Money, money, money....

Anyone got any spare?

It's payday on Wednesday, & it begins very tight budgeting for me. So tight I should have spent a lot less in the last month, but I've still got a few pennies left.

June & July sees me go on three trips, which is too many, my choice, but still a worry.

The Supporters' Team tour is at the end of July. We're going back to Helsinki to play the HJK fans again. An expensive city at the best of times, more so now with the economic recession, & the pound crashing against the Euro. I arrive there on a Thursday morning, & stay til the Sunday, when I am then getting the boat over to Estonia, then the early morning coach to Riga, in Latvia, where I fly home from on the Wednesday morning. I don't spend much money anyway, out of neccesity, so I'll cope. Finland is expensive, but I'll eat very cheaply, then treat myself in much cheaper Riga.

I also decided to go up to Glasgow for a long weekend, in June, as my good friend from Namur, Belgian Anorak, has his PSG Belgium supporters' team in the Queens Park FC supporters tournament at Lesser Hamden. Again I'm flying up, arriving Thursday, coming back on the Monday evening.
I'm also looking forward to that. There's a number of excellent free museums in glasgow, plus I'll try to get round some non-league grounds to photograph, if i can get into them. And it's 'normal' money, & chip shops are filling and cheap. not to mention the local delicacy! And on the Friday afternoon, when the Belgians arrive, we have a tour of the Scottish Football Museum arranged!

What threw a spanner in the works was another Supporters' Team trip! Usually we go away for a weekend early in the year, January or February. But the Gaffer announced that we wouldn't go on one, which I was disappointed about, as people would need money for the expensive trip to Finland. Which was fair enough. I went over to Belgium for a footballing weekend, staying with Belgian Anorak & his fiancee Rocky. Which I really enjoyed.

After I'd arranged to go to Glasgow though, flights already booked, the Gaffer announced we were going to Brussels in mid June-the weekend AFTER Glasgow luckily- for a tournament which he have got an invite for!

So I'm having to try to save every penny I have, to go to all three. Of course I could miss Brussels. But I haven't missed a Supporters' Tour yet, since we first went abroad in May 2002, a record I am personally very proud of, & one I don't want to break. I have to decide very soon how much time I stay in Brussels. I hope to go by early Eurostar on the Friday morning, the competition is on the Saturday, and get the last one back on the Sunday evening. I'm restricted to these times, by the cheap £59 return fare. The only alternative would be to get the Friday night coach there, & the Saturday night coach back. I don't really want to do that, as it only saves about a fiver, will be quite tiring two nights on the spin, but will obviously save me spending money.

I've fingers crossed I'll scrape/save enough shekels together for everything, & I know I'll enjoy my times away, even if I'm short of cash. I'm just scared I don't have the discipline/willpower to not spend any money over the next couple of months on anything else!

Hopefully I'll be ok...fingers crossed for me! ;-)