On Tuesday, I withdrew 60 Euros from my bank account and decided to do a test on how long I could live with this amount of money. Well, so it happened that three days into the test, I had 2,40 Euros left. I discovered that it is very difficult to turn down all the summer goodies around the city. For example, on my way to work, I can hardly walk through the Kauppatori market square (see below) without sitting down for a coffee or buying some sweet strawberries... It's an excellent spot for people watching as well and definitely increases my life satisfaction!
Wednesday:
(Already on my first test morning, my attempt to save money didn't work out. This is one of my favourite places at the moment, also because I can ask for a real cup instead of a paper cup for my coffee.)
Lunch: veggie lasagna at the cantine 5,50 EUR
A glass of wine at Kokomo 6,70 EUR
(Another glass of wine offered later at the terrace of Grotesk, a wonderful terrace I just discovered, they had excellent riesling and awful / nostalgic music hits from the 1990s.)
Thursday:
Lunch: home made sandwich 0,00 EUR
(Bravo!)
An interesting exhibition on the history of Finnish design at Hakasalmen huvila (or Hakasalmi villa) 0,00 EUR
(There's culture available also for penniless people!)
Smoothie at mbar 5,00 EUR
Friday:
Morning coffee + cinnamon bun at the market 3,80 EUR
(See below. I couldn't resist it on a such sunny and beautiful morning. It took me more than an hour to get to work as I wanted to capture the blue sky and the calm sea with my camera. So I went around Ullanlinna and Kruununhaka enjoying the summer and pretending I was a tourist in no hurry.)
Lunch: veggie paddies at the cantine 5,50 EUR
Postal services 17,80 EUR
(Unexpected expenses without which I could have survived a day or two more...)
Gin Long Drink ("lonkero") at Vuorimiehen puistikko terrace 5,00 EUR
(See below. A nice place in my neighbourhood. Although my perfect reading moment was distracted by some drunk people who emerge always with the sun...)
Ice cream at Helsingin Jäätelötehdas at Eiran ranta 3,80 EUR
And then of course, I bought new hiking boots at Halti for 159 EUR... So, the test wasn't a success but as my budget is quite tight with the Africa trip coming, I will need to learn to cut down the expenses (it means more home made sandwiches for lunch but no less morning coffees at the market square!) By the way, having little money seems to be pretty ecological as the overall consumption has to go down. On the other hand, it might mean buying less organic / other environmental-friendly products that are more expensive and opting for cheaper t-shirts made in China etc. It's a difficult question, I think I have to ponder on this a bit more and withdraw another 60 Euros and see what's going to happen to my consumption habits.
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