Thrifty Gifty Santas Challenge 2014

springdreams

bunbun2 wrote: »

ds2 is in year 8. my sig is a bit out of date and the trip was in October. I must change it as ds1 has a history trip in July to the battlefields in France/Belgium which will be £550:eek: I am so pleased they don't want to go on the ski trip as that is over £1000. ds2 has a couple of friends who are going on all the trips. regardless of cost I think it does them good to make choices.

I don't know if the cost and destination is affected by where you live, but my DS is also in year 8, and his school wanted £2,500 for a ski trip to the US this Easter and £710 for a trip to France for 3 days (long weekend sports trip) in July :eek:

As much as I would love for him to go, he will not be going on either :cool:

I was able to book us a trip to Venice for 7 nights during August 2014 for less than the cost of the trip to France :T

bunbun2

springdreams wrote: »

I don't know if the cost is affected by where you live, but my DS is also in year 8, and his school wanted £2,500 for a ski trip to the US this Easter and £710 for a trip to France for 3 days (long weekend sports trip) in July :eek:

As much as I would love for him to go, he will not be going on either :cool:

I was able to book us a trip to Venice for 7 nights during August 2014 for less than the cost of the trip to France :T

OMG that is ridiculous:eek: ds's school go skiing in France so it is a bit cheaper but still too much. their trip to France is a study trip Monday to Friday which was £370. they also do a sports trip to Malaga which I think is 3 days and £5-600

springdreams

bunbun2 wrote: »

OMG that is ridiculous:eek: ds's school go skiing in France so it is a bit cheaper but still too much. their trip to France is a study trip Monday to Friday which was £370. they also do a sports trip to Malaga which I think is 3 days and £5-600

I agree. And what I find odd is that the seniors (year 11s) go skiing in France for less than the cost of the year 8 sports trip.

I would have thought that the seniors would do the US ski trip, which would give parents 5 or so years to save up for it. If I had found out when my DS started year 7 that he would be given the opportunity to go to the US in year 11, I could have opened a savings account and put some money aside each month towards it. But to be told at the beginning of year 8 that they would be going to the US for a week over Easter 2014 was too short notice for that sort of money.

Bambisbelle

bunbun2 wrote: »

bambisbelle congratulations:j

mum2one glad to hear miss hoodie is feeling better. well done on your sales

I went back to sainsburys today and found a couple of shelves of sale items I hadn't seen the other day. I got some hello kitty bits for my cousin's dd (either birthday or Christmas), a few selection boxes and a tin of choc chip cookies ( the tin is very cute!).

Thank you hun. Ohh that reminds me I need to get some selection boxes for the midwives don't really know what else I could get them. And who doesn't like chocolate?

B xx

mum2one

Bambisbelle wrote: »

Thank you hun. Ohh that reminds me I need to get some selection boxes for the midwives don't really know what else I could get them. And who doesn't like chocolate?

B xx

Thats lovely x

bunbun2

Bambisbelle wrote: »

Thank you hun. Ohh that reminds me I need to get some selection boxes for the midwives don't really know what else I could get them. And who doesn't like chocolate?

B xx

that's a lovely idea

Bambisbelle

Picked up a tin of Quality Street & Cadbury's biscuits for £2.50 each. Is this not a normal thing to do? Or is it another American mannerism thats been passed onto the family?

B xx

mum2one

Bambisbelle wrote: »

Picked up a tin of Quality Street & Cadbury's biscuits for £2.50 each. Is this not a normal thing to do? Or is it another American mannerism thats been passed onto the family?

B xx

I think its nice to say thank you, and its shows appriciation, I think a lot of people don't think of the idea. When Miss Hoodie (DD shes now 11) was born in the Sept, I put £10 in an envelope so that they could put it towards their xmas party.

I also took chocolates to early pregnancy service, as I had some early scares, - they were shocked as once your passed 12 or 16 weeks they don't see u, and panda unit, - again at end of pregnancy I was being scanned weekly and every 2 days going into be monitored. Both departments never really get a thank-you.

I think its a nice British thing to get thank you gifts. I got a Xmas present for my dentist... x

lushlifesaver

Can I join in?


I lurked last year but have already subscribed to this thread. I loved the challenges last year and hopefully will have more time this year to actually participate!

I'll be 24 on 25th July and whilst I did well this year I need to get even better. Christmas is my favourite time of year/occasion and I can happily spend months getting ready for it! Although in 2014 we will have our first baby to share it with! She'll be 8/9months or so by then so should be 'with it' enough to be some fun!

Tried the sales but really couldn't find much of anything! Think they are a bit pants to be honest this year; I picked up a dress and sleepsuit/vest/bib set both half price in Boots and a pram suit in Next. Everything else is a bit pointless for us!

Our list goes as follows:
Each other, Baby, my Mum & Dad, my brother, MIL, FIL, BIL1, BIL2, SIL - 28, Nephew, Niece, Grandparents (they don't really 'do' Christmas so just a little token gift)

We have also offered to host Christmas dinner for Bf's parents and my parents plus my brother next year and hopefully BIL1 too (bf's youngest brother) Although we'll need to sort out some sort of dining table for that as we don't have one in our little bungalow!

Usually bf covers his lot and I mine but as I will have six months of mat leave to entertain myself and a baby I may take on a few more bits this year I'm saving £1 a day from today with a view to having a minimum of £300 saved to cover the costs of Christmas dinner for the 8 of us (plus baby), treats and trimmings plus presents for bf and baby, my brother, parents and grandparents. I'm hoping that should be more than enough...although of course any extra would be nice as a security measure!

duloch

Like others I've read this post for a while but decided to join in this year after writing down the birthdays and anniversaries in my new diary. Having 3 newborns in the family have taken my present buying up to 25. I save with variety throughout the year so Christmas is sorted. I usually give nieces and nephews a £10 shop voucher for birthday or cash depends who it's for. Im hoping to spend £5 this year instead but still have good looking gifts. Don't have budgets for the babies or my adorable great nephew who is 3 and my parents as well perhaps I should set myself a budget here as well.
I'm 31 on 22nd February, (omg what a quick year)
Looking forward to being part of this thread