Here's a sample letter I sent. I sent similar letters, and invoices, to over 50 companies that I've spent time with in the six weeks from mid-June to end-July 2009.

Overview:

Using the data collection website Daytum I recorded time (in minutes) and cost (in £ GBP) of all my interactions as a consumer. This included the odd five minutes for lunch every few days at my favourite salad stall on Goodge Street, to spending 45 minutes in Preston train station waiting for a connection. Yep, that's 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

The data's not perfect of course (eg. it's not automated based on GPS), and I rounded up/down as appropriate so that I didn't completely lose my sanity. But it provides a fascinating insight into how I live my life as a consumer, and which brands steal my attention.

What's more, with only a limited time of existence on this planet, it shows me whether I'm spending my time and money wisely as a consumer. And having invoiced the companies that claim my attention, I'll soon find out how much they respect the time I spend with their brand.

Notes on the data :

• recorded from June 15 - July 31, 2009
• includes time and money spent with a brand
• I split it into 3 sections for recording time: breakfast, lunch, evening/weekend/holiday, and 3 sections for costs: breakfast/lunch, evening, other
• includes TV, computer & Wii time
• only includes time and money transactions in the six week period - eg. I spent time at a Killers concert (recorded) but had already bought the ticket before this six weeks started (not recorded)
• sometimes I was interacting with multiple brands/things at the same time, eg. being on the TfL tube and reading Metro newspaper - in which case I've recorded both sets of data
• does not break down specific computer interaction, or TV shows
• includes time spent with my partner and friends, but does not take into account their time or money spent