SKI-er or Sk-ater. We know how to enjoy ourselves

pollypenny

Had a very good ski-ing year so far - Florida for two weeks( in all fairness to stay with DS) then to Rome for the rugby! My first ever away match!

With the exchange rate the fund really took a hammering, but so what!

We've done our bit ( and still help the kids, I bet)

pinkpong

kittie
We have decided that the time has come to put me and dh first. We all have a good relationship by the way but why is it always that it is the parents who must put themselves out. If any of them need us then we bend over backwards for them. I am puzzled.

You re some lovely people here, but you do make me laugh. I am not even in my 40th yet. I don`t really have any family here, but what I do have is never been very interested in us.
Go and spend you money without guilty feeling you worked hard for it , don`t worry about your children, if they are nice they will want you to enjoy it whilst you can. I am happy for my in laws spending time traveling and enjoying themselves always grateful for anything they give to my kids ( which is not very much anyway) , but we don`t expect it, it`s a bonus. I do wish they were more interested in them spending time with them as the children would learn great deal from them. I guess we can`t have it all.

I hope when I am your age lot I will have enough money to enjoy myself.
Think of yourself lucky to be healthy and have the money - just go and spend it!!!!!

margaretclare

Pinkpong, we really shouldn't feel so defensive - it is, as you rightly say, our money which we worked for over a long period of time. I think we get it subliminally from reading and hearing all the talk about 'inheritance' from some of the next generation. So, spending money on ourselves has been dubbed 'spending the kids' inheritance'.

DH has now taken that steel-braced splint off his leg. It was causing too much chafing of the paper-thin skin of his lower leg and if that continued, there is a real risk of more infection and then we'd be back to the threat of amputation! I dressed the leg over the weekend and it has now healed up. DH is wearing shorts just to go around the house and garden, and he's getting more and more active, although he's very careful not to try to bend that knee more than the 20 degrees flexion he's allowed this week.

Got the window-cleaners coming today, gardeners coming tomorrow, DH is going to put up another section of trellis on the brick wall at the back (between us and next door) because I bought another shade-tolerant clematis.

Merrywidow

Thanks Pinkpong - enjoy is the operative word. All us 'oldies' had a much tougher time when we were just married and starting out. We all scrimpted (?)and saved and economised to pay the mortgage and the bills. Kids today must also do the same to appreciated life when they retire. Make sure you have all the right insurances and savings and your time will come. I feel that children who expect to inherit from their parents are few and far between these days, so there is no reason for us to feel guilty.

lilac_lady

I still find it hard to spend money on myself. I expect this comes from having a childhood where money was in short supply. I've always saved, even it was just a few coins at a time and can't stand the thought of having to rely on other people.

This year, I've given away some money to my family and I know they really appreciate it. I'm hoping that I'll be able to loosen the purse strings when it comes to myself but I'm a contented person who has never tried to keep up with the Joneses (don't think I've ever met them!).

pollypenny

Merrywidow wrote: »

The only drawback to being single - SAGA crusies! have you seen the price for single people - its double that of a couple! Scandelous. I think its time we campaigned against this discrimination - anybody up for a fight?

I hasten to add that normal SAGA holidays rarely charge a single supplement.

Have you seen adverts for a company called Just Yours or Just You? They specialise in single holidays and I have two friends who have used them with great success. One is in her late 30s, the other in her late 70s.

OH and I have just finished the spring gallivanting, having been to Cardiff for the match. Came back to two phone messages asking me to do supply teaching. No chance! Planning next trip! :j

Francophile

Had a few days in Berlin in February, a week in France at the beginning of March and heading off next weekend to Paris for DH's birthday. Our tumble dryer gave up the ghost and the washing machine was on it's last legs so replaced them with a new washer/dryer last week. A fair wee bit of ski-ing done this month.

Merrywidow

Thanks Pollypenny - believe you me I am no wallflower and being alone is no problem. I have friends scattered around the globe and have twice planned and thoroughly enjoyed two round the world trips to visit them. I go on other holidays where I get on with couples as well as singletons. I am 68 and had two weeks in Tenerife in December and ended up knocking around in a group with a couple in their early 70's, a widow of 78 from Wales and a retired taxi driver from Essex. We had great fun. I don't think I would like a singles holiday - but I am sure that shy people would find them ideal. I would love to try a cruise and there is the crunch. A single outside cabin is at least the same as for a couple - and that is what I find unfair. When you consider they only provide half the food. Saga try their best to offer no single suppliments, but other companies need to try harder.

Merrywidow

Hi Francophile - Go for it - I too was planning some time away in Holland this month and guess what - I can't find my passport!!!!! First time I have ever mislaid it. Have searched the house from top to bottom but its nowhere to be found. It has had its own comfortable home in a drawer for years, but I guess I have been sloppy. I am still looking as I dread the performance of replacing it.

Francophile

Merrywidow wrote: »

I would love to try a cruise and there is the crunch. A single outside cabin is at least the same as for a couple - and that is what I find unfair. When you consider they only provide half the food. Saga try their best to offer no single suppliments, but other companies need to try harder.

My neighbour (also a widow) is going on a cruise in May with her DS & BIL and it's costing her the same as it is for the 2 of them. It's so totally unfair.