Santa's Challenge 2015 - Xmas, Birthdays, a chat, a bit of everything

caroline78 · 24 January 2015 at 8:43AM

Read this thread most years but have never really joined in before. Looking forward to being part of it this year.

I always get hubby to buy me a nice Paperchase notebook and pen every Christmas and spend a few hours on Christmas night filling it in. My first page lists all the special cards I need to get, then I have a page for batteries, one for Christmas Eve Hamper, one for Stocking, one for Advent Boxes, and then a page for family, a page for people who my son buys for, and then a page each for closer family members, always leave my last pages for my son as he tends to get quite a bit...lol

I have the same thing set up as a spreadsheet, only I also add prices I paid on this and the RRP, with it all set up to add up the totals and give me the savings.

Last year I should have spent £2417.65 and only spent £1857.27 so saved nearly £600.

This year so far I have bought all the wider family, and most of the people my son buys for. Also got my son some great things including 6 different Mega Bloks set and the Thomas Table for Mega Bloks. Also got all the family cards and a few boxes plus wrapping paper.

Pleased with my total so far. I should have spent £237.66 and have only spent £64.22 so have saved £173.44 !!!

SugarSpun · 29 January 2015 at 6:23PM

Hello everyone!

It's been hectic again here, I'm just trying to buy furniture on ebay because we have run out of storage in our little house and still have boxes (after FIVE months).

All the birthday gifts are bought except a small bonus thing for my son, who will be 2 in September (I have 11 pounds of Amazon vouchers just now and will be looking for something tonight over a cheeky Crabbies). Four out of 15 Christmas gifts are also covered, total spend so far 52 pounds, RRP 249. Christmas decorations, cards and wrap are also bought. I feel pretty organised :j

susan42 · 29 January 2015 at 6:55PM

Hi katiehound omg the car sounds a nightmare. Glad you had a good time and the cars fixed.
I second not going on cruise in winter. I did some transatlantic and got stuck at sea for 10 days trying to out run a storm.
Thank you for advice 're banks just in the process of sorting my finances out.

Caroline well done on the rrps at Christmas and some good organization there. Well done on the weight loss too, are you following a plan ? I know how hard it is to lose weight

Wb sugarspun , I've just moved and I can honestly say I envy you having 5 boxes. Lol. I think your savings are fab too. Congratulations on the toiletries I'm going to make that my challenge this year

I'm also going to lose weight. Hopefully.

Well my house is still a nightmare but hopefully that will change over the next few months. I say months because I've moved from a newish build into a house to fix up. Not sure if it's a good move yet. Watch this space.

But a positive is we have sorted t he finances. So tomorrow we will be debt free which is a massive accomplishment for me as I've not been debt free for approximately 32 years. :-/ always owed out for something. Just need lottery now so that I can sort all my family and friends out :-)

Mum2one - your very quiet. Have you been receiving my texts ?

mum2one · 30 January 2015 at 12:44AM

wow theres some serious planning going on and plenty of bargains by the sound of it.

apologies not been about, I think it has been 2 weeks of 3 steps forward 4 back...

to sum up

Miss Hoodie - Has a lovely shiner of a black eye, bust glasses - all of this from queuing in school lunchtime, some older boys apparently starting pushing and shouving between themselves and the one lad fell face flat into her face.... The school say its her fault for being queued up for dinner!! Was an evening in a+e, good news - they dont think the eye socket is fractured just very badly bruised and swollen.

To date no one from school wants to speak to me.... hence I am looking forward to parents next week....

Dad - he's till recovering from the chest infection, back to hospital on Monday, - chemo no 6, but by previous even numbers it be blood transfusion and tests...

Me - Slowly coming to the end of this chest infection, had an asthma review at gp, so so, but a bit of a shock, a major shock, jump on the scales (the bit we all hate), hold on come back, then she weighs herself, - wondering what the heck is going on...

15KGS, (old money) 2 stone 3 lbs, or as she put it 60 blocks of butter............

Thats how much weight I have lost since last summer...........

Apart from thinking my elastic had gone in my jeans, it was a flipping shock...

----
Apologies as well re santas challenge, running behind so that be up ad running tomorrow.
xxxx

January2015 · 31 January 2015 at 3:15AM

Hi everyone

Can I please join this challenge? With a large family to buy birthday and Christmas presents for I have worked out that at £30 per present per person (so £60 per year for each person) I need to spend £1,200......so I definitely the tips and advice from this challenge to either reduce that total or offset it by generating income from ebay sales etc. I should say although I am from a large family (and so is DH with 22 siblings/half siblings between us), we do only buy for our (grown up) children/their partners, and our grandchildren. We are seriously considering telling our children that we will now only buy for the grandchildren but I want to see if I can continue to give them gifts but just not spend as much. I am knitting my son a jumper for his birthday so that has reduced the first £30 as I am using wool and pattern I have had stashed for over 2 years - so it feels like a zero spend.

Looking forward to getting to know you all through this challenge.

Anglea · 31 January 2015 at 5:56PM

Hi everyone, it does seem a lot quieter on here than usual.

Susan, dare I ask about your Christmas village?

Sorry to hear about you coming home earlier than expected to chaos.

Sugarspun, I had been wondering how you were getting on. So you're a fan of Crabbies?

Hi Katiehound, you had a colourful Christmas it seems with all those last monent trials - and so much washing up!

Mum2one, what a strange school if queuing up is a mistake and having someone fall into you is your fault. Looks like you have your work cut out with the teaching staff - but you must have some knowledge what is acceptable or not after the your governing experiences.

How is grandma Hoodie these days?

Well done on your weight loss - it's great to find it out in unexpected ways like you did - wondering if your elastic had broken lol

Welcome to January 2015 and Caroline 78 and thefrugalflirter :T

mrs-moneypenny · 31 January 2015 at 9:31PM

Hope all are well,
Ouch poor miss hoodie, eye sounds really bad!
Welcome to the new ones in the thread
I'm Busy knitting at the mo trying to get blanket done before baby arrives!

mum2one · 1 February 2015 at 1:46AM

Santas Challenge January[/COLOR]

massive apologies for the delay... but normal service is resumed

Christmas and Birthday planning
Hopefully we all got a bargain or two in the sales,

so as well as making sure that they are safe and sound and our of prying eyes, hopefully there is some dents made in the list and some budget beaters in there. It may sound daft but if your putting in different places, add a little note as to where you have hid it.

Cards
As well as the Christmas and Birthday cards, it may be worth holding a couple of spares in hand, whetehr thats a home made card, some blank cards you can personalise or the actual events
Some thoughts
Plain female and male cards
New house
Congratulations
Engagement
wedding
retirement
Thank you
get well soon
Sympathy (not the nicest of thoughts but you never know and saves running out to the corner shop and paying a lovely price)

Christmas - What would I change[/COLOR]
This may seem easier to think of now as the event is over and planning for 2015 Xmas is under way, - is there anything you would change, you wanted to do but didn't

Was the turkey too big - you still have Turkey curry in the freezer? You forget the present for the dog? You had to hand deliever 20 cards - forgot to post them? Didn't buy batteries for toys...? Miss Hoodies Corner.../SIZE]
That time of the month that brings out the cleaning cloth....
This time the freezer...
Working in the basis that we stocked up for Xmas, and now slowly getting back to normal, this gives us a chance not only to defrost and clean but to see what is lurking in the darkest depths, how many brussel sprouts tried to make there break for freedom.... also do a stock check.

cash Back/COLOR]
Don't forget to go through cashback stes for online purchases, check the sites as the % may differ or there may be special offers on, for eg, topcashback had an xmas promo on for 12 spends through their "picked out sites" could earn and additonal £50. Check the details, as there are spend levels, but even if you just achieve £6 of the promo all helps out.

Clear cookies.....

Survey Sites
There are literally a 1001 survey sites out there, and what suits one person, may not sit another, but jan challenge sign up to a new site and see how you get on.

It may be worth having a notebook / spreadsheet so you know when you've requested/ recieved a cashback amount.

I find that if I set myself a target, then I'm enclined to make an effort on sites, currently its £400 for ipad for Miss Hoodies bday, - every £1 earned is £1 less to find.

Summer clothes
This may sound mad, but I always found that when Miss Hoodie was younger, her clothes that she grew out of, esp summer items, shorts, swimwear, etc, went for more money on ebay in Feb/mar than in summer, - as families go away at Easter, so will buy them as shops don't always have the wide range in.

Me, Me, Me
as we're generally the ones who sort everything, its time to take a bit of me time, but as we're on a mse site, those luxury spa days with bottle of champagne have to be a distant dream... whether its having a soak in the bath with some scented candles, putting your feet up with a good book, going for a walk, stop for a coffee in town, painting your toe nails as well as finger nails, a little treat goes a long way.

Is there a better price
It would lovely to ask for a discount at the weekly shopping, but I think that one we have to dream on, but if you have a big item, car insurance, house insurance, holiday,service contracts, Sky, always ask if there is a better offer, you never know, I booked the family hol, it was on a promotion, but me being me, joked being cheeky, any discount for being nice.... worked got another £30 off... the most they can do is say no...

Is there a money saving tip that you could pass on??
start the ball rolling - steam clean the washing machine.... once a week I put the machine on full heat - 90C, longest program and empty, - the heat helps clean the drum and the pipes

Is there a shopping tip that you could pass on, or something you've seen on tv and gone wow thats a fab idea?

for me, if a man shops they need a list!!

----
As always think of the challenges as a pick and mix, a little bit random at
time, but hopefully some fun along the way xxxx

SugarSpun · 1 February 2015 at 8:22AM

mum2one, you seem to have lots of problems with the school. Would it be worth contacting Ofsted with your concerns? If your child has been physically harmed by a lack of supervision allowing the boys to fight like that, it's something they should address urgently and if the school isn't doing it there are other options.

Thanks Anglea, it's getting better

How are you?
I do like an occasional Crabbies, I rarely drink though.

Challenge time! I love challenge time!

Christmas and Birthday planning

The birthday list is almost finished and I've made a start on Christmas.

Cards

My plan is to try to make some cards this year. I do have some female/girl birthday cards but need a few generic male cards.

Christmas - What would I change

I think only the volume of stuff, Big Kid still has wrapped gifts at my mum's house because she was so overwhelmed. Everyone is getting less this year.

Miss Hoodies Corner...

Bah, I don't want to clean out the freezer, but my freezerventory is woefully out of date so ok. I'm on a bit of a mission to spend as little as possible in February, so I need to know what's in there.

cash Back

Duly noted!

Clear cookies.....

Survey Sites

I've been doing surveys but fallen a bit by the wayside. I challenge myself to do 20 pounds worth this month.

Summer clothes

Sort through the summer clothes added to my list!

Me, Me, Me

Oooh, our local college has hot stone massage plus spa access for 10.50. I'm booked in on the 10th :j

Is there a better price

My mum was getting blinds made and asked if they could do a better price. They knocked 30 pounds off (~15%) just for asking!!

Is there a money saving tip that you could pass on??

Put it in your virtual basket and sleep on it. If you still need/want it the next day then maybe it's meant for you. If not, you didn't really need it.

thefrugalflirter · 1 February 2015 at 11:19AM

Urgh, mum2one the school just sound awful! Hope it all gets sorted out soon!

Christmas and Birthday planning
I have a spreadsheet set up now with a note on what I've bought AND where it's hidden (too many Christmases where I forget about a secret stash and find them come March when I'm doing a spring clean - not this year!!)

Cards
I try to make all my cards, but have one or two ones I've made in advance - hoping to make some more when I feel like crafting!

Christmas - What would I change
This is a good question! Probably wouldn't have bought so much food! I was doing pretty well, then caved at the last minute and bought some junk that I really didn't need, so hopefully I can stick to the list this time round!

Miss Hoodies Corner...
I'm already ahead on this one, I had a big freezer clearout last week (bleurgh...)

Cash Back
I already use Topcashback, but I read on the boards that Quidco is pretty good too, so might take a look at that...

Survey Sites
I'm normally terrible at this, but I signed up for the make £2,015 in 2015 challenge, so I've been forcing myself to do every survey I get sent (it's so boring though haha!)

Me, Me, Me
Definitely a walk in the park (literally!) for me, well, weather permitting!

Is there a money saving tip that you could pass on??
We have 'Pot luck Friday' where we basically raid the fridge and try and make a meal out of it so we're keeping the food wastage down

Is there a shopping tip that you could pass on, or something you've seen on tv and gone wow thats a fab idea?
I keep a list of long-term things that I'd like to get at some point but there's no rush, that way, if something comes up on Ebay, in the sales or on Freecycle I'm ready to get it!

Santa's Challenge 2015 - Xmas, Birthdays, a chat, a bit of everything

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