The Thrifty Gifty Girls 'n' Guys 2009 (Organised & Money Neutral for All Occasions)

JordanShannon

pinkladymel wrote: »

JordanShannon Your list makes me laugh. Most parents moan when their children want a PS3.. You want a car AND some driving lessons WHEW You must be one very special princess. AND dolly beads?? You're taking the mick now.. Just kidding!! If you varnish dolly beads.. and you can do this with nail varnish, then you can wear them as jewelery or give them to your friends as presents in a nice gift box There are a lot of gorgeous craft books out.. what things are you into in paticular? I would recommend a subscription to a magazine though. Buy a few based on looking at the covers and seeing which ones catch your eye and then when you find one you like they offer really cheap subscriptions with a free gift.

:rotfl: Yes well, he owes me a lot:p And i am a princess:A lol:rotfl: lol only kidding. Cool i never thought of doing that!!:o Erm i don't really know TBH, my aunty is really crafty and she's making up a massive starter kit of everything that she did(to begin with):D I shall buy myself a craft magazine today.

We have snow!!!(bit late)
I have a pink notebook with pages for each person, and i have an empty folder just waiting to be used:rotfl: Thanks everyone for the great ideas:T
..xx

[Deleted User]

Happy New year everyone, this is the first time I've been on since Xmas Eve - it seems so long ago already. I'm sorry to hear so many of you were ill over Christmas, not nice, I had a dreadful throat infection and fever for 2 days and then it just went, so I know I got off lightly compared to a lot of you.

Well, I am new to the whole Money Neutral thing, (I don't know how you all get so many vouchers and store points etc)! But, I do collect Nectar and Boots and they always go towards Christmas.

I collect £2 throughout the year and they really add up but that money has always been put away for an annual Christmas shopping trip that I do with my mum and sis. BUT I am DETERMINED to SAVE money every month so that Christmas and birthdays don't come as such a big surprise....(I am going for £200, which I know I will dip into, but I decided to aim high), so whilst I may not be money neutral for the whole of 2009, I will hopefully have the money when it's needed.... it's a plan.... .

Basically, I have decided that this is the year to really think about what I spend money on (I earn a good salary and I never have any savings), be more "bargain savvy" and take lots of advice (and hopefully give some too), from you lovely people over the coming months.

I love the sound of the Rudolph Club, I'm in, but don't expect miracles. :rotfl:

By the way I have 10 close family birthday presents to buy in the next 12 weeks.... eeek, I am the only summer birthday, both mine and my OH's families birthdays are all in Jan, Feb, March, Nov and Dec.

Good luck to everyone. I truly believe whatever we all want to achieve can be done, and I look forward to hearing everyone's stories. xx

Loupenguin

Hi everyone!

I voted for you plm, i love your work! I've started on the notebook for gifts and ive got to find A folder to put my cards in now! Thanks everyone for the great ideas! Off to find a folder!

Loupenguin

furrypig

I have found a sealed money box (it kind of found it's way out of DS's bedroom and into my cupboard!) and a load of loose change has gone in so I'm officially joining in the sealed money pot challenge type thing!!

bunbun2

sat and wrote my birthday and Christmas lists in my notebook last night. went to Homebase and bought a few things (50p and 20p!) but only things that were on my lists!!
OH came home today after his first day back at work with £90:eek: they run a bonus ball scheme where you choose a number and if it is the lottery bonus ball you win part of the pot and part goes to a local charity - his number came up 3 times:eek: does that count towards my money neutral plans or not? however...have just found out that there is a cub camp at the end of Feb and both boys will be in cubs by then:eek:

jamtart6

bunbun - well done to Mr BunBun Money neutral is whatever you want it to be. I would probably count that in your 'earnings' to be honest...so well done you I keep a spreadsheet with it all in to keep track of how much I have.

The meeting that was cancelled in work on the last day before we finished for xmas has been rescheduled for THURSDAY with my exciting xmas Ihavent dont all the work I meant to ...oops and thought I'd have 2-3 weeks before it was rescheduled, but sadly not boo. So this week is going to be VERY hard work...:(

I am going to sort my present cupboard out at the weekend, I think I actually have all the 'bitty' presents sorted, just the main things for people that I ask them what they want is what I need to do

paddingtondoo

Just done a provisional budget for gifts for this year and need about £1100 :eek: Don't think I'll manage money neutral but will do as much as I can.

Bought another birthday pressie today free with Boots voucher- have most of them sorted until July just 1 that I have no ideas for .

Am I being too squeaky here? Pressie I bought today was £6 but should have been £12 budget for that person was £10 - can someone just say it's ok to count that as the full gift rather than top it up (should say here it's for DD's step sister rather than any of my special people) blimey that sounds nasty but you know what i mean .

If I can count that £4 as being money neutral I can cut my total spends by loads

jamtart6

paddingtondoo wrote: »

Just done a provisional budget for gifts for this year and need about £1100 :eek: Don't think I'll manage money neutral but will do as much as I can.

Bought another birthday pressie today free with Boots voucher- have most of them sorted until July just 1 that I have no ideas for .

Am I being too squeaky here? Pressie I bought today was £6 but should have been £12 budget for that person was £10 - can someone just say it's ok to count that as the full gift rather than top it up (should say here it's for DD's step sister rather than any of my special people) blimey that sounds nasty but you know what i mean .

If I can count that £4 as being money neutral I can cut my total spends by loads

Yes Paddingtondoo thats the idea. If you budget for £10 and the gift costs £6 (originally £12) then you shouldn't feel you have to buy something else for £4. I certainly don't anyway

If I spend £20 budget on a friend and get her gift for £5 (but worth £20) I consider myself a very happy shopper Hope that clears it up (of course you can buy something else but that is up to you!)

paddingtondoo

thanks jamtart - will work on that basis and hopefully knock 1/3 off my budget - that's about £300 for me :j (to spend on craft stuff :rotfl:)

JordanShannon

Hi everyone,
Sorry if this post isn't easy to understand, my laptop is out of action til Thursday! That's if it can be fixed! I'm going to town tomorrow to buy a diary and to see if i can spot any bargains that can be used for Xmas or birthday presents, I have 1 birthday this month that I have to buy for, so I will see if I can get him anything. I'm visiting connexions tommorrow as I most definatley need a change of job. I am currently sorting out my folder and I am going to follow Mel's advice and treat myself to a craft magazine that catches my eye ERM.......... That's really about it for my update, well ramble LOL. Back to folder organising and sorting and also re-writing some of the pages.
..xx