day thirty

the question is no longer 'what happens if my flask breaks?' but 'what happens in my mirror breaks?' as last night when pulling a book off my shelf i pulled my mirror down too.

although i wasn't going to ask for things for christmas, for fear of me asking for everything i am unable to buy, i have asked for a new mirror. i suppose it isn't really an essential in life but i figure later on in the project i will look enough of a mess, having ran out of mascara and hair products, without lacking a mirror.

today is the start of me using up and eating all the food in the house before christmas, i can soon see me getting sick of curried vegetable soup as i have tubs and tubs of it in the freezer.

day twenty nine

i got my suitcase out to start packing for christmas (i'm not going home for two weeks yet, i just REALLY like to be organised) and found what looked like a brand new mascara. a massive bonus as i can't buy mascara but may very well run out of it.

i was going to go out and buy some food today but decided i couldn't be arsed due to the rain. i then ate my last tub of chilli. i'm sure when i could shop at asda i had alot more food in the house, i barely have enough to scrape a meal or two together now (which is probably a good things as i eat what i've got an don't throw any out). but i've decided i'm not gonna buy any food unless really necessary and actually eat everything i have until going home for christmas! i wonder how that'll turn out.....

day twenty five

my box from Graze came. it was very fancy. in it it had a box of chocolate buttons, almonds and dried cherries, some fresh red and green grapes and a box of dried strawberries. it looked nice too (as you can see). the box boasted it was all made from recycled materials and vegetable ink and what not. i also got some vouchers for friends to get free box.

it was a nice little treat and if was one of those health conscious maniacs who felt i needed to nibble nuts and dried fruits i'd probably buy from Graze, but to be honest i just wanted the free stuff.

day twenty four

finally found an independant bakery!

it took me that long and i go past it on the bus every day! i didn't need any bread so i decided to get some rolls for the soup i made yesterday and for lunch for a few days just to try it out. i got 3 large crusty ones for only 90p (yeah i realised how wrong that sounds, but i ain't deleting it!).

not much else to tell of today, except i found out you have to pay to reserve a book at the library. i don't know if this has always been the way or if it happens everywhere but 60 pence a book seems a bit much to me!

day twenty three

today i did some food shopping for the week.

i went to the market where i managed to bag 200g of cheddar for 98p. you can't get much cheaper than that! i decided to check out the international food store on Bold Street, it has always intrigued me and i don't know why i haven't been in there before. they sold food stuffs from all over the globe, i got some pasta that looked alot like macaroni, a jar of black bean sauce and some red lentils, all for around £4. i then went on to exotic fruit and veg stall up the road and got two bags of peppers, some cress and a butternut squash for £1.60.

i think i'm now pretty confident i could show how to buy independantly and cheaply in liverpool. there's still a few things i'm yet to find (eg skimmed milk!).

day twenty two

today i decided to figure out what i was spending on a average weekly basis and compare to what i've been spending over the past few weeks. previously i was spending an average of £152.61, which is a shocking amount for a student to be spending every week and god know what i was spending it on. the past two weeks averaged out at 70.78, which is less than half of what i was spending before, but it will no doubt go up a bit with Christmas coming up. i'll work out the average again after a few more weeks and see if it is still drastically different from my spenditure before.

i am also interested to see if my weight has changed. i've definately been eating better and have been snacking alot less (and not eating extra meals at uni when i have a few hours to kill!). but i've lent my friend my scales and am yet to get them back but when i do i'll definately weigh myself and see if there's been a change.

talking of weight change, i'm going to make an effort to exercise more. there's an olympic sized swimming pool round the corner from me that is free from 7-9am and it seems silly not to abuse that fact, so i'm going to go regularly from tomorrow.

i signed up for some free samples today, nothing of major use just some perfumes and moisturisers really, but it's always nice to get something in the post. i also signed up to get a free box of dried fruit and that, which i'm rather excited about. can't beat a freebie!

day twenty one

yet another day of lazing around hungover. didn't go out and spend any money. didn't do anything exciting infact.

day twenty

today felt quite productive. in class i got most people to write me a challenge or a moral question relating to my project. some were irrelevant (for example 'stop calling lisa a dick or other nasty names', i'll stop when she stops being a dick) other were really good such as 'only eat what people need to survive', which i will look up to see what the government suggest, and 'go freegan for a week'. i'm going to see if i can put up a calendar on here and put challenges under dates.

i will also welcome more challenges from my peers.

day nineteen

went to go and find some more presents for my sister's birthday today. i decided to go to the shops on Allerton Road as there is alot of charity shops round there. struggled to find anything half decent until i reached Oxfam. This Oxfam hand the best gift range i've ever seen, having an entire wall display dedicated to new items. I managed to get some chocolate and a bracelet for my sister and also got a tin of tea for a friend's birthday and a book for a friend for Christmas.
i'll definately be going back there to get more Christmas presents.

day eighteen

another day of not alot.....

day seventeen

first gift buying experience today. it's my sister's 15th birthday on friday and she's quite picky anyway so it wasn't any easier trying to shop for her when limited to charity and ethical shops.

i went to Shared Earth on Bold Street first, they have a lovely selection of stuff but nothing that jumped out at me to buy for Honor. I eventually went for some Pants to Poverty knickers (which weren't at all cheap) and a Divine bar of white chocolate with strawberries. I did spot some things i might get for my secret santa and family members for Christmas, but i'm thinking it's not gonna be easy shopping this year!

I also went in a charity shop up the road, but it was full of tat, so i won't be gettin anything from there.

day sixteen

another day of non-buying.

i really should have documented what i bought before. i probably bought the odd chocolate bar or packet of crisps quite frequently. this project must be doing good for my pocket.

day fifteen

we went round our friends' house for a roast dinner today and we took round cauliflower cheese and stuffing (all made by me). it was nice for everyone to chip in and for us to all sit down at the table (we don't have a dining table so usually we sit on the sofa and eat off our laps) and have a big meal together, it had a real sence of community about it. we talked about making it a regular thing.

we then watched x factor and i'm a celebrity get me out of here, both a massive load of shite and i know why i don't watch them regularly.

day fourteen

not much to tell of today. was hungover so just laid around feeling sorry for myself and that was about it!

day thirteen

friday 13th, unlucky for some, not for me.

i managed to get a photo today (but since have mislayed my camera!). i took a photo of the bargainous shop i did at the market. once i find my camera i'll put the photo up!

EDIT: Found my camera. I believe I got all this lot for under £4.50. That's a cauliflower, a bag of apples, a bag of oranges, a bag of carrots, a dozen eggs and a cucumber.

day twelve

not alot to tell of today.

didn't spend a penny today. went to the library in the afternoon, got there using and back using my bus pass and went to open mic at uni (and didn't buy one drink) and got a lift there and back. i really should work out how much i was spending before and how much i'm spending now to compare and see if i'm saving money.

still no photo mind....

day eleven

still haven't taken a photo.....

went to the organic shop today, they've got a good variety of items. it's all good buying organic and ethical, but it ain't cheap. but i suppose you pay for quality. i think you're definately better off buying locally produced products from independant retailers. it's cheaper and you're not profitting the big man.

lisa's sister came to stay the night and bought us all chinese to thank us for putting up with her baby (who was fine and made alot less noise than the builders next door). i fully appreciated it and possibly more knowing i couldn't buy it myself. i know i'm gonna be craving such things badly a month or two down the line.

should've taken a photo of the chinese....

day ten

totally failed at photo taking. i probably should try not to look for the shot and let the shot come to me, or some bollocks like that.

almost had a moral dilemma today. lisa, my housemate asked if i want to go to shop to get some drink for the party we were attending and i asked if she could just get me some lemonade. 10 minutes later i panicked thinking she had gone to asda. should i drink the lemonade if it's been purchased by someone else but i gave them the money? i can't take it as a 'gift' as i'm not allowed to ask for 'gifts'. would i have to go out and buy another bottle of lemonade? what would she do with the bottle she'd bought? does she even like lemonade?

she didn't go to asda, she went to the shop round the corner.

should've taken a photo of said lemonade.

day nine

a girl on my course asked me if'd set my rules yet, i said i hadn't and i basically wasn't shopping in chain stores or buying unnecessarily. so i guess that's what my rules currently are. i also told her i was welcoming challenges around the theme of 'not shopping'. she challenged me to blag. i will take her up on it but i think i'll do it when the right time arises.

i am just now decided i'm a going to take a photo a day (or maybe use a picture that represents part of my day) to liven this blog up and generate more material to use in my final piece.
a few years back i partook in something called Project 365 (http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/) but unfortunately i only did it for a few months, it would've been interesting to have done in for the whole year and if i can do it for the remaining 5 and a bit months for this project i think it will be rewarding.

today's photo would've been of some biscuits i made.
but we ate them all.

day eight

i was hungover and sat on my fat arse all day watching catch up tv.

not much else to tell.

day seven

today i went to see seasick steve (this old trampy bloke who plays instruments he made himself and guitars with 3 strings that are all outta tune, far better than it sounds) justifiable by the fact i do an advance music perform module and therefor am required to see performances, just as i am expected to go the theatre. also the fact that me and my friend has been planning to go to this gig for literally months.
anyway, i thoroughly enjoyed it, especially as i hadn't been to a gig for ages.
afterwards we decided to go a friends party and i luckily had enough drink to take with us. now adsa shuts at 10pm on a saturday but otherwise it is pretty much 24hr. i fear that there will come a time when i need to buy something at four in the morning (probably more drink/fags/a sandwich) and the drunken temptation of asda is all too convenient. i also worry that one time i will just forget altogether and do it by accident (this is a worry i have for sober times too). the feeling also regards takeaways.
i just have to make sure i stay conscience of my project and understand it isn't always going to be easy.

day six

not much to tell of today.

still yet to find a shop that sells skimmed milk so i went to the co op instead.

that's about it really....

day five

i've read through my posts so far and it's come to my attention that i need to stick to one tone of writing. i definately think the chatty, uninformal (and possibly even mildly humourous) tone i used in the first post is most suited to me, so i'll try and stick to that one.

today i went on quite an adventure. i decided i was going to make chilli and mulled wine for this evening (bonfire night, i didn't end up going out in the end as i went to see my friend and her new baby, but now i have a massive vat of mulled wine which is always good). ordinarily i would go to asda(which is a 10 minute walk from my house) and buy the ingredients but today i went to the market in the precinct in town. now i love shopping (which is something that makes this project difficult for me) and consider it a past time so i really enjoyed walking round the market and seeing what the stalls had to offer, and to scope out which stall sold mince the cheapest, i managed to find one selling 2lbs for £3.50. bargain. i was also hoping to find a bread stall as i'm yet to find an independant bakery (Greggs and Sayers seemed to have wiped them all out), i had no luck. i also bought some very reasonably priced cheese and some oranges for my mulled wine .
i also went to both the indian shops in my vercinity to get spices (in future i'll only visit the one as i now know which one has the more comprehensive selection) and the offy to get some cheap cheap wine.
not to blow my own trumpet but i'm sure the mulled wine i made was nicer than when i've previously made it with made up spice bags. my housemate and i agreed that it tasted like christmas.

i got a text from the gym chain 'LA Fitness' offering free membership until 2010, i may well take them up on this offer as i do love a freebie.
Kath Kelly author of How I Lived a Year On Just a Pound a Day and a great inspiration to this project, almost survived on freebies and grasped at every opportunity. i think i will find myself following her example and searching out the free trials and offers.

day four

a problem occured today that i think might happen frequently. a friend texted me asking if i wanted to go to the theatre but i was in uni until six and wouldn't have time to go home and eat. usually i would get something in town but as i have decided i'm not allowed to eat out i couldn't.

thinking about, had i known in advance i would've made a packed lunch or something. the problems i'm facing at the moment don't seem too hard to overcome. i waiting for one that will really test me and question my will power, until then i don't think it will really seem like a challenge.

day three

i've been reading up on this performance artist called Tehching Hsieh who does year long performances, he makes my project seem pitiful. from 78-79 he sealed himself in cell and basically did nothing but eat and sleep. from 81-82 he didn't go indoors. From 83-84 he tied himself to a woman, but they didn't touch.
he's made me think i can afford to be a bit harsher on myself. i've found it easy so far but i'm only 3 days in. maybe i'll welcome challenges from my peers soon and place more restrictions on myself.

day two

i found a shop that sells brown bread. hooray!

i did a bit of reading up on ethical products and spent some time snooping around the Ethical Consumer website. i was curious about where i should be buying my shampoo and conditioner, as i will soon run out. i think i will look in my local organic shop, if not Lush scored quite highly. i had a look at how the supermarkets fair up, Tesco and Asda scored just 0.5 (a good score is about 16/17), the Co-Op scored 15. I will consider shopping there if i struggle to purchase goods from independant shops.

i also joined my local library today and got a book out called 'The New Green Consumer Guide' so i can do some further reading.

day one

and i am already facing problems.

corner shops don't seem to sell brown bread or skimmed milk, which for one makes me worry about the health of the nation.
i settled with some semi skimmed milk but i can't eat bagged white bread as i find it tastes like flannels.
the man in the shop was reluctant to sell me some eggs, i thought he couldn't understand me so i preceeded to say 'eggs eggs' loudly and point at them. he eventually, and slowly went i got me some eggs. when he put them on the counter he said something about thinking i was one of those 'kids' and seemed to think i was going to egg something/someone. i just want to make yorkshire puddings.

i will add that these eggs weren't free range, but i'll deal with my ethical issues when someone will willingly sell me eggs.