Jump Start January 2017 Roundup: Weeks 3 & 4
Carrying on from yesterday, where we looked at our experiences during Week 1 and Week 2, it’s time to see how the rest of the Jump Start January 2017 Challenge went for everyone.
First up, the tight budget of Tenner Week…
Week 3: Tenner Week challenge
Did you manage to make £10 last for seven days? Did you do the optional TV Diet as well?
The week before most of us get paid in January can be a tough one financially, and it was time for a challenge with some extreme budgeting. The theme this time around was ‘Find a Freebie‘, with something new and free to try every day.
- Day 1: Shop in your own stash
- Day 2: Free food and drink
- Day 3: Free arts, crafts or home improvements
- Day 4: Free pampering / relaxation
- Day 5: Free education / learning
- Day 6: Free entertainment
- Day 7: Keep in touch day
The freebies definitely helped this time around. I loved the free pampering, and free snacks, and I found a couple of free short courses that look like they’re going to be excellent. I spent the whole of the £10, but didn’t go over budget.
The money was spent on groceries (we ran out of milk and onions), and a coffee in a local cafe, then we had a free evening out at a film screening so the rest of my budget went on the cheapest beer in the pub plus half a shared bowl of chips afterwards. There was 30p left over from the chips so I left it as my part of the tip. All gone!
I did the TV Diet as well as the £10 budget, and it’s kind of tough when it’s frosty and dark outside, at least to begin with. No vegging out in front of the telly, and only four hours of screen time. Eep! Well, it all worked okay because I found a load of freebies, and caught up on my reading, had a couple of free nights out, and listened to lots of interesting podcasts.
It also make me more selective about what I actually did watch, so I enjoyed it more. There was some comedy, some drama, a little bit of news, and a couple of short review shows, coming in at a total of three hours and fifty minutes. It was also good for getting me moving more, thinking clearly, avoiding ad breaks that mess with your head, and for having more relaxed mealtimes and better conversations.
I’m considering limiting screen time again over the coming weeks. There’s some good telly out there, but it’s best to be selective…
How did your budgeting go? What did you spend your money on, if any?
Week 4: Declutter and make money week
The spring cleaning started early in 2017 with a post-Christmas declutter. There were activities to streamline and organise your home, profit from your old junk, and maybe find yourself a new side hustle or some extra cash.
Here’s a quick reminder of the running order:
Day 1: A junk cupboard declutter
Day 2: Do you need a side hustle?
Day 3: Ways to make the most money from your decluttering
Day 4: Using structure to keep clutter at bay
Day 5: Micro earning for a little pocket money
Day 6: Quick financial filing day
Day 7: Extra ways to make money from your old junk
I confess I didn’t do this in the correct running order, because I’d already done the junk cupboard declutter and the financial filing activities before the week started. Yes, I got antsy about the clutter and sorted everything out early to make life easier.
The side hustle day (Day 2) was really interesting and I’ve had a few ideas for stuff to try later in the year, but I have to confess that as a freelancer a lot of micro-earning activities (Day 5) aren’t going to work for me – worth a look though, and I’m sure someone who has a more standard nine-to-five type job would get more benefit from those. Different things work for different people, and if you don’t try then you’ll never know, that’s half the fun of doing a new activity every day.
There’s a cleaner, more organised house here, and I’m looking forward to hopefully making a few quid when my listings have finished. Not a bad week at all.
Have you been decluttering, or looking for some new ways to earn? What was your best day?
See you again tomorrow, so you can find out what’s going to be happening next with the blog.
