I hadn’t given Lent a moment’s thought this year until yesterday, when I realised (too late, may I add) that it was pancake day, and that the beginning of Lent was therefore imminent.  And as soon as I realised it was about to start, I got myself into a stupendous whirlwind of panic over finding something, ANYTHING, to give up.  Foodstuffs?  Charity shopping?  Needless hours spent watching re-runs of Friends on E4?  This frantic self-interrogation carried on for oh, about an hour, until I finally decided that I was simply trying to find something to give up for the sake of taking part in the gimmick, as opposed to using Lent as a means of introducing a change in my life that I actually think is necessary and that I really want to see through.

So the upshot is, I’m not giving anything up this year.  Long-term followers of the blog might remember last year’s challenge, which basically involved me giving up buying almost everything that wasn’t groceries.  Clothes, books, cinema tickets, meals out etc.  Volunteering to go without those little luxuries that I normally take so much for granted afforded me a stark reminder about the world of difference there is between want and need, and it also taught me a lot about my own spending habits.  Those are lessons that I hope I’ve continued to bear in mind ever since, and while it was a good and interesting challenge to take on at the time, I’m not in the same place anymore.  I’ve pared down my belongings tenfold since this time last year, and I’ve also become a much wiser spender, partly because I’m now a struggling student, and have to keep a much tighter rein on my finances than before.

That’s not to say that I consider myself nigh-on perfect with no bad habits remaining to kick into the gutter (seriously, seriously not the case!).  It’s just that right now, there’s nothing on my mind that I really want to give up, so I’m simply not participating.  There are still changes I’d like to make in my life, but most of those relate to adding things in, rather than cutting anything out.  I’d like to use my sewing machine more, for example, and to spend more time creating things with my hands.  I’d also like to become a little more committed to exercise, and to make sure I get to bed early as many nights of the week as my social life will permit.  As far as I can see it, however, these are lifestyle changes that need to be phased in gradually.  Cutting something out of my life that I don’t actually want to get rid of permanently isn’t going to aid me much in bringing new habits in.

So that’s where I’m at this year.  No challenges, just the continuation of a happy normality.  What about you?

Image above from Flickr – vanherdehaage.

As part of a post-Lent celebration (which also involved spending £3 on an *amazing* vintage-style tea tray in my favourite charity shop) I finally saw Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland on Saturday and I have to say, contrary to the views of almost everyone I’ve spoken to, that I absolutely loved it.  It was a complete feast for the eyes – the setting, the costumes (drool, drool and more drool) and the make-up were all totally incredible and the acting wasn’t half bad either.  I particularly enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter who portrayed a hilarious yet simultaneously pretty darn scary Red Queen.

What disappointed me about the evening had nothing to do with the film itself, but with the price of the cinema experience (there’s a surprise).  The movie has been out for a while now, which meant that my boyfriend and I had to clench our teeth, tighten our fists and grudgingly enter the hallowed halls of one of Edinburgh’s big multiplex cinemas to see it.  In terms of costs I was by no means expecting miracles but it nevertheless came as quite a shock to be hit with a single ticket price of £10.60.  I mean, seriously, just where do they get off!?  Ponder, if you will, the sheer pulse of human traffic throbbing across the threshold of these places up and down the country on a typical Saturday evening.  If each person pays, as we did, around £10, the profits accruing to those at the top of the picture house tree completely escape my imagination.  Even the thought makes my blood boil, especially when there are so many small, independent cinemas visibly struggling to get by at the moment (if you are ever in the Edinburgh vicinity do please visit the Dominion cinema in Morningside – leather couches, reclining seats and a jolly barman with a *bow tie*, all on the cheap).  I would without question have gone to one of these over the big branch, but sadly it wasn’t an option on Saturday.  I instead paid the snotty, poloshirt-clad cashier with gritted teeth and spent most of the trailer time inwardly huffing about how ridiculous an expense the cinema has become.

It’s true when you think about it.  When I was a student, the cinema was a cheap and cheerful alternative to a night out at the weekends.  The cost of a ticket was roughly the same as that of two drinks, and if you didn’t buy any snacks the whole evening would set you back less than a fiver.  With the incessant hiking in prices, however, it’s probably a lot cheaper nowadays to get ingloriously drunk than it is to see a new film (something about typing that sentence just made me feel queasy).  What a great message to send to young people – ‘oh don’t worry about expanding your horizons kids, better to buy some cheap cider and get off your faces instead’.  It’s my guess that the cinema is just a no-go zone for many people these days, and I wince at the thought of how much it costs for a family of four or five.  After my experience on Saturday I can’t say that I’m overly enthusiastic about the idea of rushing back there this weekend myself.  It’s so painfully disappointing to witness what was once a completely affordable means of entertainment become so inaccessible that I almost can’t watch anymore.  I’m just glad that this time I enjoyed the film – paying £10.60 for two hours of dark room boredom would have left a particularly sour taste in my mouth.

Image above courtesy of Flickr – Wahlander.

Lent Lesson 2: Need versus want

I’m actually really thankful that I’m into the last week of Lent.  I don’t think I have a single pair of black tights left that don’t have at least three holes in (I think they waited until Lent began before they started sprouting ladders all over the place), the black pumps I wear in the office everyday are threadbare and falling apart and the wicker bag I carry with me everywhere has bust a strap, thus rendering it useless.  Oh despair!

For the sake of the challenge, however, I’ve managed to get by.  I’ve been wearing trousers to work slightly more than usual, I’ve dug out a replacement bag (free with a magazine several eons ago) and I’ve walked around the office in my stocking soles thus avoiding having to wear the shoes of eternal scruffdom (I prefer the tattered Cinders look anyway).  Sounds a bit drastic I know but I just plain refuse to break Lent after having come so far.  As of Saturday, however, I will no longer be able to churn out the old ‘but it’s Lent and I’m not buying anything’ excuse.  I must accept my fate blog readers – I’m going to to make a trip to the shops.

Lent has got me thinking about the idea of needing things.  What do we actually need in life, and what is simply a case of want?  It occurs to me that the lines between these two ideas have become, for many of us, extremely blurred.  When money flows, life becomes more than a case of simply surviving from day to day and our evaluations of what we consider really necessary change dramatically.  No longer is it a case of food, warmth and shelter, but shoes for every fathomable occasion, bed linen for every conceivable type of guest and a different serving dish for every type of cuisine to come from the kitchen.  How often have you heard someone justify buying something frivolous on the basis that they ‘really need it‘?  All the time, right?  I’ve done it myself.  Many shoppers are plagued with the notion that it’s OK to spend a fortune on something as long as they can somehow say they needed it.

This bugs me.  Why do we do it?  I think the answer is pretty simple.  Deep down, we know it’s unnecessary, we know it’s over-indulgent and we know the money should really be going towards something better.  ‘I really need it‘ is an age-old excuse, and it’s churned out on high streets up and down the land every Saturday afternoon without fail.  Of course it’s true that sometimes our lives would be considerably easier if we had certain things, and it’s for this reason that I’m going to buy new tights and a bag this weekend, but that’s not the same as really needing, is it?

Lent has reminded me not to misuse the word ‘need’.  It has reaffirmed to me the idea that I don’t actually require very much in life that money can buy me.  I have somewhere to sleep, food on my plate and more clothes than I could shake a reasonably-sized stick at.  My other basic needs are the things that can’t be bought (well, not in the mainstream, non-creepy sense anyway): friendship, love, time and peace.  I’m going to try my best to remember that when I start buying again.  When so many people in the world have so little and really do know the difference between need and want, I think it’s more than just slightly shameful that so many of us have yet to grasp the big picture.

Image above from Flickr – incurable hippie.

Check out this recipe for leek and smoked cheddar tart (found via the Guardian website).  Doesn’t it look amazing, and utterly perfect for Spring?  I’m sorely tempted to scrap tonight’s dinner in favour of trying this out – cheese, leeks and pastry…what a combination.  I think I’ll resist, however, until next week – I’ve got big plans (and most of the ingredients) for carrot and coriander soup and another cheese-laden pizza tonight.  I also don’t think I have the right kind of baking tin to attempt something like this with any recognisable degree of success.  So it’s with a heavy heart that I have to say beautiful tart, you do look delicious, but sadly you will just have to wait.

Anyway, it’s a pretty dismal Thursday here in Edinburgh – it’s raining, but it’s that kind of wishy-washy drizzle that I always find difficult to deal with.  Give me big, fat, voluptuous drops over this anyday!  It’s one of life’s little conundrums – on the one hand you feel like a berk holding an umbrella because the rain is so light but on the other, if you are umbrella-less you somehow still end up completely drenched.  Nothing is ever simple is it?!

Nevertheless, contrary to most other rainy days I’m actually quite open to this one.  I’ve been teetering on the brink of finishing my current book (The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – reviews here) for a few days now and this type of weather provides the perfect opportunity for going home after work, indulging in some hearty comfort foods and several cups of tea and settling down to nothing but a few hours of uninterrupted page-flicking.  I’ve been reading constantly for the past few months but nothing has really captured me in the can’t-put-this-down sense for a while (with, perhaps, the exception of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi).  Although it took me a while to get into The Poisonwood Bible it has turned out to be a remarkable and beautifully-written story about postcolonial Africa, the Belgian Congo and the devastating destruction of an entire family.  Sad, but incredibly poignant nonetheless.  I’ve no idea how it will end (perhaps I will tell you tomorrow) but I’d highly recommend a read to anyone wishing to learn a little about Africa’s complex but intriguing history.

Also, as the conclusion of Lent appears on the horizon I’ve thought of a couple of things I’d like to get my hands on once I’m free to spend again.  All non-frivolous purchases, of course!  First off, I’m going to invest in a three-tier steamer for cooking vegetables and potatoes and almost anything else.  I don’t know why this idea hasn’t occurred to me before but I have used a friend’s steamer several times now and I have to say that they are totally genius inventions.  They save bucketloads of energy (think one hob instead of three) and they are also a much gentler way to cook.  I’m sure I read somewhere  that steaming allows vegetables to retain more of their nutrients than boiling does.  If you’re going to be good enough to eat the darn things in the first place you might as well get the full benefit of them!

Second and third on my wish list are a proper pizza tray and a roller-type cutting device which will both, hopefully, help to further my currently infantile pizza-making expertise.  I can’t seem to achieve all-out crispiness of the base at the moment, which I’m putting down to the trays I’ve been using having no holes in the bottom and I’m also having some difficulty hacking the things up with a bread knife which I think a proper cutter might solve.  No longer will I be serving half-mangled doughy slabs but perfectly crispy, even triangles which you might be forgiven for thinking came straight from Italia herself.  Here’s hoping anyway.

Roll on Good Friday!

PS: As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about breakfast, this morning I had a raisin, apple and cinnamon bagel with lots of cream cheese and a glass of pineapple juice.  Different and interesting!  I’ve decided to canvass Lidl on my way home later for interesting cereals and some Deutsch-themed pizza toppings!

Image above courtesy of Flickr – tworm.

Lent Lesson 1: Weekly Budget

I somehow can’t believe we are still in Lent – March seems to have gone on practically forever this year!  There are now less than two weeks left of the challenge and I’m beginning to think about what (if anything) my six-week spending abstention has taught me.

Rather obviously, one of the most marked changes is in the amount of cold hard cash I’ve managed to save in one month.  Foregoing cinema trips, charity shop raiding and expensive Costa lattes has had a truly incredible effect on my March finances.

I always siphon a chunk of my wages away at the beginning of the month for savings, but then that’s usually it until the next pay packet appears – the rest of my cash seems to languish in my current account where it’s much more susceptible to suffering an attack of the impulse spends.  Not having anything to splurge-spend on, however, has meant that any extra money kicking around in my current account has been doing absolutely nothing.  I therefore decided, (rather ingeniously I thought), to convert these spare pennies into savings.  Just noting the difference this has made to the overall health of my balance sheet has been enough to inspire me into devising a weekly budget scheme which I can start now and then carry on once Lent is over.

So here’s what I’ve done (she says as she rubs her hands together with glee):

1) Using online banking – one of the greatest technological innovations of our time, if I may just say – I emptied my current account of all monies except for a single set amount for every week of the month left until payday.  This amount should typically be more than I would needed in a standard week but I thought it might pay to start off generously and then rein things in later on if there’s scope for it.

2) I then live (thriftily) off of that set amount for a single week and transfer whatever is not spent (down to the pennies) into my savings account as well.  The amount left unspent can vary depending on what I’ve had to pay for in a given seven-day period.  Last week it was around £30 for example, and this week it will be much less than that, given that I paid my phone bill the other day.

3) Repeat cycle for new week

4) That’s it!

Thus far, my plan appears to be working, and it surprises me that I’ve not put something like this in place sooner, given that I’m always raving about saving versus spending.  Better late than never, however!  I think the real challenge will come post-Lent, but that’s for another day!

Happy Monday everyone!

Image above from Flickr – tao zhyn.