is this possible

cagneuk

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Is there a typo in here or double counting? Or arrears that will be eventually cleared. These figures aren't within the boundaries of normal.

I agree totally, but we've had three different meters in now and all say the same. these are the average per month over winter. it drops in summer but not by much. looking at changing suppiler at present.

TurnaroundSue

cagneuk wrote: »

we tried suggestign only getting cards for adults but were practically shunned by the family at the idea. will try again though. none of my relatives family have kids so money is a bit easier for them or so it seems.
your right about my parents though, they would much rather have something made by dd but my dw parents are a different kettle of fish and I don't see why my parents shouldn't have money spent on them if dw's parents do. I know that's something that I wil probably have to deal with at some point but for now I'll look elsewhere.

I am gobsmacked that adults expect to receive anything for their birthdays, let alone money. I would just tell it as it is, that dw is going on mat leave and you need to save for that so "sorry, this year no can do" and then by next year they will have accepted the fact that you only do cards for adults. It shouldn't be that you buy for them just because you have kids and they are buying for your kids....... you do not give to receive.

Same goes for In-Laws, get dd to make something and then just give it to them. If they are worth their salt, they will be happy that you have remembered and gone to the effort of making something rather than just buying something for the sake of it.

I did wonder though about your in-laws as I notice for their anniversaries you have £50 down for them, yet only £30 for your own parents? At the very least you should be reducing that down to £30 also, but I still say that a card should suffice, especially for a wedding anniversary.

Sorry don't mean to sound harsh, but I just cannot believe how some people act when it comes to receiving birthday gifts and they are meant to be adults:mad:

cagneuk

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Since your in some excessive-present giving land mafiosa plot.... you must get equal quantities of gifts in return.... can't you put the spreadsheeting to good use to recycle the gifts to people (you can have a spreadsheet to keep track of whose connected - or a spider chart :rotfl:so reducing the risk of being caught)... or launder the dirty gifts via ebay - sell on the gifts you get and buy someone elses.... or get your wife some kind of crafting hobby and tell everyone that as gifts she wants the raw materials to make picture frames/painted flower pots etc and recycle the gifts.....

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: thank you, I keep telling dw that her family is insane for doing it this way, we might as well give each other nothing if we are all giving gifts of the same value at net balance is zero. but i fear the fish in paper :rotfl: :rotfl:
Love the craft idea but too be honest, I've seen her needle work and it would be me who ends up making them.

barnaby-bear

cagneuk wrote: »

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: thank you, I keep telling dw that her family is insane for doing it this way, we might as well give each other nothing if we are all giving gifts of the same value at net balance is zero. but i fear the fish in paper :rotfl: :rotfl:
Love the craft idea but too be honest, I've seen her needle work and it would be me who ends up making them.

Even better - her gifts will be rubbish so no-one will keep insisting on a gift, they'll be suggesting stopping the circus b) if she keeps doing it wrong make her do it over and over, until she finds it more unpleasant than facing up to the fact she's working for nothing for 3 months of the year. If that fails get a replacement internet wife whose family are several thousand miles away and don't speak english.

cagneuk

TotallyBroke wrote: »

You don't have to wait until the contract is up. You can phone them now, tell them your wife is going to go on maternity leave and you would like to reduce the tariff. You could drop by £10-15 per phone each month. If they say no tell them you will not be renewing the contract with them when it is time to renew. - Will give them a call.


You don't have to give this up but for £5 you can get a good broadband package from sky even their most expensive one is only £10 so will save you £8 per month. - Sky broadband is poor in my area and need download/upload speed of min 10mb

Maybe you should point out to your family that a gift is a gift. And people should never knock a gift horse in the mouth. People can either like your gifts or they can lump them. If they choose to lump them then they are selfish and rude. - Agree to a point but dw parents look after dd 5 days per week while dw and i are at work and ask for nothing in return. dd not at nursury yet. free child minding balances costs I feel

Some of them pay quite well for little effort. You can scan in your shopping barcodes for points that you redeem against vouchers. This takes no more effort to do as you scan while unpacking the shopping bags and putting it away. Do check out the up your income boards. Daily clicks is not great but again for 15mins a day it can work out good for you. Maybe DW can do this while on maternity while both lo's are asleep. Even if it buys one present in the year it is a saving.

Will look at up income boards too. thanks

cagneuk

TurnaroundSue wrote: »

Same goes for In-Laws, get dd to make something and then just give it to them. If they are worth their salt, they will be happy that you have remembered and gone to the effort of making something rather than just buying something for the sake of it.

I did wonder though about your in-laws as I notice for their anniversaries you have £50 down for them, yet only £30 for your own parents? At the very least you should be reducing that down to £30 also, but I still say that a card should suffice, especially for a wedding anniversary.

Sorry don't mean to sound harsh, but I just cannot believe how some people act when it comes to receiving birthday gifts and they are meant to be adults:mad:

Sorry I should have mentioned that dw parents look after dd while dw and I are at work 4 days a week 7am to 7pm and asks nothing in return for it. and when we financially collapsed a few years ago, they bailed us out so please don't have a go at them.
We will, dw and I, talk over the options again because you are right, it can't go on like this. Wedding anniversary I agree should be card only but it's dw parrents ruby so dw and her brothers are throwing a party for them. so could probably reduce my parents anniversary.

cagneuk

going out now but will check back this afternoon for more advice. and with a revised birthday list. and with action taken on gas supplier.

TotallyBroke

Spending on DW's parents is not the problem it's how much you are spending.
For birthdays I buy individually but for Christmas I buy together presents. For my Mum and Dad last Christmas, my sisters and I clubbed together and bought them a digital photo frame thing that has a slide show of photos. We got it in a sale and sister used her Tesco points and it cost us £18 each. So it cost £9 per person. But if they were inclined to look at what it cost they would see that it sells in other shops for double if not more.
My lo's other grandparents got given a handpainted mug and cup each. I did actually do these at a special paint the plate place. But see no reason why the ones that are sold in Argos or Tesco and elsewhere for £5 would not suffice.
Could this be a suggestion for the family.
An exboyfriend of mine was one of 9 children so 11 in total. Instead of getting 10 seperate presents from everyone and having to buy 10 presents. They did a secret santa type thing. You would write down 3 things that you wanted totalling £50 it would then be put into a hat. That way each person only spent £50 and you would not know who bought for who. They would all be put in a sack under the tree and it was taken in turns to be Santa and dish them out.

TurnaroundSue

cagneuk wrote: »

Sorry I should have mentioned that dw parents look after dd while dw and I are at work 4 days a week 7am to 7pm and asks nothing in return for it. and when we financially collapsed a few years ago, they bailed us out so please don't have a go at them.
We will, dw and I, talk over the options again because you are right, it can't go on like this. Wedding anniversary I agree should be card only but it's dw parrents ruby so dw and her brothers are throwing a party for them. so could probably reduce my parents anniversary.

They would understand the predicament you are in now then - I don't suppose they would like to bail you out again just because you felt you had to buy them and everyone else a present do you? But I can understand how you would like to show your appreciation for all the help they give looking after your little one, but agree with Totallybroke, that you can still get them a present but do not need to spend so much. I find the more imaginative the present, the more it is appreciated. What about tokens where you or dw agree to do a job for them which they hate - I dont know, maybe the ironing or washing the cars etc - I know I would appreciate that much more than something bought from a shop.

Anyway, you are on the right track, you are starting to think about what and how much you spend on everyone and hopefully with the help from the good people on this site, you will be there in no time.:D

Lara44

Hey Cagneuk

On the present front, it's really easy to get people great, branded presents that don't cost the earth. There are so many ways to do this that are all listed on this site.

Here's a few from my Christmas list -

Sister - M&S Cashmere scarf - in the shop at £19.00
Used Mazuma to Recycle and old mobile phone = £10.00 M&S vouchers
I waited until the big sale day to get 25% off
Paid a total of - £5.50 ish
It's still the same scarf that I'd have bought her anyway

Friend - Boots Sanctuary Smellies - £15.00
I top up in Boots on mobile getting 40p per £10.00 in Advantage card points.
Plus extra vouchers through the year.
Sanctuary 3 for 2 offer on, plus voucher from ACM machine
Paid £9.00ish in points = £0.00 in money
Again, just the same present!

Dad - Magazine Subscription Gardener's World - £30.00
Paid using Tesco clubcard deals
Cost £0.00

Try writing reviews on Dooyoo for Amazon vouchers, Pigsback used to be good for clickthroughs but not so good now and all kinds of surveys etc. in the up your income board.

Also shop in the sales the whole year round, you'll be amazed.