Its tough, it will get better and guess what its freezing brrrrr!

pollys

juliethemuse wrote: »

dollydaydream i dont think he should have been fined if he offered to pick it up, i would have picked it up and said it had dropped accidently,
i wouldnt pay it,

eek! i have a job interview on monday, i'm so nervous i have to walk there 2 miles each way as i'm skint, and cant afford the bus, i really hope i get it, i dont know why i'm so anxious, have felt like bursting into tears for no apparent reason, i keep asking sons and daughter if i can cancel christmas,
i'm only half joking, i wont as ive bought some prezzies but i just cant get into the christmas spirit, the xmas adverts are getting on my nerves, and its just about spend spend spend, and stuffing oneself stupid with food, it didnt go down too well when i suggested cancelling christmas, but i dont see the point in getting into debt over it its so silly,thats not what christmas is about,
they want mobiles and ps3 for xmas, i would have got a good hiding if i'd dared to ask for anyhing expensive for xmas, i just used to get somthing cheap and like it or lump it, and i'm an only child!

Our children (except the youngest) want various gadgets which are out of our price range, so after discussing the situation with them, they will get some money then put money from grandparents and aunties towards the requested item and buy after Christmas. Like you I'm not getting into debt and they'll have to save till they have enough. I'm also determined not to overbuy food and treats this year.

Good Luck with the job interview

Pollys x

dollydaydream07

Thank you to those who replied re DH's fine, it's what we think too, that as he had offered to pick it up then he shouldn't be fined!!!
i'll tell DH that i couldn't think of how to word the letter properly so we can work on it tomorrow together!!!

aww, i went to DD's assembly and she got star of the week for her number work - apparently she has been doing lots of adding up and writing it down and then using a calculator to check her own answers!! :rotfl:
and once we got home from school i checked her book bag and in it there was a letter saying that DD is going to be Mary in the nativity!!!!! :T:D:T:D:j:j:j she is so excited about it, she loves being on the stage!!!


i went to Tesco this morning and spent more than i wanted to but got some good bargains!
Clover 500g is £1.75 each or 2 for £2 so i bought 4 lots!!
Ritz crackers are about £1.08 but they're on offer 2 for £1.50 so i got 4 of them!! will be going back for more when DH has been paid
Philadelphia 300g tubs are BOGOF priced at £1.82
can't remember what else was on offer but with the multi buy stuff i got, i saved almost £10 on those alone, had £3.50 in clubcard vouchers so used them too
then i went and got petrol as i had a voucher for 5p off every litre!!!!

so all in all i've had a pretty good day today and i'm feeling very happy today

DD keeps asking if she can have a magazine, told her she can, if she pays for it - she said 'but then i won't have that much money saved up' i just said to her 'well you can save your money or use it to buy something you really want!! how much do you want a magazine?'
'lots'
'so use your money and buy one then and the next time you get pocket money save it up for a while'
as i said to DH, i don't mind us buying her little things once in a while, like a bit of chocolate, but if she wants something that cost's £2 then she can buy it herself, she needs to learn that we can't just pluck money from no where!!

katiegizmo

Hello all hugs and well done's where its due xx
I haven't been on here properly for ages as things haven't been very good. I have been trying to forget all the bad by throwing myself into organising christmas and for the first time ever I've finished weeks ahead of time, and under budget. We don't have children so the budget is not huge, but I like to get my parents a really nice night out as they have a tough time looking after my gran. For me and OH we're not buying eachother but have bought a lovely but reasonably priced picturefor our lounge, with money often being tight we don't often get to buy things unless they are essential so I'm really excited about putting it up on Christmas Day!

Its hard staying cheerful at the moment...I leave for work in the dark and it's dark hours before I get home, call me dramatic but it feels like there's no light in the world! I'm always easy to cry but it's worse at the moment. I keep crying at the christmas coke advert!!!!!!????!!!!!!

I had a great bargain from an email I get from website key noir , which sends you a daily special offer. Most of these are much MUCH too pricey to take advantage of, but there was a £10 to spend online with a chocolate (I'm obsessed!) retailer for £3 so I thought that would make a great Christmas present. Of course I looked for something as near to £10 as possible to get the most value from the voucher and found a lovely set for exactly £10. When I tried to order it just wouldn't work and I had to get onto their customer services. They were so lovely about it, said it was a tech glitch as they didnt expect anyone to spend the full £10 and not a penny more (why on earth not?) and they gave me an extra £7 to spend and waived delivery charge... so I got £17 worth of lush expensive choccies for £3!!!!!!!!

Kittikins

How lovely of the chocolate company to do that for you - hope you enjoy every sweet mouthful

Your picture idea sounds really nice, it's something you'll both look at and feel happy with every day.

ceridwen

dollydaydream07 wrote: »

i am so annoyed it's crazy!!!

yesterday DH was fined £50 for throwing a cigarette butt on the floor, outside his work
there's no ashtray's around and no bins near so in his eyes he had no choice but to throw it - well he got caught by a litter warden, he offered to pick it up, she said no, you've already commited the offence - he said his reply was something along the lines of 'so your fining me for the intent? well if the council actually had more bins around and with ashtrays in them too then i would have had somewhere to put it'
in my eyes he did the crime so should pay the fine(even if we can't afford it) but i am still peeved with him - might put it to him that if he stops smoking then he won't get caught doing that and won't get fined!!

he's asked me to write an appeal letter for him but after doing a bit of searching on the net, i can't see the point in appealing it as he would probably lose the appeal and still have to pay the fine so we would end up having to pay out more than the fine is
either way i've decided i'm not writing a letter for him, he can do it, if he wants to appeal, he has the weekend off work so can do it himself!!

Quite agree with you - my take would also be "YOU were the one who threw it on the ground - you want a letter written then YOU can write it. I'm not going to..."

I might "bend a little" to hand him one of those little metal tins I am picturing (summat to do with tobacco? I dont know as I'm a non-smoker anyways....) and tell him to keep that in his pocket and put his butts in there if there wasnt a bin to hand.

Dont like seeing cigarette butts (or any other litter) anywhere actually:mad: - but one of the things I've noticed recently is people putting their dog mess into an appropriate plastic bag - and leaving the bag there...<puzzled smilie>. So what was the point of bothering then at all?

parsonswife8

ceridwen wrote: »

Quite agree with you - my take would also be "YOU were the one who threw it on the ground - you want a letter written then YOU can write it. I'm not going to..."

I might "bend a little" to hand him one of those little metal tins I am picturing (summat to do with tobacco? I dont know as I'm a non-smoker anyways....) and tell him to keep that in his pocket and put his butts in there if there wasnt a bin to hand.

Dont like seeing cigarette butts (or any other litter) anywhere actually:mad: - but one of the things I've noticed recently is people putting their dog mess into an appropriate plastic bag - and leaving the bag there...<puzzled smilie>. So what was the point of bothering then at all?

Maybe they are hoping that the dog tu-d fairy will come along and do it for them.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

How lazy.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

ceridwen

pollys wrote: »

Our children (except the youngest) want various gadgets which are out of our price range, so after discussing the situation with them, they will get some money then put money from grandparents and aunties towards the requested item and buy after Christmas. Like you I'm not getting into debt and they'll have to save till they have enough. I'm also determined not to overbuy food and treats this year.

Good Luck with the job interview

Pollys x

That sounds very sensible to me. I think its ridiculous to get into debt for something like Christmas. I DO understand how someone could end up getting in debt for necessities - eg the house needs something urgently or some money needs to be spent on healthcare (and have gone into debt:mad: for necessities like that myself before now..:( - but would be reluctant to do even that in the current economic climate....). But to do so for Christmas...:eek:

One thing I suspect is that if children learn that necessities come first and luxuries will only happen if there is money left over after the "needs" have been dealt with - then they are more likely in adulthood to realise that they cant have a "want" if they cant afford it (in which case they would have learnt a sight more than most adults I can think of actually:rotfl:).

Thriftkitten

the_cat wrote: »

Yeah, well I want a million pounds and a ferrari, but that ain't gonna happen either!!:rotfl:Seriously, if they are old enough to be wanting grown up stuff like that, they are old enough to know the cold, hard facts about what you can afford! Teaching them that you can't always have what you want is no bad thing IMO

Good luck for the interview:D

I think yours have a twin that lives here with us in St Ives... Grrrrr

kaz2004

zarazara wrote: »

i often think schools are on different planet. 20 years ago it was bad enough. scrounging teachers wanting gifts for school fairs and even peple buying teachers end of term boxes of chocs etc. thentheres trips abroard nd even this country. inflated prices and teachers,no doubt going for free. i just hated it all.

I feel I must respond to this. Teachers going on trips for free?!
That is exactly why I chose the profession, to see the world on somone else's dime, scrounging as I go!

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Took some time owing this afternoon and came home early. Have managed to clean right through except for the kitchen which OH can do tomorrow as I am doing an extra 7hr shift. Have made a good start on the laundry but need to finish the ironing from last week. All in all it's a promising start to the weekend. Got the neices and nephews their selection boxes yesterday and a couple of stocking fillers for my two so feeling a little more organised for christmas.