It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Wednesday2000

sammyjammy said:

She also made homemade sweets like choc covered peppermint cremes

Oh, that is funny. I just remembered I made them at school and then made them again at my Grandmother's house. I was only about 11, so 35 years ago.:)

MovingForwards

@Frugalista let it soak up some booze or juice, make a nice coffee or something and have a slice 😀

Longwalker

Wednesday2000 said:

sammyjammy said:

She also made homemade sweets like choc covered peppermint cremes

Oh, that is funny. I just remembered I made them at school and then made them again at my Grandmother's house. I was only about 11, so 35 years ago.:)

As a child, HM sweets were part and parcel of Christmas, the peppermint creams, dates stuffed with marzipan and dipped in chocolate and wee marzipan fruits - my sister used to paint those. 

The nut bowl was always there, dad cracking you a Brazil nut - if you were lucky - they were his favourites  

But sweets for Christmas weren't really a big thing. There would be a Quality Street tin bought, mum would be given a box of after eights or Elizabeth Shaws, we would get a selection box - usually a pressie from an reletive 

JIL

We made peppermint creams at school in the classroom. The teacher insisted we all wash our hands then hold our hands in front of us "to keep them clean "  to this day more than 50 years later I remember the shame of moving my hand and touching my face, and the teacher shouting at me to go and wash my hands and sit down at my desk.

I was the only child not to go home with home made sweets 😪

-taff

we started out with selection boxes when we were kids then graduated to a dinner plate of mixed chocolate things, maybe a Mars bar, sometimes a Marathon and a finger of fudge and always always a tangerine and an orange....which were always eaten last

Longwalker

JIL said:

We made peppermint creams at school in the classroom. The teacher insisted we all wash our hands then hold our hands in front of us "to keep them clean "  to this day more than 50 years later I remember the shame of moving my hand and touching my face, and the teacher shouting at me to go and wash my hands and sit down at my desk.

I was the only child not to go home with home made sweets 😪

Its terrible how something so minor made you feel that bad you have memories of it till this day

Teachers really didnt think about their methods back in the day did they?

We were out getting the grandkids their coats for Christmas today. I chose the grandsons and it was a hell of a lot of money. Mr L commented on how when he was that age he had hand me downs and I replied back then we all did, we were all the same. But nowadays a 16 year old not wearing the same as his peers will be teased, tormented or even bullied, in our day all our peers were pee poor

So yes the coat was an eye watering price ( to me ) but we agree that we are prepared to pay it as long as the grandchildren are warm and dry. Granddaughter was bought a coat just 3 weeks ago, from a discount store as thats all mum could afford, it ripped in a week. Im grateful me and Mr L dont worry about buying for each other so we can afford to buy what the grandkids NEED

Im sure our grandkids would love grandparents ( well they have those as well - blended families - not short on grandparents ) who spoil them with games and toys and mobile phones or whatever it is, Im still old school enough to insist they have good footwear and coats ( poor kids lol ) 

Brambling

I can remember my first new dress brought for my 9th birthday by one of my older sisters, it was a summer cotton one, duckegg blue with flowers, if I shut my eyes I can see it still 🙂 I'm the youngest of 7 but there was a large age gap between the first 4 and us. I hated hand me downs I remember 3 pinafore dresses made by a aunt, two bright orange and a red corduroy (it was the late 60s  ) I wore one after the other for years 

The baby in the family will be 9 months at Christmas she will be getting a car seat with money chipped in from both sides of her family this year her mum found a good deal on one but still too expensive for them at the moment.  Her grandma has picked up some nice good as new toys on a local free Facebook page o she will have toys but TBH at this age she won't know any difference 

Longwalker

Brambling said:

I can remember my first new dress brought for my 9th birthday by one of my older sisters, it was a summer cotton one, duckegg blue with flowers, if I shut my eyes I can see it still 🙂 I'm the youngest of 7 but there was a large age gap between the first 4 and us. I hated hand me downs I remember 3 pinafore dresses made by a aunt, two bright orange and a red corduroy (it was the late 60s  ) I wore one after the other for years 

The baby in the family will be 9 months at Christmas she will be getting a car seat with money chipped in from both sides of her family this year her mum found a good deal on one but still too expensive for them at the moment.  Her grandma has picked up some nice good as new toys on a local free Facebook page o she will have toys but TBH at this age she won't know any difference 

The baby ( 14 months ) has two lots of clothes bought from Tesco with a 25% discount He doesn't know about Christmas, he doesn't need GOOD shoes or winter coats as he doesn't walk outside ( pram or car seat) Next year will be different but we have x amount and share between, As the older ones get older and need less, there is more for the youngest By time the wee one is starting school the oldest will be an apprentice ( fingers crossed ) and earning so can buy his needs, then our pressies to him will be smaller.cheaper , and there to make life nicer . At the same time though, our income will reduce - pensions

its tough having parents alive, children and grandchildren when our income is being squeezed drastically. We feel we have to spoil mum, shes in no need of any material item, but the only older one left. The children are struggling with the cost of living crises so we feel we need to help them and the grandkids. TBH it makes me cross at times. When I got involved with Mr L, we were forever bailing out his ex wife - for the sake of the children, and now I feel we are bailing out the children - for the sake of the grandchildren

I was 11 years old before I was given money to go to a shop to buy something "NEW" for myself . I didnt have a clue, My neighbour took me and this was long before there were teen shops so you just had to find something that actually fitted I ended up with a brown ( and I mean poopy brown ) maxi skirt and a ribbed jumper. I must have looked a sight lol

YoungBlueEyes

I ring my aunt every Sunday night and the other night she was saying she's not sure about the postal strikes so she's sending my christmas box early. She always sends me the same thing - a "proper jumper" that she knits herself (Aran type) and a "good coat".

I'm rattling towards 50 and she'll be 90 next year god willing, but it's nice to know some things never change

We had chocs and wee bits of stuff in our stockings (well one of my uncle's socks) and there was always an orange stuffed down into the toe. We also got a shiny new 2p coin......

annieb64

I was eleven before I went to a shop with my mother and she bought me a new skirt. Until then all my clothes were either home made or hand-me-downs. I had several older cousins. My grandmother and aunt used to help at the church jumble sale so we also got clothes from there.

Can't remember my parents buying many chocolates at Christmas  but there was always a box of Turkish delight and one of those jelly orange and lemon slices. We also had Newberry fruits which my Dad loved. I always bought him a box at Christmas but they did become increasingly hard to find.