Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Lol, Wish, that's exactly the sort of thing I would do! I once dried off a pair of Mr F's pants on top of the slow cooker. I thought they smelled of chilli con carne afterwards, but he didn't appear to notice, so I chalk that up to merely being economical with a heat source I was already paying for!
F x

Dottles1

Ha ha ha....chilli pants... that will keep me smiling today whilst also looking at the wet laundry and the slow cooker....funnily enough I'm cooking chilli...

foxgloves

Now, this 'moment at the till' I had yesterday, which I said I'd pop back to tell you about. Honestly, unbelievable!! Before the gig, we had time for a bit of Christmas shopping browsing. We were looking for ideas for two people who can sometimes prove a bit tricky to buy for. One in particular doesn't like a house full of clutter & likes useful things. We've given so many toiletries & similar over the years, so decided to look for something different. So there we were in the stationery dept of a well-known high quality department store & we spotted a really nice diary. Bigger than A5, but not as big as A4. It wasn't one of the posh brands made from fake skin of moles or leather bound or anything like that. It was colourful & jolly & contained some nice features such as different stickers for various occasions, motivational quotes & a couple of little pockets for putting stuff in. Our intended recipient is very organised so we thought that as this diary also looked very nice & cheery, we'd buy it for her. The only problem was that there was no price on it. Neither did any of the prices on the edges of the shelves match it, so off I went to the till to enquire how much it was.
We decided to put a top limit on what we were prepared to pay. We decided £20 because it was such a perfect gift.......so the assistant ran it through the till for me & announced that it was £30. £30!! Yes, THIRTY OF YOUR EARTH POUNDS FOR A DIARY!!! Now don't get me wrong, it was a very nice one, but not £30 nice. I still fail to see how an asking price of £30 could ever be justified for it.
So, tempting as it might have been to say 'Oh go on, we'll have it' so as to cross another gift off the list (which I would almost certainly have done back in the Spendy Years), I said "Perhaps you can put it back then, as I think £30 is too much for a diary. I like it & it is a perfect gift for the person we have in mind, but I think you have to agree that £30 is simply way too much". And she didn't disagree. She said that if we visit the store after Christmas it will almost certainly be reduced, if not half price, but that was no good to us as we wanted to give it as a Christmas gift.
Bloody hell, £30 for a diary! My Nana would have said "Fancy anyone asking 60 bob for an old diary" - Good job I wasn't silly enough to succumb or I think she'd have jumped off her cloud & given me a clump!
So not quite back to the drawing board......we still like the idea of a nice diary with additional features, so will look in some different shops next time we're out & about.........or who knows? We may come up with a completely different idea.
Anyway, I must go & get my loaf in the oven or it'll hold me up later when I want to put my butterbean quiche in.
Cheers m'ducks,
F x

PurpleFairy26

I know you'd rather buy in store than online foxgloves But I've had busy b diaries before and they're great. I got my first one reduced as it was a 16 month diary and the (mid year) start date had passed. They have some very reasonable ones online. Definitely not £30!

Blackcats

Ha ha to chill con carne pants! Maybe a new body spray for Ly*x? The sort of aroma for pants that only a long term relationship would accept!
I agree about £30 but if I'm honest with myself I think I would have justified that spend to myself and gone ahead, only to regret it later. Last year I received a beautiful present from Paperch*se. A folder, about the size you describe, with a notepad, a smaller list pad, some stickies and a smaller scribble sheet pad. It has a pocket to keep things in too oh and a lovely yellow ribbon to tie around it! I still love it every time I use it 11 months after Christmas.
Any news on the poo? Only on your thread would that be an ok question!!

HairyHandofDartmoor

No way would I have paid £30 for a diary no matter how lovely :eek:. If it's the shop I'm thinking of it has lovely but very expensive things. I'm going to try and get most of my Christmas presents in charity shops this year. It will save money and be sustainable shopping :money:.

Well done on your amazing restraint in resisting running to the shops to buy something to wear :T. I very much understand the almost overwhelming temptation. Glad you enjoyed the concert.

foxgloves

Blackcats - Bamboo socks (& yarn) are lovely & soft, & sustainable too. Maybe the solution is to buy some when you next need socks, then it's not a 'fritter', it would be a 'need'.
I will look in 'Paperchase' as I know they sell the sort of planners, etc, that we'd like to buy for our family member.

Purple Fairy - I do buy online, but prefer to support our high street shops because I value them much more than I do online shopping. I've had a look at the brand you mentioned - thanks-& they do look nice.

HHoD - Yes, £30 was just far too much. It would have been great to cross off another gift on the list, but not at such a silly price. The intended recipient is good with money & I think she'd have been horrified if she thought we'd blown that much on one diary.

Anyway.... must get cracking on some jobs, especially as I want to be free this afternoon for progressing my research project. Cat has gone back to bed which tells me it can't be very brilliant weather outside, but no gardening planned for today.
F x

foxgloves

Kantankrus - It was Marillion. Awesome gig - exhilarating.
F x

crazy_cat_lady

foxgloves wrote: »

Kantankrus - It was Marillion. Awesome gig - exhilarating.
F x

I liked Marillion when I was a young 'un. Haven't listened to them for years though.

foxgloves

CCL - They were fab. I think Steve Hogarth must have a picture in the attic. He's a good bit older than me, but was leaping around the stage like a mountain goat! I had to google his age on the way home because I couldn't believe he could be as old as I reckoned he was, but have so much energy!
F x