Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1

edinburgher wrote: »

[Rant]

Christmas is getting silly in parts of our family. Thoughtful gifts are wonderful to receive and generosity is a lovely trait, but there can be too much of a good thing.

On Mrs E's side of the family, Christmas morning is a bombsite. Literally no room to move due to the amount of gifts on the floor. In addition to generous and appreciated presents, there are now huge quantities of unwanted tat (bubble bath, plasticky stuff and not particularly nice chocolates). To compound matters, Mrs E's Mum has decided that her adult children have now reverted to childhood and has now started buying them 'stockings' (think the adult version of the cheap and cheerful junk that you can safely buy kids when they're young).

The end effect of all this 'generosity' is a frantic round of people swapping unsuitable presents, increased donations to charity shops and twinges of guilt as you bin the 20th item of hand crafted 'art' received in the last 3 years

Without meaning to sound like total gits, we would far rather they reined it in a bit and saved their money. They are far from poor, but we know that Mrs E's Mum is worrying about her retirement in a few years.

[/Rant]

Ed, feel free to rant away, we're totally with you on this one. It really is getting silly nowadays with the amount of tat around, I mean, do people really want to have self stirring mugs, straws with moustaches on, a tiny table tennis set for the desk at work, an inflatable zimmer frame....... I name but a few of the god awful crappy items from the *ebenham* website christmas gifts for men!

It's just a total and utter waste of money and resources and it drives me totally nuts.

Would it be possible for you to make an agreement with the other grown ups that the grown ups no longer buy for each other?

With my mum and partner, we've agreed that we won't be buying for each other this year.... we tend to buy each other little treats when we get together and tbh I think that's more thoughtful anyway than buying stuff for the sake of ticking a name off on the so called christmas list.

I'd made the same agreement with my sister and her husband, but as I've been typing this, I have now discovered that she's already bought me something, so now I suppose I'm going to have to buy something for her, I know I sound mean, but grrrrr.
I wouldn't mind so much, but usually her and her husband end up asking us for money (!!!!) for their christmas and birthday gifts which i really resent. They're adults for goodness sakes, who on earth asks other adults for christmas money when you're 40. It's just weird. I'd rather just not bother......

Seems I'm ranting too!!! :rotfl:

Here's to a good old christmas gift rant, feel free to join in!! :beer:

edinburgher

Ah - the Christmas rant - far more important than the Queen's speech :rotfl:

Realistically there is no way we will move to a children only policy, we're the only couple with a young child!

It's hard to start the ball rolling with these things. What is even harder to stomach, however, is the fact that we are made to feel like the poor relations for only buying 2-3 gifts per person. It's typically quite a large gathering, even at 2-3 gifts, most people could receive in the region of a dozen items. As an adult, I can *cope* with a mere dozen gifts Some people can't, however, and adult present tantrums are not uncommon...

lulabelle1

edinburgher wrote: »

Ah - the Christmas rant - far more important than the Queen's speech :rotfl:

Realistically there is no way we will move to a children only policy, we're the only couple with a young child!

It's hard to start the ball rolling with these things. What is even harder to stomach, however, is the fact that we are made to feel like the poor relations for only buying 2-3 gifts per person. It's typically quite a large gathering, even at 2-3 gifts, most people could receive in the region of a dozen items. As an adult, I can *cope* with a mere dozen gifts Some people can't, however, and adult present tantrums are not uncommon...

Oh my word, your Christmas family gatherings sound very challenging! Your eBay listings must go through the roof at this time of year....

lulabelle1

Still with the theme of Christmas, I have started my Christmas shopping. Just online stuff, as I really don't like going to actual shops!

So far, some Playmo8il for DS2 along with some bedding that he's been hankering after and a whistle! (He's been asking for a whistle for ages, I may regret it on Christmas morning). And, for DS1, a few books... I've also ordered a lovely pie dish and serving slice for my sister (since she declared she's already gotten me something) - it is really beautiful and a bit of a bargain in the sale from Anthropologie.... they have some beautiful and unusual house bits for those who haven't heard of it. (They have a massive store on Regent Street near to Hamleys and it's one of the few stores that I enjoy wandering around).

My sister is coming this weekend with her children, so we've bought the pumpkins ready for pumpkin carving. They look beautiful sitting on my large kitchen window sill.

DH did the food shopping today.... daren't ask how much, but will add it to the running total once it appears on his CC. We're already just over the £600 mark for October....

Had a lovely catch up with my BFF last night - a nice soak in the hot tub in her garden. It was actually quite nice when it rained a little as it helped cool me down!

Dinner tonight is corned beef hash, cheap and cheerful and we've not had it for at least a year...

Seems the sun is finally making an appearance after a very wet and miserable morning.

edinburgher

I've not had corned beef hash in ages Lula - have you ever tried making your own corned beef? It's really easy and tastes fantastic

Well done on the shopping, your progress sounds suitably advanced. I'm not really in the Christmas mood yet, my inspiration levels are at a bit of a low ebb. I am sure they will kick in once the weather gets a bit colder!

I wouldn't worry about the shopping bill, we usually find that a party typically costs at least as much as a week's groceries

lulabelle1

Oh no, I haven't tried making my own Ed..... Do you have a recipe? I guess it's probably a bit better "quality" if you do your own too?

I'm not feeling Christmassy at all, it's literally a combination of the OCD in me and the fact that I haven't spent any money for ages that it is driving me to do some of it now....

For me, Christmas is about the decorations, carols, dark nights, nativity plays, egg nog lattes and just that general lovely Winter feeling. The presents do nothing for me at all.

For anyone that needs to buy some bits for girls/women - The Body Shop have a really good deal on at the moment. They have a selection of Body Butters in the sale for 50% off. Plus, you can also get a further 40% off the reduced price using code 14664. I've just ordered a handful of Papaya Body Butters for £3.90 each - usual price is £13. I also ordered the matching shower gels for £1.80 each, usual price £4. I'm going to give the body butter and matching shower gel as gifts for DS2's teacher, my cleaner and keeping one back for a girlfriend who has her birthday early in the year. A nice substantial gift for not many £'s.

Oh, also, they have Chocomania lip butters for 60p and they're usually £1 each, so I grabbed a handful of those too.....

Enjoy!!

lulabelle1

Just decided to have a little look at my Quidco account as I ordered some new tyres for my (company) car today..... It said it would be 4% cash back but has tracked at 2%.
Whilst there, I noticed that i had two declined from Gatwick parking - and, there's no reason at all that they should have declined - so, I've raised claims for both of them.
Does anyone else have many issues with Quidco? Do prefer Topcashback? I've never used it, so am keen to hear feedback.
Thanks

CathT

Hi Lulabelle, another one here struggling to keep the magic of Christmas balanced with not buying too much for the children. I haven't bought a thing yet! Thanks for the b0dy5hop tip, I had a good deal one year as there was also a good cashback deal with TCB. I just use TCB now and sometimes have to raise a claim but it mostly pays out. Only deals that have let me down are 5ky existing customer ones.

Re: having a cleaner. I promised myself one when DS left private nursery, that time has come and gone! I found since we put the house on the market that it's not really the cleaning that takes all the time, it's the tidying first. Since its 'mostly' tidy (think of the house being a good 1.5 hours prep needed for a viewing) I decided against it, if I need to tidy for the cleaner I feel like I've done all the hard work! Instead, I try to do a bit each day so that on a Saturday I Hoover bedrooms, dust surfaces upstairs, wipe sills and clean bathroom. Doesn't take too long if I don't get distracted

lulabelle1

I never tidy for the cleaner Cath, but I'm a fairly tidy person anyway - it's mainly the boys rooms that tend to be a bomb site, but I don't tidy those for her either.... tbh, she prob spends as much time tidying their rooms as she does cleaning them. I always tell her just to leave them if they're messy as I like the boys to tidy their own rooms, but she has a soft spot for the boys so disregards what I say and tidies them anyway!

You're right though, if you do a bit here and there and get in to some sort of routine, then it's not a really major job. I'm swaying towards cancelling. Will have a chat with DH and see what he says.

I've registered for a TCB account and will start using that now to see how it goes.

Bakes some cup cakes this morning. They're stored away now ready for my niece coming tomorrow - she can ice and decorate them when she gets here - sure the little ones will enjoy doing that.

DS2's JISA is now all sorted. The funds have transferred across from L&G, now need to go and buy some funds with the cash that's sitting there.

DS1's will take longer as we need to change the holder in to my name and L&G seem to be taking their time sending the forms.

No news on my S&S transfer as of yet.

lulabelle1

Enjoyed "investing" the money in DS2's JISA....... Spent a good long while looking at some different funds from L&G and Vanguard, selected a handful of them and then split the money between them.

Shall arrange to transfer some money in each month