Saturday 27 September 2008

Plans - Christmas & Other

Now we honestly dont have Christmas until Christmas around here (but Laura reminded me it is time to start planning) but I do like to organised ahead of time so that we maintain our fairly frugal status through the whole event. Last night we had vsitors. Some friends of ours with kids approxiately the same age that we have known for about 20 years. We were chatting about increasing costs generally & how we were coping, & somehow Christmas can up. We decided not to do presents any more. Its quite expensive as there are 4 of us and 5 of them but also we dont need any more stuff, ever! We are both trying to empty the houses a bit, not fill them up with more rubbish. Instead we will bake a special cake or something Christmassey on a day that we meet up over the Christmas break. Much more fun and quite a bit cheaper.

I am also organising a coach trip for some of the people I work with. We will go to a Christmas Market in Europe, probably Ostend for a day trip. As organiser I will price it up so that my ticket is free(it's fair honest,- it is quite a lot of work!)I just have to make sure I dont waste a lot of money on the day but I think I will be okay.

Okay, no more Christmas, just my plans for the day. I have signed up for all of the email newletters from supermarkets for their weekly special offers. So I am off to this morning ASDA to hopefully stock up on lean beef mince. I also need a loaf of bread, a lettuce and a jar of peanut butter. Before that I am going to a car boot sale at the lcoal school. Its in a bit of a posh area so it can be the source of some serious bargains. I bought my bike there for £17 a year or two back.

After that I will come back to cook our dinner & then burrow around in the attic. Gardening is postponed as it is cold and foggy outside. After that I am going to sort out an area of the conservatory where I can dry some washing and avoid the tumble dryer and associated electricity bill.

I love weekends!
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5 comments:

  1. Sharon J27 September 2008 at 13:44

    I really don't want anybody to buy me presents this year either, not unless they know it's something I really need anyway. Last year I received too many things that ended up either or Freecycle or in a charity shop and that's clearly a complete waste of money. This year I'm making most of presents and ONLY things that I know the recipient will find useful.

    The trip to the Xmas market sounds lovely. I've never been to one but a coach trip would be too much for me.

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  2. Lizzie @ her homeworld27 September 2008 at 18:43

    Hi Sharon
    We introduced a financial limit to present prices last year, with the proviso that they also had to be homemade, intersting or just generally weird & wonderful. We had great fun and without great cost. I am sure my mum cheated with the kids presents though.
    I thought that organising a coach was best, so that people could just crash down in there seats and snooze all the way home if need be. It seems to be appealing to a lot of people who are nervous to drive or take the train. Hopefully we all have a good day.

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  3. Daizy27 September 2008 at 20:01

    Every year we try to stop giving presents among the siblings but there is always someone who wants to keep it up. Then there are the 11 nieces and nephews to buy for and I know most of those gifts end up forgotten or in the trash. This year I have to think of something different since I won't be going up there for the holiday. I refuse to pay shipping for stuff that will just be ignored!

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  4. Lizzie @ her homeworld27 September 2008 at 23:45

    Hi Daizy
    I have the perfect gift to send to your family.
    http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/Hub.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped&category=UWGifts

    plus, no shipping costs!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Daizy28 September 2008 at 21:21

    Thanks for the idea Lizzie, I had not heard of Oxfam. I have done heifer.org but they are only animal donations.

    ReplyDelete

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