Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

Sun_Addict · 8 December 2017 at 9:26PM

Glad you enjoyed Stratford

It's a two train job for me even though it's not that far away.

Enjoy your cheese

Seasidegal58 · 10 December 2017 at 1:52PM

It’s snowing up here today!:snow_laug

Yesterday DD and I braved the town centre - OH dropped us off - he was coming with us but found it impossible to find a parking space so gave up and went home! It was mobbed out there!

I finished off my last Christmas pressies - a game cookery Book for DD that she wanted. It was priced at £26 but I had finished my Waterstones stamp card so got £10 off and a further £1.80 from my Waterstones rewards card. Also bought myself my 2018 calendar - made up of beautiful Erte prints.

Picked up iTunes voucher for DSis’s OH and bought two reduced price rather nice leather tassel key rings in a designer Factory Shop. These were £30 each but are for two of my closest friends’ birthdays which are coming up in January. They are both a bit “designer” minded so will appreciate these - one is a lovely cobalt blue and the other orange (the key rings not my pals!:D). Also bought some birthday cards and also some coffee beans for DD and OH and Christmas biscuits for work from a lovely cafe here.

DD’s OH and son joined us for an early dinner then we all went to see “Justice League”. Great fun - when we came out OH and son discussed the whys and wherefores of the superhero film genre and DD and I discussed how cool the Amazons were and drooled over Wonder Woman’s clothes when she was in her alter ego mode!:D

OH came back from town this morning and reported that the place is gridlocked again so we’re not attempting to go in and are going to stay all cosy indoors and binge watch the new series of “The Crown” instead!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!:wave:

Back to work tomorrow on the early train. Hope all the snow disruptions have been sorted out by then!:eek:

Scott_Weiland_2 · 10 December 2017 at 2:16PM

My netflix binge watch show of the moment is one i highly recommend Designated Survivor. I also have just started watching a weird Russian one on Netflix called The Sniffer give that a look too its weird but worth a look.

Seasidegal58 · 10 December 2017 at 2:51PM

Thanks Scott. I’ll take a look at these. The Sniffer sounds intriguing!:eek:

badmemory · 10 December 2017 at 3:10PM

Doesn't netflix cost actual money? I do however have a sky dish, only because any signal here is carp, & would never pay for it. The best use for TV is to distract the mind whilst jogging on the spot.

Seasidegal58 · 10 December 2017 at 3:22PM

It does cost but I get a lot of pleasure from Netflix so its
worth it. I also have Sky (though not film or sports packages) and Amazon Prime all of which I enjoy now thatI don’t go out in the evenings socialising as much as I used to.

Im afraid the floors in my flat wouldn’t last long with me jogging on the spot whilst watching TV!:Dw

System · 10 December 2017 at 3:27PM

SSG , so pleased Stratford was a success and you had such a good time. We live near the Trafford Centre which will have been crazy , bit like Westfield and Bluewater. At least you got in to the town and enjoyed a little shop. Good luck getting home tomorrow, my son is travelling to the capital tomorrow so hope you both have good journeys. If you are late for work you will have the perfect excuse. Enjoy rest of stay with DD .

HairyHandofDartmoor · 10 December 2017 at 4:57PM

I'm glad I went into town on the bus yesterday, shudder, I hate fighting for parking spaces :mad:.

It sounds like you've had an enjoyable and productive weekend SSG with all your Christmas shopping and movie going

.

Seasidegal58 · 11 December 2017 at 9:51AM

Thanks Cumbria and Hairy. We seemed to miss the bulk of the snow yesterday as it didnt really settle. Was a bit worried about the train this morning as it starts its journey is Scotland but no problems and it was on time. I’m travelling on it at the moment. Outside the fields are still very snowy though.

Have been musing about shopping habits. DD and I were sorry to see that one of the oldest shops in her town had closed. It was a rather lovely perfume shop that had began in the mid-19th century. It was an absolute treasure trove of perfume - every brand/type you could imagine - even the sort you can’t normally purchase unless you go to one of the very high end London department stores. The notice they had on their door stated it was basically due to online shopping habits these days plus a veiled reference to the competition that had opened virtually doors away - a well known discount perfume retailer. DD has always bought perfume from the closed shop for my Xmas pressie - for a number of years now. Her town also lost an old family china firm last year - again the most beautiful shop that had been in business for decades - it couldn’t support itself anymore. Also in my small high street where I live a well known discounted optician has opened a shop up right next door to an independent optician who again has been there for years.

BUT - I must say that I’m one of the offenders - I buy my perfume from an online discount beauty site where I can get over a third off sometimes. Same with my books - I buy all my novels online for my kindle (to save space as well as price) though I do try to support bookshops when I buy non-fiction. I buy my vegetables/fruit online with my monthly grocery shop and often top up at Aldi - but we had three greengrocers in walking distance of my home - one closed about eighteen months ago and one other will be closing soon. I think I’m going to make a concerted effort to buy my veg/fruit locally at the last standing greengrocer. It’s a hard choice - on one hand you congratulate yourself by being MSE by taking advantage of all the discounts and on the other you are losing the very things that make up your community.

Anyway that’s my musings over for the day!

redofromstart · 11 December 2017 at 11:04AM

There was a thread on old style some years ago where we did a January challenge to only buy local. I did it for a while but it was quite expensive and time consuming when the boys were little. All the 'local' veg box schemes have given up here, as has the milkman and the little deli in the village - so I doubt I could even try to do it now. Its sad though, and I feel very much for those who have little choice through illness, finances or transport to shop entirely in the local co-op.

Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

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