Benbens moneymaking adventure

benbenandme

Hope you have a fab time at your aunties Tigz, it wont matter to E where she is, its the fun of camping isnt it for them? I won't mention it to ds yet either, theres never any point telling him more than a day or two in advance ir he'll whine every day asking if its time yet?

I've just ordered a £10 voucher from a survey site which will either go on ebay or be added to my xmas fund

benbenandme

Well one week into the holidays and so far I have earned the grand sum of £1.40 (on quidco) towards my £1000 challenge I'm not quite sure whats going on with me really, I just haven't had any enthusiasm for moneymaking I think I've been too pre-occupied with ds birthday / flat tidying / trains lol ...

I really must must must get going on this one, or the holidays will be gone and I won't have even made a tenner :rolleyes:

benbenandme

Just got up to enough points for £5 from another survey site, at last I'm off the ground in my challenge :j :j

benbenandme

Ds seemed fine this morning so has gone off to his dads for a few hours. I've done Tescos, aimed to spend about £50 but spent £80 £35 of this was party food / cake etc though ...

I have to go and pick him up again in an hour so not much time on here today, when we get back we will make up the party bags and the food boxes.

I have wrapped up his presents from me and I got a bit of an earful from my mum and my sister because I hadn't spent much money on him, I am fine with what I've got him but it hurt that they think I'm being mean He has got 10 :eek: parcels from me which are:

• virgin trains commemorative magazine I bought from ebay (£2.50)
• the virgin train that came in the post this week (free)
• cross-country trains t-shirt (free)
• cross-country trains baseball cap (free)
• southwest trains calender and poster (free)
• cross-country trains pad of sticky notes x 4 + southwest trains ticketholder (free)
• 2 x Mr. Men books (£2 in sales)
• gardening set (reduced to £1.50)
• 20 questions electronic game (£5 in sales)
• v-tech game (reduced to £2.99 in sale)

So, yes I know I haven't spent much money at all on him (other than his party), BUT ... it is all stuff I know he'll love, stuff I couldn't necessarily have bought for him anyway, and I don't want him to grow up materialistic! I happen to think its loads of stuff, its all wrapped up and in a big bag and I know he'll be over the moon with it, and he will also get loads of stuff from relatives, ex, friends etc, but it has made me question whether I'm being too mse about it

skint_spice

benbenandme wrote: »

I happen to think its loads of stuff, its all wrapped up and in a big bag and I know he'll be over the moon with it, and he will also get loads of stuff from relatives, ex, friends etc, but it has made me question whether I'm being too mse about it

I think it's loads too, got the same off my mum at Christmas for giving DS stuff I won in a comp as part of it. He won't care how much you spent and I hope the party goes well.

benbenandme

My sister does live in a different world to me though, tomorrow after ds party they're going for dinner with friends who have their own swimming pool and cricket pitch in the garden :eek:, so to her I guess it does look cheap :rolleyes: I often think I'm the Onslow of our family :rolleyes:

hypno06

I'm sorry, but I am very cross about what your mum and sister said. How can that list be seen as being "too MSE".....it is a incredibly generous list for a small child.

Where is the rule on birthdays that you have to leave the price tags on, show the child how much you have spent, and allow him to compare "average money spent per parcel" with his peers?

Why do you think Britain has got into the mess that it is in? Because people judge "success" or "love" based on the cost of things, not the "value" of things.

Rant over, I'm going to pick up DD from skiing.......

benbenandme

I knew you guys would agree with me, thanks I just really don't want ds to think birthdays are all about present grabbing, I want him to learn that its much better to put some thought into the gift and get something appropriate rather than expensive :rolleyes: and anyway, I can't afford to go down the expensive route even if I wanted to

skint_spice

benbenandme wrote: »

My sister does live in a different world to me though, tomorrow after ds party they're going for dinner with friends who have their own swimming pool and cricket pitch in the garden :eek:, so to her I guess it does look cheap :rolleyes: I often think I'm the Onslow of our family :rolleyes:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:oh dear! I think the gifts you got are obviously stuff he's really keen on and I think quite often they get far too much stuff that they never even look at - hence my ebaying for DS later! Maybe the family with a cricket pitch and pool can afford it cos they are very MSE type people...

benbenandme

I think they think I should spoil him more because he's only got one parent, well one proper one if that makes sense :rolleyes: He has no concept of what costs what yet and no doubt I'll have the years of wanting the latest trainers / computer games / etc still to come, so while he's happy with train stuff then thats fine by me