April 23rd

Why is it that it always seems to rain on a Thursday when I have to make my way up that M50? Pouring again but out I went to DCU to educate the masses. Cost me €20 on petrol, another €1.35 on a banana and popcorn and €5.60 on the Toll so I really hope they learned something. At least I remembered how cold it's been out there lately and dressed for the location. One of my students, however, obviously impervious to the arctic temperatures had decided to do a naked run through a lecture theatre and film it for his presentation and also the class's pleasure. A+ I think!

€26.95

I have just spent hours with mixers, food processers and blenders in preparation for Saturday's feast. I truly am a culinary genius. Well, Jamie Oliver is, I just followed his recipe. Never mind the fact that there may be more food splattered all over me and my kitchen than is actually left to eat. I have made the most amazing thai green curry paste (though I am mildly concerned about the lemongrass stalks still being a little stalky), a most delicious roasted red pepper hummus and also have started in on the cake, which, once decorated and drowned in booze will be a gastronomic extravaganza! Mmmmm. Pity it will be covered in cream so I won't be able to eat any L

€48.56 on groceries.

Total spent today - €75.51

April 22nd

It's freezing in here today. Yesterday I wore a polo-neck and by the time I got home I had a heat rash and stank to high heaven. Today I have dressed for Spring as opposed to Winter and I may be developing frostbite on my toes. €1.70 gone on tea in an effort to warm up.

Put on the radiators in a further quest for heat. It's a disgrace that it's so sunny outside yet this room doesn't warm up thereby necessitating the use of the central heating. Anyhoo, I also had a soup €3.95 so am now beginning to feel my toes again and have also indulged in an apple, pear and ginger juice – delicious. Ever since the small size went down to €2 the Zumo guys have been super busy providing me and my fellow students with fruity juicy goodness. Cheaper than a cappuccino and 10 times healthier. Yum!

Nothing much else to report today. It's nearly bed time and I'm freezing again. I spent €2.49 on a bag of cashews earlier – was famished. Have spent most of the evening writing my shopping list for the weekend's big dinner. It's 2 pages long and there is a kilo and a half of prawns on it so all I can say it watch this space!

Total spent today €10.14

 

 

April 21st – Breaking the Law

Today started off innocuously enough. Made it into college in one piece at a reasonable hour and got busy with the many things that I need to get done. I deemed lunch a relative success when I got soup, a roll, beans and a baked potato for €5.40. It was only after the meal when I couldn't breathe through my nose for about an hour that I began to wonder what was in my food that was bunging me up yet again. An allergy test will definitely be taken in May when I have some money. Some students were collecting for Cystic Fibrosis so I gave them €2, conscious of the fact that my charitable giving had already exceeded €80 this week and it was only Tuesday.

The problems started for real when I had to drive out to Blackrock to sit in on an exam. Lord knows what's going on out there but for the first time in my life I couldn't get a parking space anywhere on campus. I drove around for about 15 minutes and almost had a spot before some guy in a jeep beat me to the chase. Needless to say I cursed him repeatedly as I did one more lap of the carpark before giving up. Out onto Avoca Avenue I went and parked my car on the street. Upon my return four hours later I noticed a little slip of yellow paper on my windscreen informing me that I would be getting a parking ticket in the post. Fantastic. That's all I need. I was going to call the guards to find out what my parking misdemeanour was that warranted such a ticket, but as I was driving at the time I thought the better of it.

Deciding it was too nice a day to let the yellow slip of paper get the better of me I zoomed off home. I needed to buy groceries but didn't pass SuperValu on my route to Rathfarnham so was left with a little dilemma. 1) Take advantage of the lovely evening and walk to Tesco or 2) get back in the stuffy car and drive to SuperValu. I elected to go for option 1. Much as it pained me it was just too nice an evening to pass up a little walk. €13.64 on Groceries and back I went to cook up a lovely dinner for Brian and Eric and sit back for more heart in mouth football courtesy of Liverpool and Arsenal.

Total spent today - €21.04

April 20th – Slave Labour, Prostitution or simply Charity?

I have partaken in some expenditure tonight that I may be unable to justify. In fact it seems I may have ventured into the Slave Trade or perhaps a form of Prostitution. I'm not entirely sure how to classify it to be honest. It all started when I hopped up on the bike again this evening and headed townwards for Del and Lionel's charity quiz night. All for a good cause I parted with my €20 entry fee and prepared to unleash a fountain of knowledge onto the answer sheets. Unfortunately this plan proved to be a little more than mildly ambitious, not just for me but also for my three teammates. It became very clear early on that we would not be winning any prizes based on our answers. Realising that we would have to change tactics to leave with some loot, we began to concentrate on inventing the Team Name to beat all Team Names. We settled on Saddle Sores, thinking it apt as the boys are raising money to do a charity cycle. I also invested €20 (€10 of which was mum's) in raffle tickets and sat back and waited to clean up. We wanted prizes and as it was all for charity I felt no guilt in my spending.

A couple of goody bags later, after being crowned winners of best team name, Table Four were still not satisfied. The raffle came and prizes went, but none to us. Along came the auction. This is the time when I usually sit back and marvel at the money some people will spend on random stuff – by and large sports related and often signed. Tonight was no exception. A signed Dublin football - €500; tickets to the Leinster-Munster Match in Croke Park - €310 times two. Thinking the auction was over we sat back and prepared for round 10 wondering whether there was any way we could possibly avoid coming last. Then suddenly it was announced that Lionel himself was being auctioned off. A date to the highest bidder. The auction thus began and laughter ensued. Lionel on stage with a look of panic and mortification on his face as his Mother, Father and Sister proceeded to outbid each other for the pleasure of an evening with their son/brother. Then in a split second it happened. One of the girls suggested we all chuck in €50 each and bid on the date and before I knew it I had shouted out "Two Hundred Euro" and a very relieved Lionel was ours! I however then realised that I didn't have a spare €50 in my wallet. Required funds were quickly borrowed from Anne. We paid up and now we each have ¼ of a date with our man slave and it being for charity I clearly can't be judged! I do wonder however if four men had bid on a woman would it all have been so comical.

Total spent today €80 (quiz, raffle tickets and ¼ of a date)

April 19th – Red Wine is not My friend

Good lord almighty. Red wine is not my friend. This is becoming ever more clear the older I get. I lay in bed, wide awake till 1pm on Sunday, unable to move for fear of what might happen. I eventually decided a walk in the park with Lizzie and the Dogs was my only hope for the day. I dragged my ass out of bed and into the shower and then plonked it onto my bike for the short cycle to Churchtown. This whole cycling business is so much more pleasurable and easy when the sun is shining, even if I was a hungover mess. I feel I am going to be a better friend to the environment and also to my bank account if we get a sunny summer for a change and I can swap the car for some easy breezy cycling.

Upon arrival at Mum and Dad's, the commotion with the dog paraphernalia began in earnest yet again. This time it was not a lead, but a collar that had gone missing. How, I ask you, can a perfectly good durable, hard wearing collar disappear off the neck of a dog, never to be seen again? Ridiculous. Eventually, as I was close to tears with the stress of the hullabaloo, the hangover and thoughts of having to reinvest in a collar on a Sunday, mum finally unearthed an old one and off to the park we went. I must have looked a sorry sight, being dragged around the Marlay by two little dogs (three if you include Lizzie's tiny pooch Bumper), but I tell you, if it weren't for them I'd never have made it round.

Got back to mum and dad's and had a flick through the papers. I didn't get far to be honest but did come across an interesting article in the Sunday Times concerning "The Urge to Splurge". I have now learned that splashing out is good for you as if we never treat ourselves we get a "wistful feeling of missing out on life's pleasures". So the unnecessary but desirable purchase is something we apparently shouldn't feel too guilty about. It seems that as long as we only indulge three times out of four and pay with cash so we're not weighing ourselves down with the burden of debt the indulgence is OK. Thank you Sunday Times Style Supplement for your wisdom. I will definitely remember this article the next time I want to buy a pretty pair of shoes.

After my few minutes of paper reading, I promptly fell asleep and remained that way for the majority of the FA cup semi-final. As it seemed to me that Berbatov did the exact same on the pitch I didn't feel too guilty about it. I woke up for the penalties, then got back on my bike and headed off home. I would have cycled directly to Olivia and Conor's if I'd had my lights with me but of course in my diminished state I hadn't thought that far ahead. By the time I got home my car was calling me so I hopped in without even going inside the apartment and needlessly wasted some petrol on the drive to Mount Argus.

At this stage you will note, I still hadn't spent any money. But the hankering for chips was getting greater and greater so as soon as Gary (also hungover) hinted that he too was in the mood for chippies we headed straight out to see what the take-away could provide our carb starved bodies. I got drinks in Centra (about €3) and Gary sprung for the chips (what a gent and what a good deal!). Once satiated we all then kicked back in front of a Kung Fu movie. Initially I was unsure how to take it, but as soon as the Thai Teenage Sensation started doing somersaults all over the place and kicking the crap out of the bad guys with her fancy moves I was hooked.

Total spent today - €3ish

April 18th – To Bend and Stretch or to Booze?

Saturday began with the fortnightly visit of the lovely Marina. Two hours and €25 later and the apartment looked like an enchanted cleaning fairy had appeared and waved her magic wand over the mess. How easy it is to picture the various woodland creatures that would come in and sing a happy helping song, birds twittering on her shoulder á la Mary Poppins in an effort to speed up and chirp up the sweeping and mopping process. Ah Disney, I blame you for the many strange but wondrous thoughts that flit through my head. Now if only Prince Charming were to appear on his White Steed and sweep me off my feet!

After Marina, the menagerie and the woodland creatures had left, I spent the remainder of the morning battling with myself over the steamy matter of the Art of Bikram Yoga. I had agreed to sign up for an introductory month for €49 with great aspirations of being beach ready by the time I landed in Spain for my few days of sunshine at the end of May. The girls started on Tuesday, but as I'd become carried away buying fancy groceries in M&S on Easter Monday I had to wait till the funds were replenished before being in a position (pardon the pun) to sign up for 40 degree Bend and Stretch.

Though the cash situation had again reached a semi-respectable level by Saturday morning, the battle within still raged. I was due to go out for Fiona's birthday that evening and was concerned that if I forked out for the yoga I'd be stuck come dinner time. I knew I could probably borrow a few quid off Mum and Dad if I really needed it but didn't feel comfortable doing that as I already owed them for the haircut on Tuesday. I also knew however, that if I didn't bite the bullet and sign up for yoga that day, that I never would. In the end I decided against the yoga and instead made an effort to resurrect my foundering running career. I opted for a 15 minute jog to Mum and Dad's where I picked up my bike and cycled it home. Not quite an hour and a half of yoga but exercise nonetheless. Felt fantastic after it too and spent not a penny.

Interestingly, the Yoga/No Yoga decision is probably the first purely economic one I've made since this experiment began. I felt I could justify the month of Bikram as "necessary" as I usually do yoga once a week anyway and had simply planned to replace my current class with hard core, super heated, super yoga for the month to stretch me a little more (again pardon the pun). It was also very reasonably priced. However, in truth I couldn't really afford it, not without seriously impacting on my impending night out. I also knew I had an expensive few weeks ahead so decided to be sensible to a point and opt for some fun with Fiona and the girls that evening instead.

Birthday celebrations were indeed a great laugh so a good decision was definitely made. Dinner was served in Green 19 (http://www.green19.ie) and was a STEAL. I am, without a shadow of a doubt organising the next class night out there. We could use a cheap one after the monumental expense of our last extravagance. The food was delicious and so reasonably priced. I had the yummiest Fish and Chips ever for €10 and couldn't but compare it to the vastly inferior Cod and Chipper Chips that Dad and I ordered last weekend from Marsellas around the corner which may even have cost more. Aside from the food, the wine and cocktails were also amazing and I even managed to leave without a hole in my pocket. About €30 once we'd polished off bottle after bottle of wine. Not too shabby.

On to the bleeding horse for more wine, a conga line or two and a bit of a dance. All in all a brilliant night. I have to admit I did feel a bit shitty when everybody started producing some really lovely presents for Fi, most of which I found myself experiencing pangs of longing for, as they were hoisted high and admired. I of course had arrived with my arms swinging, which did not please me. My excellent home- made birthday card idea unfortunately proved to be unworkable and I wasn't organised enough to make something á la Blue Peter. However I do plan to bake Fi a dirty great big cake when she's over for dinner on Saturday so hopefully she won't feel too hard done by. It is gradually becoming abundantly clear to me that I am turning into a feeder. As I'm blocked from buying presents for people, I find myself cooking for them more and more. If I kept this up much longer I'd end up with a load of fat friends.

Total spent today - €89ish (Marina, Dinner & Tip, More Wine and a Taxi Home).

April 17th

This morning did not begin well. I emerged from the shower unable to find Penny and was convinced for about 30 awful seconds that she'd taken a leap for freedom off my balcony. I'd never been as scared as I was when I cautiously peered over said second floor balcony convinced I'd find her lying cadaverous on the road below. Thankfully she had not yet gone to meet her maker and I found her a minute or so later in Ciara's room. I didn't think she was intelligent enough to push a door open, thus enabling her entry. She is however stupid enough not to bark when I call her so inner panic was what took over before I opened the door to find her looking up at me, wagging her tail so enthusiastically that her whole body was shaking. Once all dogs were present and accounted for, I threw on whatever clothes I could find and left with hair still wet just to get them back home to familiar territory.

I was supposed to meet up with my scary life coach this afternoon but cancelled as I just couldn't have coped with all the questions. I am still traumatised from my last experience and I really didn't see an hour spent with Ulf as the best way to lift my mood. It just goes to show that free stuff is not always good stuff.

It all worked out for the best though as it freed up my afternoon so I could fit in a cuppa with a friend instead. Far better for my mental health I think. So apart from my usual lunchtime soup (€3.75) and €1.75 on a yummy Coconut and Orange tea (the request of which seemed to seriously confuse the girl working behind the counter) I spent nothing today. I even managed to go to bed in a slightly brighter mood than I woke up with, as I didn't have Coach Ulf scaring me into making goals for my life.

Total spent today - €5.50

April 16th

Took another delightful drive up the M50 in the pissings of rain this morning in an attempt to educate some of DCUs finest. Oh the joys of market segmentation and positioning just cannot be overstated. Stopped off along the way for petrol, popcorn and water but was still starving by the time I left.

€5.60 for the Toll

€20 for petrol

€2.09 for water and popcorn.

After battling with the traffic and the elements I finally made it back to the familiar territory of Dublin 14. I immediately bypassed Tesco in Rathfarnham, remembering all too well my last shopping experience there, and zipped on up the road to SuperValu where I bought 2 tins of beans and some fish fingers – oh and some dry roasted peanuts. As I was freezing, I also accepted a free sample of green tea from the Lyons sample girl. This proved to be a mistake. When I got to the till I put it down beside me so I could wrestle with the other shopping that was weighing me down. The boy on the till then tried to pick it up to scan it and subsequently spilled it all over the place, creating a mess and a commotion that I was in no fit state to cope with. We got it wiped up fairly quickly and life in SuperValu soon returned to normal as I scooted off home to make my dinner. Fish fingers, beans and homemade chips – yum! I did however notice that Bird's Eye seem to have done something to their fish fingers. I'm pretty sure there is no longer Cod in the batter, which is fine. But said batter has also changed somewhat and I'm not sure I approve. The fingers themselves also seemed smaller than usual – unsettling. My chipies however were delicious and the beans topped off a good hearty dinner.

€5ish for the nuts, beans and chips (can't find the receipt).

Am now sitting on the couch with the dogs watching "the Wire". A perfect way to end a grey rainy day.

Total Spent today - €32.69

April 15th

Soy milk – not a fan. I'm sitting here with a cappuccino made from said liquid and it's just not doing the business. I suppose at this point I should mention that far from ordering a soy cappuccino for kicks, I did it because I'm desperately trying to emerge from a dairy coma that had afflicted me for the past few weeks. After many years of binging on cheese, with only an ever-increasing waistline as evidence of my misdemeanours, the rest of my body is now taking a stand and fighting me on my addiction. I've now had it with the constant bunged-upness, morning sore throats and puffy face so am fighting back. Actually, perhaps I'm surrendering, I'm not too sure. A consequence of this fight/surrender is my current adventure with soy milk. The result of that little experiment is that I may now no longer be a coffee drinker. Also bought an egg mayo sambo and spent ages reading the ingredients for signs of dairy. Couldn't find any so went ahead with the purchase only to discover that the bread was actually buttered. Then again, it could have been spread with anything so I'm not too concerned.

Coffee and Sambo - €5

It seems to be a day of living dangerously. Prior to the aforementioned food adventure, I took my life into my own hands on the M50 this morning. Of course I left it till the last possible day to go out to DCU and finally organise things so I could actually get paid. And on this last possible day it was raining so heavily that I could hardly see the road in front of me let alone the cars. A terrifying experience altogether. The good news is that I made it back safely and can now look forward to a slightly healthier looking bank account come May than the one I've been scared to look at since before Christmas.

€5.60 on the toll bridge.

€2 on an apple, pear and ginger juice. Much nicer than a soy coffee and better for the digestion too!

My FaceBook status currently reads "Cathy McGouran is contemplating Picnics of an Electric variety". After discovering that an Electric Picnic ticket costs €240, I am no longer contemplating. I am most definitely not going to be paying Stradbally Estate a visit this September.

April 14th – Prodigal Blogger Returns

Hi all and apologies to any of you who've been missing my posts! If I had a tail it would be between my legs right about now. For those of you who thought I'd cracked and suspected my almost 2 week absence was due to an uncontrollable shopping binge, I'm afraid I've got little to report. What started out as a day or two that "I must catch up on" and a receipt or two that "I really must find" quite simply snowballed to a point where I didn't have a clue where to start again! So here's hoping my temporary absence will be forgiven, that a blind eye will be turned and that the next few weeks of "not shopping" will be recorded here for posterity for you all to see.

I could try to begin I suppose by attempting a rundown of some of my more significant expenditures of the past 11 days, though now that I think back, none were really all that noteworthy. There have been few nights out, no extravagant meals, no cinema trips (much to my disgust – does nobody want to see Marley and Me?). There have been a few boozy nights in, accompanied by some serious culinary adventures, the most exciting of which involved some pizza making with two little helpers of the toddler variety. Other than that – nada. I did log on to eBay last week to help my brother locate a new back to his phone, once found I bought it for him as it was only $4 and he doesn't have a paypal account. Besides, I like the fix rather than replace mentality!

Today however, I did finally crack and get my hair done. I couldn't even look at my reflection anymore my roots were that bad. I was beginning to feel I had more brown hair than blond and that the only things preventing this from being true were the greys that jumped up and waved at me every time I went to the mirror for an inspection. After today's visit to the lovely Amanda I can now confirm with utmost certainty that I do have more brown hair than blond as I made an executive decision to rid myself of the highlights that have been my crown for so many years. They were just getting far too expensive to maintain. Word from Amanda is that I am far from the first fake Blond to walk out of there a reformed Brunette in recent times. It seems that easi meche, though easy on the eye is not so easy on the wallet. €105 incl tip which is a saving of about €50 on the usual price for a "do". Have myself a nice new cut also and all in all I must admit I quite like the result.

I made a trip to the Fruit and Veg shop and also to SuperValu this evening to give Jamie Oliver's Thai Green Curry a go. I got the best present in the world yesterday. Olivia and Conor bought me "Jamie's Ministry of Food". Wohoo! I suspect they were worried it would grow legs and disappear off out the door with me some Sunday night if they didn't take action. Or perhaps they were just getting sick of me pouring over their recipe books every time I visited and not engaging anyone in conversation unless it was food related. Either way I got my hands on it. Funnily enough I'd only been flicking through it in Eason's earlier that day showing mum all the recipes I'd been dying to try out. As for the outcome of the curry; I think a "could do better" should be appearing on my report card. Just a tad watery but nothing that can't be improved upon for next time. I'm dying to try out the Smoked Mackerel pate too. Yum.

Total Spent today: €124.80

Day 33 – April 2nd

Clearly my body is not designed for AM drives through town. I set my alarm to wake me up nice and early today but in the deep recesses of my brain I knew right well I could sleep in and just whizz up the M50, arriving in DCU less than 30 minutes after I left Rathfarnham. So that is what I did. €2.80 on the toll and a speedy drive to Collins Avenue. I should know by now that I'm likely to fall at the first hurdle if the first hurdle is my alarm clock ringing at 6.30 am – after all, I am a vessel of sleepiness. When I arrived I then had to fork out €7 on a new parking ticket to see me through my next 6 visits to the multistory. I'm pretty sure my staff card gets me in free to a couple of the carparks but I have no idea where they are and I never leave myself enough time in the mornings to search them out. For lunch I spent €3.65 on water and a roll. I found this price very confusing as I'd previously been charged close to €3 in the very same restaurant for a cup of coffee. Either the pricing system in use in the Business School canteen makes no sense whatsoever or the staff just make prices up as they go along, depending on their mood.

I finally got out of there at about 7.30pm because I suspected the ALDI in Finglas closed at 8 and I still hadn't got my moisturiser. I knew exactly how to get there by going back out onto the M50 but I really didn't see the need. I was pretty certain I could make it to Finglas by following the signposts for the N2 so I elected to go on a bit of an "adventure", the scale of which, however, I was unprepared for. I made it to Finglas Village no bother. It was after that the trouble started. In essence I simply randomly drove around most of Finglas desperately looking for something resembling a German Discounter. When I finally arrived at the gates of the Phoenix Park about 45 minutes later I knew I had been beaten. Who knew Finglas was so vast and confusing? Not me obviously. Dejected and defeated, I drove to SuperValu in Churchtown where I invested in a Pizza and other foodstuffs €12.63. I finally got home about 9pm and proceeded to get drunk on cheese. What a day.

Total spent today €26.08

Not spent €2.80 – I was so lost I couldn't have found the M50 and its Barrier Free Tolling System for all the Aldis in Germany,

Day 32 – April 1st

Not getting through my list at any great speed today. Have spent most of the morning chuckling at Claire and Ger on Newstalk and their April Fools antics. I've also been cursing ALDI. I finally squeezed the last out of my moisturiser yesterday so decided to swing by my local Deutsch Discounter on the way in this morning, assuming it would be open at 8am. Not so it seems. I was shocked. What self respecting German wouldn't open their shop till 9am? It truly beggars belief. So instead of starting my day testing out the merits of ALDI moisturiser, I scrounged a squirt off mum when I swung by to pick up Joe. If they stay open past 6 in the evening I'll get some on my way home.

I think I need coffee. In fact I know I do. Now is not the time to be training myself to drink it without milk either so something frothy it will be. €2.50

Weighed myself this morning in lieu of Weight Watchers lady. I don't want to talk about it. Clearly weekends of boozing and eating one's way around London do not do anything for one's attempts at a more slimline figure. The distinct lack of running over the past 5 days (clearly I was in no state to run for a day or two after I returned) can't have helped matters. We are not amused.

I may have broken the rules last night. If not I certainly bent them ever so slightly. Ciara had come home from Belfast with 2 briefcases full of top quality fancy ass kitchen knives. I think there are about 40 in the case. One knife alone could fetch about €70 on ebay and her friend is selling her the whole lot for €100. As I said, she came home with two cases and I doubt she's going to live with me forever so I made my decision and committed to buying the second set of knives in May when I can spend again. I absolutely couldn't pass it up. They are amazing knives. I'm sure if I had them I could even give Jamie Oliver a run for his money; they're just that good. My name is Cathy and I am a "Spaver" (for definition check out a previous entry). €100 committed.

Speaking of Jamie Oliver, I am adding his Ministry of Food book to the list of things I will buy when May dawns and my spending will only be restricted by the amount of credit Mr. Visa will allow me. It's €15 on Play.Com. I was flicking through it in Olivia and Conor's the other night and it's fab. Even though there are loads of meat dishes which I will never try out I was so impressed by his fish section that I simply can't live without it on my bookshelf. Never mind the fact that the shelves are about to crumble under the weight of my already vast collection of recipe books, many of which I have never opened except to look at the pictures (food porn). Ooh, I can't wait. Between that book and my knives I will be unstoppable.

Still haven't done anything on my list… I'm daydreaming about cooking fish and chopping veg with my new knives….

I finally got on to the L'Oreal academy about my two tone hair. The best I could manage was to get on a waiting list for a freebie colour and cut – on separate days. When I finally got around to checking my diary about 10 minutes after the phone conversation I discovered that I'm unavailable for both the colour and cut. I will now have to seek out alternative sources of cheap hairdressing. Otherwise I'm making an appointment with the lovely Amanda in Peter Gregory to sort me out before Niall and Emma's wedding.

I have been swanning around Trinity for the majority of the afternoon. Tickets for the ball went on sale today so there were queues of students a mile long standing in line awaiting a chance to purchase a much coveted pass into the social event of the year. As I wandered through the grounds I spent a few minutes thinking back to my own trinity days and trying to figure out under which tree it was that I spent a significant portion of one of my ball nights passed out. Ah – those really were the days! My primary reason for being in trinity was to meet Rosemary, my first official research participant and go through the rules of the game with her. We had a delightful, if not pricey lunch in the Science Gallery €17.70 – before I went on to meet Brian for some free Tea in his posh "staff only" area. Then on to Olivia for more catch ups (and sushi as I was still starving after my expensive lunch!) in the non posh Buttery Bar (which has also significantly changed since my days there a decade or so ago) before catching the number 10 bus back to Belfield.

Free Tea

€17.70 on Lunch for two

€4.75 on sushi

€3.60 on the bus

Total spent today - €28.55

Day 31 – March 31st

I have a list today and there is much to get through. I went for a free life-coaching session last night, thinking it would be a bit of a laugh and all the better as I didn't have to pay. Today I am traumatised beyond belief but have a list, so I'm sure some good has come of it. Lizzie has explained that if I'm that disturbed and distressed I absolutely don't have to go back. My reasoning is that I'm now so traumatised and broken that I have revisit Ulf the life-coach to fix me. I'm sure this is how they suck you in to a lifetime of lucrative life-coaching dependency. However, he better be able to fix me fast, I only have three more free sessions!

Helen is having IT issues. Actually, she's having a crisis. However, between the lovely Niall, a moderately helpful IT guy and me standing around making supportive noises and pushing chocolate and Sarah's homemade biccies on her, we may have her sorted. What a time for things to go wrong, less than a week before all her assignments are due in. I don't think my sanity could survive such a catastrophe.

€1.70 on tea for me and €1 on chocolate for Helen (medicinal of course).

€3.95 for soup which was consumed at my desk as I frantically try to get through my list…

Have made a good stab at the list but it's now 6pm and I'm out of here. I have a walk date planned with Fay so I shall now hastily speed to Donnybrook. I'm pretty sure the petrol light is on though so a stop for fuel may be on the cards…

€20 on petrol and €2 on parking outside Fay's.

Slightly calmer re the whole life coaching business but have still made a list for tomorrow…

Total spent today - €28.65

Day 30 – March 30th

All I can say is I'd hate to think how bad I'd feel if I hadn't stuffed myself full of Berocca, Dyoralite, Motillium and Paracetamol yesterday. Today I'm just tired. But that's nothing new these days. It only dawned on me recently that it may be due to the distinct lack of Iron in my body after giving blood a few weeks ago. As a result of this revelation I took myself off to the Pharmacy where the chemist took €6.25 off me in return for Ferrograd C iron tablets. Hopefully they'll do the business and I'll be back to feeling like myself again soon. Then again, it's not as if I'm famed for my boundless energy. Liz went so far as to call me "a vessel of sleepiness" on Saturday night and over the years many others have likened me to a koala bear, as apparently all I do is sleep and eat. Speaking of which - €3.95 on soup and €2 on a smoothie.

€12.20

You know you're roots are getting bad when your dad comments on them. I think it's time for a visit to the hairdressers. Brian has offered to call over with some parazone and do it on the cheap so I don't have to spend much money. However, it was decided against the frugal option, as the resultant stay in hospital would cancel out any money saved at the initial hair bleaching stage of the process. I will put a call to Loreal on my list of phone calls I need to make tomorrow.

Total spent today - €12.20 (Iron Tablets, soup and a Smoothie)

Day 29 – March 29th

I'm still in the horrors.

Considering I didn't get up till 12 and had to fly home in this state I feel like I've had a remarkably productive day. Probably not as productive as all the people who cooked for me, but productive nonetheless.

The morning/afternoon began with a stressful trip to Ailish's. £3.10 on the train. How it took me an hour to get from Balham to Battersy I will never understand, but when I arrived, Joe and Mairead were busy in the kitchen and a few minutes later they produced a feast of a lunch that my poor weary, hung-over body will be eternally grateful for. After only an hour or so it was time to leave for the Airport - £13.30 on the train – where I met up with Lizzie, who looked just like I felt. She spent the last of her sterling on water, a sambo and sushi for me and down we sat eating and praying that our flight would be on time. Happily it was and upon landing in Dublin airport I bought us both Smoothies - €9.50 – in an effort to pep us up enough so that we could make it home. Thankfully Liz had her car and gave me a lift back to Rathfarnham where I changed into my trakkies, grabbed Season Two of 'The Wire' and headed off to Olivia and Conor's, arriving just in time for Dinner. Some spuds, carrots, gingerale and a chocolate cupcake later we sat down to watch episode one and I promptly fell fast asleep. Why I did not go to bed as soon as I got home I do not know. But dinner was a nice surprise and it involved potatoes which were vital to me in the state I was in.

Total spent today £16.40 and €9.50

Day 28 – March 28th

I am broken, officially broken. This however is only to be expected when you stay up for about 22 hours straight and polish off close to 6 bottles of wine between three people. I'm so toxic I don't even have the energy to shudder at the thought.

The day began innocuously enough with slap up 'breakfast of champions' in preparation for our big day of Wedding Dress shopping which lay ahead. An efficient trip out to Richmond in yet another street car, courtesy of the map application on Sarah's iPhone and we were ready to begin. By the way, I'm definitely getting an iPhone when my Vodafone contract is up. They're deadly. The whole process of trying on dress after dress also went very smoothly. I feel it helped that we stopped in Wagamama for lunch to refuel and prime ourselves for more. £12 on something Japanese and noodley, asparagus and tea and we were ready to go again. It was only when we were in the car on the way back that we realised how exhausted we were and that there was no way we were going anywhere that evening. A quick stop off in Sainsburys for some groceries and a bottle or two of wine (just in case!) - £15 - and we were back home cooking dinner in our pyjamas.

As is was earth day we turned off all the lights and appliances at 8.30 and had a delightful candlelit dinner and a few drinks. We followed this up with some ghost stories (as we were in the dark) and some more drinks. Then some games and some more drinks and a few more drinks…. Then just a few more. It was bright when we finally called it a night and hit the sack. I feel it was a feat of superhuman strength that three 'ladies' who, at 7.30pm were too tired to do anything but laze around in their pyjamas, managed to stay up for about 11 hours more.

Total spent today £27. I am also totally spent.

Day 28 - March 28th

Liz and I are going to visit Sarah in London this evening for a long overdue catch up and some wedding related shopping. For a number of very obvious reasons, I will clearly not be partaking in the shopping but will be along for some appropriately timed oohing and ahing when dresses are donned. Sarah’s great - in a supreme effort to help me ‘not shop’ she has been valiantly baking and cooking and stocking up on wine so we can have a home cooked feast of the gods, thus negating the need to go out for expensive dinners. I’m actually getting hungry just thinking about it.
As a result of my impending trip, I was back on the bus this morning. Happily, the trip on the 17 is not quite as hateful as I remember from my school days. It arrived promptly at 8.30, I had my pick of a number of seats and was at my desk by 9am. A doddle some might say. For one brief moment I began to picture my new life as a loyal Dublin bus customer. Then I realised that it was probably cheaper to take the car and cheapest to cycle so it looks like the bus is reserved purely for airport visits. It was a noble vision while it lasted.

€1.80 on the bus (and I had the right change today so no wastage).

Piping hot tea this morning courtesy of Sinéad and Insomnia. Just the job!

€3.95 on soup and a delightful conversation about world domination, hermaphrodites, homosexuality and of course my impending trip to London. I’m so giddy and excited today I’m surprising even myself. Consequently I’m being highly disruptive. Were I in school I suspect I’d have been thrown out of class by now. Only an hour left before I leave for the airport – Wohoo!

I'm such an idiot. I've been overexcited distracted all afternoon and pretty much all I've been able to think about is going to the airport, to the point where I've been joking about leaving since lunchtime. It's 3.45pm now and I'm on the Aircoach. Why, I hear you ask, am I not on the more economical and budget friendly Dublin Bus? Because, dear reader, I've missed it. So for some strange reason, known only to the gods, I managed to miss a bus I've been itching to take all afternoon and as a result I'm down €8 to the Aircoach people. Boo Hiss and a slap on the wrists for me.

€2.70 for a peppermint tea at the airport. Expensive I know and under normal circumstances I would now be commencing a rant about the price of stuff at Dublin Airport. However, as the cup was so large and the volume of water so great, the lovely Starbucks man gave me an extra teabag to ensure the sufficient strength of said tea. As a result, I ended up being quite pleased with my purchase and not at all bitter.

Street cars are great. I don't fully understand the inner workings of the system, but from where I was sitting (the back of a fancy new Golf) they seem pretty cool to me. Put simply, “Street Cars” are a pay as you go car club where you can have the use of a car for as little as 30 minutes or as long as 6 months, depending on how long you reserve it for. There are cars parked at handy locations all around London (and other UK cities) that you can rent at a pretty reasonable cost. This system seems very useful for those who choose not to own a car but sometimes have long journeys to make, such as picking two friends up from Gatwick Airport! Sarah reserved one for three hours for £14 so that she could collect us. This particular one lives less than a 5 minute walk from her house so was very convenient when we dropped it back and subsequently had to drag our cases home. The majority of the time Sarah takes public transport or scoots around on her Vespa. The street cars have negated the need for her and Kev to own a car and also in all likelihood have gone some way to decreasing the traffic congestion in central London.

Total spent today - €16.45. Would have been €10.25 had I not missed the bus.

Day 26 - March 26th

There was no time for dilly dallying this morning so over the toll bridge I went - €1.80 each way.

Just about managed to fit in a run with Ciara’s iPod before getting my grand tourismo of Dublin underway. I’ve finally reached the point where I’m enjoying running. I knew it would come eventually, but I was beginning to doubt myself. The knees have been acting up a bit lately, but if I keep it up, slow and steady, I’m sure they’ll be fine. If Bernard Dunne can fight through the pain then so can I! I’ve been indulging myself in a little iPod related web surfing lately, trying to decide on the most appropriate device for my needs. Initially, I was glad of the opportunity to have time to thoroughly mull over my potential purchases. I may now be at the point however where I’m beginning to over think these acquisitions. Either way, the web surfing is coming along nicely and I’m almost in a place where I may be able to make a decision. Once I’ve decided on my iPod needs, I will then get researching on the heart monitor. This however is more of an extravagance than a need and may require serious investment so I think I’ll wait till after the mini marathon to make any decisions. I will have a far better idea then as to where I stand on the whole running issue.

From DCU, I zipped back across the city for my Yoga class where I bent, stretched and contorted myself in accordance with petite teacher’s instructions. We were subjected to some new and exciting postures which I attempted with enthusiasm, only to find myself careering towards my mat while endeavouring to look like a crow. I suspect I’m going to be sore tomorrow. A quick dip into the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, some dyoralite (it’s good for flying too apparently and I’ll be doing some of that tomorrow) and an orange barley sugar which reminded me of being sick as a child. As deliciously sticky as I remember them – yum!

On to Blackrock where I finally had a chance to eat. I hate that canteen. Thieving gypsies. A sambo, peppermint tea and a bottle of water set me back €7.70. Is it any wonder I avoid that place like the plague these days. Evidently I’m not the only one as there wasn’t much evidence of many other diners there.

Total Spent today €28.90 (Toll x 2 - €3.60; Pharmacy - €15.60; Robbery in the canteen - €7.70)

Day 25 – March 25th

Again not at Weight Watchers and again making progress. Go me! I know if I were there right now I'd be close to getting a little silver seven and dreaming about my stone. I wonder when I go back and they see all the weight I'll have lost will they give them to me then? I'm all about the rewards you see so it stands to reason that I would be focusing on this and worrying about missing out on my prizes and recognition!

Not spent - €10 on WW

Tea - €1.70

Word of the day – Recessionista: "A person who is able to stick to a tight budget while still managing to dress stylishly". Looking at my outfit today it's highly doubtful whether I could realistically claim to be one. I don't really think I'd be the most stylish of dressers even if I had all the money in the world. But I now have an image of myself as an uber stylish recessionista, and anyone who's ever read the secret knows that if you believe it then it will happen!

Soup – €3.95 – Had to pay today L Was delicious as usual though.

Petrol -€20 – I think I only just made it to the filling station on time. The light had been on all day and I was genuinely concerned for my little petrol tank. Wisely I decided to fill up at a station down a hill rather than up it so were I do stall I could coast to my destination.

 

Total spent today - €25.65

Not Spent - €10

 

Day 24 - march 24th

I seem to be awake today. This is good progress. I still opted for a little kick start cappuccino - €2.50 – that I think I now feel guilty about as I really didn’t need it. A tea would have been perfectly acceptable; cheaper, bigger, less fattening and with a slightly more moderate level of caffeine. I do love an insomnia coffee though. Now if only I could train myself to enjoy it without the frothy milk, I would save myself cash and calories. I did it with tea; surely I can banish milk from my coffee too. Will think about it – I really do love the froth though…..
Went to by soup for my lunch only to discover I was due a free one- yey! Broccoli and Feta. Wasn’t what I expected but satisfying all the same.

The tingling started about an hour ago and now I’m sitting here with a full blown, mammoth cold sore on my bottom lip. Fantastic - not only do I now look repulsive, but the tingling has turned into itching and I may need to tape my hands behind my back to stop myself from touching it. I feel like poor Phoebe in that episode of “Friends” where she and Charlie Sheen get the Chicken Pox and had to duct tape each other into pairs of oven gloves. I think the thing I hate most about cold sores is how speedy and inconsiderate the little feckers are. As a result, the fact that I have a few tubes of Zovirax at home is irrelevant. I’m never there or in a position to speed back when they strike. It’s now 2pm and I won’t be home till about 10ish so an emergency trip to the chemist is my only option. Though even now I’m probably too late for it to have any pre-emptive effect. I better inform the boys – no kissing for Scabby Lips for a few days. I can hear hearts breaking all over the world as I type…..

€7.80 for a 2g tube of Viralief. Pharmacist lady informed me that though it was €2.50 cheaper than Zoviraz, it contained the exact same stuff. After assuring me of this fact for the third time I went for the Viralief. It just goes to show the power of the brand. Had she not been there to assuage my fears around picking the cheaper, more generic product I’d have forked out the extra cash on the more expensive branded one – and I worked in marketing! I should know better.

€2.20 on parking outside Fay’s house. I used up all the coins I had, but was only paid up till 6.35pm so had to leave my little micra in a rather vulnerable position for the last 25 minutes of the designated pay and display hours. I felt like I was playing a type of parking Russian roulette with my car and it didn’t sit easily with me. Thankfully when I got back to “Elizabeth” a few hours later there were no tickets strategically placed under the wipers and even better, no bright yellow clamp secured around my back wheel.

In bed now with my diseased lip and tube of viralief at close hand.

Total spent today - €12.50 – Coffee, Viralief and parking,

Day 23 – March 23rd

Today I may be the most tired I've ever been in my whole life. I think perhaps being a domestic goddess has taken quite a lot out of me! As a result I started my day with a good strong coffee - €2.75. That didn't work so I followed it up with a cup of tea – €1.70. As you may have deduced, Flaskie has taken a trip to Thermos Heaven. It seems Thermoses (could that really be the plural of Thermos?) born in the 70s were not designed for the rigours of dishwasher cleaning. As a result, I'm €4.45 down to the Insomnia moguls that specialise in keeping weary students awake on a Monday morning. Today they have just about succeeded with me.

I've also made an executive decision not to go to "Spring Break" when they delight fans of the 80s in Tripod in a couple of weeks. Even though gigs are no longer against the rules, I may finally be learning to be a little more conscientious with my money or lack thereof (except of course where coffee is concerned). Although my finances have been in better shape, I know I could probably afford to go but there are a few things coming up that are going to set me back a few Euro so I think it best to step away from the blue eyeliner and leggings and leave the backcombing for another day.

I've just taken a walk to the library to pick up my next Book Club book. I'm so tired I nearly threw up on my way there. This is not good! After all that, the flippin book wasn't shelved where it was supposed to be. Is it any wonder? The catalogue directed me to the English Poetry section and I'm 100% sure we are reading a Booker Prize winning novel this month. My search will continue. Failing that I know my mum has it somewhere, she may just have to retrieve it from a friend, but definitely no need to actually buy it. I still have about a third of "Marley and Me" to read so can wait a few days. I just love that unruly dog. He reminds me so much of my dearly departed Sooty.

Have finally finished "Not Buying It". I get the distinct impression that by the end of the year Judith's friends were treating her and her partner much like charity cases, sending them care packages of DVDs etc. But fair play to her, she did it, with only a few minor lapses. My favourite new word today is 'spavers', a term coined to describe those who spend in order to save. These folks are the type who take advantage of special offers such as two for the price of one, though in the end they may be lumbered with two of a product they may never use instead of just not spending the money in the first place.

It's 7pm now and I'm climbing into bed with a cup of tea and a plan to spend the next three hours listening to "Off the Ball" on Newstalk to savour some more good sporting news. Tomorrow the world may be back to normal and the news filled with talk of more strikes, recessions and murders. The past few days have been a welcome relief.

Total spent today - €4.45

Day 22 – March 22nd – Mother’s Day

Today I played a blinder. I feel like I morphed into some strange combination of The Irish Rugby Team, Jamie Olliver and Martha Stewart (before her lawless days). Mother's day has indeed been a resounding success.

Tea in bed for Mum, then Poached Eggs on Toast (too messy to be eaten anywhere but the kitchen table); a snack of delicious Apricot and Orange Muffins made from scratch with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt and washed down with good Coffee. Piece de Resistance came at dinner time – Potatoes roasted with Olive Oil and Rosemary; Brocolli, Carrots and toasted Almonds; Sugar Snap Peas; Sautéed Shallots and Baked Salmon with Basil and Lemon and a Tzatziki type dip. I think I'm more impressed with me and my culinary extravaganza than the family are!

Ducked into Supervalu this morning to stock up on some ingredients where I gave in and also bought a new lead. 24 hours later and missing lead still hadn't turned up so decided that at this stage the purchase was necessary.

Circa €30 for ingredients and lead.

Right around the time Liverpool were rounding off a great weekend of sports by beating Villa 5-0, I got busy booking flights again. I'm off to a conference in the States in June so had to make sure I was booked on a plane which would get me there. I'm also planning to do a whirlwind tour of the East Coast in an effort to catch up with as many friends as possible. That being the case, I'm flying into Boston and out of Philly and have also booked an internal flight between Boston and Baltimore (miles cheaper than the train and just as cheap but hours quicker than the bus). If I had more time and money I would be more concerned about my Carbon Footprint, but I don't. Will bus it between Baltimore and New York and New York and Philly and anyone who's ever been on a Greyhound will know that that's enough for anyone.

€509 for flights from Dublin to Boston and Philly to Dublin (reimbursable).

€50 for a flight from Boston to Baltimore.

Total spent today - €80 (I'm not counting my long haul flights as I'm not actually paying for them.)

For anyone who's interested here is the Muffin Recipe I used.

Day 21 – March 21st – Grand Slam Saturday

Good Lord what a day! My heart has been in my mouth so many times that I think my intestines and internal organs were seriously considering permanently rearranging themselves. I've also been so close to peeing in my pants that I have genuinely been contemplating the fitting of a catheter for all future sporting occasions. Especially ones of today's magnitude. After Man Utd lost 2-0 I began to develop a very good feeling about the rest of today's sporting fixtures, but nothing was to prepare me for such nail biting rugby and passionate boxing, the likes of which I have never seen before. Incredible.

They are amazing athletes - so fit and so mentally strong - I have a newfound respect for them. What they put themselves through is unbelievable. None of these comments have anything to do with my spending habits but I'm just so blown away I have to write about it! I suppose I could say that as I ended up having to watch the Rugby in the Chinese and elected to watch Bernard Dunne at home with my dad that I was shielded from the temptation to booze it up in some pub and therefore spent nothing while witnessing sporting history!

Before my day of sports kicked in however, there was the small matter of paying the lovely Marina for cleaning my apartment from top to bottom. That woman has no idea how appreciated she is. I think there are about 6 households in the Churchtown/Rathfarnham area that would gladly erect a statue in honour of her and her cleaning greatness. Think Bernard Dunne with a hoover and you're nearly there - €25.

Marina goes to Mum and Dad's house after she finishes with my place so I usually call over and take the dogs for a long walk so they're not in her way. Today was no exception so I arrived to some frenzied and frantic barking about 5 minutes after Marina did. Then the problems started. Just one problem really. One of the leads had gone missing. We searched the house from top to bottom and checked all the cars but there was still no sign of it. I knew it was really lost when smart dog didn't even attempt to look for it. In the past he's barked outside rooms he's known his lead to be in, in an effort to persuade someone to take him for a walk. Not so today. I was repeatedly told by members of my family to just go and buy another lead, mostly because the dogs were going insane and I really needed to get them out of the house. I however felt I couldn't justify such a purchase as the lost lead had to be somewhere. In the end I took them to the park where leads were surplus to requirements in the hope that missing lead would turn up. It hasn't.

It's Mother's Day tomorrow. In some households this may be considered a non event. In our family however, this is most definitely not the case. By this afternoon preparations for the mother of all mother's days were well underway. I put Dublin based brother on present duty and he duly appeared home this afternoon with a selection of blackberry, loganberry and raspberry bushes for the garden. Australia based brother has been informed that this day is upon us and I've strongly hinted that he might like to send some flowers. I am on cooking duty and have planned a feast to beat all mother's day feasts. Such preparations of course, demand some serious food shopping so I forked out €30.87 in the fruit and veg shop and will be hitting SuperValu in the morning. Then I settled in for the sports and haven't spent a penny since!

Total spent today - €55.87

Day 20 – March 20th

I'm sitting here listening to the radio. One of the biggest news stories of the morning is that U2 tickets are going on sale at 8am. I won't be buying them for two reasons.

1. I have no money (refer back to maxed out Credit Card entry on Paddy's Day).
   
2. I don't think they're necessary.
   

After a discussion about the rules of the game the other day it was decided that service based products were not to remain part of the experiment. If I'm honest with myself, don't necessarily think they are any more or less essential than many physical goods. I also firmly believe that these service based products also strongly contribute to the overconsumption epidemic into which we are facing. I do however think that for my own mental health, sanity and social life it's sometimes important to go for some food or a drink with friends or to a gig or the cinema. Over the past few weeks I've begun to realise that if I cut everything out completely and kept this up for more than a couple of months, I'd end up friendless and alone at its conclusion. That's not to say that I've to agree to everything that presents itself, a little bit of discretion and common sense will now acompany me wherever I go. For this reason, I'm not too concerned about the U2 tickets. I could probably scrounge around and get the cash together for a ticket if I really wanted to go but I don't. My Croke Park Date this summer is with Gary, Mark, Howard and Jason. Bono, Larry, Adam and Edge can just kiss my Take That loving behind.

 

***

I'm just back from a delightful lunch with John, a friend who I haven't seen in months, probably not since 2008 actually. Had I still been disallowing such occasions, I suspect it would be the summer before I'd see him, so I was perfectly happy to hop on the number 10 bus to town for a chat and a catch up. It being Daffodil day I stopped to give volunteer lady a fiver and procure a daff. I didn't even think that this might be going against the rules, and frankly, if it is, stuff the rules. I've known too many people who've been riddled with Cancer to stare at the ground and walk on by as if daffodil lady didn't exist. John bought me a coffee after lunch and since he doesn't do charity I told him, much to his dismay, that I was donating that €2.50 too.

€11 for Lunch

€3.20 on the Bus

€5 for Dafodil day.

 

***

Just entered a charity raffle for €4. It too was for the Cancer, so who was I to refuse? There goes John's €2.50 and a smidge of my own cash to boot!

€4 on two tickets.

 

Total spent to day - €22.20

Total not spent – really not sure. Probably nothing as I don't know whether I'd have rushed to buy those U2 tickets had my situation been any different.

March 19th – Day 19

Well I've just been for a run with my fancy watch. Turns out it's either so fancy that I can't figure out the instructions or else it's broken. I'm usually pretty good with instructions so I think it's acting up. It has no problem telling the time but I can't seem to successfully set an interval time, which is what I need to do at the moment. On the bright side, Ciara lent me her iPod for the duration of my run so I didn't have to exercise in silence.

FYI – my post experiment shopping list is beginning to shape up nicely and so far contains:

1. An egg poacher
   
2. An iPod Shuffle
   
3. A heart rate monitor watch (should I be unable to figure this one out)
   

***

€22.69 on Petrol, Water and a bag of Popcorn en route to DCU. My car and my belly required sustenance.

€1.70 on a cup of peppermint tea. Not something I'd usually indulge in in DCU but I had just spent close to two hours freezing my ass off in a lecture theatre which made me thing of penguins in the Antarctic. Convinced my lips were about to turn blue I thought it best to warm up with a nice cuppa before lecture two – which thankfully was in a warmer lecture theatre.

***

I had to darken the doorstep of Tesco Rathfarnham on my way home today. God I hate that place. Besides the fact that I believe Tesco to be the root of all evil, I can never find anything there and even after its recent makeover it still looks like it's straight out of the 70s. Very uninspiring. I needed smoked salmon, peas, asparagus, a red pepper and tomatoes. I left with the smoked salmon and the peas. The asparagus and pepper were nowhere to be found and my anger at this was so pronounced that I forgot the tomatoes. I was also freezing again after circling the refrigerated fruit and veg section for so long. If I hadn't been in such a hurry I'd have driven out of my way to go to the fruit and veg shop or SuperValu. I don't care how rushed I am next time, I'm driving past understocked, underwarm nasty Tesco.

€8.62 to the evil multinational.

Total spent today €33.01 and my patience with Tesco.

Not Spent – Whatever asparagus, a red pepper and tomatoes cost (unintentional).

Day 18 – March 18th

3^rd week not going to weight watchers, 3^rd week on my own scales and finally some success. At long last. Of course now I'm going to be in a good mood all day as clearly the scales dictates my happiness! I'm actually shocked I've managed to lose anything after my night of drunken debauchery, fine dining and chipper dining on Saturday. Must be the running. I still itch when I think of how much I spent on Moratorium Day.

Not Spent - €10

***

Just got a battery for my fancy watch - €5.10. Now all I have to do is figure out how to insert it and which buttons need pressing and I'm off…

***

€3.95 for soup and a slice of bread. If I hadn't eaten all the chilli I made the other day I might have been able to bring some in with me. But it was just too delicious to save for today!

***

Spent so long trying to figure out how to put music on my phone that I didn't have time to go running with my fancy watch. I also didn't figure out the music syncing tool on my phone so now when I go running at the crack of dawn tomorrow, it will again be without music. What's killing me is that in Aldi or Lidl they have an MP3 player for €30 which I'm sure would serve my music needs admirably but I can't buy the damn thing. I'm beginning to think this problem with my music, or lack thereof is going to become the most challenging issue surrounding this whole experiment. At this stage I'd even be happy if I could tune in the radio to my phone just to have something to distract me from the pain of running. Alas, I can't even manage to do that. Perhaps a Nokia website may shed some light on the problem.

***

Exhausted, needed a sugar hit. Fruit pastels – about 70 cent.

Total spent today: €9.95

Not spent: €40 – WW and Aldi MP3 plyer.

Day 17 – March 17th – St Patrick’s Day

Well it's low key paddy's day!

The morning has been spent watching TV online. It's a beautiful day though so it's time for action. Am about to go to the park with the dogs, meet Helen for a cuppa and then perhaps partake in some family feeding time. Aim for today is to spend nothing. Should be easy as I have nothing to spend!

***

Well my day of making zero transactions has been a resounding success. I had a lovely day in the company of various people and of course, the dogs. Became very excited at one point when my brother told me I could have his old iPod shuffle. I thought all of my running concerns had been resolved. Not so. He had lent it to a friend a few months ago and upon requesting it back discovered that it had been lost. When I suggested getting aforementioned friend to replace the stray shuffle, he informed me that as he had another iPod now, he'd rather be reimbursed for the value of the missing item. Makes perfect sense for brother but still leaves me in the unenviable position of being tuneless on my runs. Brother also believes that a replacement iPod is a necessary item – I'm not so convinced! Am about to go to bed but I feel a quick search for some Nokia accessories is now in order as tomorrow I have to figure out how to download some peppy music to my phone.

***

How exciting! Not only have I just located all the cables and wires needed for music-phone synchronisation, I have also unearthed my fancy heart rate monitor/watch thingie that, try as I might, I could not lay my hands upon the other day. As I thought, it needs a battery, but once it's charged up and ready to go I suspect I too will have the energy and stamina of a Duracell Bunny. When you've got the gadgets you just feel the part and that has to be worth at least another kilometre on the road!

Day 16 – March 16th

I just forked out €35 to register for the Great Ireland Run. I think I feel sick. Writing down my expenditure is actually a very disturbing process. Will get a stamp later and send off a chq for €22 for the Mini Marathon. Had been planning to raise money for charity for one or both of the runs. I guess now my aim is to make back more than I spent on entering the flippin things. All I can say is the goodie bags better be impressive and the medals made of solid gold!

€57 on the races, 55 cent on a stamp, 10 cent on an envelope and €1.05 on a tin of sweetcorn for my Chilli.

***

Oh god, I'm mortified. Was on my way to pick up the dogs for a walk when I realised I had almost no petrol. Put in a tenner's worth and as I had no cash on me, handed over the Visa only for it to be declined. How embarrassing. I knew I was up near my limit after registering for the run and taking €50 out on it on Saturday night but thought I might just squeeze in the petrol. No such luck. Thank goodness I had my emergency €20 at home and was able to run back and get it. I think I was still red with the mortification when I returned 5 minutes later. It's moments like this that make me regret reducing my limit down to €500. But in hindsight I always know it was a good thing!

Total spent today €68.70 and some dignity.

Day 15 – March 15th

It's been a relatively quiet day on the spending front, though after yesterday I'm officially poverty-stricken. It didn't help that the search for a money stocked ATM in the taxi at 4.30 in the morning took us to five ATMs and ended up doubling the cost of the fare from €12 to €24. Most inconvenient. I suppose what was even more inconvenient was the fact that I came home phoneless. However the Good Samaritan who came across it on the floor in Club Nassau last night went to great lengths to find me and I retrieved it from Pearce Street Garda Station this evening. How nice of him.

I did however do some deputised shopping today. Ever since the family discovered the wonderful world of Skype, we've been having great chats with my brother in Australia. He's been waving down his webcam at us from Perth but alas, as we had no webcam there was no waving from the Dublin contingent. This changed yesterday as I skipped into Harvey Norman with mum's purse and handed over €45 of her hard earned cash in exchange for a little dinky camera. Waving ensued, the camera was then pointed at the dogs so barking ensued and visitors to the house were also summoned to the kitchen to greet Australia based Stephen. Technology, it was agreed, is a wonderful thing.

Day 14 – March 14th – “Moratorium Day”

So I'm sitting here watching the Man Utd – Liverpool match on my soon to be cancelled Sky Sports. Have been for my run, sans iPod and believe me it's so much tougher without some tunes to keep me going up the hills. I'm pretty sure I can download music to my phone so that may be my mission for tomorrow. This will initially involve foraging for a few cables and my Nokia earphones. I'm praying this search will be the most challenging part of the procedure. I just hope my phone can take it. It's been acting up lately and if it too dies I'll be in serious trouble. The passing of my two iPods and the degenerative virus afflicting my phone has got me thinking about my future telecommunication and music needs. I'm thinking perhaps a move to O2 could be a money saver and were I to make the switch I could then invest in an iPhone, negating the need for a new iPod. As running with an iPhone is not ideal, when I'm stateside in June I think I will also invest in a dinky iPod Shuffle for very few dollars. Then I'll be all set.

Half an hour gone and it's 1-1 – come on Liverpool….

I've also been out and about this morning buying a few bits in the greengrocers and doing some preparation for my moratorium boozing. Lord knows how, but even after Ciara coming back with half of Sainsbury's yesterday I still managed to spend €27.26 on fruit, veg, beans, eggs and veggie sausages. Upon analysing my receipt, the berries, eggs and veggie sausages seem to have been the biggest offenders. I then moved on to mum's where I thieved some redoxin. Last stop was the chemist for dioralyte and motilium €6.50. These last few messages were all procured with the intention of quashing any hangover that may dare to darken my life tomorrow. Redoxin for the Vit C, Motilium for the tum and doioralyte for the dehydration (I already have Pannadol for the head should it be required). I refuse to give up my Sunday to the after effects of Moratorium Day.

Had a bit of a purchasing dilemma in the Chemist though. After stealing the Redoxin from mum's kitchen, I spotted that the Pharmaton Active G was on offer. Buy one get one free. I stood there with them in my had for about 2 minutes mulling over my vitamin requirements for the foreseeable future. Eventually I decided that the purchase was unnecessary and therefore not allowed. Back they went to the shelf and out I walked with just what had been on my list.

2-1 to Liverpool – Wohoo! That'll learn Dad for taking Joe instead of me. Just got a text from them at Old Trafford telling me I'd be killed if I were there! Atmosphere tense!

Moratorium Day will begin in about three hours. A drink or two during the rugby, dinner with wine and maybe some champers and then on to the pub. You may be able to take the girl out of the experiment; however, you just can't take the experiment out of the girl. I'm bringing a naggon of Vodka and some 7up out with me for later! Doesn't really go with the "Fancy" theme of the day but it may be more of a necessity than anything else as I suspect that once dinner is paid for I may well be down to my last few pennies!

Total spent so far today: €33.76

Not Spent: €5.95 on BOGOF Active G

Half Time

FT : 4-1 – Glorious day!

***

Ok – so moratorium day is almost over It's nearly 5 in the morning and between pre dinner drinks during the rugby, dinner & drinks, Karaoke and drinks, dancing and drinks, taxi and chipper I reckon I've spent about €160. A scandal.

Day 13 – March 13th

I'm worried about my iPod. It's seriously acting up and I need it for my running. My original one died a few months ago but I still had the Nano to keep me going. Now, however, it seems to have taken on a mind of its own; stopping, pausing and skipping songs whenever the mood takes it. Whether I'd want to buy a replacement now while I'm not shopping isn't even worth consideration as I can't afford one anyway. I had planned to replace my original iPod when I was in the States in June but now may need to replace Nano instead as it's a little more portable and run-friendly. That reminds me – I need to root out my fancy running watch/heart rate monitor thingie which I acquired the last time I dove into the world of running. I hope I can find it. I'm pretty sure it's in my room somewhere but I suspect it may need a new battery – am I allowed to buy one?

***

My iPod is not acting up – it is dead - and I need to go out for a run. I think I might cry. I also can't find the watch. Found the heart rate monitor bit but no timing device. I now have to go out and run 7 minutes, walk 2 and repeat with no watch and no music. Disaster.

***

Back from run – is it bad that all I could think about on my way around were all the nice new shiny things I am going to buy either when this experiment is over or when I have the money. Clearly an iPod is on my list, but after being reduced to using my phone to time my progress around Rathfarnham (a substandard solution at best) I now also have designs on a fancy new heart rate/distance monitor/watch thingie. In some ways I'm glad of the constraints put on my shopping. This way, instead of running out (pardon the pun) and buying loads of fancy new equipment for my new career as an Olympic athlete, I can press pause on the frantic spending and actually wait and see whether I stick with the running this time.

***

Ciara has just arrived home from NI with what can only be described as a feast of Organic fruit and veg from Sainsburys. Yum! My shopping list for tomorrow has just been reduced to oranges, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, mushrooms and perhaps some parsnips. I may also have to invest in some motillium and dyoralyte as I'll be needing them to help me cope with Sunday's hangover. I have declared Saturday "moratorium day". Our class night out has been planned for months and as I'm chief organiser and minister, for fun it wouldn't be right for me not to show up. However, other than this "I really have to be there" argument, I haven't exactly figured out a decent excuse to justify my foodie/boozy expenditure so a moratorium has been declared and I'm off out to enjoy myself and spend all my cash on a fancy dinner and lots of wine and champers.

***

Score! While looking for my black nail polish I just found some more moisturiser! Only about 3-4 days worth but valuable nonetheless!