Friday 1 July 2011

Day 1: The Last Hurrah

Can I report a Fail on the first day?
Dr Fran!

Actually, not a Fail at all, but a Huge Big Pass!  For today I graduated!  Four years of reading and thinking, and 285 pages of agonized prose later, and I am officially Dr Fran.  And that called for a celebration.

It also called for £50 for gown hire.

Well, what can you do?  I won't be doing another PhD, not in a hurry.  And my very kind mother forked out for the celebratory meal afterwards.  I can also report a minor frugal victory.  One of our party refused her after-dinner mint, so I of course snaffled it.  That means, together with my own mint, I now have TWO PIECES OF CHOCOLATE for future consumption.  This may later be of the utmost importance.

On reflection, I probably should have delayed starting this project for another two weeks.  I have not yet moved into my new accommodation, so there is still a lot of travel to pay for, not to mention the impending nightmare which is removal costs.  I also have a most irregular week ahead, which I shall blog about in due course.  But there is a lovely symmetry in starting with the day that marks the end of one period of my life and the beginning of this new one.  And besides, I promised.

So here it is:

Lunch (in which I also fed my mother)
  • 2 x bread rolls from the corner shop = 30p
  • cheese and salad leaves with dressing (bought a few days ago - no cost today)
  • packet of vegetable crisps = 65p  (my mother fancied them)
  • pint milk = 55p
Travel
  • petrol = £4
  • bus fares = £2.60
Which together with the £50 for the gown hire =  £58.10
AARRRGGHHH!

7 comments:

Meowmie said...

Graduation gown hire is similarly expensive here. OTOH, it's an infrequent expense.

I'd do a similar list of outgoings in my blog but I think I'd cry at the crazy things I have to buy! All the same, the $33 I spent on potting mix, pea straw and discounted pots will probably make me very happy once I've done all the hard work. :-0

jamie said...

i've always thought the main part of the savoy cabbage looks like a little brain. tasty!

Alison said...

A rasher of bacon, fried and snipped, can improve a lot of cabbage.

I do a two-day cabbage thing.
Day 1. Boil up cabbage, stir in snippets of fried bacon. Eat till you're full. Even after you're full, there will be some left over.
Day 2. Liquidise leftovers, add stock cube and water, heat up; voila - soup.

The Intolerant Baker said...

Thanks you your comments, everyone.

@Meowmie - Yes, sometimes we have to speculate to accumulate, as they say. I hope your growing experiments work well. I've been bequeathed some window boxes at my new flat, so I might try sowing a few herbs and see what happens.

@Jamie - euw! But yes ... you have a point.

@Alison - I did something very similar for lunch today. Fried up another quarter of the cabbage with some leek and more bacon bits, and then stirred in an egg and served with soy sauce. I wouldn't give it to guests, but it was fine just for me.

Alison said...

Another cabbagey possibility is cabbage and bacon pasta bake. - the ubiquitous boiled cabbage, pasta, snippets of bacon, sprinkling of cheap cheddar over the top. We have this regularly over winter.

Jane (from Australia) said...

Tipped off by someone else to look at this. Congratulations on graduating! I'm puzzling over what the internship might be that is leading to this frugal living...?

The Intolerant Baker said...

@Alison, that's a great idea. I did a verson of it last night, and have posted the recipe. And it was delicious!

@Jane - hello, and welcome. And thank you for your congratulations. :)