My "Tenner" Week Begins

Today is my jump start to meticulously careful spending, the tenner week. I won't technically be doing a tenner week, since that is for the British pound, and I've been given a cyber world pass to convert to $15 US dollars.  This week will be a big stretch though even with the $5 grace, as Monday-Sunday is a long way, particularly when you have plans out one of those nights. The rules say this is only spending on myself, and that I do not need to include others in the household.  I will need to exclude them as both need a few things for their upcoming trip to visit the grandparents, but as for food and household, they will be under my plan. If we are to nip this budget down, they will both need to be on board. 

I didn't cheat and stock up this past weekend.  Groceries were basic weekly items like milk, bread, flour, eggs, bagels, and fruit, which surprisingly all added up still to about $50-insane! We needed, as both were to the very end, toilet paper and laundry soap so that was purchased on Saturday.  No other items were purchased.  I will not be able to go on a shop next weekend as tenner week won't end until Sunday.  That coupled with 2/3rds of the human household members being gone the following week, and I should be able to stretch the savings out even longer.  I might make it a tenner fortnight, but that would probably mean 12-13 no spend days as I will need most of the funds for my night out. The true tenner week also limits television viewing to four hours, suggesting other activities so a person doesn't just end up a hermit zoning out in front of a screen. That shouldn't be too difficult, but will need to look ahead as to what my priorities would be.  I watch little real television, but Netflix and Hulu are my vices.

Day 1 is a take stock day and meal planning.  I only have to come up with six dinners because we have a sports banquet (prepaid) one night. Lunches will be any leftovers, canned soup, and either deli meat or tuna sandwiches, all on hand already. We also had wine club so three new wines have graced our home, plus several packets of microwave popcorn, so that should curb any happy hour stops. Suppers will be chicken and potatoes, making extra of both to turn into a leftover stew with dumplings, pasta and tomato sauce with meat balls, homemade pizza with pepperoni and mozzarella, vegetarian chili( already made and in the freezer), and yet one more meal with chicken or hamburger but with cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole, using the remainder of the items from the Valentines dinner last month. I know it is a lot of chicken and hamburger, but we have three pounds of each in the freezer. Next week I'll probably just make up whatever I can find in the house for meals-I won't go hungry. The microwave will get a work out. 

The fine print of my planning list.

I have ended week one on the new job.  I still am in a place of adjustment and am told it will take at least a year to be acclimated to the work environment.  I was a big fish in a small pond, with so much stress and anxiety of carrying what felt like the world 24-7.  I now feel like a small, but very specialized fish,in a very large ocean.  Work is done in the work place, and it is not expected, except on the occasional crunch time, to work beyond the work week. If that happens, they use a little thing called flex time, and staff actually take a day or two off, not using vacation time, when the project is done.  I know the new world is not going to be perfect, but I already feel like some balance might be restored.