Living in Austerity

vasseur

So glad to see you back Mags but so sorry to hear how bad things are over there now.

Shoe_Gal

Glad to see you back sweetie! Take care of you x

exarmydreamer

Hi, sounds tough over there, I've subscribed, I hope that's ok. Have a lovely Christmas and new year.

Helgathehairy_2

Hi Mags,

I used to be on here before under a different username (kerry78 I think) I'm in Tralee.

Sorry that you haven't had a good year. Hopefully next year will be better.

The budget was scary wasn't it. My car tax increased from €156 to €280! I'm not spending much on myself - got my hair done for the first time in a year a few weeks ago!

NewLeaf_2

welcome back

Mags30

exarmydreamer wrote: »

Hi, sounds tough over there, I've subscribed, I hope that's ok. Have a lovely Christmas and new year.

Thanks, delighted to have you here.

Helgathehairy wrote: »

Hi Mags,

I used to be on here before under a different username (kerry78 I think) I'm in Tralee.

Sorry that you haven't had a good year. Hopefully next year will be better.

The budget was scary wasn't it. My car tax increased from €156 to €280! I'm not spending much on myself - got my hair done for the first time in a year a few weeks ago!

Oh wow, you opened a new account just to chat to me again!! That's so nice, THANKS :A

Mags30

Happy Christmas MSE friends :xmassign::xmastree:

I'm not a huge fan of Christmas so I've sort of been hiding from it for the last 2 weeks by volunteering to sort toys and food for a charity Christmas appeal. It was certainly very educational, not the actual toy/food sorting but what I learnt about the charity and the people they help.

Unfortunately there were numerous occasions when I wasn't too impressed. They claim to be now helping the middle classes who have fallen on hard times as well as the people they previously helped but the reality is very different.

Although I did pack lots of toys for children who are probably receiving them from Santa right now :santa2:

I'm at my mothers and the turkey is in the oven, hope everyone has a lovely day.

Mags30

I'm setting my "Crazy Clothes challenge" at €500 for 2013. I know this seems really high but I want to buy a warm jacket from The North Face which I think is about €200-250 and a pair of ankle boots from Buffalo which are about €160, will probably need shoes for work too and there are always random unplanned purchases no matter how hard you try to avoid it.

Before Christmas I got new soles and heels put on the Buffalo boots I already own and it cost €30. I have a few other items of clothing that would be perfect with some alterations but these alterations cost way more than the cost of buying new clothes from somewhere like Primark which is kinda depressing.

If I think too much about it €500 doesn't even seem enough but there's no way I'm setting it higher than that. Will have to make do!

Anyone else interested in the Crazy Clothes Challenge? The official thread for 2013 hasn't been set up yet but I'll subscribe when it is.

Helgathehairy_2

€500 seems really reasonable (especially considering what you're planning on buying)

I went mad in Pennys on a few occasions in the last few months. We got a Golden Retriever puppy and I ended up getting very muddy a few times a day! I just needed easy cheap clothes but it's scary how it all adds up! The one thing I spent money on (a good parka for walking the dog in, €108 from Oasis) the puppy managed to tear a giant rip in the sleeve and all the padding is poking through and I don't know how to fix! I'm still wearing it though!

Mags30

Puppy sounds CUTE, what's his name? Now that you're back are you starting a new diary for 2013?? Would love to read it

€500 sounds reasonably modest to us but if you look at the figures on the 2012 clothes challenge it's actually VERY high compared with what others are spending, £200-250 appears to be the average with many people setting budgets at £100. I don't know how this will work, we'll see :huh: Have also remembered that I want to buy a pair of glasses. The ones I have are ancient and I wear contact lenses 99% of the time. A pair of glasses I could wear in public would be good for eye-health, to reduce my dependence on contacts. But are these part of the clothes budget? I don't have a glasses or health items budget, who knows :huh: This is why I find budgeting so difficult, there's so much overlap.

Finding all the news stories about sale shopping depressing, I have no money for post-Christmas sales