There was excitement for me on Monday 13th April, in more than one way. I got paid and it was correct so I was pleased with that. I was also only just under my weekly budget so I was determined to not overspend in the next 2 days. I had beans on toast for breakfast then had a short walk for some fresh air. I attended a Copy Clinic session in the afternoon and was getting more movement on my content writing for books, planners and even digital products. Because of the unpredictability of working in the travel industry, I didn’t want to just rely on getting paid commission or being affected by global issues. I’d noticed customers were looking to book shorter and closer to home trips more recently. I was therefore spending a lot of time working on creating passive income streams for the future. I had a late lunch of leftover chicken with cauliflower cheese which looked unimpressive but tasted good. I had strawberries with quark and honey then got back to my laptop. In the evening I was invited to a BBQ with Mark & Kate at The Aussies’ place. I called to Yaman Büfe 1 on the way, for wine and soda, where I spent just 315 lira (£5.25) before wandering over for a lovely evening with friends. The food was good, we had a few drinks and played games where we all laughed a lot! I completely ruined my Slimming World plan by eating lots of fairy cake made by Kate, which I just couldn’t resist.
Gratitude List 1. Pay Day 2. Plans to make money through passive income 3. A fun BBQ with friends – so much laughter!
Events in Dalyan are like buses; there is often more than one coming along at the same time after not seeing one for ages! On Sunday 12th April I had been invited to the engagement of Hannah and Halil. There was transport being put on from Dalyan to Suolo in Göcek about 45 minutes drive away. I’m not great at bus journeys so, when a friend had asked me if I wanted to go in her car, I had jumped at the chance. First, I worked in the morning and then met my friend at the tea gardens where I ordered some chips and a water for 200 lira (£3.33). The engagement party invite did come with a note to say that soft drinks and a light meze would be provided but if we wanted to drink alcohol we had to buy our own at the bar. I didn’t plan on drinking alcohol but decided to have something to eat beforehand so I wasn’t hungry. On the drive over to Göcek the weather was quite warm so I was hot and a bit travel sick. The Göcek tunnel toll fee was now 75 lira each way so a total of 150 lira (£2.50) and we did get a little bit lost because of the road works. When we arrived at Suolo we were late and there were no seats for us. We headed to the bar where we saw Jamie and The Aussies. Hannah and Halil with their family and close friends were all dressed in black, they looked stunning so I was glad I’d managed to find a dress to wear – my summer outfits were still packed away, though. The venue was lovely and I’d not been before. I ordered a coke for my friend and a soda water for me. The soft drinks weren’t free but it would be a few minutes to wait for soda water. I paid 100 lira (£1.67) for the coke, which I thought reasonable for the waterside venue, and said I would wait for the soda. They would only accept card and it was a bit awkward as he only wanted me to pay for the coke as the soda hadn’t materialised yet and then it took over 30 minutes so the bar man gave it me for free after offering me every other drink he still had left. When the food was served it was very popular and so many people rushed to get involved. I had a bit of rocket a spoonful of yoghurt and a piece of bread, there were other mezes available but I was conscious of the drive back. We took our plates towards the inside and kiddy area to find a table to sit at and we got talking to a couple of friends I hadn’t seen in ages. After chatting and watching the dancing, the music came to an end around 5pm. We bumped in to Hannah’s mom and we all said what a lovely day it had been. I had plans to attend another function back in Dalyan but, before returning, my friend and I nipped in to Göcek. We had a walk along the harbour, checked out a place with a pool and bar (for when visitors come in the summer), then I treated my friend to another coke and a cake for driving and I just had a Turkish tea. I paid a bargain 205 lira (£3.42) but I was feeling a bit tired now and wanted to get back. We drove back and I was meant to be going to a birthday party at Efe bar but I was shattered so sent my apologies. I was hungry so I had my dinner of beans on toast at 8.45pm then I went to bed with a headache.
Gratitude List 1. Being invited to Hannah’s engagement party at Suolo in Göcek 2. Bumping in to friends 3. An afternoon off.
It was market day on Saturday 11th April so I took my list and walked there via the bank. Because of the Easter bank holiday I hadn’t been paid my regular wage yet but I was doing ok because of the extra work I’d done last week and could afford to shop still. I did more moving of money from one account to another to ensure that I was putting in the amount required to keep residency in Turkey. At the moment the rules are that they only check the last 3 months before residency renewal that the minimum wage times 1.5 is being deposited. However, like all things related to rules and processes, things can change so I had decided that I would do this for 12 months prior to my renewal date – just in case. I hoped we would get paid on Monday and then I could top it up.
At the market I bought the following, prices in lira:
On the walk back home, I called in to the English export shop to see how much the Heinz baked beans were. They were too expensive for me to justify but I did see they had a brand of baked beans I hadn’t seen before. They were 60 lira (£1) so I decided, for the first time in quite a while, that I would buy the cheap version and see how they were. Beans on toast is one of the meals I miss the most when I’m away from the UK. While on a spending spree, I also called at the shops, here’s what I bought in lira:
A101 Supermarket 1 Dido chocolate bar 28.50 Wraps 49.50 2 Quark 109.90 Frozen fruit 189.00 Frozen chicken 189.00 Total spent 565.90 lira (£9.43)
Of course I didn’t get everything on my list but I was struggling to find some items and went back home as I was hungry. I had beans on toast, trying a third of the tin mixed with a spot of milk. They were ok but you could definitely tell they weren’t Heinz. I did some work in the afternoon and I asked (it was practically begging) people I was friends on Facebook with to follow my Resort Experts Business page. I even asked my colleagues and the owners of Resort Experts to follow me as I really wanted to get my number of followers to over 500 so I could earn money from Facebook. I was surprised that the more senior members of Resort Experts weren’t already following me so I asked them to and they did. I was finally over 400 followers and just needed another 100 to be able to monetize my page. Many people were viewing my page but had not actually clicked follower so if this is you, please do click that follow button on my Jo Lo – Resort Experts Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/share/18SmSVGKVp/
I went back to the shops after work and here’s the extra things I bought with prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket 2 small Milk 15.80 1 big Milk 37.25 Olives 43.05 White cheese 117.90 Fabric Softener 130.95 Total spent 354.95 lira (£5.92)
Gratitude List 1. Being able to food shop despite waiting for pay day 2. Reaching 400 Followers on my Jo Lo – Resort Experts page in order to get nearer to earning money from Facebook 3. Beans on Toast.
I had been invited on a boat trip with The Aussies on Friday 10th April. I had declined it because of a few reasons but mainly I had a massive to do list, I wanted to save money and it was pretty cold for boat trips still. The Aussies decided against it too. Instead, I worked on lots of different things at once and tried to make progress on my passive income side projects. I attended a cruise training webinar at 6pm which was delivered by Silver Sea cruises and Travelpack. It was very informative and I was enjoying finding out more about the types of cruises Captain Caveman and I would go on when we had the cash to splash. I had a video call with Captain Caveman who had got the keys for his flat and was about to move in. I wasn’t sure where exactly his new home was but I thought it might be near one of my old school friends and founder member of the Berlin 10. I mentioned this and decided to put Captain Caveman and my friend in touch so they could perhaps meet for a drink in the local. This didn’t go as I thought it would when Captain Caveman ended up roping her into moving his stuff in, up 2 flights of stairs! I rang him back to tell him off when I got a response from my friend to say he needed someone younger and fitter for that job! While I had a second dinner, after realising I had defrosted curry to eat, Captain Caveman did go to the pub with my friend, who I hoped wasn’t already blocking both of us! I hoped to go back to visit next month and Kelham Island drinking buddies would be a real treat for me. Even though they have beer in Dalyan, I can no longer drink it as it makes me ill, so I hoped to catch up with friends over a proper ale when I went back. My weekend this week was very different to last week; I had not one invite out and no messages from friends to persuade me to join them for drinks. I had a zero spend and a zero alcohol day, then an early night ready for a busy weekend.
Gratitude List 1. Free and interesting cruise training 2. Captain Caveman moving to Kelham Island in Sheffield 3. Good friends who I will look forward to drinking with in Sheffield.
I was up super early on Thursday 9th April so that I could get work done, put the out of office on and get to meet The Aussies by 9am. We were off to eat Turkish breakfast at Mavi Yasemin, which is one of Amanda & Greg’s favourite places. It’s located over the other side of the river so we set off walking along the river path and got to the Deniz kızı ferry. It cost 25 lira (42p) one way as a foot passenger and took less than 5 minutes to get across. The Mavi Yasemin restaurant is located on the right-hand side a short walk after you pass Pirates and Skulls.
We got there early as I needed to be back for the Resort Experts team meeting and we all ordered the Turkish breakfast and a juice. The delicious and plentiful breakfast, which comes with as much Turkish tea as you can manage, cost 500 lira (£8.47) each. The fresh pomegranate juice is 130 lira (£2.20) and went down very well. The food was just so good and I think it is now my new favourite too. I often struggle to eat Turkish breakfasts but I did well with this one and wasn’t ill. What I didn’t realise is that they only take cash, so Amanda had to lend me the money. I managed to put the tip in but then forgot I needed the return ferry fare and Amanda paid that too! We had to rush back, although I could’ve stayed there all day!
After the Resort Experts team meeting I arranged to meet The Aussies at the bank at 2pm. I withdrew cash to pay Amanda back for the breakfast. So far this morning I had spent £12.46 then bought a bottle of red wine and some salt and vinegar crisps for 360 lira (£6.10) at the off licence. We had managed to be quite late for the 2pm start of Kate and Mark’s housewarming party as Amanda had ended up in a clothes shop buying a dress for Hannah’s engagement party. The shop had some gorgeous tailor-made outfits in for both male and female with various prices. The owner can do any alterations to make it fit and is pretty quick. When we arrived at the party, Kate gave us a tour of her new house while Mark opened the red wine. Kate’s new bungalow was really lovely and I was really pleased for her. There were quite a few of the usual Dalyan Dwellers there, most of who I had not seen for months, and none of them so far this year. There were nibbles which I couldn’t resist and Kate had so many fruit trees that I was told to pick as many oranges as I liked, so I did. A small group of us remained after most people left and we had more drinks before heading back to our respective homes. I was meant to be back for a video call with Vanessa but I missed that and had to reschedule. Instead, I attended my first online Neon Nookers meeting and we had quite a good ‘getting to know you’ type of session. It was a group for copy and tech help which I was pleased I’d joined and I really related to both Georgina and Holly. We even had a fun competition of who could get their pyjamas on fastest.
Gratitude List 1. Breakfast at Mavi Yasemin with The Aussies 2. Oranges from Kate 3. Spending time with friends.
Tuesday 7th April was spent working on book stuff and Resort Experts. I was awake at 7.30am and it was quite cold. I was getting a few more holiday enquiries and the places people seemed to be looking at were Albania, Türkiye, Greece and Spain. I got lots done and had a chicken and chickpea curry around 7pm. I totted up my weekly spend and at £79.31, I was over my £70 budget despite the 4 days of zero spending. But I had earned extra this weekend so I didn’t mind. It did show me how easy it is to spend too much if I agree to go out drinking too often and I should probably limit it to once per week. I briefly spoke to Captain Caveman who was in Bristol for work and had had to delay his moving in to his Sheffield flat until Friday, when he could go back up North.
Gratitude List 1. Being busy 2. Nice food 3. Having a 4th zero spend day this week.
I was up early and doing my measurements on Wednesday 8th April; my bust and hips had stayed the same and I had lost 1cm from my waist. On my home scales I had lost 0.5kg (1.1lb) so I was optimistic for Carol’s scales at Fat Club later. After working hard on admin tasks and having no time for a lunch, I headed to Ren Garden for our Fat Club meet up, I was running late and was a bit stressed that I had not finished what I was doing. Tomorrow I had promised to meet up with friends too so it meant I would need to work tonight. At Fat Club I had lost just 0.15kg (0.3lb) on Carol’s scales, so I was disappointed but it was still a loss! I had a pot of tea for 100 lira (£1.69) and resisted the cookies and cake that were on display. After, I popped to the shops and here’s what I bought, with prices in lira:
I went straight back to work and regretted not making the soup I intended to earlier. I had an important email which told me I was a little further down the process of getting ‘The Handy Travel Planner’ in to actual book shops in the UK this summer. At 7pm I closed the laptop and decided to go for an impromptu walk as I was conscious I wasn’t getting enough exercise. I took a few photos as the sun was setting and bumped into Jamie and Norman and The Aussies, as well as Onur from Simple. I stopped to say hello to everyone and then continued to walk the long way home. I was meant to pick up something I had forgotten at the shop but I forgot again. I made a chicken wrap for dinner and had an early night as I was very tired.
Gratitude List 1. Losing weight 2. More progress on the book situation 3. An evening walk.
I spent Easter Day, Sunday 5th April, working on that Resort Experts Supplier list. I was finally getting through it, but not without so many interruptions from friends to meet for drinks. It was ironic really as I don’t think I’d had this many messages, voice notes and calls to invite me out this year, but as soon as I’m busy this is what happens. I felt bad for letting people down but I was happy to focus on what was important to me right now. I was also working on booking a family holiday for a client. They had been recommended by a friend, which is always good and much appreciated.
I didn’t eat until 3pm, just more left over bolognese, and more messages to check if I’d changed my mind about going out yet. I hadn’t, as I really just needed to get on with the work task I had agreed to do. I muted my phone again so I could focus. I finally finished for the night and was absolutely knackered. I didn’t leave the house so it was my 3rd zero spend day in a row. I had set my budget for April at £10 per day again and, so far, I was on track. I was hoping to finish my Resort Experts task tomorrow and I was looking forward to getting out, after working all weekend and not leaving the house during daylight since Thursday! I didn’t eat another meal but I decided to have a glass of Ron Zacapa rum before bed. I put on a Netflix film and instantly fell asleep. When I got in bed the Jazz bar decided to play loud (not Jazz) music and then there was a big storm so I didn’t get to sleep early.
Gratitude List
1. Having the willpower to keep focused on what I needed to do. 2. More leftover bolognese 3. A 3rd day of zero spend!
Monday 6th April was a strange Easter Monday, not that it’s celebrated in Turkey. I was on day 4 of the Resort Experts supplier work and I was almost done. I totted up how much I had left to do and sent an update to Sam, one of the owners. I decided to go outside to empty the bin and go to the bakery. I fancied a pain au chocolat or a croissant and I needed bread. Not having been outside in day light since Thursday, or in darkness and stormy weather since Friday night, it felt good. My new phone camera highlighted how tired I looked and I really did need to get more sleep! I bought a chocolate croissant and bread at Parlak bakery for 140 lira (£2.37). Fresh bread had now gone up to 20 lira (33p) but was still cheap. I headed back to the office and cracked on with work. I got thanked and paid for working all Easter weekend so I was pleased with that. My new client decided to go ahead with the villa holiday and we got it paid in full so that the flights were secured too.
I had agreed to meet Debbie (Darling) who wanted to pay me some sponsor money to give to Captain Caveman. A few people, including Jamie, were meeting at Caria Hotel, on the river front, but were going to be eating there. I had a cheese sandwich for a very late lunch and didn’t get there until 5.45pm. By this time most people were rather merry. It was decided it was going to get chilly shortly as the sun was going in, so we walked to Sofra bar and I ordered a red wine. Debbie gave me the money and then went outside while Jamie, Helen and I tried to guess which city her friends were from. We had a good laugh and I ordered another red wine just as Debbie (Darling) came in to say hello to Ali and Brinny, the dog, who had just stopped by on their walk, to say hi. Debbie (Darling) announced that she had had enough and had to go home. Her Mr G (cocktail) was barely touched and she said she couldn’t drink it. Being a keen advocate of not wasting anything, I ended up having it. I paid my bill of 300 lira (£5.08) for 2 red wines and said bye to anyone we knew. Jamie and I then went to Ren Garden for more red wine. Jamie insisted on a bottle so we paid 400 lira (£6.78) each then I insisted I needed to get to Migros before it closed as I didn’t have anything in for dinner tonight or food for tomorrow. We said bye and I, a little tipsy, went shopping – here’s what I bought with prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket 2 packs Mentos 46.90 1 Quark 55.95 Boiled beans 86.95 Toilet rolls 107.50 3 Bountys 109.90 1 Ham and mushroom pizza 189.95 A 2kg whole chicken 204.90 Total spent 802.05 lira (£13.59)
This is where I realised my error previously on the Bountys, they were on offer but only at 3 for the price of 2. As I was paying for the shopping, I realised I was desperate for a pee and decided it would be a good idea to nip in to Jiks. I ended up having more wine and ordering a pizza. A bloke who I know but hadn’t seen in a while, joined me and we ended up having a nice evening. My bill in Jiks came to 600 lira (£10.16) meaning I had spent almost £38 today! I reassured myself that at least I’d only been out one day of the 4 day weekend, so it could easily have been more.
Gratitude List 1. Getting paid for weekend work, as promised 2. Finding a suitable villa holiday for a new client 3. Going out for drinks after finishing 4 days of hard work.
On Friday 3rd April I started the laborious task of moving all the missing Supplier data from our Resort Expert spreadsheets to the new Zone database. It wasn’t the most exciting job I’d taken on but it certainly wasn’t the worst and, for a bit of extra cash, I was happy to plough through it. A lot of the Dalyan Dwellers were going to be out on the town over the weekend as lots of bars and restaurants were opening up this weekend to start the 2026 season. By me working and not going out, I was going to be saving money as well as earning it, by not spending it on drinking. I had a few messages and voice notes from friends requesting my time and attention this weekend. Most acknowledged that I was working all weekend but still wanted to know if we could go out for a drink or meet up. I explained I was busy and that I wouldn’t be drinking until I had the weekend job completed. I couldn’t do this level of detail with a hangover and it’s never just 1 glass with a lot of my Dalyan friends. When I take something on I do it, and I like to do it well so I was keen to get on with the job. I had a feeling I would get more requests to go out so I put my phone on silent and cracked on. I also decided to sign up to a group programme with Georgina Chapman (copywriter) and Holly Frances (Tech whizz) so that they could help me get my copy and tech sorted ready for promoting my own products (books and digital travel products). I didn’t get in touch with Captain Caveman as I knew he was working all weekend too. I had a homemade curry for dinner then went over to The Aussies around 7.30pm for cheese, snacks and gin. They had brought me gifts of butter and a South Korean rice wine flavoured with lemon, which was so kind. I had a really good night with them and we planned to see more of each other in the next 12 days. The rain was quite heavy so I didn’t leave until midnight, having just had 2 gin and tonics all evening. As I walked home a storm started and it was pretty torrential just after I got home.
Gratitude List 1. Having work to do over the weekend for extra cash 2. Being disciplined to saying no to drinking with Dalyan Dwellers 3. Joining the Neon Nook with Georgina and Holly.
I had a video call with Captain Caveman on the morning of Saturday 4th April. He was fuming as the weekend Easter work, that he had been scheduled to start in London yesterday, had been changed. Without being informed, he had been switched to work in Bristol on Tuesday and had been given the whole of the Easter weekend off. This went against Captain Caveman’s plans as he was meant to be in Sheffield on Tuesday to meet with the estate agent and move in to his new flat. I was also very annoyed as I could have booked a £30 flight to go see Captain Caveman for Easter in London. By this time it was too late for me to go to the market and it looked like rain anyway so I decided to make do with what I had. I worked more on the supplier list for Resort Experts after looking at flights to go to Captain Caveman tonight for a £100. We decided against it as he had to work all week in Bristol so I would only be there for the weekend. I tried my best to ignore more messages from friends who were chomping at the bit to get me to go out drinking. I said a firm no and that I would only go once I’d finished this job. Instead, I had a bolognese for lunch, worked hard for the rest of the day, also quoted some holidays for clients too and then had a chickpea curry for dinner when I finished work at 7.30pm. I was going to have a walk outside for fresh air and a trip to the off licence for some wine but I couldn’t. I’d had messages from the usual various Dalyan Dwellers to say to come join them in Tez bar, Corner bar or Sofra bar but I didn’t want to drink too much and I was knackered. I stayed in and made myself a White Russian (as I had no wine at home) and fell asleep on the sofa, while attempting to catch up on my writing. At least I’d had another zero spend day today, even if it hadn’t been intentional.
Gratitude List 1. Getting to speak to Captain Caveman 2. Working hard to save money 3. Good homemade food and a zero spend day.
Thursday 2nd April was a little frustrating for me, mainly with first world problems. The first one was that I was trying to get my Jo Lo – Resort Experts business page up to more than 500 followers on Facebook so that I could start to earn a bit of money from it. I was still on less than 400 despite having invited loads of my Facebook friends. How it works on Facebook is that once you’re invited to follow a page, you can view it but I can’t ask again unless the invite is declined. It means that it doesn’t count towards my stats and I can’t do anything about it except to keep asking all of the people who are not following to follow in posts like this. So, if you are not following already please do, if really helps me!!! https://www.facebook.com/share/1H3GWv8k4z/
The next minor inconvenience was waiting to speak to Sam, one of the owners at Resort Experts, to discuss some paid work over the Easter weekend. He’d offered paid work to get all the Supplier information held on a spreadsheet in to the new Zone database. He’d done it using AI but of course it now needed checking and all the gaps filling in. It was quite a tedious task but I love those kinds of jobs and I was up for it. Geoff – the Benidorm Resort Expert, had turned up at Sam’s house and prevented our Teams call to get started. My third frustration was not knowing what I was going to be paid this month and when the paid day would be. As there had been changes to the process recently, I still was unable to work it out and I had to expect nothing. I have to plan for my 50,000 lira (£850) per month to go in to my Turkish bank account for residency rules purposes which is quite time consuming. I don’t earn that in a month so I have to work out how much short I will be each month so Captain Caveman or other income can top it up. I had worked out that if I could sell just 6 books per day, I wouldn’t need to worry about the dates I would get paid from Resort Experts holiday bookings. My aim for the rest of this year was to write more books and increase book sales so that I could spend less time budgeting and worrying about money. I warmed up bolognese for a late lunch and got on with quite a bit of work in the afternoon. I’d had a referral from a friend for a family holiday which I was looking at. Turkey would’ve been an ideal destination were it not for needing morning flights so we decided Spain or the Balearic Islands suited the family better. I finally spoke to Sam about my weekend job and it was agreed I would start tomorrow. The job was easy but time consuming and what a lot of people would call boring – I liked those types of jobs and could do it easily. My final frustration was a shopping and budget related one; as there was no meat left when I went shopping yesterday, I had to go back today. This meant I had less zero spend days and inevitably it’s likely to make me spend more as I saw things I would like or on offer. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira:
Outdoors it was incredibly blustery but dry after quite a storm last night. Everything was covered in red sand which had blown in from a dessert. It was weird and everything looked dirty. The Shell petrol station, near Migros, was being knocked down too. I hadn’t noticed until after I had scoffed the Bounty, with a cup of earl grey tea, that I had been charged more than it had been priced at – that would teach me for not sticking to the Slimming World plan. I decided to watch something on Netflix and had popcorn and cheese for dinner as I was too tired to cook.
Gratitude List 1. Getting through a frustrating day by staying positive 2. Agreeing to take on a paid weekend job over Easter to boost the holiday fund 3. Having friends recommend me to their friends and colleagues.
On Wednesday 1st April I woke up much earlier than I would’ve liked, now that I didn’t have to get up for Norman. April started off with me trying to decide if I could maintain the £10 per day budget for another month – I had proved it could be done but it wasn’t easy. I had friends here, I’d been invited to events and outings plus a boat trip booked in and a trip to the hairdresser’s. So, realistically, I really should try to keep my spending to a minimum even though Captain Caveman had offered to continue to support me, as needed. The minimum wage for a Turkish person was 33,000 lira (£550) per month and I was trying to ensure I lived below that. I didn’t have rent or electricity to pay out of that, though, so I didn’t know how the locals were managing to live. A 1 bedroom apartment in Dalyan was costing over 20,000 lira (£339) now.
I got weighed to find I had put on 0.6kg (1.3lb) using my home scales but my measurements were more favourable; no change to my bust or hips but 3cm off my waist. At Fat Club I did better on Carol’s scales but had still put on 0.35kg (0.8lb). I spent just 30 lira (51p) on water and resisted the very tempting cookies at Ren Garden. I called at Migros after the group meet up and bought the following, prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket
Green peppers 56.04 Red peppers 58.64 Olives 61.50 6 eggs 72.95 Cashew nuts 95.00 2 Quark 111.90 Cheese 166.90 Total spent 622.93 lira (£10.56)
After work I had arranged to meet The Aussies, Amanda and Greg, for the opening of Lukka bar. It’s one of the closest bar and restaurants to where I live and the owners, Mehmet and Katrina are friends of mine. In my honest opinion this place is not for cheap chasers as they tend to have higher prices than some of the popular places with expats, however, I like the location, the staff and the quality so it’s been on my favourites list for a number of years. We’d said 6pm and I got there on time and waited for my friends who are usually late, I met the new staff and spoke to Mehmet, the owner. Lukka bar had been decorated and it was much more red and black, which looked good. I ordered a soda water while I waited for my friends. I wasn’t planning on eating at Lukka as I had food out of the freezer but my friends wanted to. They ordered gin and tonic and whiskey sours so I ordered a glass of Angora red wine. Amanda ordered a satay chicken and Greg ordered another chicken dish with a sauce so I just ordered a starter of the garlic mushrooms. Incidentally, when we ordered our meals, we were asked if we had any allergies and Mehmet even checked if I could eat bread with my mushrooms and that I wasn’t gluten free. He let me know that this year they were going to be able to do gluten free meals and gluten free bread – this was good for my Coeliac sister who was visiting this summer.
The food was excellent and was still the old menu while the new chef and staff got up to speed. The service was good too and not intrusive. Although Lukka is certainly not the cheapest place in town, I didn’t think it extortionate by any means. Here’s what I paid for what I had;
1 Soda water 70 lira (£1.19) 1 glass Angora red wine 250 lira (£4.24) 1 Garlic mushrooms 300 lira (£5.08) Tip 100 (£1.69) Total spent 720 lira (£12.20)
It was a really good evening, despite the torrential rain by the time we were leaving. The Aussies went off to meet friends at Corner bar but I was good and went home for an early night. As I climbed in to bed, Captain Caveman was leaving Saigon to fly back to Heathrow. He would land at 3pm tomorrow and be back at work on Friday.
Gratitude List
1. The Fat Club group 2. Meeting up with The Aussies 3. A great night out at Lukka bar.
It was my last day with Norman on Tuesday 31st March and he was eager to get his breakfast rather than featuring in a video for Little Daddy. Jamie was due to land at 7pm so I had all day to tidy, clean, nip to the shops and do work. Norman was aware of what was going on because he was doing a security check and seemed a bit sad.
In the morning I worked on helping potential customers with hand luggage only packing tips and quotes for the Costa Del Sol in Spain. Since the war against Iran had started, I’d noticed that some of my customers were choosing to holiday nearer to home this summer. Of course, I had managed to have booked in even more travel bargains for myself. For 2026 I now had 8 holidays booked, 4 with Captain Caveman. This made a good change compared to last year and I was certainly taking advantage of the cheap deals. This didn’t include being lucky enough to also be visiting the UK 3 times this year, as well as having the holiday town of Dalyan as my home for the rest of the time. Already, I had booked several friends their holidays to come to Dalyan too, so I was looking forward to this year.
After some work, I cleaned the house. In between all that, I used up some browning bananas and an egg to make an oatcake (as you do)! As it was Sabotage Tuesday I didn’t want to be tempted to eat things I shouldn’t because I had been quite good since Norman’s birthday celebrations. I found a lovely deal in Corfu at one of the fancy Grecotel chain hotels and sent it to 3 people who had asked about Corfu and Greek holidays. In the afternoon, I nipped to the bank to take out my ‘spare’ money for March, in readiness for doing the same during April (tomorrow). I popped to the shop to top back up anything I had used at Jamie’s, and spent just 111.85 lira (£1.89) on those essentials. Norman snored away while I worked and seemed quite happy on the sofa. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was getting a train in Vietnam and heading back to Ho Chi Minh before his flight back to the UK tomorrow. Once I knew Jamie was on his way, I was able to pop back home and relax. It was my dad’s birthday so I managed to get a video call in and sing Happy Birthday to him before eating and then having an early night. I bravely checked the March spending for the whole month. This last 3 days I’d spent £17.88 which meant that for the last 10 days I had spent only £46.52 against a budget of £100 (£10 per day). The monthly budget ended up being £270 for March, after I upped it from £221 (£5 per day) 2 weeks in to the month. I actually spent a grand total of £228.73 in March which meant I was £41.27 under budget and only £7.30 over the original budget. Adjusting it mid month had helped me claw some of it back and I was pleased to have done it. This had meant that the money I had saved was used for some of my 2026 holidays. I’d enjoyed the challenge of Money Minded March and was pleased to see that I’d spent half the amount of the previous month. Unfortunately, my weight loss had not gone as well in March and I was slightly heavier at the end of the month than I was at the beginning. More shenanigans were coming up for April; more outings, some celebrations and The Aussies were back in town!
Gratitude List 1. Norman 2. Managing to be under the (revised) budget for March 3. Video calls with Captain Caveman and Dad.
Norman was rather huffy and dishevelled on Monday 30th March, he also had a bit of a runny nose and was slow to move. He was 15 years and 5 days old, though, so I helped him down off the sofa and got on with work. I’d had strange dreams about a cat and the hallway smelled of cat pee which was weird. There were no signs of a cat or any pee anywhere. I had been up since 6am so was getting lots done before 9am. It had been a busy weekend so I was catching up on admin today. Our new Resort Experts system, The Zone, was taking shape and I now had it set up with tasks, enquiries and automations which was time saving. I left Norman napping and went to check on the leaking bathroom roof which we were waiting for a dry day to get fixed. The Aussies, Amanda & Greg, were on their way from Sydney to Dalaman on a 50 hour journey for 2 weeks at their villa in Dalyan, so I was looking forward to seeing them in April. Today would’ve been a zero spend day but I had to get a replacement water, which was 100 lira (£1.69). The afternoon was busy too and I booked my flight back to Dalyan in June, ready for a friend’s 60th birthday boat trip and and Sausage Dick arriving for just over a week in Dalyan. Norman decided he wanted his dinner early and was pacing about, he had complaints when I made him wait. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was now in Nha Trang with our friend Trang and her dog, Zacky. He was tired from the charity cycle event but over the moon with everyone who had supported and donated – he looked so proud! It was 8.30pm by the time I got my dinner so I just popped a frozen pizza in the oven.
Gratitude List 1. Norman 2. Summer plans 3. Speaking to Captain Caveman.
Captain Caveman’s charity event link, if you missed it and still want to donate:
My first job of the day on Sunday 29th March was to check the expenditure for the last week. I’d spent only £28.64 this week and had 4 zero spend days and 5 zero alcohol days. Things were back on track. I did still have 3 days left in March and I needed to buy some things so I would see if I could keep this up through to the next month. The sun was back out after a very wet and stormy day yesterday so I took Norman out for a walk and Nanny Kay popped round. I also did some writing, ate my Sunday dinner for lunch at 4pm and worked until gone 6pm. Over in a very hot and sticky Southern Vietnam, Captain Caveman had completed the 300km of his charity cycling event and was almost broken. He was very pleased to have raised a great amount of money for Saigon Children’s Charity and said he was going to do it again next year, too. We discussed me coming over to Vietnam and decided we would both go together next year as I had missed being there to support him. At 7.30pm I took myself off to the shops and decided to treat myself, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
On the morning of Friday 27th March I wasn’t too happy at my early alarm. I let Norman out and then we both got on the sofa for an extra sleep. It was cold and rainy so it was nice to get under a blanket and try to get rid of my hangover. I’d consumed far too much alcohol yesterday and was feeling extremely delicate. No breakfast or lunch was eaten and I barely moved from the dining table/desk once I was functioning. Jet2 had yet another sale on so I had a few enquiries to deal with. It was pay day weekend for a lot of people and I was working all weekend after being a bit part time these last couple of days for Norman’s birthday.
Norman was well and truly done with celebrations and had requested an embargo on them for a while. After having his breakfast, he had gone back to sleep and not woken up until after 1pm! He insisted he was having a Doggy Day, like Debbie (Darling) has her Debbie day – both of whom were going nowhere today.
Meanwhile Captain Caveman was busting his chops in lycra in a very hot Vietnam, raising money for Saigon Children’s Charity. I had misunderstood the elevation of the route and thought Day 1 of the route ‘looked easy’. It was not, and I think Captain Caveman was regretting not having had any exercise, let alone been on a bicycle, in about a year! I was very proud of him as I could not have attempted what he was doing – he had 2 more days to go!
Then I remembered my agreeing to meet up with Ian at 3pm today, to give him some Yorkshire tea bags. I made the effort as I had no contact details for him, to cancel. I invited Norman who flatly refused.
I arrived at Ren Garden and we sat in the garden as the sun was back out again. Debbie (Darling) and Irena made it and Debbie foolishly ordered a white wine and soda, which she left. I had a pot of tea for 100 lira (£1.69) and then left as I had work to do and training sessions on cruises to attend.
I finally had my first meal of the day, a veggie pasta, at 4.30pm and I still struggled to get it eaten. Norman refused to go for a walk, stating he had already done his steps for the whole week, then reminded me of the Doggy Day! I finally finished my work at 8.15pm and was begging for mercy – vowing to never drink that much again (until the next celebration)! While sat on the sofa drinking water there was a massive bang (well actually 3 or 4 in quick succession) coming from upstairs. When I went to investigate, a framed certificate had fell off the wall at the top of the stairs and ‘bounced’ down the stairs, landing on the middle step. It was heavy and glass so when I picked it up I was expecting the glass to be broken. It was completely intact, despite hitting several travertine/marble steps. It was Jamie’s late husband, Graeme’s, star certificate. It was a bit spooky that it had managed to fly off the wall, but on further investigation it had been stuck on with velcro! I left it on the spare bed and made a note to tell Jamie. It was an early night for me, ready to get up early tomorrow.
Things got completely out of hand on Thursday 26th March! I got a few things done in the morning after getting up at 6.15am. After an hour of working with AI prompts for monetisation and doing my own research, I had tea and toast. Norman was now 15 years and 1 day old and he said he was entitled to 2 corners of toast today. I spoke to Captain Caveman who was about to start his charity cycling event with a warm up practice which had been organised for today. You can watch a short video of it here: https://youtu.be/21nVJ1luaaE?si=XanZFFjA7cMZPgoH
I got ready to take Norman for a walk as it wasn’t raining, but he had accidentally fell asleep. When he woke up he had complaints about how I was running the household. On our walk at lunch time, Norman was so slow that we turned into the road where Debbie (Darling) lived and Norman decided he wanted to find out why she hadn’t been over yesterday. Debbie (Darling) invited us in for wine and for Norman to chase the cats on the terrace by the pool. We had a lovely catch up in the sun and then decided to finish Norman’s walk by taking him to Ren Garden. Norman loves it there and they always serve him his water before the human drinks, because he’s 15 and deserves priority – especially when the sun’s out. We sat by the pool in the garden and the weather was glorious. The hotel part (Grandma’s Garden) was starting to get customers and there were some workmen getting stuff fixed up for the season. Joining Debbie (Darling), Norman and I were Helen, Ian and Irena which was a nice eclectic mix for a Thursday – the conversation and laughs flowed. I had a couple of wines and had to say I’d call back the Resort Experts owner when he called me because I was in the middle of belated birthday celebrations for Jamie’s dog (as you do). There was an agreement for me to give Ian some Yorkshire tea bags as he had inadvertently run out so I would see him again at 3pm tomorrow. Debbie (Darling) and Helen went on ahead to Cadde Balık Ekmek to have fish and chips. Norman and I followed after I’d paid my 300 lira (£5.08) for my 2 wines.
The fish and chips was lovely and it was my 2nd visit. Everyone enjoyed them, including Norman who managed to snaffle some fish that had dropped on the floor. I paid 520 lira (£8.81) for fish and chips with a small bottle of water then it was time to go home. Debbie (Darling) and Helen were meeting friends at Tez Bar and Norman insisted we go say hello. He was ‘out out’ now and on round 2 of his birthday celebrations. At Tez Bar, Norman got barked at by jealous resident dog, Cani, but they soon settled down when the treats came out. Ali & Kev had just arrived back from their motorhome drive from the UK with their dog, Brinny, so it turned in to another celebration – welcome back Brinny and a belated Birthday for Norman. I just had the one wine and then it really was time to go home. Norman had enjoyed all the fuss, the extra treats and had missed his afternoon nap, so as we got near Debbie’s he was flagging. I was also needing a pee so we went in to Debbie’s for a nightcap. Hilariously, Norman made himself right at home then fell asleep and we finished off the vodka with limonata before going on to the gin! I didn’t get back until gone midnight, having missed various calls. I also hadn’t attended the team meeting this week but it turned out there hadn’t been one. I’d spent £16.44 today which meant my weekly spend was now at £21.86, with 2 days left to go!
Gratitude List 1. Belated extra birthday celebrations with Debbie (Darling) for Norman 2. Fish and chips 3. Having a good laugh.
joloyolo 