimmed Milk £.81 (Sainsbury's)
2 Organic Lemons £.50
Quarter packet Organic Butter £.23 (this is what I have left at present - I'll have to buy more later).
Total = £4.59

Items from my vegetable garden, which for the purposes of this exercise will be deemed to be free are: tomatoes, French beans, vegetable spaghetti, sorrell, apples, cucumber, onions, chives. I doubt they'll last out the two weeks, though.

Total Spend so far £10.72
Amount left to spend £24.28

Update:
Closer inspection of my expensive organic lettuce has revealed that it's gone all manky, so I've thrown it out, and now have a further £1.59 to spend.

For some time I've been wondering just how I would manage if I had to live on benefits. Job Seeker Allowance is £56.20 per week (or it was in 2005 which is the only year I can get figures for). Someone on this tiny income would also get housing benefit to the full amount of their rent, free prescriptions, pay reduced Council Tax (or maybe pay none at all - I'm not sure). There are probably other benefits I don't know about. If they were registered disabled they would receive more money in benefits and would have free bus travel and free disabled parking.
Anyway, £56.20 does seem to be an incredibly small amount of money to live on. How much of that I wonder would someone be expected to spend on food? Would £2.50 per day be enough? I think I'm going to try and find out. I'm going to see if I can possibly do it. The problem is that I've already got food in and I'm going to be using some of it, so it might work out more expensive. I've also got fruit and vegetables that I grew myself, and I'm going to be using them, so that should make things cheaper. Maybe the two will balance out. What I'm going to allow myself, at least to start with, is £35 for two weeks, although I may have to increase that amount, depending on how things pan out. At the moment, I think I spend about £60-£65 a week on food, as I buy mostly organic and I also like gourmet foods.
I'm thinking this is going to be very difficult.
If anyone can supply me with more up to date benefit figures, I'd be grateful.

I've mentioned before about Avrilo and her Tyalskye and Pacy detective stories. I have to mention it again though because I (along with Emsbabee) am delighted to feature in her latest one, which is appearing in installments. If you would like to read, and you should, here are links to Part One and Part Two and Part Three.