Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - it's the 2024 Christmas chatter thread!

mandco

Spendless wow words fail me what a callous act from dil she’s obviously been planning it for a while without any intention of trying to work things out  I can only imagine how hurt ds and the rest of you must be feeling right now.

princesskitty. I think life is often more hectic as they get older yes they dont need as much intensive 1-1 as they did but the days get filled with activities /clubs travelling here & there etc and the time just gets swallowed up. 

I m guilty of going mia in times but always come back to the thread so glad it’s still going so thank you for keeping it running which I’m sure isn’t easy at times.

dd is doing much better thanks 

I booked a local glow event for mid December today - figured the 1st weekend & Xmas weekend will be extra busy and taz doesnt do too well with large crowds so hoping the middle one will be manageable but I know he’ll absolutely love it.

Spendless

Thank you. I can't get my head round what DIL has done so no idea how DS is coping with it. DH asked him if he'd ever seen any inkling of her behaving this way  previously and DS said No and he's known her since he was 18, always lived in the same accommodation and been in a relationship with her for nearly 4 years. It's so strange.

On a different front - never underestimate the power of a goodie bag. On my recent trip to the US all the trade stands at the conference had freebies to attract people. Items varied;  pens, notebooks, lip balms, t-shirts, power chargers, cuddly toys, mini first aid kits, travel mugs. I made up 4 for my workmates using giveaway canvas totebags to put items in. The 4 weren't identical but I tried to make them equal. I gave them on my first day back (saying they were freebies). Unknown to me our boss was aware. This week I was called into the office and offered a permanent role where I am currently temping. The boss had said to one of my workmates that what she really liked about me was that I'd fetched them all back goodie bags from my hol which showed I had thought about them.

Also I looked at the clearance section at my nearest Boots the other day. They had Ted Baker deodorant again but I'm sure it's at a higher price than I originally paid for one for DS a couple of months ago, so left until I check out usual price. They also had a see through case decorated with butterflies. It was this one showing OOS online which had been reduced to £5 https://www.boots.com/boots-butterfly-square-clear-bag-10324762
I am a complete sucker for anything clear or that comes labelled with a slogan of contents so not currently sure if I'm keeping or gifting it. 

Next weekend is very busy we have an evening invite for a wedding on Sat (ex workmate of mine) Sunday is Father's day, Monday my parents WA and Tuesday our silver WA. Am thinking of booking the dog at the play park and taking my parents and then eating back here with DS & DD for Father's day and then the 6 of us eating out for our WA and paying for my parents meals as their WA gift. Think it may solve don't really know what to buy my Dad and also puts no financial  pressure on DS & DD. Will talk it all through with DH later. Once that is over other than DH's Godson's wedding in early July, nothing happens until Sept when it is Nan's birthday.

princesskitty29

We’ve had a busy weekend here, DS2 had a football tournament on Saturday morning then we went to our towns family fun day. Yesterday we took the boys to Waterstones to spend some vouchers that they had then we had lunch at Pizza Express with some Tesco vouchers, and then we went to my in laws for the afternoon. When we were in Jersey in April we went to Pizza Express to use our vouchers but we had a problem with the service (we waited over an hour for our food as they were getting loads of takeaway orders out) so they gave us our meal for free, so we used the vouchers intended for that yesterday. Essentially getting two meals for one!

I saw a lovely puzzle in Waterstones, the box was in the shape of a book and it was Jane Eyre, my SiL loves books and the classics but I didn’t know if she liked puzzles, my in laws later told me she does like doing them so I could have kicked myself for not getting it! I don’t know when I’ll be going back and it was £8.99 so not worth buying online with the p&p. I think I’ll have a little scour on the net.

mandco I wasn’t sure what the glow events were but I’ve looked them up and they look great! I might have to have a look into seeing whether there’s one we can go to.

Spendless I think for your DiL to not sit down with your DS and explain her feelings or give him a reason for leaving is pretty awful. If she was feeling unhappy in the relationship then she should have told him. I do hope he’s doing ok. Congratulations on being offered a permanent role, I have to say it was nice of you to give your colleagues goodie bags.

Coxy your walk sounded a bit troublesome at times with those puddles! I’m from Gloucestershire (I don’t live there now but go back regularly to see my family and I miss it a lot) so I hope you managed to enjoy some good bits of it!

mandco

Just a quick one Asda George online have some cute teddies reduced the £3 each https://direct.asda.com/george/toys-character/kids-toys/D30M1G1,default,sc.html?srule=g_price_asc.  I’ve ordered a couple for my Xmas donations box 

princesskitty29

Hi all, I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the sunshine. It seems to have gone from winter to summer in an instant without much build up to this hot weather! We celebrated DS2’s 7th birthday last week and on his birthday we had a party tea with family over, we had ice cream for dessert with all the trimmings and my SiL and BiL said they should make sundaes at home, so it gave me the idea to make them a ‘just add ice cream’ hamper for Christmas. I’m thinking sundae dishes, flavoured sauces, sprinkles and mini 99 Flakes etc. I would also add a Tesco voucher to buy ice cream with as that is where they shop. I noticed in this weeks Aldi special buys brochure a preview for the 5th July and there were ice cream dishes in the picture so I will see if we get any in our store.

I got some Pringles from Tesco this morning on offer at £1.45 and the date on them is July 2025, I’m tempted to get some and start my food stash for Christmas as they’re not often that cheap or is it a bit too soon??

Honestly, we’re in a heatwave in June and all I can focus on is Christmas! But that is why this thread is here right?!

mandco thanks for the heads up about the Asda reductions.

mandco

Princesskitty belated birthday wishes to ds sounds like you had a great day 
the ice cream hamper sounds like a great idea - I did a milkshake one for did a couple of years ago and had so much trouble funding milkshake glasses as I’d left it so late in the year now is definitely the time to start looking for bits while there’s plenty of options - end of summer sales might throw up a few bargains too. If they can eat nuts aldis baking section often has a selection and they are reasonably priced- I like the walnut pieces on banana ice cream or the flaked almonds on a banana split

the weather last week was fabulous and perfect timing for us as we were at Butlin’s - lots of picnics  in the park while taz played football. This week is a different story it’s back to a mix bag and has been really cold the last couple of days - bring back summer please 

never too early to start the Xmas food stash as long as you have storage space & the dates are long enough - the original Pringles have been oos in my local store lately guess everyone’s been stocking up for the footie.

My Asda elephants arrived and I’m seriously impressed for the price - bigger than i expected I know they list sizes but I find it hard to visualise and so soft & cuddly I ordered a couple more. 

I was looking online in the sales/clearance sections and not having much luck on the toys front but came across some great bargain on baby clothes so decided I’m going to put together a couple of baby hampers for the Xmas donations this year going to do 1 of each in 3-6 months thinking along the lines of 

vest & sleepsuits
outfit 
socks 
Blanket
Comforter
toy

so far I’ve found a couple of outfits, pram-suit ( pink), set of sleepsuits(blues) and the comforters I brought earlier and nothing cost more than £3. Hoping by shopping the sales I can put a nice set together for around £20- £30 
any other suggesting much appreciated 

sammy_kaye18

Hello everyone! 

Another life got in the way moment but back again
Trying to be more conscious about how I am spending my time and find that once I get scrolling or on MSE I get lost for a good while catching up and everything else falls by the wayside especially on my depressive days so Im doing better now. 
As well as husband getting diagnosed with high blood pressure, FIL going through his chemo, niece being ill with some sort of mystery illness and yesterday my daughters guinea pig died (he was almost 7 to be fair so had a good innings as far as GP go) but it is all a bit mad and I am finding my way back here now. 

Focusing on daughters birthday at the minute and then once that is done - its my birthday 3 days later - but once we are out the way I dont really have any immediate family birthdays so I can focus on Christmas and now the kids are 20 and almost 14 - I need to. 

I used an All4One card that I found in a random drawer to get a few bits for my daughters birthday - a make up set in Boots was 2 for £7 and you got a free gift so I have brought her a few eye shadow pallets as she is just getting into makeup so she had those, a free nail polish and an eye liner pencil so that used that card up. 
Also she wanted some sort of fitness type watch and I have a fitbit but was given my Mothers old apple watch which is rose gold with a pinky band, so I charged it up yesterday and will reset it today, find a nice box and get it wrapped up for her and she can have that then. She also had a horrible mountain biking accident a few months back and when she fell in a full face helmet she split the front mouth shield part clean in two (tells you how hard she landed and WEAR A HELMET) so we have brought her a new helmet as her main present to replace it as well as some faux white roses that she wanted and a welsh flag. Her grandad has brought her a hair curling tong and a few cheap hoodies and her other grandparents have brought her a mini fridge for her desk so I think she is well set. 

I have been following a few people on TikTok though who make things early for christmas like food items, gifts etc adn ways to make money to put towards christmas so I am paying close attention to them too - plus I might have to go over my who I buy for list again and see if thats any different this year. 

Peppa537

Hello everyone, it's been a slightly stressful 6 months of the year so far (on and off anyway). Both of my daughters lost their jobs through no fault of their own. DD2 got a new job quickly then the next month the employer of DD1 went out of business. Thankfully she recently started a job as well and in a different industry that she really wanted. They both get weekends off now as well which they had to work before. In between this FiL fell ill and ended up in hospital with heart issues, he was in for over a week but good news in the end as just stents were needed and he's now fit and well again.

I bought my first Christmas present this week. DD1 likes a shampoo treatment that recently became difficult to get hold of, it's reappeared now and was on offer at Amazon so I've ordered 3 bottles to go in her Christmas stocking. Nothing exciting but buying a few little bits like this will save them some money.

sammy_kaye18

Peppa537 said:

Hello everyone, it's been a slightly stressful 6 months of the year so far (on and off anyway). Both of my daughters lost their jobs through no fault of their own. DD2 got a new job quickly then the next month the employer of DD1 went out of business. Thankfully she recently started a job as well and in a different industry that she really wanted. They both get weekends off now as well which they had to work before. In between this FiL fell ill and ended up in hospital with heart issues, he was in for over a week but good news in the end as just stents were needed and he's now fit and well again.

I bought my first Christmas present this week. DD1 likes a shampoo treatment that recently became difficult to get hold of, it's reappeared now and was on offer at Amazon so I've ordered 3 bottles to go in her Christmas stocking. Nothing exciting but buying a few little bits like this will save them some money.

@Peppa5
sorry to hear you have had a stressful few months. I am glad both of your DD have found work again and that they have a jobs that mean they get a little spare time on weekends to unwind and how scary for your FiL but again I am glad he is well again and on the mended if not completely mended and back to being himself now. 
I am hoping the same will happen with my FiL. He has bowel cancer and has had a stoma fitted and is now undergoing chemo. He is on a higher dose now and has lost his hair and it was draining him but we recently collect a mobility scooter for him (from my father who used it with his prostate cancer) and so FiL is now able to get out and about a bit better now thankfully. 
Husband has finally gotten round to taking his blood pressure pills as well after a week of procrastinating and refusing to pick up the perscription so I went yesterday and got them so he had no choice! 

I have been doing the same with my MiL and DD14 - there is a shower wash they both liked that was limited edition but I managed to find it on Boots so I have brought 6 bottles of it (£1 each) so will be adding a few to their Christmas goodie bags for them. 

princesskitty29

Well after my last post the weather changed dramatically! Welcome to the great British summer! Autumn is my favourite time of the year but I would like a bit more summer to enjoy first.

I was in Primark the other day and saw a Minecraft Creeper keyring for £1 and thought it would be a good stocking filler for DS2, when it went through the till it was reduced to 50p so I was happy with that. I was also looking at Mr Men stuff on Vinted as DS2 loves them and I came across a Mr Christmas teddy, he also still loves teddies so I got that for £4. I did decide to start our food stash by getting a couple of tubes of Pringles for £1.45 each, I remember last year they didn’t go below £1.65. I know I’m talking pennies but even the little savings make me happy! The dates on them are July next year. I am trying to be more mindful about buying decent second hand or reduced stuff this year to reduce our costs as our mortgage is going to rocket when our fixed term comes to an end in a few months. I’m also squirrelling away money I’ve made from selling things on Vinted and doing surveys so hopefully that will be a decent pot by Christmas.

I did pop to Aldi on Friday to see if they had any of the sundae dishes but the middle aisle was virtually empty (which it never is) and it seemed like they hadn’t had a delivery at all on the Thursday! I’ll try again this week but I’m not holding my breath.

It’s DS1’s birthday at the beginning of August so I really need to get into gear and focus on that now. Once that is over I can concentrate more on Christmas.

mandco I’m glad you had lovely weather for Butlins, I hope you had a great time. The hampers you’re putting together sound lovely, how about a little hat if it’s winter?

Sammy gosh it sounds like you have a lot on your plate with all of the illnesses and your DD’s guinea pig dying, I am sorry to hear about all of that and I wish everyone well, I hope they all improve very soon. It sounds like you did well for DD’s birthday. I too am like you sometimes especially with Instagram, I can find myself mindlessly scrolling! So I try my best to put my phone out of the way somewhere and leave it there.

Peppa what bad luck for your DD’s! I’m glad to hear they both have new jobs now but it is a stress to go through at the time. I’m also glad to hear your FiL is well again. Any bits you buy for Christmas now will certainly help when the time comes!