Metal Detector Challenge Week 1 Summary

The essence of this Challenge (besides having fun) is to attempt to live on money only derived from Metal Detecting. I ended Week 1 $94.72 in the black which sounds great in theory. A few things to note... I started the Challenge with 3/4 a tank of fuel. I am now down to half a tank. A refill is normally around $60 which I did not need to worry about this week. Also, without the extra $100 I made recovering Marty's lost ring, I would be around $5 in the red. I have kept outgoings very simple, leaving these to just rent, food and petrol. I could be more realistic about this and include expenses such as Pay TV/Phone/Internet/Mortgages/Electricity etc etc, but this begins to complicate things. And I do not particularly want to air my financials publicly.
So what have I learnt from Week 1 of the challenge?? Firstly, it is physically exhausting. I make a living sitting in front of a computer. So this is a huge shock to me. Actually it was such a shock to my body that I ended up with a pretty bad flu. I really need to man up! Second thing I am struggling with is budgeting. My partner and I normally go out for dinner a couple of times a week. And I pretty much go out for lunch/beers every day. I am beginning to miss this already, and am tired of eating the boring food in my pantry. But that aside, I am really enjoying the Challenge, and looking forward to Week 2.
Week 2 is going to be different. I won't be hunting parks or sand, I will be using the Excalibur II(water detector) to search for deep gold and silver rings. I figure I just need to find 9 grams of 18K Gold to equal the amount of coins found during Week 1. Wish me luck :)