Sometimes I seem to get obsessed with ideas for things I want to do, and I never actually get round to doing them. Time and money are the big things holding me back; mostly money, I think, because if I had it I wouldn’t spend all my time earning it (well, less of my time, at least). So I make lists of things I want to try in the vain hope that I’ll actually manage them one day. Some of them I have achieved. Driving very fast was great; I now, however, want an Audi R8 even more than I did before and I feel a very long way from that. Anyway, here’s my latest list of things I want to do. Suggestions for how to get around to doing these gratefully received.

• Pinhole photography – years ago I had a kit and never used it. Now I want to. I have several shoe boxes (and a saw and hammer and nails) and want to make something nice and sturdy. I don’t know why; I’m a terrible photographer and not a very visual person at all. I think I just have something of a love of old science and the feeling of discovery. In an ideal world, I’d want to make my own photographic paper as well, experiment with it and make some crazy pictures. As it is, I think an order on Amazon will follow shortly.
• Knitting – so, I’ve started doing this. It’s going OK but very, very slowly. I don’t know when I have time to spare when I can concentrate so hard on one thing; I don’t watch TV, really, and never seem to have time just to sit. I think the scarf I started will be done by next winter. Better late than never.
• Riding a motorbike – one day. One day. Oh yes.
• Putting on a show – I wrote an outline yesterday for a stand-up/poetry show I want to put on. It involves doing a PowerPoint presentation and talking about happiness and optimism. I think it could be good. I may actually write it one day. Not sure if I’ll ever get the chance to perform it though.
• Finishing my novel – like the knitting, it’s a case of finding a big chunk of time to sit down and do this.
• Making my mark – please, someone, buy me a run-down house I can make nice.
• Replacing my laptop – my lovely little Mac has battery problems. And flickery screen issues. And a broken bit of plastic on it. I love it so, but I need to face up to its demise soon. And maybe – gasp – get a non-mac laptop. Sob.

So – what pipe dreams (well, realistic ones) do you all have? Perhaps we can motivate each other into addressing these things and getting stuff done. Leave a comment – if you’re reading this on Facebook, why not leave a comment on my site, where this post originally appeared (http://www.maltpress.co.uk/2010/03/03/things-i-want-to-do/)

Oh, and I’ve still not had time to read the book “Getting Things Done”. The irony in that is wonderful.

Dear sir/madam,

I understand, from online sources, that the decision to axe 6Music and The Asian Network from the BBC is not final until approved by the BBC Trust, so I thought I would email you to tell you a bit about me and 6Music.

I first heard 6Music online during a very boring day at work. I hated my job and was planning to leave to start freelancing. I didn’t like my stuffy office, where we couldn’t have a radio, and even listening to music online when working late was frowned upon (but still done). It was Nemone I first heard: she played Maximo Park, I think, and Nirvana. Certainly Nirvana. I remember updating my Facebook status to tell people I’d suddenly discovered this great, almost secret radio station, and I vowed at that point to buy a DAB radio just for 6Music as soon as I got my first cheque from freelancing.

I still have that DAB radio and the only station I’ve bothered to save as a preset is 6Music. I have another DAB radio I bought specifically so I could listen to 6Music in my bedroom.

Anyway, I left that job and started freelancing and 6Music was a big part of that. I quickly found out via call-ins and emails read out that many of the listeners were just like me; freelancers, designers, writers, all wanting intelligent talk about new music from people who really cared about it. Gideon Coe was a revelation. I discovered some great new music. I bought albums on the strength of recommendations from the DJs. I emailed in. I really got involved and I really felt part of a community of like-minded listeners. Before the whole competition saga, I won a couple of albums.

One day I met a girl and introduced her to 6Music and, soppy as it is, we dedicated a couple of songs to each other via Nemone. Eventually she moved home to Australia, but 6Music was still there – she’d listen to the overnight shows and email in, and I’d use listen again to hear her emails and the songs she asked for. I’d love to say that after this we got married, but we didn’t; that shouldn’t detract from how much the station meant to us, or to me, or to thousands of other people with similar stories to tell. When things didn’t work out, 6Music helped me through that.

Some days I’d swear the DJs were looking through my CD collection at night when putting their playlists together, then throwing in more things they thought I’d like. 6Music has been better than any online service for suggesting music I’d never normally hear.

It’s also given me a way to connect to new people. I used online dating this year and you’d be amazed how many people ask questions about your listening habits when sending out those tentative first emails. I always knew I’d get on with people who liked 6Music (except, perhaps, George Lamb fans, but that’s another story…); a shared love of Adam & Joe pretty much guaranteed a reply. Now I’ve met someone and I’m happy and 6Music reflects that as well.

I took time out from freelancing to work in an office last year and 6Music was the thing I missed most. It became my weekend treat rather than a constant; Adam & Joe were a great start to the weekend, and The Freak Zone – a fairly recent discovery for me – the perfect end. Now I’m returning to freelancing and I was – until today – very excited that I can listen to Lauren Laverne every day. She’s one of the best DJs I’ve ever heard. Up there with Peel and Lamacq for me. 6Music over the last couple of months has become better than I ever imagined. Jarvis Cocker on a Sunday? It’s sublime.

It’s also the sort of thing that competitors wouldn’t do. The 6Music audience aren’t the sort to buy things from radio adverts so there’s no revenue from us. We rail against bland commercial radio. Without 6Music we fall back on community radio, US internet radio – if we can get it – and online services like Last.FM and Spotify. But they’re not the same. The quality is poor. There are no DJs on Last.FM. They don’t throw the sort of curve-balls a real person would do.

I think we’d pay subscriptions for 6Music if we could. If that’s what it took to save it. I’d be more than happy to. Hell, I bought two DAB radios for it, and I’ve considered another so I can listen in the car.

The thing is, I don’t watch TV very much. Maybe an hour a week, on average. I think BBC3 is a waste of time and money – I’d rather have fewer stations and higher quality output (is “Marry, Snog, Avoid” *really* more important than such a high quality radio station?), especially considering BBC3 runs overnight with nothing but repeats. Fewer US imports will be good, especially as most are so easily available on DVD or online nowadays. There are other things I’d want you to drop before 6Music – but there will be people arguing the case for you to save these too. There’s no way everyone can be happy, I know that. But dropping 6Music feels so wrong to me. It has so much more loyalty than other BBC output. Commercialise it. Stop giving it away for free overseas. Charge for the Adam & Joe podcast. Don’t broadcast past midnight. Please, God, just stop Three Pints of Lager. More men in suits on Doctor Who and less CGI. Think of all the different ways an organisation like the BBC can increase its commercial viability without compromising output; people are willing to pay extra for extra services and that must count for something. There is no brand in the world like the BBC, and yet it’s not being capitalised on. Instead you’re considering homogenising your output to a terrible, populist, lowest common denominator soup, leaving those of us who really care floundering around looking for something to speak to us.

Perhaps that’s a good thing – perhaps we’ll get more involved in community radio projects or local art and performance. Maybe we’ll put our own club nights on to recreate the feeling of 6Music. Perhaps we’ll stop making any use of the BBC and sell our TVs and cancel our license fees because if you can’t give us output we want on a (relatively) low-cost radio station, why should we ever think you’ll serve our needs on TV?

Or maybe we’ll just feel very sad and very disenfranchised by the BBC and realise that being smart and different and passionate and open gets us no-where, and we’ll give in to the constant “talent” shows and insipid drama.

Who knows.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Maltpress

[edit: corrected email address for consultation responses]

I’ll write a bit more about the site on this post in a while – it’s currently very late at night. There are more developments to come including an email template and updated Twitter background.

Anyway, if you have any comments, please leave them below or get in touch with me via

When submitting new pages to workflow, my client was getting an error saying “Keyword required from category ”” – an empty, non-existant keyword category. Although the page was right and had the keywords which should be assigned, it just wouldn’t submit. Trying to delete (or create and then delete) this keyword didn’t work; it just didn’t exist.

Where the problem came from

In building the site, I’d copied an existing project and then deleted unneeded elements – including unneeded keywords. However, some of these keywords were pre-assigned to a page template and, rather than deleting them, it merely deleted the content on those keywords.

Copying the content classes in order to re-create and hopefull kick out the empty keyword didn’t work; the rogue keyword was copied as well.

How to avoid the problem

Several options exist:

1. Don’t delete keywords – however, this could be confusing for users if the project you copy has a lot of redundant ones – and you’ll end up with irrelevant keywords on some content.
2. Delete pre-assigned keywords before deleting keywords and categories – do this on not only content classes but also on lists, just to be sure. My issue wasn’t related to lists as such, but you can’t be too careful.
3. Create content classes from scratch rather than copying… the best solution in any project, but time-consuming and as such expensive.
   

How to fix the problem

This is the bit I wish there had been a blog post about (hence this one!) – how to fix it.

1. Recreate the content class of the page you’re having trouble with – I copied all the template code and pasted into a new template, then went through all the elements on the page making sure they were correct (don’t forget that copying content class code resets everything to an anchor element!).
2. Make sure that if you’ve preassigned a content class to a list element that you also assign the new version of that content class, or you’ll not be able to do the next step.
3. Replace the content class of *one* example page you’re having issues with – perhaps create a test version using the old template first. This will make sure you’ve got everything right before you go breaking things…
4. Double check all your references and container links are in place on the new version.
5. Submit to workflow and then check the page. If it submits, you’ve fixed it and can move on to step 6.
6. Go back to the content class and make sure all references to site-wide containers – navigation etc – are set up as per the old template.
   
7. Replace the content class of all pages with that content class. Simply click another page you’re having an issue with, click “replace content class”.
8. Now go back and remove the old content class from preassignment, if applicable.

This should fix the issue and stop it recurring.

Hope that helps someone – not sure if RedDot are aware of this, but it could well be old versions anyway.

I’m up to 3% of my total, or thereabouts. At this rate I’ll hit £10,000 in about 3 years. That’s not quite what I was after, but I always knew the first month would be a slow burner. I’m awaiting payment for some freelancing work I’ve been doing, and that will go straight into savings: I need to email my accountant to see if I’m due a tax rebate in January, which would be nice; and I’ve signed up to things like YouGov and Quidco (a cashback, referral-based website) which will earn me little bits here and there.

The great news, however, is that I’ve spent less than I’ve earned this month, which – considering I’ve taken a 30% or more pay-cut in going part time – is pretty good going. Petrol has been the absolute killer on this budget, though, so next month will take that into account; I’ll not be taking petrol money out of my (reduced) monthly budget. I’ll also try to drive as little, and as efficiently, as possible. The lack of shower at home was also a problem this month, as it meant more driving to the gym or dad’s so I could shower – and a couple of trips to the swimming pool too, which isn’t cheap. Oh, and I started Christmas shopping, which has helped to spread the cost a bit.

All in all, I’m fairly confident about next month: I’m resisting buying things I want but don’t need, I’m learning a load of money-saving tips (and getting back into old habits like baking) and with luck Santa will bring me gift vouchers and cash, so I can get things I need without spending or I can add a little more to my savings.

In the mean time, all offers of writing work gratefully received… I only have £9,700 to earn!

I think my plan is failing. £250 a month just isn’t enough if I include petrol, which takes about £30 a week; that’s about half my budget gone at a single stroke. That would probably be fine if I didn’t also then factor in expensive expenses – the non-food items you kind of take for granted but which come along with surprising regularity. Or maybe this is the month during which everything has run out.

I’m talking deodorant, toothpaste, toilet cleaner. Prescription charges. When you’re living on limited resources, £5 here and there makes a big difference; when £30 of your £50 budget has gone on petrol and you’re in the supermarket, a couple of extra pounds on the bill can mean the difference between having paper money to last the week and not.

With that kind of pressure on petrol bills, you’re also very aware of every trip you make. Is it really necessary? Is someone else heading in that direction you can cadge a lift from? Buses, sadly, are vastly overpriced, and would make even more of a dent in the budget. So how can you reduce your petrol bills when you still need to get to work?

Cycling would, I suppose, be an option. It would certainly be good for me, apart from the somewhat increased risk of mangled painful death under a truck (especially at this time of the year). Running would be possible; it’s 10km to work along the river, and I know I can do that distance in about an hour. But then I’d have to run home too, in the dark, along cow-pat (and angry cow) strewn paths near a river which I would undoubtedly fall in.

And so I am forced to one conclusion: petrol should be removed from the monthly budget, or the monthly budget should be increased. I think the former; reducing the cash spending budget to £150, roughly what I thought it would be (and giving me £30 a week + £30 emergency fund) for food and going out. The £100 I thought I would spend on petrol is absorbed into unavoidable monthly costs, and I save less that £250 a month.

Still, I am spending a lot less than I have been. Making my own lunch, planning meals and shopping carefully, and watching what I spend on the fripperies of modern life has been very good for me. As it stands at the moment, my ISA holds 1% of my planned total. This will, hopefully, soon increase to 10%, and then I can truly feel I’m on the way.

I’ve started bookmarking sites with fancy things I want to put in my new house, so I’d better be.

It is also, possibly, a little creepy. I don’t know.

Dear Natalie Portman

Dear Natalie
Portman

I’d like to invite you to my house.

I would make you a cup of tea
Nothing more
Just a cup of tea.

Maybe a slice of cake
But mostly a cup of tea.

We could have a chat about things.

I promise not to mention Star Wars
Although I’d love to.
I promise not to mention Closer either
Because that would make it seem
It was about more than just having tea.
It would sully the whole experience for me
And you’d probably think I was only after one thing.

I am only after one thing:
A cup of tea with Natalie Portman.

We could chat about anything
Politics or nature or the news
Trees or my cat or your life
And what it’s like to be famous and to not
Sit down for a nice cup of tea from time to time
Without there being an agenda.

We could talk about shopping or shoes
Or makeup if you wanted.
I know quite a lot about those things
Considering I’m a bloke.

And then you could make a video for me
Pretending that you loved me
But I was too good for you
And you could never live up to me
And I could send it to a girl I fancied
To impress her into having tea with me as well.

It would be fun. You
Would pretend to be earnest
But corpse a lot
And ad-lib
And I would fail to catch the best bits on tape
Because I’m incompetent.

Also I don’t have a video camera.
You’d have to bring one.

Then you’d go home
And say “see you soon”
And I’d say yes
Call me any time
And you never would.

But it would be fun.
Just having a cup of tea.
It would be one of those weird experiences
We would always remember
And tell our friends about
And say “remember that time…”

I think my friends
Would be more impressed than yours.

Anyway, there’s a quick and easy way to earn a little more money, and to have your say on all things political; sign up to YouGov and do their polls. Once you fill in a certain number of surveys they send you a cheque. I’m not sure how many you need to do before they send the cheque, but it’s fairly easy to do and all helps.

If you want to sign up, you can click here: http://my.yougov.com/go.aspx?id=cb02e43c-1c4f-4832-9ca9-a2b1a3816faa – that’s an affiliate link which means I get an equal number of points to you for the first three months when you fill in surveys. You don’t lose anything for that. If you don’t want to give me free money, though, you can join up at www.yougov.com

But don’t just let my pathetic pleas for cold hard cash convince you to join. Apparently (and you can see this on their forums) the BNP are encouraging their members to sign up and earn them money and also to skew the results in their favour. Let’s not let them get away with this; for the sake of accurate polls, the more people who sign up of whatever political bent, the better.

But yeah, I could do with the money too.

Thing is, £90,000 is a lot of money for anyone, but especially so for someone who’s only just managed to get out of debt for the first time in 10 years or more. Add to that the fact I’ve just gone from full-time working to three days a week – and the associated pay cut that entails – and it’s even further away. So I went to see my bank manager, and I sat down with three months’ statements and a spreadsheet, and I set myself the ambitious goal of saving £10,000 in one year.

Going by my current salary, that leaves me just £2,000 to survive on for the next year. Thank the lord for freelancing, then; but still, it’s a tall order. I’ve done monk months (where I save as much as possible by not going out) before, but this is a whole new level. Here’s how I’m going to do it – so you can maybe pick up some tips if you want to do similar, or offer advice or maybe spot the flaws.

Let’s, for the sake of nice round numbers to demonstrate with (and because in my case it’s fairly close to the truth) assume a monthly take-home of £1000. Of course, if your circumstances are similar (renting, single, dull) but you earn more then conceivably you can save more.

I’ve worked out what my monthly unavoidable outgoings are. I’ve over-estimated a little, and I’ve also added in annual costs such as car insurance. I’ve included (for the first time) a gift allowance for birthdays etc, although I’ll need more over Christmas and less in the new year, when no-one I know was born. These outgoings basically include rent, insurance, bills, pet insurance, TV license. Anything which is a scheduled direct debit. When you’re looking through your statements at this point, identify anything you can do without. For me it’s regular haircuts (back to shaving my head). Let’s say this comes to £500 a month.

Next up I looked at fuel, food, cash and other expenses. Books, music, clothes – anything like that. I surprised myself how much cash I take out every month – most of which I then couldn’t really account for. I think a lot of it goes on food, some on books, and an amount on going out. So that has to stop. This part of the exercise is really just about having a bit of a wake-up call over how much you really spend.

Finally, a fair chunk over the three months I was looking at went on debt repayments. These are now gone, as all my debts are clear. I can’t stress this enough: clear your debts before you start saving. With interest rates how they are, you won’t earn anything on savings, it’s just a case of putting money aside. If you do this while you’re still paying interest on credit, you’re just throwing money away. It’s far better to pay everything off first.

So what I found was that – quite frighteningly – I was spending pretty much what I earnt, and all of a sudden my income has gone down massively. Remove debt repayments and I’m a bit better off, but still living beyond my means.

So I worked out a weekly budget for myself. Let’s say I spend £20 on petrol a week, maybe £25. Then food; with judicious use of a freezer and making sure nothing goes to waste, and – most of all – not buying sandwiches from Tesco or Waitrose but making my own – I think £25 a week is more than enough. So I set myself the weekly budget of £50. Add a monthly buffer of £50 and I get the nice round number of £250.

So the plan is simple. On pay day, take £250 cash out of the bank. Take it home and put £200 in a safe place. The £50 you now hold is all you have until next pay day, whatever happens, so the first thing you’ll probably do is make sure you have petrol and food to last the week. Which may well leave you with as little as £10 for the rest of the week, aaargh.

At the end of the week, what’s left from your £50 goes in the penny jar. £50 again the next week. The extra £50 you should have acts as a buffer if payday falls over a weekend and you have more than 4 weeks to wait (rarely) or is put in the penny jar as well.

If all goes to plan, you’re saving at least £250 a month, maybe even up to £300 a month. That’s £3,600 towards the total, so all I then have to earn from freelancing is £6,400.

Don’t believe it’s possible to live on £50 a week? Jobseeker’s Allowance for someone of my age and circumstances would be £64.30 and that would have to include rent and bills. Puts it in perspective, doesn’t it?

I used the excellent Runkeeper on the iPhone to track and time my run; unfortunately I had a GPS drop-out half-way through and had to edit my route. Which, sadly, changed my estimated speed: I never really got up to 180km/h although on one of the downhill bits it certainly felt like it. I’ve tried embedding my run below, although I’ve never done this before so apologies if it looks strange: