Birthdays

livilou

starlite wrote:

Hving made several new 'mummy' friends at postntal group I recently realised november will be a hellish birthday month...8 babies first birthday gifts to buy..aswell as spoiling my little one..lol

think i will start keeping an eye out for bargains and stashing them away.

for adults 'boots' is always a good bet..specially if one keeps an eye on the 'boots grabbit bargains' thread

i know the feeling, when I ha dmy first (now 4) I stayed in touch with a group of girls and we are all good friends but of course all the bdays come at once!!! keep an eye out in places like In-store and cheap book shops - The works etc as they often have lovely books for £1.00 and the price printed on the back is usually 3.99 or 4.99.

i agree re boots - many a pressies been brought in there on sale - especially after xmas when they reduce all their gifts.
x

LookingAhead

piptiddlepip wrote:

Has anyone else been through this?

Oh yes - and still am!

I have a card box (luckily for me I worked somewhere which supplied birthday cards & for a while we were allowed freebie 'old' stock - I sure did stock up!!) so I am working through those.

I've just been honest with people last Christmas/this year & simply told them I'm skint and this is the year I am going to start sorting it all out.

For those people I really want to buy for (notice the "want" and not "should"? Learn to recognise that if you haven't already...! ) then I try and find little things which mean a lot or make something if I can. Or just pick them up in the car & take them for a drink & a chat.

On a slight tangent...when I have been honest about my situation, mostly everyone has been supportive & they understand. Anyone who doesn't understand and has 'fallen by the wayside' if I can't afford to go out drinking etc...well...if that is all they were interested in (a good time) then I figure my life isn't any lesser for it.

tattooed_lady

I have a box full of cards (get a bunch every other month) and have a drawer full of birthday paper (only cheapo from Poundstretcher) but it lasts for ages. I have about 5 rolls of Xmas paper for next year, 3 cost £1.00p (for 3) and the other 2 were free from work, also have Xmas tags and about 6 boxes of Xmas cards (bought in the sales for next to nothing). I also got several b-day prezzies for the year in the Jan sales and put them to one side.

Last year I saved £300 with a Xmas savings club and got that in High street and M&S vouchers - this year I am saving £40 a month in my own savings account (so that I get cash to spend as I wish and all the interest!) and hopefully will have lots left as there is no way I will spend £400 odd quid on Xmas!!