Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

droopsnout

donny-gal wrote: »

I like that for an Xmas day menu, and much cheaper than you can get an Xmas lunch here. If you are at home when we are driving through (either way), you will certainly have company if you have a local restaurant like that!
DG

Have a look at http://www.gastronomie-petit-feuillant.com/auberge.html

seven-day-weekend

droopsnout wrote: »

Any particular reason for giving it a miss this year?

Yes. Although we have been supportive of this English restaurant since its beginning and are founder customers, along with an English couple we are friendly with, last year a whole load of people came up from the coast and although we had booked nearly a year in advance our friends and ourselves were put on plastic tables and served last. Very last. Now I appreciate someone has to be served last, but the one lot of people from the coast were being served their main course when we hadn't even been given our starter. We had to ask for our sweets - the staff had started socialising

Our friends and ourselves felt we had been sidelined because the people from the coast had more money to spend. It was pretty obvious we were 'also-rans'.

Our friends are going to England for a family wedding, otherwise we'd have had Christmas lunch together.

droopsnout

Oh, how disappointing. Mrs Snout and I will be on a table for two, when most will, I'm sure, be in large groups. I hope we don't suffer the same fate.

Personally, I don't like being here on our own at such a time, as I believe very strongly that this is a time to be with family and/or friends. However, financially, this year I happen to be glad we are here. It's still miserable, though.

If you've looked at the photos of the house here, you'll have seen that we have a room that is just right for a large family gathering, and that was one reason we bought this house. Oh, what a mistake! In six years, we have had just one family member here for Christmas: my mother. Though we have had four friends here once for Christmas lunch.

We have been in the UK for three of the six Christmases.

Savvy_Sue

Well DS, if your surrogate MSE family will do, just say the word! :rotfl: I know to ask in advance what to bring by way of tea bags / baked beans / cheddar cheese / marmite etc. :rotfl:

donny-gal

Isn't it strange, even being in the UK, Christmas is not that exciting, we have the one son who will be with us. We go to the Midnight Service on Christmas Eve, then collect son from his tour around town. we pop and see the great-neice and nephews (2 houses) in the morning as we like the children's excitement at Xmas, have a nice lunch, but that is about it. My Dad has dementia and bed ridden, in a EMI Nursing Home so we see him Xmas Eve has he has no idea of what day it is, and upsets me too much on the Day, Our brothers (we each have one) are tied up within their own immediate family, and don't wish to share the day.

In Spain those who are there on the residential get together and make Xmas lunch between them after going down to the beach in the morning. One cooks the Turkey, the other the Veg, another the Starter, and then another the Pudding, and another booze, etc. The older couple always want it to be at their house as they feel like surrogate M&D at they are in their 80's.

We have a few friends we have made, but due to folk being on their own most are sociable, as for neighbours we get on best with our new Dutch ones, who want to try Spanish.

seven-day-weekend

I don't like Christmas in the UK - I actually find it very depressing. I hate all the hype and the fuss and bluster and all the useless and frantic money-spending and people apparently losing the use of their brains.

In Spain it's much more low-key, more religious and far less materialistic and I like it much better.

We don't have much in the way of family. I have a sister in her seventies, but she has her own family to spend the time with, and a brother-in-law just gone 80 (my other sisters' widower) , ditto (and anyway he lives on the Orkney Islands!). I very rarely saw any of my neices and nephews even when i was in the UK (with my sisters being so much older they are all a similar age to me) and I wouldn't know the great-nephews and nieces if I saw them. My husband is an only child so has none of these.

We have our son and his girlfriend, and my husband's cousin and her husband. None of us rate Christmas very highly. .Our son will be celebrating at his girlfriend's family - we'd like him here but neither he nor us can afford the Christmas air fairs - we've only had one Christmas together since we've been here, but none of us mind really. The cousin and her husband are coming out in January to help my husband celebrate his 60th birthday.

We will spend a couple of months (at least, depending on the exchange rate!) in the UK in the summer and will enjoy our family's company then.

My husband and I are practising Christians, so people always think we should enjoy Christmas but it appears to have nothing to do with Christ these days, so we remember him in our own way.

droopsnout

I'm certainly in agreement that Christmas has been taken over by the Devil - in the form of giant retail corporations and multinationals whose aim is simply to relieve us of the dosh in our pockets.

Most religions seem to have a festival at this time of year, but the huge majority of us (Brits) seem to have lost the spiritual side of the human psyche. Christmas is as s-d-w described it in the first para of her last post: a frantic attempt to keep in with all the family and friends by finding an exclusive gift at outrageous prices in an atmosphere of push, shove and fight for the car parking space.

I realised a couple of years ago that the air fares, especially for a family of four, like our son's, make it difficult for them to come over for Christmas. And so I've been trying to get the family (both sides) to think about us all meeting up somewhere, perhaps in Northern France, just to spend a few days together with nice food and drink. A grand family occasion.

Whilst one or two are leaning my way, the usual reaction is to say nothing at all, so I tend to conclude that they think I'm rather odd. (Which is probably correct, measured by their standards!)

Right now, we are facing a December of self-enforced imprisonment, as we struggle to get through to mid-January on 170 euros. I'll let you know whether this is better or worse than spending the month in a giant shopping centre.

I suspect some kind of mid-point would be better.

seven-day-weekend

170 Euros!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

donny-gal

Years ago, a decision was made not to exchange gifts with brothers, only the children up to the age of 21, I do it now as I wish to for 3 of the great neice/nephews I don't see the other 3. That left parents, who never wanted or needed anything, so tokens were agreed upon, to quote my Mum, "Just give us something we can eat and then get rid of, I don't need any more flutters to dust!" Now my father has no need or want of anything, we take him a box of Maltesers in each week as he loves chocolate and can handle those as they melt when you give them to him. This leaves our son (money the most needed plus some stocking fillers) the "kids", a couple of neighbours we give tokens to. For ourselves we don't bother with presents. Neither do we go mad on the food steaks, enough for a nice dinner, and things we like, but not trolleys full.

We invited our brothers to come and see us in Spain when we first got the house, and mine has a wife who has decided she does not wish to be friends of us:rolleyes: , so that is no chance, and DH's brother & wife who said they do no eat foreign food, in ex pat land!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: but would see us when we were in the UK. I think it is they do not want to buy a passport tbh. We spoke about it the other day and I said, don't mention it again, it would be rather hard work:eek: :eek: .

DG

droopsnout

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

170 Euros!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

It's all we've got left till I'm paid. Well, without dipping into savings.

Actually it's 130 in the bank now. Took 40 out this morning to do the shopping. But only spent 7 euros!!!