Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

brizzlegirl

And I am going to steal both of these too...fab ideas. I like the 19 before 2019 and as for the activity advent calendar I have already bought a choccie one but this means that my 2 DDs get something every day..they usually share

I am also going to do the reverse calendar for our local food bank and give blood next week. I will also try and give some more money to charity...any ideas as to a suitable one? Anyone got good experiences from debt charities for example?

Hope the redundancy process turns out better than expected but sounds like someone will be let go...horrid time to do it, I agree.

Brizzle x

Honeysucklelou2

Also liking the 19 before 2019.

XSpender

Not much progress on my 19 by 2019 list except booking a Drs appt for the jab and smear next week and listing the freezer contents. I have half a drawer of very old meat that needs to go in the bin and I can then reorganise the contents to make room for the Christmas feast.

Decorations are going up this weekend and I am hoping that school have the courtesy to give parents more than a couple of days notice of when the Christmas Performance is. I have so many appointments booked in for December it is unlikely I will get to it but DH will need to sort out cover if he is going instead. It winds me up the lack of notice DS school give for events when most parents work. If they gave even 2 weeks notice I could fit my work around it.

My 3 day meeting next week has been cancelled so I am not staying away from home which should help me make some progress with my list and Christmas prep. I should know by the end of next week the outcome of the consultation. The sooner the better for me.

I am now done to 22 payments left on the carpet finance with a further 2 saved for OP. I am aiming for one extra this month, would ideally like 2 but am realistic that it is Christmas and we are catering for the masses plus we are aiming to spread extra cash across the big EF and holiday savings too.


brizzlegirl - last year DH and I donated money to pay for 3 (because there are 3 of us) Christmas lunches to a local 'soup kitchen'.

DD265

It sounds like things are going well XSpender!

Suffolk_lass

brizzlegirl wrote: »

And I am going to steal both of these too...fab ideas. I like the 19 before 2019 and as for the activity advent calendar I have already bought a choccie one but this means that my 2 DDs get something every day..they usually share

I am also going to do the reverse calendar for our local food bank and give blood next week. I will also try and give some more money to charity...any ideas as to a suitable one? Anyone got good experiences from debt charities for example?

Hope the redundancy process turns out better than expected but sounds like someone will be let go...horrid time to do it, I agree.

Brizzle x

I give what I used to spend on my extended family for presents to the Sally Army, at Christmas and my birthday. They are one step beyond a debt charity, dealing with homelessness and loneliness at Christmas. I have also spotted they have a clothing recycling unit at the second closest Morries so I know where all the clothes that are too big for me now are going. A little of that choice is in memory of my Dad who used to say (as an atheist) that they were the only Christian Charity he had time for and always donated to.

I'm also loving the 19 before 19 idea.

XSpender

19 Before 2019 List

1. Set up DS ISA including CTF transfer
2. Lose 4lb - the least said about this is the better
   
3. Sell DS old clothes on faceache
4. Sell DVD's, CDs and books and charity shop leftovers
5. Re-hang breakfast room curtains
6. Smear test and flu jab - booked for next Friday
7. Save another OP to carpet account (£47.97) - 31p so far
   
8. Book holiday flights and airport hotel, cancel Folkestone hotel
9. A boots-on walk
10. A National Trust visit
11. A cinema visit with DS and DH (some corkers coming out around Christmas)
12. Deep clean every room in the house - carpets cleaned yesterday
13. List and organise the 2 freezers - list done, have some stuff to be binned on bin day and will then rearrange what's left
    
14. Do a Park Run or a run around the streets at least
15. Update address on 'C' pension
16. Book eye test for me and DH
17. Change my mobile phone to SIM only
18. Complete a comparison/change gas and electricity supplier
19. Have my CV professionally re-written

[/QUOTE]

Not much progress. I might just have bitten off a bit more than I can chew with some of these tasks!

I have been up for an hour as the dog lay in his bed the whole 40 minutes DH was up before going to the gym. As soon as DH shut the front door the dog is in my bedroom shaking his head so his collar rattles to let me know it's time to get up and let him out for a wee!

He's now flat out again and snoring and I have put the washing on and written my shopping list and drank a big mug of tea. I've also finalised my rules for the NST December challenge. There are a lot!

Pay day yesterday for me, DH paid earlier in the week. I've done my budget and it is a bit tight. I really do not want to use the CC again so will need to be careful. If DH hits his weight loss he will get his money refunded which will be a big help as that's the money I need for Christmas.

I had not included interest on the CC I settled or the interest on DH CC which has £2000 left on it. This is the best part of another £100 to find this month! DH card is now all on 0% until September next year.

We are taking DPIL to Mr A this morning. We have offered to do this every week as they like going there but have no transport. They just like a trip out in the car as this week DMIL says she doesn't need anything but will come anyway.

Christmas decorations are going up this weekend so I will need to do the deep clean downstairs or it will be mucky until next year when they come down! It isn't bad just a bit of dusting and wiping over the skirting before mopping the floors. The cushion covers need a wash too. We had the carpet cleaned yesterday which looks great.

I haven't made up DS activity calendar yet as it is still in the loft with the other decorations but he is OK with this as he has his sweetie one today. He picked up some gingerbread men with icing and decorations for one of his activities in the c0-op last night. Today's activity is putting the tree up then watching Christmas Chronicles on n3tflix.

As I was stuck in the bedroom while the carpet man was doing his thing yesterday I checked all the stocking fillers and presents and still need a couple of stocking bits for me and 1 for Stepdad, a mug for DS Christmas eve box, headphones for DS (waiting for my vouchers to come through) and tickets for a star gazing event at the local observatory for DH and DS. DH still needs to buy my presents but will go with DS one evening. He has asked for the money in cash so I can't see what he has bought. This is a good idea as it will hopefully mean he sticks to budget too!

Honeysucklelou2

School should give you ample notice...we give a month's notice for things like sports day and Christmas performanaces. Perhaps something to suggest on the annual parents questionnaire...

XSpender

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

School should give you ample notice...we give a month's notice for things like sports day and Christmas performanaces. Perhaps something to suggest on the annual parents questionnaire...

A month's notice would be fabulous, often we get less than a week!

DS thinks its week after next and I am away then.

DH and I bought the most perfect artificial tree for our house today. It wasn't budgeted for and had to go on the CC but after real ones the last 2 years that either stunk or died before the big day and a skinny artificial one from the old house that is lost in our big bay window when we saw the perfect specimen we went for it. It will be paid for by the end of January.

A food shop including 4 bottles of booze for Christmas, a couple of stocking fillers and some bits to dress the guest room has made today rather expensive.

Tomorrow DS has a match and then we will be putting the rest of the decorations up, sorting out the laundry mountain and trying o get the 2 spare rooms straight.

ETA: It looks like we have lost the contents of our large upright freezer that we inherited from the previous owners. I thought DH was not closing the door properly as he has been using the contents of that freezer but I have been checking it since Thursday night and the contents have defrosted and the freezer has not frozen again. We wont replace this freezer as have another fridge freezer in the kitchen but really could have done with the freezer space for Christmas as the other one is full.

Suffolk_lass

Oh goodness, what a terrible loss. Can you cook some of the contents and use them this week? If they are already cooked items I guess there is a loss. I know you were making space in your freezer for Christmas - is there any capacity at your DPIL's house where you are going there every week to take them shopping now? Maybe this week's shopping could be stored there for a week or so and you could use up some defrosted food rather than throwing it away?

When it happened to us we rearranged to throw out the lowest value things and I kept a hot-pot reheated on the hob every day for a fortnight (just kept re-boiling it every day, to keep it going) - it actually changed the way I cook a bit as it was so nice having a big pot of indeterminate stewy-soup on the go, I often make fridge and freezer surprise and use things up.

apple_muncher

Any chance of picking up a freezer off freegle or gumtree?