It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

magicmum_3

I also live near Queen Marys hospital and the PRUH and have been to both A&E departments with relatives. At Queen Marys we had to wait over 5 hours for treatment and at the PRUH I think it was about 3 hours but I dread to think what it will be now.

fantacee Thank you for the energy bar recipe I will try and make some over the weekend and see how they go down with oh and dds.

I have had a fair few of my tomatoes turn red but dds always pick them and eat them before I have a chance to do anything with them.

The weather here is horrible it has been raining all day. I saw a lovely welly rack at the garden centre that would have been ideal for just outside my front door but it was quite expensive. I told oh about it and he said he would make me one, so now I have a lovely home made welly rack for a fraction of the cost.

greent

I could understand asking people to contribute to something like a wedding buffet if funds were tight (I've taken contributions to such events - 100 vol au vents, anyone? ) but if funds are tight they shouldn't have booked somewhere charging such amounts for food and then expect others to cough up!! Grr!! They want the flashy wedding, they should expect to pay for it!!

My (step)bro was going to get married in a castle in Scotland. With accomodation for the weekend, the events (eg shooting for men (urgh!) and a whisky distillery visit, pampering for women), travel, outfits and presents we calculated that it would have cost us about £2K!!! (And that wasn't paying for food on the big day!) My DH was prepared to pay that - I wasn't! (That's a holiday!!) Thankfully lots of other people 'complained' and a far more low-key budget wedding was had instead!

Lindy_-_Loo

I wouldnt attend a wedding were we had to pay for food, drinks yes, but food no. My best freind got married 3 years ago, I was maid of honour and me (30wks pregnant) and DS1 only stayed for the ceremony and the photos as children aged 2 werent allowed as the place was too posh for children to run around! The reception also didnt cater for children so he wouldnt have eaten anything on the menu. Best freind wasnt chuffed but she didnt have any choice in the end, we didnt have anyone to watch DS1.

Its cold here but thankfully it stopped raining overnight

Margaret54

Ach thank you for that katholicos

maryb

magicmum wrote: »

I also live near Queen Marys hospital and the PRUH and have been to both A&E departments with relatives. At Queen Marys we had to wait over 5 hours for treatment and at the PRUH I think it was about 3 hours but I dread to think what it will be now.

fantacee Thank you for the energy bar recipe I will try and make some over the weekend and see how they go down with oh and dds.

I have had a fair few of my tomatoes turn red but dds always pick them and eat them before I have a chance to do anything with them.

The weather here is horrible it has been raining all day. I saw a lovely welly rack at the garden centre that would have been ideal for just outside my front door but it was quite expensive. I told oh about it and he said he would make me one, so now I have a lovely home made welly rack for a fraction of the cost.

Magicmum, do try Beckenham hospital if you ever need to again, if it doesn't need an ambulance then chances are they can deal with at at the Minor Injuries Unit there and it does save huge amounts of hanging around

maryb

Just seen on the Preparing for Winter thread that Aldi are doing a special next Thursday of 3 in 1 jackets, boots, thermal trousers and thermal underwear at really good prices. This might be useful for anyone else needing Duke of Edinburgh kit

parsonswife8

maryb wrote: »

Bromley Hospital was very handy wasn't it? But Beckenham Hospital has had a big revamp and it's very good now. It's the quickest Minor Injuries Unit I've ever been in (did I mention DD is accident prone?)

I have been in all of those hospitals.:o It can be very difficult to get to Farnborough as the roads are often jammed with traffic in that direction, from Bromley.

Beckenham hospital is very nice and handy.

katiegizmo

when I got married 2 years ago we had a set budget and we stuck to it by going abroad just us for our wedding then we could have a nicer evening do when we got back... in all the times we talked about money and how to stretch it etc, what we could afford etc it never even CROSSED my mind to ask people to pay for food... I anguished over what free drinks we could provide!! I would just feel too embarrassed to do that.

from someone in the middle of the wedding phase of their life (6 last year, 5 so far this year with 2 to go, 2 already next year!) it is a pet annoyance of mine how much we pay out for others' big days. granted we've always had a lovely time and sometimes things havent been as bad as we envisaged but it has eaten drastically into our budget and our holiday time as when you have to travel across the country you often need a day or two off work - esp as its cheaper to marry on a weekday so lots of our friends now do that! that means at least 2 days annual leave to take. grrrrr.
and it's such a touchy subject. The hen and stag we try to avoid as its so hard to contain costs on those when there's a big group drinking etc and people seem to get really offended when we have to say no. Unfortunately we don't seem to have many like-minded friends when it comes to money maybe we need a friend review.... wish I knew where to meet people like you guys on here in real life!!!!

Next year we have a wedding in Scotland so will have to stay 2 nights as we are way down south and only 1 driver so I am desperately trying to get a fund together to stay a little longer and have that as a break so its a bit more about us than just someone else!

bit of a rant, sorry. got really emotional last night as trying to get all bills paid and do first big shop for 2 months. I'm so tired from my job and trying to do all the cooking and money juggling when I get in from 12+ hours out the house sometimes gets me down

debtdesperado

narabanekeater wrote: »

The wedding and afterwards are at a posh local hotel and weve been asked to pay for all of our own food and drink. On top of this DS will need a new outfit as all he has is normal clothes for a 2 year old. I can borrow a dress for DD but myself and DH have lost a lot of weight so have nothing to wear either. When you add a gift to these costs were in trouble
She never mentioned the idea of everyone paying for themselves before. My 2 children will be the only 2 there so keeping them quiet is going to be hard.

My suggestion would be to accept but then magnanimously say that so all the other guests can enjoy their meal in peace (lay this bit on thick), you will take the children out for lunch elsewhere, it's no trouble, etc etc.

Then have sandwiches in the car to keep the costs down for all four of you and avoid paying for drinks and four meals.

debtdesperado

Just read katiegizmo's post.. I am SO over expensive wedding extravaganzas...

No, I don't want to waste any of my precious holiday from work going on hen nights or attending weddins.

No, I don't want to waste whole weekends, involving lots of complex and expensive travel arrangements, taxis, hotel rooms etc.

I'm thrilled for you both... but I'm not THAT thrilled. What happened to the days when a nice day, in a local venue, with the food and drink catered (and therefore paid for by the bride and groom), with a modest wedding list of essentials that would be most appreciated, was sufficient?

Since when does everyone need to pretend they are a princess in a real life castle? Ridiculous!