Frosty the Snowman - it's the 2025 Christmas thread!

princesskitty29

I popped to Aldi this morning and found a couple of items for my BBQ mad brother, a BBQ caddy that you can carry around and holds condiments, utensils and kitchen roll, plus a burger press. I just need to get a few more condiments etc and that’ll be his Christmas present done. I know it’s not seasonal at that time of year but his birthday is Christmas Eve, also he is one of those people that cooks/smokes meats all year round in the various contraptions he has!

@PenniesIntoPounds thank you for the birthday wishes. 😊

@mandco thank you for the birthday wishes. That is frustrating with the Boots recycling! Next time I do it I need buy some stuff the same day as I didn’t make it back in time to use the points so I lost them. It sounds like you’re doing well with Vinted buying and selling! I listed a jacket on there the other day that sold the same day which is great, I just need to get myself into gear and list the rest of the stuff I have!

@Spendless I was carrying a Primark bag for a friend yesterday that split apart and spilt the contents! A hanger had caused an initial hole then it gave way from there so I think it’s definitely better to use stronger, reusable bags.

mandco

Spendless oops not quite the plan but I guess it saves buying him new ones now 
I agree with the refusing to pay for paper bags it’s purely a money making move - Primark bags aren’t great quality anyway so not like they’re reusable though I guess a lot of people won’t care and just pay it because it’s easier than remembering/having space to bring your own.

princesskitty sounds like you found a good selection of bits for your brother - now is certainly the time to look for those kind of items as they are hard to find or over priced in the winter.
thats frustrating with the boots point though easily done -I did a couple of times when I first started doing it so now I always buy on the day 
I think the weather helped with the vinted sales as sold 8 out if 10 items I listed the same day which I’ve never done before usually it just the odd one here & there with lots of favourites - its easy to use but I do find it quite timing consuming getting everything photographed & listed so trying to keep on top of it as have lots of bits to list

PennysIntoPounds

Aw that has brought a smile to my face @Spendless, bless Mr S asking if he can have his hankies now 

Spendless

Lol, I know. I could hardly refuse.  I used the Bon Marche bag too recently. It's not that big you'd get a loaf and a 2l milk in it and not much else however the bag folds down into it's own little cover which is press studded but this is the best bit, the cover also has a clip on it, meaning you can attach the whole thing to your bag inside or out. I have Mia Tui bags (bought pre-loved) so I used the key chain that's within them to attach the cover with foldable back in. Really handy. I recommend if anyone is looking for stocking fillers or to make up hampers as they're only £2.  

Mr S gave me his annual Love2shop giftcard from his workplace. I *think* there's £20 on it.  I've said after the last one I want to check how much is on it before I try spending it in the stores. Unsure what to get tbh, as my fall-back of something at M&S has currently got several empty shelves due to the cyber attack.

Also up in the air is doing something for wedding anniversaries/father's day. My initial thoughts were to take parents with us on a dining canal tri, then I lost my job, but I did see I could do a fish and chip trip which was cheaper than the roast dinner one I'd originally seen. My idea was to actually do this trip on my bday which is later Sept. However we're still waiting to hear when DH's mini trip abroad to Tennessee will be, it's the last mini trip he will do with them  as his time will end with this organisation after the conference in May next year and I really want to be able to go with him. The dates for this mini trip haven't come out yet, but previously it's been between Sept _ Jan and has included being away on my bday. The organisation doesn't know itself until all the finances are in from the last conference and then talks to the hotel about availability. That info is then given out at a monthly meeting, May's has already happened, so earliest we'd now know would be June, which might be just in time to book anything. We can take out insurance that would allow us to change however my concern is if we change once over a date clash would we still be covered if Nan took ill shortly before the trip and we needed to change again. Writing this all down has made me think we could potentially go before Sept so there's no clash but DD is going to be studying abroad from August and we don't know how much practical help we'll need to be around for this summer. Urggghhh! When does the juggling end - never it seems! 

mandco

Spendless fingers crossed you get dates soon so you can start making proper plans - I hate that being in limbo feeling where you can’t really do/plan anything just in case 
Hopefully your gift card has a balance this time & you can find something suitable to use it for. m&s still seem to be really struggling to get back on track since the cyber attack - goes to show just how wrong things could go if it happened in a bigger scale 

with the talk of Primark introducing a paper bag fee from today I was in Mc Donald’s at the weekend and while it doesn’t yet apply in England it came up on the screen that a10p bag charge has been/is being introduced in Scotland & wales.

cbsexec

We have paid for paper bags in primark in wales since the 10p charge was introduced.  It seemed odd as I thought the 10p charge was to stop the use of plastic bags?   I’m sure they have also charged for a bag in McDonald’s in wales too
for ages. 

Abbafan1972

Hi all.

Sorry, I have been awol for a while. Have been busy and have also been suffering with health issues - something was found on a recent mammogram I had, so got called to City Hospital in Birmingham - had to have 2 biopsies to see if it was anything.  Luckily it wasn't and was benign tissue so nothing to worry about, thank god!

Also, I suffer with terrible painful joints and I struggle some days to move.  Had some bloods done at the doctors, but they want to repeat it - my appointment is not until the 29th May though, as that's the first appointment I could get. 

My Mom is on about us all going out for a Toby Carvery on Christmas day this year - I don't think we are though as it's just too expensive.  For 6 of us it will cost nearly £400 and that's without any drinks. 

Speak soon. xx

PennysIntoPounds

Glad to hear it was benign @Abbafan1972. My sympathies with the painful joints, I have EDS and it's not at all fun.
Eek to £400 without even drinks. Fair enough staff should be paid properly for giving up their Christmas day, but well over £60 a head for a meal isn't a fair request for someone else to make of you 

Spendless

Always best to check these things out Abbafan. Hope they get to the bottom of  what's causing painful joints and glad to hear it was something benign mammogram flagged. For years I've had a benign cyst on my side boob (for want of a better word) had it checked a couple of times when I thought it had become larger/moved. A couple of years ago it developed an abscess, one of the most painful things I've ever experienced, so yeah best keeping an eye on.

Your Mum has been mentioning eating out for Xmas day for a few years now. Is she still offering to pay for you all to go? One of my adult children has no desire to eat out Christmas day  (we've asked previously), their reasoning is they prefer the quantities and personal choice of veg/trimmings that can be tailored at home (have pointed out that a carvery would cover most/all of this) but if I really wanted to go, my offspring didn't and they had  somewhere else to go to then I would just go me and husband instead. Would your Mum do this, just go with your Dad or any other relatives? 

We *may* have sorted out the canal dining dilemma. DD's flight has been booked and there's still an open date for   after she flies and before anything else will occur in the calendar. Just need to allocate the funds to purchase it!  

Spendless

Decision made and canal dining trip not abandoned but shelved for now. Various reasons, incl Nan and the possibility of having to do a last minute cancellation, uncertainty over whether DD will spend the summer at home or in London and if latter will need a weekend to remove her items after she leaves for USA but  before her tenancy runs out. The only currently available  date to dine without any calendar  clashes was in mid August  and IF (accepting it's an if!) the weather is hot that afternoon, fish and chips doesn't overly appeal to me to eat and the final decider was Mr S having to go abroad with work and will be flying on Father's Day and returning the day before our WA , so we want to celebrate just us when he returns rather than an event planned for the future. I still like the idea though so this is just a 'not now' rather than a 'never'.

Instead we have bought parent tickets for the local theatre to watch a play based on a TV show they watched in the 1980s that Dad had mentioned. Last night we bought the 2 cheapest tickets left that were still in a good spot, cost was £48 for 2 tickets. This is a joint present for Father's Day and their wedding anniversary so £24 spend for  each of the occasions. It's less than we would have paid for the canal trip and that was another factor in the decision.

My friend's son has been attending the Royal Ballet school since he was 11. He's now 19 and on the brink of graduating. This summer is the last year he will perform as a student before joining a professional ballet  company, so last time I can watch him dance  before I pay 3 figures per ticket for the privilege!  Mum was up for going and has given me money for her ticket. I've paid for me and DD, which meant it was too expensive to find the money for both these and do the dining trip. DH is driving us to London and since it's an evening performance the initial plan was to stay overnight hopefully using DH's hotel loyalty points, however that was before I discovered it's also Wimbledon season and prices rocketed! Currently unsure if we will still do an overnight stay or if DH will also be driving us back.  

Unsure if it's correct as I only saw it as a SM post but some were saying that some lego sets inc lego flowers have been reduced in some supermarkets, Asda being one of them. Might be worth a look if anyone is in one.