£70 a day's what the panda will pay!

boredofbeingathome

Belated happy birthday, it is my mum's today..
Will get my coat and come to pub as well..
Never went to lapland, i am a bit cynical about it..my brother took his kids and i reckon it was more for him than them really as they honestly can't remember it,but have nice video footage of their time there ( all one day of it and £700) I like the store santa's and the School Christmas ones as well.

lunar

DS is 8 weeks now, cant believe how quick its going. ill not tell oh you said that, he will get a big(ger) head.

Are you ready for christmas yet? i cant wait till next year when i get to take him to see santa.

pandapaws

I was about to write 'been really busy...' then I remembered that I start just about every post with that. But we have! We had a Christmas party on Thurs so the couple of days before that were spent getting prepared (downstairs looks lovely, upstairs still a tip!) and the time since trying to get tidied up back to the way it was on Thursday afternoon before the party.

Also got all the kids Christmas pressies and Adam's birthday all wrapped up. Greg's got a huge pile of stuff, and when I went through it all I think I only paid for a few items and even they were half price. Got loads from product recalls, and loads from Boots in their 70%/3for2 sale with advantage points. Also got him a M&P rocking horse half price in Argos for £30 which I paid with vouchers as well. Very similar with Adam although he specified a load of things that he wanted so I couldn't get away with quite as much cheapskateness. Got him a £90 train set that he's been talking about pretty much since he learned to speak with Amazon vouchers from Qype and Bingoport the other day so I only had to pay about £30, and he'll love it. Spoilt rotten, but without the cost.

We're trying to decide whether or not to go see my parents next week. They've been to see us a few times but we've not been there for well over a year. It's about 6 hours drive each way plus multiple baby stops, so we'd spend most of the day driving, stay overnight, spend most of next day driving back, but it would mean the world to them. However they're not expecting itso if we don't go they won't be missing anything, and the time spent could be put to such good use getting things sorted out while we're both off work. Difficult decision - go for the stress-free option which would make for a relaxing family Christmas, or bust a gut to make someone else's Christmas special. Any thoughts?

Not updated the debt/spreadsheet for ages, I've been really really really naughty. We're getting so much done to the house at the moment and it's going to cost a fortune but my sanity depends on having a serviceable shower and we've had complaints from the council about the state of the garden (the disadvantage of living in a posh village - too many old people with nothing else to do in their lives but moan about overhanging branches) so we're getting a lot done to that as well. And we need a new back door as we've discovered ours is rotten through, which may as well co-incide with the worst of the windows getting done, so there's quite a bit to spend. Think we'll break even but it'll set us back a few months. But I'd rather have the debt for a few extra months and live in luxury for those than live in a hovel for the next 3 years.

How's everyone else getting on with Crimbo preps?

pandapaws

Oops, that was a rather long post.

hypno06

We have the same issues with our house - the maintenance hasn't been done because of the debt repayments, but this year the time has come where we can't put stuff off any more, and if we ever want to sell the house, it needs to be done long before we put it on the market so it doesn't look as though we have just done the work in order to patch it up for sale.....

As for Christmas, at this moment in time, I would suggest going for the stress free option......

yukkibear

Ooh that's a tough one about visiting the parents. Once that thought had entered my head I would feel guilty if I didn't go (even if they didn't know about it), so I would probably go and then be stressed for that couple of days. It makes no sense but like you say you'll make their xmas. When were you thinking of travelling?

Good luck with the house, spending all that money but like you say it'll be worth it.

SamanthaA

Go.
Simply put, no one knows what next year will bring.
Financially nor metophorically(sp)
You may not be in the financial position to go next Christmas Or the worst may happen and someones not there to visit or be visited!

However if its 6 hrs each way, I would try & wrangle 2 nights!!!

beanielou

Have to agree with Samantha.
Ive written some of my cards but now cant find my handbag~aaaarrrgh~ and breathe.

Karmacat

Thats a tough one, Panda. I'd normally go - I'm doing something similar in looking after my mum on her journey to see my sister, means I'm with her for literally a week. I'm taking my computer, even tho I can't get online at home, so I can keep my sanity. But nor am I carting around a husband and two kids ....

pandapaws

Yes, I think I agree with most of you that now we've thought about it, we'll feel really guilty if we don't go. I don't think going for more than one night is possible though, as we're both working tomorrow, it's Adam's birthday Tues plus his nativity play and the in-laws are coming over for the day. We were thinking on going Wed and back Thu, then we've got to get all the tiles off the shower room Fri plus buy a basin from somewhere before the plumber arrives Sat & Sun, also the garden boys due those days so need to source some bricks for them for the paving they're doing, and we've got friends coming to stay for the weekend who we need to find the time to buy pressies for before they arrive. Then sis-in-law coming to stay Sunday night (not got her kids gifts yet either tho not too worried about it - some of you might remember the premium bond fiasco last year!) and we're back to work next Monday 22nd. I'm knacked at the thought of it. If we did all of the above but had the extra two days Wed/Thu at home it would just be a nice cushion to get everything done. Nyeh.

KC, can you borrow mobile internet from anyone? It seems such a shame that you'll be away for a full week with little to do and no internet access to get on with things. I'd have loaned you mine for while you're away except I've lost it! I'm sure it must be in a car/handbag (perhaps Beanielou's?!)/sofa/ironing pile somewhere but I've not seen it for about a week. I'm having to use the work's computer and internet connection rather than my laptop (never got time to do anything at home at the moment) and it's painfully slow which is why I've barely been on here lately.

Have I been missing any really good deals/freebies/scams while I've been off-line? Did everyone get their Qype vouchers in the end?