first week’s spending: it’s a big one.
£5000 – £117.79 =£4882.21
So this is the first week for counting down the spending, which in Oxford terms is -2 week of Michaelmas Term. This has been a terrible week in terms of spending money because a. I moved into a new place and had to buy a lot of new things for it (groceries, cleaning supplies, etc), b. we had a dinner party for our new place, and c. I had a friend in town to show around. So let’s look at each of these things in turn.
a. Moving in: I spent £12.56 on cleaning supplies and a power strip. This was with a 10% student discount. Unfortunately, when we moved into our new flat (E and I), the place had not been well cleaned and so I was feeling really icky about being there, particularly in the kitchen. I bought a broom because the floor is wood and was covered in grossness, and then two packs of anti-bacterial wipe thingies. The power strip was a necessity because the new flat has about six plugs in total and four of those are taken up by radiators and dehumidifier.
Between b. and c. I spent a lot of money on groceries and a little bit on some new cooking supplies (notably, a glass bowl for making a trifle). £99.46 went to food, that bowl, and a new iron. Ouch!!!! Luckily, since I split the bills with E, that means it was for two people, but still…
c. Also caused me to spend about £10 on drinks/meals out, but we won’t count that, because it came from money that I had loaned someone and been repaid from back in April.
Finally, I had two additional expenses:
d. 1.60 on a tea at Costa Coffee. This is a big vice of mine, going out to a coffee shop and doing work there. I just find it to be a really conduicive work environment, much better in some regards than the library, and when I really want to get something done I tend to go to a coffee shop. This was acceptable back in DC when I was making a lot of money but it is something that I really need to wean myself off of. I’ll write a post about the allure of the coffee shop in the coming weeks.
e. Postage for books. I have been selling books on Amazon.co.uk that I don’t want anymore. I had to mail off some of those today, and buy some mailing envelopes for others, so I spent £4.17 on this. However, I was making money at the time too (by selling the books): I made about £15. I’ll write a post about books later, but Amazon selling is a great way to clear out space in your house or flat, get rid of stuff you don’t want, and also make a little bit of money on the side — if you have the time to mail stuff.
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