After pressure from @jeruss I decided to have a go at budgeting my money. He’s come up with a handy guide for those of you wanting to give it a go yourself. Whilst I’m not following his advice to the full, I am keeping track of each of my transactions using Squirrel for the Mac and the associated iPhone app. This will enable me to keep an eye on my spending whilst on the move.
So I’ve got budgets for everything (I think) down to the penny for each month, and then extra budgets for those events that come round but once a year (see my MOT post). This’ll allow me to save bit by bit for those things which tend to sneak up on you when you least expect it. I guess I’ll have to be doing it for a couple of months before I really get into the swing of it and at the moment it does all look a bit daunting. Especially when I look at the amount I’ve set aside for myself each month and compare it to the amount I spent on myself last month – it looks like it’s going to be tough. But it is at least making me think about the money I’m spending each time I take out the wallet and whether what I’m considering purchasing is worth it in the long run.
Time will tell how effective this will be, but if I can stick to my budgets then I think I can start to save some serious money.
My ankles are still killing me, though my carves were fine once I’d finished stretching.
The run went better than I expected. Not brilliantly, as I’ve never been much of a runner. But I managed to get to the park from work whilst jogging. Around it went a little slower, with numerous stops to walk and stretch. Then much of the journey back to the office was at a slow walking pace, although some of that had to do with the fact that it was up a pretty steep incline.
So I’m currently having trouble getting up and down the stairs as my ankles are throbbing. Walking on the flat is not too bad, though I doubt I’ll be walking in to work tomorrow. The extra weight I carry around certainly doesn’t help when it comes to moving at speed!
Given that I’m no longer going to the gym I need to start doing something else. So tomorrow I’m going to join the running club at work. The course leads down to the local park, around it and back again. All-in-all it’s around two miles, or so I’ve been led to believe. I’m no good at running so I don’t think it’s going to go very well. But I figured I’d give it a go. If I manage to get around I’ll make sure I post all about it. 
It’s not been a good one. It started off well enough with a video conference with our agents in which I got my way. Then half-way through I discovered a missed call and voicemail on my mobile and left the room to listen. It was the garage with the results of my pre-MOT service. It wasn’t good.
I know nothing about these things but apparently (if this makes sense) the brake cylinder had ruptured causing brake fluid to leak out everywhere, covering and destroying the brake shoe. I’m not sure how long it’d been in that state, but if I cast my mind back to when I think I heard it go bang, I believe it was some time before Christmas. So for at least two months I’ve been driving around with faulty brakes. Oh dear.
Well, the service, MOT, the brakes and a couple of other things have set me back £422.50. And that was with a discount! Thank goodness for overdrafts!
The second annoying part of the day was when BBC Look East ventured into the office to interview my manager. Because he’s such an insufferable arse he decided he wanted the interview done at his desk, which is directly opposite mine. Well, I don’t expect to go in to work and then have my face plastered all over the news. So I stood up, told the office that I hadn’t “signed up for this shit” and then walked out early. If anyone argues with my decision I think it’ll have to become a union matter. The BBC didn’t ask – they just set up the camera with me slap-bang in the middle of the shot. I’ve got a good mind to complain to my union anyway. In my day-to-day job I have to put up with quite a bit of shit from people – I don’t want them seeing me on the TV and remembering my face.
I just hope the weekend turns out to be better than today has, although I doubt that very much.
I’ve not had a huge amount to write about of late. I didn’t do a huge amount bar a morning in Cambridge, though looking in a travel agent’s window I got to thinking about going further afield later in the year. I’m contemplating New York and did consider trying to get some money together to go in May. After some serious contemplation I decided that rushing the booking to get in for May would mean I wouldn’t have enough time or money to really go and appreciate the place. So later this year or early next year is looking more likely.
In the meantime my Eurostar ticket has arrived and it’s got me all exciting for my trip to Paris. Unfortunately it’s still two months away. I should have booked it for much sooner!
