A lightbulb?-Now MM's 5 in 4 challenge!

Lemon_Tree

MidlandsMum wrote: »

Hey! A honeymoon? You've come to the right place!

Let me know if you need any help!

does that mean you work in the travel industry? lol

I've never had to look for a holiday before so it's been trying to say the least.

MidlandsMum

Yes, for my sins I've been a travel agent for 13 years. I'm in the good position now that I'm a Senior Sales advisor, which means I'm trusted to do my own deals and authorise discounts on holidays for customers. Also means I get tempted by lots of great deals. I caved in and booked some cheap (40 pounds each) flights to Biarritz for us today on my 0% card and will get a 40% discount on a mobile home. I am feeling very naughty about this but I know that all in it will cost us less than 600 including car hire for the four of us. Sorry, fellow DFWs, but I really need something to look forward to.

neverdespairgirl

MidlandsMum wrote: »

I am feeling very naughty about this but I know that all in it will cost us less than 600 including car hire for the four of us. Sorry, fellow DFWs, but I really need something to look forward to.

I think that's fair enough - you need to some some treats, and a £600 holiday for 4 sounds like a great deal! Don't ruin all the good a holiday will do by feeling guilty about it (-:

MidlandsMum

Thank you! I must say, thinking about the sandy beach, the barbeques every night, lots of good wine and the chance to go bodyboarding again has kind of got rid of the guilt .Now I have something to diet for and it gets him away from the golf for 10 days!

neverdespairgirl

I totally don't see the point of golf - I'm with Dr. Johnson on this one, "a good walk ruined"!

The way I approach money is that not every single purchase whcih isn't food / clothes / accommodation is a waste of money. It's just important to make sure that (a) you can afford it, and (b) it's value for money for you. In other words, to make sure you'll really benefit from the purchase instead of just splashing out without considering whether it's the best use of the cash and whether you'll really benefit from it.

Sounds as if the holiday passes the tests!

I adore body-boarding as well, we are going (OH, our toddler, and me) with some mates to Cornwall in May for a few days to do exactly that!

MidlandsMum

Pah, karma has it's eye on me. Woke up this morning with a stye on my eye and the beginnings of a cold sore. For someone as vain as I am this is a complete disaster. Ok, so I'm probably going no further than a walk in the park and a trip to Asda, but still.
Work was bonkers yesterday, some website called TravelZoo picked up on one of our offers and it all went a bit mental. I think the fact everyone was desperate for a really really cheap deal kind of shows that everyone, not just us DFWs, is feeling the pinch at the minute. We're not half as busy as we were this time last year, there doesnt seem to be many people wanting to book their summer holidays yet, when January is traditionally the month we're at our busiest. (Not stopping the company I work for advertising for a marketing manager for the office, a new post paying in excess of 55k a year - How can they justify it?) I applied for the assistant manager job last year, only to be turned down as I had no managerial experience, turns out they were about to make another department redundant, give us all their work to do and swiftly employed the manager from there to be the assistant manager of us. Stinks, doesnt it?


(Ooh, and, if anyone wants the details of the holiday to book even cheaper than I have been doing through my office, drop me a PM and I'll let you know the airline/acom suppliers, etc It's 10nts in the Algarve, 15th April. )

MidlandsMum

I've been thinking. (Yes, it did hurt, before you ask) I have a very close extended family, as I've mentioned before, and, to be fair, they are pretty well off. Mum and Dad struggled when my 2 sisters and I were kids but in those days interest was running at 16% and their 25k mortgage was relatively big for the area I lived in. Dad worked his way up through the fire service over the years and retired at 50 with a huge fat pension. My Grandparents always worked incredibly hard and reaped the benefits when they retired too. After I told my Mum what was going on she, of course, offered to help out but I turned her down flat as I want to take responsibility for my own mess but I must admit that during my dark hours (you know, about 4 in the morning when it's running through your mind and you cant get back to sleep) I've contemplated taking her up on it. Do any other DFWs feel the same as I do? That even though they know there's an easy way out if they want it they want to do it themselves? They want to feel the achievement of one day becoming debt free off their own backs? I'd be interested to find out.

MidlandsMum

Well, Hubby's gone away til Tuesday, paid for with his birthday money and what he's saved. What a good boy!

So, it's just me and my fellas. I've cut down my spends once more this week as I've saved enough to pay my HSBC card payment (60) from this account and not use the bills account for it at all, it also looks like I'm on track not to be landed with any bank charges for next month too. :T (dont matter though really, I'll get the lot back soon enough. Like I did with the other 2k ) My catalogue is paid off, so come the end of Feb payday I can make a great big dent in my Virgin Card (hopefully about 2-300).

Piddling with rain outside, so any in-the-park frollicking has been called off. Bah. I dont want to go windowshopping because it will be a waste of petrol and parking charges. The kids took it upon themselves to tidy their room last night :eek: so that doesnt even need doing! I think I'll get them involved with making Sunday Lunch instead and invite the neighbour's kids round.

neverdespairgirl

MidlandsMum wrote: »

idy their room last night :eek: so that doesnt even need doing! I think I'll get them involved with making Sunday Lunch instead and invite the neighbour's kids round.

Any free museums etc near you? I'm taking my son to the Science Museum this afternoon, he adores it and it's free to get in.

MidlandsMum

Oh, yes, plenty, but we've hammered those quite a bit over the years.Plus, as I said, parking in Birmingham can be expensive, even if it's for only a couple of hours.I was planning on taking them to the Birmingham Nature Centre near the MAC but it's far too cold for my poor back and the little one has the snivvles a bit, so I've allowed them some Xbox time. I've got some peace to make dinner and clean etc. Terrible mother, using the electric babysitter that way!