Dalyan – 8th to 10th December

I was so busy on Monday 8th December, mainly with admin, content writing, faffing about with corrections to the page lay out of my book and packing ready for tomorrow.
I had tea and toast for breakfast, skipped lunch and just had a sandwich for dinner. I did quite a few quotes hoping to sell some last minute holidays. My pay for December was lower than I wanted (or needed) it to be and the payments from my books only get paid 2 months after any online sale. Being self employed can be amazing but frustrating at times and Christmas was going to be tight. Luckily, we don’t celebrate or do presents so that would help. Captain Caveman sent me some money so that I could still get my hair done, which was lovely of him.

Gratitude List
1. Having the chance to earn passive income from my books
2. Captain Caveman helping me out
3. Knowing my cash flow would be improving in 2026.

On Tuesday 9th December I woke up feeling a bit more positive and decided to follow some budget gurus on Facebook. I was definitely going to do more zero spend days too. My aim was to get to a more stable point in the next 6 to 12 months. Luckily, I had the support of Captain Caveman who had agreed to work Christmas for extra money.
Norman was very pleased to see me while Jamie nipped off for a break of either the Maldives or Spain (yet to be confirmed). Norman slept most of the afternoon and then we had a little walk, past my parents’ house and around the block.
For dinner I had a bit of a strange noodle soup which looked odd but tasted fantastic; chicken, mushroom, green pepper, onion, vegetable stock, garlic and rice noodles. After dinner, Norman and I had a bit of sofa time and I had to put a blanket over me as I was cold, despite the AC being on high.
At bedtime, it was so cold that I ended up sleeping in a few layers and my woolly hat.

Gratitude List
1. Taking action around my income v expenditure
2. Norman, the dog
3. Spending zero money for the 2nd day in a row.

I set my alarm for 6.30am on Wednesday 10th December so that I could check on Norman, the dog. It was cold upstairs but downstairs was warmer and Norman was still snoring away. I got on the sofa and had a doze until 7.15am when Norman woke for a wee. I had tea and toast after feeding Norman and got on with work while he snored away. As it was Wednesday it was weigh day so I took my measurements and checked my home scales. My measurements were;
Bust -1cm, Waist no change, Hips +1cm and I had put 0.65kg (1.4lb) on! When I got back to Jamie’s, Norman had been a bit unwell so I had to clean it up. I didn’t tell him off or make a fuss and he seemed ok but it’s not like Norman to do that in the house. He also had to have a good wipe down with the wet wipes, which he didn’t appreciate.
I almost didn’t go to Fat Club but I waited until he was settled in his new bed, then went. I saved myself 50 lira (89p) as I had missed the water when I arrived late.
I was almost on a third day of zero spend when I bought bread from the bakery for 35 lira (63p) but knew it was a good move. I’d not had lunch yet so I had an early dinner of the same soup as yesterday, with some bread this time.
In the evening, Captain Caveman and I booked a Manchester Airport hotel room for the night before our trip to Morocco. The Tribe cost Captain Caveman £93.80 for the 2 of us including a breakfast each and was cheaper with Resort Experts than Booking .com, which was nice.
At 10.20pm, the AC was on 30°C but the actual temperature was still only 21°C so I went to bed to try to keep warm.

Gratitude List
1. Norman recovering from a runny bum accident
2. Captain Caveman booking us an airport hotel
3. A very low spend day.