Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Right @Four_Seasons & @Betharooni, let's see what we can do. I am up for kicking some serious bottom on the productivity front. I intend to start off  first thing tomorrow morning with my regular mid-month budget check-in, then see which of the plethora of jobs I fancy doing next. It is my sincere hope that I will be back on here tomorrow night with a properly positive update! 
See you both there! 
F 

Sun_Addict

I bet Mr F is very popular at work with your homemade biscuits 😋 A colleagues wife used to make us rum truffles at Christmas and it was the highlight of the year 🤣

I’m in with a more productive week 👍

foxgloves

Oooh, I haven't made truffles for ages, @Sun_Addict. They are so nice, but I've been making fudge instead in recent years.
Another joiner-in for the Very Productive Week. Goodo! Hope you get off to a good start. I'm having an early night because I am totally raring to go already - Monday morning can't come soon enough (as I literally NEVER said while I was working!)
F

foxgloves

Right. That's me up, dressed, make-up on, a very large coffee imbibed & my Very Productive Week starts NOW!!
Chat later,
F x

CRANKY40

My sister and I gave up buying Christmas presents the year that she couldn't see her living room floor for wrapping paper and her four children had no idea who had bought what present. Until they were 18 I gave them better birthday presents which were more memorable and now that they all have children I put money away for their children instead. If the child needs anything my sister lets me know then she buys it and I reimburse her from the child's present fund. So far we've only bought one portable dvd player so this method seems to suit. 

foxgloves

Yes, I can see why that made you think about the whole presents thing, @CRANKY40. We used to receive lots of presents as children, but there was one sizeable one (often something to do), a game, a couple of books & then small things for under the tree......I have to say that even though I became a silly fritterer of money as an adult, I was as happy then to unwrap a 3p notebook & a pretty pen as I was with my main present. I don't have children but have always felt a bit uncomfortable in friends' houses where there are so many toys, you just can't imagine anyone playing with them all. One living room I remember walking into (a very long one) had toys about a metre high up the wall & protruding another metre across the floor. I felt a bit bad as I involuntarily gasped when I went in & my friend said 'Oh, she does have quite a lot of toys' - the child was two! My nephews receive some money from us & some things to open on the day, but we don't go mad with them & we never have. I remember one Christmas, my B-in-L watching his small son opening a big pile of presents & commenting wryly, 'I never knew there were so many forms of moulded plastic'..............& that's another issue, isn't it? There are plastic toys with good levels of 'play value' but there is also a vast amount of tat (particularly the 'craze' type toys) which will clog up the earth for ever. It's a sobering thought, isn't it, that every single piece of hard plastic that has been made since it was invented is still out there. 
I do think it is indicative of the problem when children receive so much they have no idea who gave them which gift. I always say to my nephews that I don't care how they thank us, they can write, email, text, phone or thank me in person if they are due to see me, but if they don't thank me, then they will be off the list for next year. They laugh, but they know I mean it, lol!
F

foxgloves

Ohhhhh, I am ready to stop doing jobs & to shut the curtains on the night. Such a busy day.
Hello Frugalistas, I'm pleased to say that my Very Productive Week has got off to a good start. This is what I've done on Day 1:
*Laundry (last load for this week)
*Mid-month budget check-in 
*Ordered 13 Christmas presents.
*Printed out my latest £10 survey voucher for a high street dept store.
*Cashed out my Prolific survey earnings at £103 & 20p!
*Soaked my mascara tube in hot water as I know there is at least another week's worth lurking in there.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch.
*Wound a skein of la-di-dah fancypants sock yarn into a useable ball and.........
*.....cast on a birthday present.
*Sorted out our Christmas & New Year order from the milkman & put holiday delivery schedule in my diary.
*Wrapped 10 Christmas presents (& crossed sellotape off my shopping list as found extra roll in drawer)
*Shopped a large festive gift bag from home so crossed one off shopping list.
*Sorted Christmas cards into a box along with last postage dates leaflet, address book, card list, stamps & pen. Also worked out how many more cards & stamps we need & added them to shopping list. (Yes, I know e-cards would save money, but pretty though many of them are, they just don't 'do it' for me).
*Emailed some info to my sister which I'd promised her.
*Perused Mr F's festive & birthday wishlist. I shall crack on with that this week.
Thankfully very little to do on the culinary front tonight as Mr F cooked enough butternut macaroni cheese last night to feed us for two days. Still not much heating being used. Thermostat only set for 18 degrees in the day, until the evening when it's 19, but it hasn't been sufficiently cold to bring the radiators on much yet. Hope everyone being sensible & saving cranking the thermostat up until it gets colder.......at least that's something that will help with the rising cost of energy bills.
Right. Time to go & close the curtains & then that really is me done for the day. Looking forward to Day 2.
Be safe,
F x

Four_Seasons

Today didn't start as planned, mornings sometimes are difficult (pain) but eventually started on my list, very pleased to say have crossed off quite a bit, all the "I will do that tomorrow jobs" was so pleased with myself finished wrapping xmas pressies or so I thought, then found a special cross stitch kit I am meant to be doing as a special pressie, I haven't even started!! still lots on my list so will be joining you again tomorrow. Have a lovely evening x

foxgloves

Sounds like we both got the week off to a good start @Four_Seasons. I am definitely feeling motivated to continue this throughout the week. Wrapping presents is something I find enjoyable, but it always takes longer than I think it will, so I thought I would start with presents for my family as I am seeing them early in December, then not until New Year. I can also save some postage by taking a gift for another relative who I won't see at all, but my sister will. Saving money so often comes down to being organised, doesn't it?
Sorry to hear mornings can be painful for you. Hope it is something which improves a bit as the day goes on.
F x

Sun_Addict

You have been productive. I haven’t been as productive as I would’ve liked but that was mainly down to today being my first day back at work, albeit working from home, after a week off and my inbox was shocking. I’m another one who prefers real cards, I don’t like e-cards at all however environmentally friendly they might be.