If things get tougher?

sammy_kaye18

someone give me a quick opinion please - have asked elsewher ebut had no reply.

I have been given two vouchers by a company which i do surveys for which i havent earned so obviously there has been a blip there end.

Its £20 of vouchers - do i email and tell them of the error or jsut keep them anyway??

Pitlanepiglet

I'm 38 now and I remember being a gloriously happy 7 or 8 year old when I was given a matching set of bath towels for Christmas (2 towels only!), they were mine, I didn't have to fight with my sister for them and they weren't the threadbare old things we had usually. I wonder how today's 7 year old's would deal with a set of towels as a pressie (BTW I've still got one of them!)

My DH was made redundant over three years ago and we had a period where we were very very seriously hard up (as opposed to the generally hard up we are now!), since then we have only ever given each other token pressies, so birthday's consist of nice bars of chocolate, socks, practical pants and the like. His special present this year was two OS Maps ahead of our camping trip!

I flew off the handle quite badly at work in the middle of the really bad financial times when one of our young girls was moaning that her BF had given her the "wrong type of Ipod"

I don't have kids but with my niece and nephew and my twin god sons I have given them money for pressies from 7 or 8 years old and we have a day out and go shopping and they get to choose what they spend it on, but as part of the process they have to decide what the really want and that once they've spent the money it's gone. It's a good learning curve and the high point was the twins at probably 10 years old spending 2 hours (God I was bored!) in a toy shop trying to work out how to spend their birthday and Christmas money - they had £15 each for both and had to work out whether to share it and get something really good or just suit themselves - it was a really fab experience!

piglet6

Another vote here for using a card as often as possible (and paying it off in full and getting cashback or voucher rewards from the credit card company!).

I also love getting "practical" pressies, but not essentials, if that makes sense - for example, the other year for Christmas Mr P's parents bought us a kitchen bin (and a load of the special bags that fit it...). Although that sounds like an "essential" item, I was delighted because it was a Brabantia one (the one with the black lid that you touch and it flips up) and although I had been eyeing them up for ages and really fancying one, there was no way I could justify spending so much money myself on something just to put rubbish in!:rotfl: But we use it every day, and it has been one of the most useful presents ever (and I love it so much more than the old plastic swing-lid one it replaced!! ).

As a kid, I always got clothes for Christmas, but not essentials (i.e. I never unwrapped school uniform), although some people might think that some of my presents were essentials - for example, I might have got pairs of socks and knickers when I was little, but they would have been "pretty" colours/designs, rather than the plain white or whatever I would have normally been bought through the year...does that make sense?! We still exchange clothes as a family now at Christmas (and for birthdays) but I guess you would say that they are not essentials - I would never wrap up a "value" range item of clothing as a gift - but I did buy my Dad a cashmere jumper from Tesco last year for Christmas for under £40, and he loved it because he would never buy a cashmere jumper for himself.

Piglet

Churchmouse

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

someone give me a quick opinion please - have asked elsewher ebut had no reply.

I have been given two vouchers by a company which i do surveys for which i havent earned so obviously there has been a blip there end.

Its £20 of vouchers - do i email and tell them of the error or jsut keep them anyway??

To be honest sammy, I'd have to tell them, just to be......well honest:rotfl: I couldn't enjoy *stolen* booty. Also, your own good name must be worth more than £20. How would you feel if they contacted you later to say there'd been a mistake? Are you sure you haven't *won* them in an extra draw or something? If you contact them, you might find out it is some extra award, then you could really enjoy spending them.:D Just my twopenneth;)

Just had a further thought. It could be that they are meant for someone else, and have been sent to you because someone's eye *slipped*. If so it will be easier for the person who's now missing out if you report your unexpected bounty:D

ceridwen

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

someone give me a quick opinion please - have asked elsewher ebut had no reply.

I have been given two vouchers by a company which i do surveys for which i havent earned so obviously there has been a blip there end.

Its £20 of vouchers - do i email and tell them of the error or jsut keep them anyway??

If you havent "earned" them to date - then tell them. If they then tell you to keep them anyways - then you can enjoy them in good conscience. If they dont....oh well, c'est la vie...

BizzyMummy

What a great post!

I've just had to reregister because I havn't been around for a while. Not because I'm not money saving but really because of time - hence the name. What a great post to come back to.

Children want to be caught up in enthusiasm - not things. Time and energy are the things children want to be part of. Thinking about my two boys, they are more than happy to go out for a cheap picnic and run around if I've arranged for a couple of friends to meet in the park etc. If we are on our own they always want to ask for 'things' ie cinema, things out, ridiculous expensive things that they know they won't have - but give them a few friends to run around with and a box of cakes and squash and you have the best of time.

I'm a nursery teacher and I watch with interest the activities children want to take part in on their own - mmm sometimes slow, sometimes great - throw in an adult with a game or a challenge and well, it takes off.

For older children yes it becomes more difficult, but again its adult initiated - you choose the DVD or Meal, you have to do one - its a game either teenagers cook the food or they have to choose a film everyone wants to watch. Or give them money to go and buy the best present for ? who you need to buy for anyway??

Lots of great tips on this thread thank you.

Lx

slash69

i love getting useful pressies as a single mum the way i look at it is the money i have saved goes towards trips or treats or this year dd's school trips.
over the years i've been given kitchen towels/ bath towels/ a kitchen bin /slowcooker:T/coffee maker/ kettle when other one broke/saucepans/lamp for the lounge and two years ago a friend of mine gave dd a patio pear tree and she loves it.

i know i know we're just weird :D

ragz_2

DdraigGoch wrote: »

Oxfam seem to think that we should pay above shop prices on some things :rolleyes: Many's the time I've seen well worn t shirts for 4.99!!!

In my town we have Oxfam, Red Cross & Tenovus - we used to have another 4 but they all closed down. Mostly they were local charities. I'm waiting for the day I can justify a journey to somewhere with "upmarket" charity shops! :rotfl: But I have to say that if I don't put some stuff on eBay or out to our charity shops myself I shan't have room for anything new anyway!

When I have bags of clothes to go I freecycle them, they go really quick and get collected, plus I know where they are going and that my £1.50 Primark top won't be sold for £3.75 to pay for administration in the charities!

Valli

Churchmouse wrote: »

I take it the red refers to Martin Lewis? As regards credit cards, I certainly don't get the idea that he is totally against credit cards, especially in view of this section. Spending on a credit card does not necessarily mean debt. I spend a high proportion of my weekly outgoings on a credit card. Every bill is paid in full, on time:D The credit card company give me money back:D Best not to make assumptions about people using cards, whether credit or debit;)
Incidentally, people, how do you know if the card being presented by the customer in front is a debit or credit card????

As regards necessities as gifts, sorry, but by no stretch of the imagination can I call perfume a necessity:rotfl: This from one who uses perfume every day of her life;)

My post DID NOT say I use perfume 'every day of my life' but it's something I do use frequently. I used that as an example because some people, earlier, were implying that presents should not be useful, but luxuries. We all have our own ideas of luxuries. If I use something - then it's been useful - whether or not some regard it as a luxury. Please do not 'misquote'. Incidentally I didn't use any formatting with my fonts either - but I'm assuming you've done that so you can make your own point.
And there are people who put a lot, if not all of their Christmas spending on cards, then spend a few months paying it off - then do the same the next time they have a problem or the next Xmas. Like Martin says, here and on TV/radio - set a sensible budget and save for it. I know that some people use a credit card and pay it off in full every month. What happens? - well, companies decide you're not a good customer - because you aren't providing profit for the CC company - and threaten to close your account. Companies want customers they can make money from. They want us to be in debt, not to pay it off every month and that's why they up credit limits without being asked. But you're on this website. You know this.
Disagree with me by all means - that's your privilege. But please don't twist what I said or claim I wrote something I didn't.
thank you.

Valli

ragz wrote: »

When I have bags of clothes to go I freecycle them, they go really quick and get collected, plus I know where they are going and that my £1.50 Primark top won't be sold for £3.75 to pay for administration in the charities!

On my local Freecycle there seems to be a problem with people collecting stuff then carbooting it! Personally, when I offer stuff I'm just glad it's gone - but it's a bit disapppointing to see that people are being greedy and making a profit from other Freecycler's goodwill.