My housemate is returning home to Brazil at the end of the month, after ten years in the UK. “You must come and visit!” she tells me. Having promised to visit my family in Cambodia, and one of my best friends, who lives in America, I’m steadily clocking up those imaginary air miles. I’ve told her I’ll visit when I have enough money. That’s quite a flexible statement. What’s the definition of “enough”?
Unfortunately, my dream destinations fall pretty low on the priority list at the moment. The laptop I inherited from my (then) ten year-old sister is on its last legs. Two of the keys are missing, so I have attached a clunky old keyboard I inherited from my grandmother. Yesterday, booting up and opening the internet took twenty five minutes.
I tell you what, if my blog goes viral, and I get a six-figure contract with the Times, I’ll buy myself a laptop.
Part of the downsizing I mentioned in yesterday’s post was getting rid of my luxuriously large desk. I love being able to spread out when revising; laptop in one corner, study manual in another, paper to write on in another, and question bank in another. Fellow ACA students will know what I mean… Now, though, the desk has got to go. There’s no way it would fit in my new, scaled-down bedroom.
Within an hour of putting the desk up for sale on Gumtree, I’d had a response. Sold, and fifteen quid in my back pocket. That’s 3% of my loan taken care of!
Serendipitously, my grandparents were getting rid of an old sewing machine table, to make way for a bookcase. (The hoarding of books is a family trait; my great-grandfather was a librarian, see Day 2’s post at https://shopaholiccutsback.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/day-2-bye-buy-books/). Voilà, one new (free) desk!
The local free entertainment on Sunday night started up again this week, after a four-week summer hiatus. It was lovely seeing my friends again at church; although I’m a somewhat esoteric atheist-Christian, I had been feeling spiritually bereft in August. Even if, intellectually, I’m a reluctant believer, I do get a great deal of pleasure, warmth and friendship from my Sunday-evening outing. Plus, to add to my savvy-saver credentials, it is a free night out…
After the service, three of us were discussing meeting at the pool for a swim before work. “Oh, you go to the posh gym” one of them noticed. Yes, I suppose I do. I go the gym that’s on my route to work and back, because it’s pretty much the only way to get myself in there. If I had to take a ten-minute detour to get to the pool, I’d be far too lazy to ever get to the door, let alone do an hour’s workout. It’s something to consider, though, isn’t it? The gym is one of my regular outgoings, and crossing that of the list of direct debits would certainly help the bank balance. I’m not saying I’ll cancel my membership, or switch gyms, just yet. But I’ll think about it…
Thanks for reading folks.
Shopaholic Cuts Back 