Jump Start January: My Week 3 Tenner Week plan

This week it’s a challenge – can you live on £10 for seven days? I’m going to give it my best shot.

These are the rules of Tenner Week:

Rule 1: You work in cash, allowing £10 for the week. This is just what you spend on yourself, and doesn’t include things you have to buy for pets, kids etc.

Rule 2 : You must not sit at home watching television all night, every night (you can pick 2 films, or 3 hours of TV shows to watch at home during the week, or one film plus one TV show) 

The £10 doesn’t include rent, utility bills, direct debits, courses you have already paid for, store points you’ve already earned and gift vouchers you’ve received.

The £10 also excludes a weekly travel card or bus pass, or petrol for work trips. Some of us travel miles to and from work, others work from home, so we need a level playing field.

You get bonus points for:

  • Using up what you already have
  • Mending or altering something
  • Keeping fit
  • Doing something relaxing
  • Keeping in touch with friends
  • Finding a freebie
  • Learning something new
  • Being creative
  • Having 1 or 2 days where you spend nothing

From previous experience I’ve learned that it’s best to keep busy, and it’s especially helpful to avoid window shopping (unless you have gift vouchers to spend). It’s also good to have a menu plan to make sure you use up any perishables and have a reasonably varied and balanced diet.

With all that in mind, here’s my plan for the week.

  1. Sunday: have a no-spend day, make a quick inventory of food
  2. Monday: have a no-spend day, mend or alter something
  3. Tuesday: cheap pampering evening, time to relax
  4. Wednesday: use beauty voucher, go out for meal in evening
  5. Thursday: have a no-spend day, learn some new skills
  6. Friday: watch a film on TV or a DVD
  7. Saturday: attend a free event or exhibition, go out for a drink

Are you doing a Tenner Week of your own? What are your plans for the challenge?

 

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6 Comments

  1. Oooh Penny, I’m going to be a Tenner Lady this week, and no that doesn’t mean I’m going to laugh so much I do myself a mischief (sorry – couldn’t resist 🙂 LOL!)

    I’m going to take sandwiches in to work for my lunch for starters – I’ve got bread in the freezer for that, to try and stop me spending a bleeding fortune on pricey lunches.

    Hope it goes well for you and everyone else who’s doing it!

  2. Jackie T, cheeky as always! I’m always going to think of you as Tenner Lady from now on…

    Best of luck with your sandwiches too.

    Penny x

  3. Hi Penny,

    Well my £10 week challenge will be starting tomorrow and I’m really quite excited. I love a challenge and am planning to kick off my week with a no-spend day. I have a coupon for a free 1/4 chicken in Nando’s which I will use this week and I have plenty of baking ingredients in the cupboard to keep me busy with making some yummy treats for me and my little boy!
    I’m planning to dust off my Wii Fit and do a session daily and am going to challenge my culinary skills on making as many delicious dinners as possible without using anything extra than what i already have.
    Wish me luck, i will keep you updated on how I get on : )

  4. Hi Lauren, sounds good! Can’t wait to hear how you get on, and best of luck.

  5. Hi Penny! I was intrigued by this challenge and decided to try it out this past week. I didn’t quite succeed – I spent £18.25 on myself, had to pull out my debit card for one thing and watched too much TV (though most on Sky+ rather than vegging out live). But considering I went to 2 gigs I’d had tickets for for months, bought a ticket to a writer’s talk in March, had friends make me lunch and take me to the roller derby as a belated birthday present (where I bought us homebaked cupcakes :), and ate veggie haggis burritos at half price for Burns Night, I think that’s pretty good! 😀 That’s way better than it could have been, so thanks for being inspiring 🙂 Cheers, Paula

    ps – I have to get to 2 Temple Place – I love the Pre-Raphaelites!

  6. Hi Paula – so glad to hear that you’ve had such a good week, even if you blew the budget 😉 Where on earth did you get those veggie haggis burritos from? It’s a whole new wave in fusion cuisine, or something like that… The 2 Temple Place exhibition closes this Sunday so be quick if you want to see it – the tapestries are the best bit.

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