As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

sistercas

dee its a difficult situation but dont give up your frugal principles. in the end they will understand because you will be debt free and they will be up to their eyeballs in debt.
keep the channels of communication open if you can you dont want to lose your sisters , family is all important , that said they need to meet you half way its not fair of them to expect you to wield to their ideas of gifts etc. (((hug)) for you

saveabobortwo

you do what you can afford and a homemade gift is a wonderfull gesture and takes more time and effort that was your plan so if i was in your shoes id stick with it.

starsandmoon

Dee - I fell out with a friend who was put out that I couldnt attend a break abroad to celebrate a birthday. Her solution was to release equity in the house and use that:eek: pointed out that as I only bought the house last year I dont have any equity to release and wouldnt do it even if I did. Needless to say she did her break using credit cards.

Happy news! I have lots of extra hours in my second job which means spending money for my hol in August. They offered voluntary redundancy to people and loads took it then they realised no staff and a vacancy freeze. Happy happy for me though :T

scottishminnie

Dee5565 wrote: »

I am on a mission to get rid of this debt I have as soon as I can , so I have been doing everything I can not to spend money unless its a NEED.
I cook from scratch, buy most things either value or whoopies. Also making cards and presents for family and friends.Also as I have had to give up my job to look after my OH money is alot tighter. so I am carefully with every penny I spend.
Well today my younger sister turns up, she wanted to know what I was going buy our older sister for her birthday which is in four weeks, said I have not decided what to make yet.Well she told me as my sister was having a large party I couldnt turn up with something made, so she has decided that she will buy something from me and my OH and sign it that it was from us. I told her she was not to do that as I dont have the money to pay her back.
I got a so annoyed at her I told her to leave.
Then she told me the family are embarrassed at how we live, told her coming from them it was a joke as they all live off credit cards and most of them owe twice as much as me. So she stormed out.
I rang my older sister and told her we would not be going to her party as I dont have the money to buy her a present, as I would be making her one.
She told me not to bother to make her anything as she does not want homemade, and its up to me if I dont come to her party.
So I guess we am not going.

Dee

What a pair of witches. Not only are they ungrateful but I suspect they are probably very jealous of the fact that you are managing your finances and life well while they are blindly racking up credit card debts.

Rise above it, send a handmade card saying you are sorry you are that you aren't welcome at her party however wishing her happy birthday and leave it at that. I guarantee you won't be missing anything and she should realise what an ignorant *b**ch she is.

I was amazed at one colleague who made a scathing remark about homemade goods being given as gifts. She was pretty speechless when I pointed out they were exactly the same as the goods she had been snapping up for gifts at a craft stall the week before.

saveabobortwo

I really don t know what iv done with my face this week i look like zitty harbuckle.

Dee5565

Thank you all so much for your replies.I feel better now.
Was feeling abit down about it, as I am also trying to keep anything thats stressful away from OH.
Love coming on here through out the day to get all the tips and ideas.
Thank you


dee

Dee5565

Scottishminnie,
I am going to do as you suggested, send a homemade card and wish her the best.


Dee

saveabobortwo

are spending recklessly on credit cards without a care.i really dont like credit cards PAY THEM OFF CUT THEM UP DONT USE THEM AGAIN . The interest rates can be crippling no i dont have them if i cant afford it now then i dont have it not no more credit cards cost me a fortune

starsandmoon

I got lots of fab whoopsies one day whilst in work. Was showing collegues who were also quite excited (2 ran off to Asda). The security person sneered at them and said it was food meant for the bin. Pointed out I would freeze most of it and that there was nothing wrong with any of it. Wouldnt mind but this person is always saying how skint they are and how the working hours for their job are unpredictable etc. I think some folk feel ashamed of money saving stuff like whoopsie hunts and charity shops. One collegue said they felt embarrassed about buying value ranges but they have to now as they are skint.

Luckily I dont care what people think of me. Because of my thrifty living I can afford a holiday with my DD (not abroad though) and am known as the thrift guru in my other job :rotfl:

redlady_1

If someone starts on me my favourite line is always "is your car paid for? No, well mine is and this is the reason why". As a general rule they will have a flash car on credit, holidays on credit and clothes on credit. We have a woman at work who is just like Mrs Bucket and she is up to her eyes in debt. The trouble is she is so jealous of anything anyone else manages to achieve that you just dont tell her anything. Mind you, she would rather spend £500 on one night in London and some tickets (on credit). She thinks she "deserves" it. In fact, alot of people seem to think they "deserve" things.