It was market day again on Saturday 14th March so I had arranged to go with Vanessa. I had already checked the remaining budget from my readjusted £40 for the week and today was the last day. There was no way I was going to be able to stick to it and I knew that the remaining £6.61 would get spent easily at the market today. I needed to better plan if I wanted to reach my saving goals. I called for Vanessa at 10am and we planned for a quick market shop then to go to the nice cafe for a cup of tea and a chat.
Here’s what I bought, prices in lira;
Stall 1
Lettuce 30 lira (51p)
Stall 2
Carrots, spring onions, radish 150 (£2.54)
Stall 3
Strawberries, oranges, bananas 340 (£5.76)
Total spent 520 lira (£8.81)
This week’s reduced budget was blown already, mainly due to strawberries at 200 lira (£3.39), but I was not unduly worried as we headed to Mornings in Mavi, my new favourite cafe.
I decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered a fancy tea for 120 lira (£2.03) and a toasted sandwich for 300 lira (5.08). It was fantastic and very filling so I wouldn’t need any lunch today. The owner of the cafe is from Eskişehir and seems very conscientious. After discussing my budgeting plans with Vanessa and realising I was being quite restrictive trying to live on less than £6 per day, I decided for future weeks I would reset and up the budget to £10 per day, so £70 per week. This way, when I didn’t spend it all, it would be more motivating but it would also not be such a burden if I did. I’d still not been paid but surely that would be due on Monday.
Back home, I put the shopping away and totted up that this week I had spent £49.32, which was pretty good to say I’d had 2 days where I had alcohol and only 1 zero spend day. I had a video call with Captain Caveman who had one week left until his trip to Vietnam. He was heading over to take part in the Saigon Children’s Charity bicycle ride for charity. Ordinarily, I would have been there for support but I had already committed my time to Norman, the dog, and his 15th birthday – I couldn’t miss that! Captain Caveman offered to send me money but he had enough on, with his trip to Vietnam and the apartment maintenance and repairs he needed to pay for, plus he was moving house, so I said I would manage by continuing my Money Minded March.
I worked for the rest of the day, my post using the new skills from Georgina Chapman had got so many views that it was scary! I had a cheese salad sandwich and realised I should’ve gone halves on the lettuce this week – it was huge!!! Later, I decided to swing by Ren Garden to say bye to Lucy and Scott before they went for dinner and then the airport.
Gratitude List
1. Splurging at the market and in the cafe with Vanessa
2. Speaking to Captain Caveman
3. Seeing Lucy and Scott one last time.
Discover more from joloyolo
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
joloyolo 