Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

milann

It’s a busy time at school - Christmas silly season. My old school had staff doing all sorts for the various fairs and fundraising projects but where I am now everything is run by parents....I’m not complaining about that one little bit. The worse place I’ve worked for expectations outside work hours that we didn’t get paid for was 3 jobs ago. Staff had to answer to the boss in her office if we didn’t give full Saturdays up a couple of times a year for fairs. We used to do it willingly at first then a staff member was a lone parent and it fell on her child’s birthday so she stayed at home doing nice things for child’s birthday...she was hauled in and ended up in tears the following Monday. That did me and I always made sure I was busy - which was frowned upon big time - funnily enough I was never pulled in the office as they knew I’d stand up for myself. I’ll happily give up my time voluntarily but I’m not going to be told I HAVE to do something I’m not getting paid for in my free time. I left soon after that. They just took advantage of our good will.
Hope you manage to have a restful weekend and enjoy a Saturday saunter.

HairyHandofDartmoor

milann wrote: »

It’s a busy time at school - Christmas silly season. My old school had staff doing all sorts for the various fairs and fundraising projects but where I am now everything is run by parents....I’m not complaining about that one little bit. The worse place I’ve worked for expectations outside work hours that we didn’t get paid for was 3 jobs ago. Staff had to answer to the boss in her office if we didn’t give full Saturdays up a couple of times a year for fairs. We used to do it willingly at first then a staff member was a lone parent and it fell on her child’s birthday so she stayed at home doing nice things for child’s birthday...she was hauled in and ended up in tears the following Monday. That did me and I always made sure I was busy - which was frowned upon big time - funnily enough I was never pulled in the office as they knew I’d stand up for myself. I’ll happily give up my time voluntarily but I’m not going to be told I HAVE to do something I’m not getting paid for in my free time. I left soon after that. They just took advantage of our good will.
Hope you manage to have a restful weekend and enjoy a Saturday saunter.

Your old head sounds very unreasonable :mad:. Unpaid overtime does seem to be expected at schools but at my school I think you'd be okay if you had a good excuse. As I'm hoping to be offered more hours I do need to go the extra mile at the moment. At least it's only a couple of times a year that they have a fair luckily for me.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I'm feeling a bit more Christmassy today :xmastree:.

DH, DS1 and I went to a Christmas food fair at a NT place this morning. Entry was free with our membership cards.There were lots of free samples to try of lovely cheeses, chocolate, olives, etc, nom nom nom. DH and DS1 bought some turkish delight and chocolates and DS1 bought some cheese :rotfl:. I only bought a coffee in the cafe but I enjoyed the free samples .

We saved money by taking travel mugs with hot drinks in, then I bought one coffee but the others didn't want a second drink. I took sandwiches with me for my lunch but DH and DS1 bought a scone in the cafe for their lunch (that was all they needed after all the free samples ). I was tempted by a £5 advent calendar and a £5 Christmas tree bauble but I resisted them both :A. So I personally only bought one coffee. The big spenders today were DH and DS1 but DS1 is going to pay us back when he gets paid.

I really enjoyed spending a day out with DH and DS1 . There were lovely autumn colours, we all enjoyed tasting the free samples :drool: and the weather was light rain on and off rather than the torrential rain forecast. It was interesting driving past lots of flooded fields where I saw a caravan marooned in water and several trees that had become islands :eek:.

Since getting home I've put a wash on and hung it to dry on our two clothes horses and emptied the kitchen bins which were overflowing. Now I'm relaxing on the sofa while DH cooks dinner (he was relaxing while I did the laundry and bin emptying so fair's fair).

HairyHandofDartmoor

I forgot to mention that we bought a Christmas present for stepdad and fiancee at the Christmas food fair as they had a few gift stalls too. It was £25, so £5 over budget, but an unusual item which we think they will like. I was wondering what on earth to get them so it's good to get that one in the bag!

So two Christmas presents are bought which is a start. I only buy presents for people who live locally as I don't want to spend loads on postage, so relatives who live further away get a voucher or similar. As my budget is £10 per person it would be silly to spend £3 on postage.

I don't need cards, wrapping paper, gift tags, or Christmas serviettes as all of those were purchased in the January sales :money:. But I do need to crack on with buying the other presents.

beanielou

So glad that you had a lovely day

Onebrokelady

Your day sounded lovely, there has been a Christmas craft thing advertised at Nightshayes Court on FB that I would have loved to go to but because I don't drive I can't get there, our local Christmas market is open now though and that's quite pretty so I will be going there
Good to see you got a pressy while you were there,I find my mum and dad the hardest to buy for, last year I managed to find their presents first so that took some pressure off, this year I'm doing the something to read, something to eat and some smellies in a gift bag, they are going to my sisters so will be taking their presents with them

HairyHandofDartmoor

Onebrokelady wrote: »

Your day sounded lovely, there has been a Christmas craft thing advertised at Nightshayes Court on FB that I would have loved to go to but because I don't drive I can't get there, our local Christmas market is open now though and that's quite pretty so I will be going there
Good to see you got a pressy while you were there,I find my mum and dad the hardest to buy for, last year I managed to find their presents first so that took some pressure off, this year I'm doing the something to read, something to eat and some smellies in a gift bag, they are going to my sisters so will be taking their presents with them

That's the one we went to. It's a shame you can't get there by bus. I hope you get to your local Christmas market.

elizabethhull

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

Since getting home I've put a wash on and hung it to dry on our two clothes horses and emptied the kitchen bins which were overflowing..

I love hearing you talk about your TWO clothes horses - what a good buy that second one was !

Glad to hear of the Xmassy feeling too. My family all pass round lists, and my friends generally get nice things to eat.

A group of us (4 couples) have exchanged edible presents for a few years but since one was widowed he finds the present-selecting a trial. So, at his instigation, we are all giving to charity instead. This is all very noble, but I'd ALREADY bought the presents and some very cheap pretty bags. So 3 friends of mine are getting a one-off non-reciprocal present this year !!!

[Deleted User]

elizabethhull wrote: »

I love hearing you talk about your TWO clothes horses - what a good buy that second one was !

Glad to hear of the Xmassy feeling too. My family all pass round lists, and my friends generally get nice things to eat.

A group of us (4 couples) have exchanged edible presents for a few years but since one was widowed he finds the present-selecting a trial. So, at his instigation, we are all giving to charity instead. This is all very noble, but I'd ALREADY bought the presents and some very cheap pretty bags. So 3 friends of mine are getting a one-off non-reciprocal present this year !!!

I agree that having 2 clothes horses must be invaluable but I often wonder, HHOD, why you don't have clothes lines in your garden. There's nothing like seeing lines of lovely clean washing flapping in the breeze on a nice sunny day (IF we ever get any sun:rotfl:). Things dry so much quicker. Quick, cheap and easy to install, plus, with more drying area you wouldn't need to be using the washing machine so frequently if yours takes bigger loads at a time. All very:money:


Elizabeth, shame about the edible gift exchange you enjoyed with your friends. I agree about charity giving instead being a noble gesture but there's probably still a place for small gifts too. Maybe your widower friend could do the charity 'thing' (Christmas must be a very difficult time for him) but it shouldn't cause the rest of you (6 people after all) to completely reset your tradition. You could always donate something to charity as well as giving some teeny weeny foodie treat to friends.

Willowtree222

What a lovely day Hairy. That sounds amazing x