The Thrifty Gifty Girls 2009 (Organised & Money Neutral for All Occasions) #3

jamtart6

Shelley - Hope everything goes as well as it can do tomorrow for you. I didn't understand the owner-pet devotion until my OH family got a doggy and she is just like a member of the family, and now I completely understand, so I am really feeling it for you. You know you are doing the right thing for your lovely doggy so be strong and brave tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you xxx

Marg

Shelley - I'm thinking of you and wish you the strength to cope with all that tomorrow brings for you and your family. Take comfort that you are doing the very best for your beloved pet.

pinkladymel

:santa2:Hello fellow Christmas enthusiasts and happy Rudolph Day :rudolf:

May I take this oppurtunity to dust you a mince pie with icing sugar and pop a marshmallow in your hot chocolate.:coffee: as we sit down to our third edition, and co-incidentally a third of the way to the countdown to Christmas (which will start on September 1st)

This month has been very busy for me with pancakes, mothers day, valentines and an awful lot of birthdays. I would like to apologise sheepishly as I have nothing to show you but promise I am SO energised for christmas right now.. click here and you will be too :xmassign:

Today marks the fact we are 1/4 of the way to Christmas day but more importantly, 1/3 until we start organising. We can only help this by making a start now on the little things.

Monthly Challenge:
Your challenge this month will be to complete as many of the following as you can, ready for next month:

1) If you plan to give handmade cards this year, make as many as you possibly can. If you plan to give shop bought, make sure your sale finds are somewhere you know of and write the quantity down in your book.

2) Do you have a christmas savings plan in action? I know it may seem early to think about it but you can take the weight off your mind if you find a way to make some money now:
- Jamtart runs challenges throughout the month, try to participate in as many as possible for maximum money making. Ebay, carboots, it all rids clutter whilst making money!
- I also set a challenge to collect money in a sealed tin (no peeking) we will open in October together, if you wish to take part I think it would get the Christmas magic rolling :T .

3) Stock up your gift cupboard. Keep your eyes open for those last sale bargains and grab them whilst you can! Do you have unwanted presents you could regift? Try to add two presents a month and remember to keep it all wrote down in your book! RustyFlange has been grabbing last minute bargains on Ebay.. I think this is also a great idea :snow_grin

4) How much do you usually spend on food per week? Create a meal plan every week and stick to it.. set yourself the challenge of seeing just how cheap you can get by and put the savings into your christmas pot. Let us know how you get on and share cheap meal ideas.

5) Choose a room of your house and focus on decluttering. Just 5 minutes every day, one little space.. will make such a big difference. Be ruthless and sell things, bin things, give stuff to charity. Clutter makes people unhappy and you want to feel as free as possible this christmas x:xmastree:

I think that will be enough to get you all started this month!

Take pics of your progress, christmas madness and share stories of your successes. Let's make this a really positive month.


Christmas Advent Swap

This swap will commence on October 1st where full details will be released including sign-ups etc.

Due to MSE rules and regulations we are unable to conduct a swap here but I will be able to run it through our thread on UKS including creating a santa membership for you to log in to anonymously and ask your swapee questions/keep them updated :xmassign:

For those who like to prepare early, I am going to release the following information and tips:

+ I think it will be fairly certain your swapee will be female
+ You may want to save a big box, create some numbered gift tags in preparation and find some bargain paper.
+ I am going to set the budget at 15.00 with postage extra. I know this is a lot but this is a special treat to ourselves and to our friends.
+ There are couriers available but for this swap you MUST send your parcel via Royal Mail recorded.
+ Remember you will need 25 gifts and try to keep a close eye on the weight as it may cost a fortune to post! Perhaps you may like to theme them or choose gifts that really envoke the Christmas spirit?
+Swapees can sign up in October. Once I have all names you will then be assigned your swapee which you are to keep secret until Christmas day.

I hope this has answered all of your questions.

Please remember to put your clocks forward this sunday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
♥♥ :xmassmile ♥♥

mhagster

Good morning to you all on this the 3rd Rudolph day of 2009, wishing one and all a happy day full of festive cheer and if you've clicked on mel's link you'll be smiling secretively all day and humming, people may look at you strangely but be smug in the knowledge that we are organised thrifty gifty girls!!

work today and then tonight I'm being taken out by friends for my dinner, we are going to an eat as much as you can stuff in to your face in as short a time chinese buffets.My dd1 (untidy 12 year old) is coming as my friend's dd1 has her b'day as well but we have told them to sit at another table so they don't cramp our style! and I don't want to see how many trips to the cake trolley my daughter makes.....she loves their profiteroles!
So looking forward to a catch up with them as it was before christmas since we last went out! loads to catch up on......I will be the only one in my 30's.....do you sense my desperation here....mmmmm how many times can she mention in a post that she is not yet 40...

i hope you have a nice Wednesday,
Shelley: i know this is going to be hard day for you all but it is an act of love and kindness to your beautiful spotty dog to end any suffering and pain she may well have. We lost 2 cats last year and a dog a few years ago and it is so hard to do but it is quick and peaceful.Take care x

jamtart6

Mhagster - Aren't you 21 and a bit this week?? I must have got my maths mixed up

Pinkladymel - Happy Christmas to you too! I will copy the info into post #1 so it is easy to find if anyone wants it - hope that is OK? If you want me to change any of the colours do let me know, I just put each bit in a different colour so it was easy to see what was what as the post is now very loooonnnngggggg but I don't want to offend you as I know you spend lotsof time on making your posts look beautiful so tell me if you want anything changing Lots of homework for us this month

Shelley3774

Morning girls thanks so much for all your lovely messages. I've phoned the vet and they are coming out at 12:30 so I am going up Dad's about 11am.

Had a quick glance at Rudolph day but can't really concentrate so will have a good read later.

Speak soon xxx

[Deleted User]

Morning all

I am going to forfeit this months Rudolph Day - my head hurts trying to think of too many things at once :rotfl: and finding a job is my most important task, but I LOVED the link PLM, my favourite ads, my hubby thinks I am mad but I get so excited when I see these ads, and the when they get the red cups in Starbucks (Gingerbread latte, mmmm).

Have a lovely day, (((HUGS))) to those who need 'em.

RustyFlange

Wow !!! That Rudolph day post is brilliant ... I plan to get organised.

Just quickly popped on as I grabbed some bits from Wilkos the other day for £9 but should have been £18, some of them scanned through at the right discount price but 2 of them went through less than they should have been. Got a few lovely bits, some of it is for my mum for her birthday and a couple of bits will be put away for christmas or other various birthdays I am money neutral with these aswell as I used a £10 wilkos voucher Most of the boxes say mum on them but you can easily split and put them in a hamper

RustyFlange

Shelley thinking of you today and sending hugs xx

Hugs for anyone who needs them x

SugarSpun

Hugs, Shelley, I hope you're doing ok.


Just wanted to say quickly that apparently Tie Rack have some really good sale bargains. My brother bought himself cufflinks for 2.99 reduced from 29.99 and a hat for a pound. If you have awkward male relatives to buy for it might be worth a look?