Broke In Lockdown – Day 2
If there’s one thing many of us came to realise during lockdown it’s that routine can often make or break our sanity. We need activities to ground ourselves, because these activities dictate the direction in which our lives ultimately move.
While it can be difficult to stay motivated when you’re stuck at home all day, I’ve found that starting off strong makes a huge difference for me. Strong, in this instance, means meditation, exercise, and a good shower. Find something that works for you, then do you best to stick with it!
2:47 – Video Timestamp
Breakfast
After completing my morning ritual, I made my way to Lidl purchase a cheap breakfast.
I found Soy milk for 55p, and the cheapest cereal around, brand flakes, for 45p. I’d seen Cornflakes for 50p, which was tempting, but would put me over my £1 limit for the morning, so brand flakes it was.
It might sound a bit crazy, but when I got home and saw all the extra food I had lying around, I found myself thinking that this budget of £3 a day might actually be too much! A direct consequence of all the “living on £1 a day” challenges, No doubt.
3:44 – Video Timestamp
Hunting for free stuff
Getting a hold of everything you need might prove to be a little tough during a situation like lockdown, so the more free stuff you can acquire, the better!
I took to the internet and literally typed in “free stuff London”. There were a whole host of search seemingly viable results that popped up, so I clicked on the link that seemed to address my problem most directly; latestfreestuff.co.uk.
Latest Free Stuff gives people a chance to grab anything from free skincare items to food, and will sometimes even offer ways for you to make money!
If you live in the UK, I’d definitely recommend checking it out. But if you’re elsewhere, you can try typing the same thing into Google followed by whatever city you’re in and you should be able to find something that’s just right.
4:30 – Video Timestamp
Making online courses for money
With so many people being stuck at home, and sitting on large amounts of free time, lockdown has arguably been the best time to capitalize on opportunities such as the selling of online courses, because it’s absolutely the best time to get through to people.
A site called Eventbrite, which I managed to find during lockdown, gives people a way to do this easily.
As long as you have something to teach others, and as long as you can do that in an organized, easy-to-follow manner, you should be able to put sites like this to use. You don’t actually have create a very formal course either. It could be a class that teaches people how to juggle, or finish a rubix cube, or exercise, or cook, or do yoga.
I decided to create a course of my own that would revolve around money making tips, naturally. During the process, Eventbrite asked for:
My level of experience hosting events.
How often I plan on hosting events.
What type of event it will be.
I then had to name my course, set a date, set the type of event, create a cover picture, and, finally, distribute the link to everyone I knew. Pretty simple!
9:36 – Video Timestamp
Lunch at Tesco Extra
Trying to find enough food to call “lunch” for £1 seemed impossible. A lot of people have the misconception that vegan food is crazy expensive, but there are definitely a lot of methods someone can employ to get their hands on some, so keep your eye out for the blog I’ll be posting on that!
But in the end, after enough searching, I managed to find broccoli for 50p, spaghetti for 20p, and tomato sauce for 28p.
A hearty lunch indeed.
12:32 – Video Timestamp
5 Money Making/Saving Tips
My course was simply for demonstrative purposes, so rather than forcing you to pay £10 for it, I’ll just summarise.
Research. It’s difficult to stress this enough, because it’s basically the foundation of my content. Use the internet to find the best deals available. Then, when you think you’ve found the best deal, go even deeper!
Budgeting. If you want to save form something, you have to be very disciplined. What most people do when they get their salary at the end of the month is pay their monthly expenses and then take out savings after, but in the long run, that really won’t amount to much. What you need to do is take your savings put out first. Whatever you have left, you will find a way to manage it. Be strict, and only use your savings for emergencies.
Always go for quality. This will save you much more money in the long run, because often time’s, when you go for the lower quality item, it wont last you very long, or do what you need it to, the way you need it too. So you’ll end up paying for both the inferior product and the superior one once you decide it’s time to upgrade, which would add up to an unnecessary amount of money at the end of the day!
Offsetting. Saving is an art, and the scales have to be balanced. Avoid dipping into your savings during one of your YOLO moments at the bar. Instead, take money out of the £400 pounds you would have used for the train by taking the bus every other day that month, or riding your bike. Or walking. Remember, your savings are just that.
Asking. For some of us, this tip might be the most difficult, but it will most certainly be one of the most valuable. Ask for that promotion, ask the store you’re in what deals or free items they have to offer, ask for the upgrade on your flight – it’s literally all there for you! People don’t like coming across as cheap or imposing, which is fair enough, but at the end of the day the people who are brave enough to ask are the ones who come out on top.
19:42 – Video Timestamp
Dinner at the market
Markets are great for a number of reasons. You’ll find a variety of items in one place that you wouldn’t in your typical store, the items are often cheaper because of the competitiveness of the environment, and, in some cases, you’ll be free to haggle for the best price.
I decided that I felt like eating some plantain for dinner, and managed to grab five ripe and sizable plantains for £1. A few minutes later I saw a vendor selling six for £1, which was, in itself, a valuable lesson, and my final one for the day: In life, and especially in markets, always make sure you’ve done your due diligence!
