Before lockdown, I allowed £50 per week for food, cleaning products and toiletries. With careful spending we ate healthily and frugally (as well as feeding the family at the weekend) and managed to put aside a little money out of the £50 towards Christmas. This year, the focus changed dramatically at the end of March from frugal and healthy to buying whatever food we could get, at whatever price, with the result that the cost rocketed by 50% to an average of £75 (paid for on the debit card) with nothing left to save. There is, therefore, NO Christmas fund. Shall I cancel Christmas? Of course not....I love it too much. It's more that the planning will have to change. I'm stocking up again now anyway just in case there are more problems with the virus during the cold weather to come. I simply can't face the initial panic of lockdown yet again; the battle to buy loo rolls or flour etc so I'm making sure we have enough to last a couple of months in storage. If we get snowed in this Winter it won't matter !😊 The cost has been balanced out by not eating out for months anyway.....
Gift buying has been gradually reduced over the last few years. Now I usually pop some money in the children's cards, nothing for the adults, with the exception of my brother and his wife, and DD and her family. In previous years I've given gift vouchers but feel it's a bit risky to do that this time because a) the store might close or b) the recipient might be avoiding shops. My list this year will be minimal :) AND...there is no way I will be spending a whole day with DD at the out of town shopping centre this November like we normally do. We make a day of it with lunch out and come back broke but loaded with just the right gifts for the family. Not this time. More planning required, I think.
Other bloggers are so talented; making jams & chutneys for hampers, knitting socks, sewing lovely things and baking for giving. I'm not talented in any of those things so I need to get my thinking cap on.....
Are your plans changing this year?
It was bright and sunny this morning after a whole day of rain yesterday so I popped into the village to pick up my prescription. En route was the Acorns Children's Hospice CS. It was open so I put on my mask, used the hand sanitizer, and popped in to check out the books. I got these for £1 each....
When I got home I wiped the covers with anti-bac surface wipes and left them to dry. They will be put aside for 3 days before I touch them again. I really wanted to stop for a coffee at my favourite coffee shop but it was busy so I walked away. I'm too nervous of crowded places.
The sun is out so I'm off to peg out the bed linen. I love the smell of washing after it's been outside in the sunshine.
Have a great weekend everyone, wherever you are in the world x
We are the same as you, we have a verg good store cupboard and the freezer is full, should see us through any panic buying times. We have used our local bistro, we would hate it to stop trading, but we only go out shopping if there is a need and we don't wander around shops, it's scary out there.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is. Well done for being prepared!
DeleteGood work with the books! Just tried the e library and after 10 books I choose all had waiting lists for copies I gave up!
ReplyDeleteoh dear, Trish, everyone must have the same idea 💡 Hope you find something soon.
DeleteI really want to venture in to our local charity shop but am worried about risk, so I don't. It's the same with our Antique Mall. Love the books you were able to get. Hope they are both a good read!
ReplyDeleteChy
It really is a nightmare,Chy, and all about picking your moment to visit when it's quiet. There were no other customers in the shop at the time.
DeleteI use Borrowbox, the Elan library app to download ebooks and audiobooks for free. But I also buy from charity shops returning them after for them to get more money. I've stocked up on virtually everything so that when the next lockdown happens i can stay clear of the shops as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteGreat planning, Tania, we need to be ready if there is a 'next time'
DeleteThe sons will get the usual gift of money from us, and whatever I can make for them. This year the making will be beeswax wraps, oven mitts (or perhaps pot holders).
ReplyDeleteHarvey always tells me not to get him anything, but I always make him something. This year it is a heavy sweater to wear on chilly nights.
God bless.
The wraps and oven mitts sound brilliant Jackie. And lucky Harvey with a cosy new sweater to look forward to 🤫
DeleteHi Angie. It's been a funny old year hasn't it. I think Christmas is going to be a little different for a lot of people but that isn't said in a miserable way. Many will think long and hard about what they will spend/buy as it isn't quite the same thing without a good wander around the shops just before Christmas soaking up the lights and festive atmosphere. Money will probably be given rather than presents this year but we adore everything about Christmas so there won't be an real changes for us.
ReplyDeleteHi Cherie, it certainly has! We've never known anything like it have we. Even I was born after the war! 😁 I love, as you say, browsing and soaking up the Christmassy atmosphere in the shops so we'll have to create our own this year. Decorations, music, fragrance will be the order of the day.
DeleteHello Angie! I am an American married to a Brit. When we visit my father in law in England, I hang laundry on the line. The clothes and sheets smell so good!! Take care.
ReplyDeleteI usually give people my homemade soap for Christmas. You are wise to continue to replenish you stockpile. Having food and water is the most important thing, I think. I need to restock some of my staples, like sugar.
ReplyDeleteLike you I am prepared for the next onslaught if or when it comes, so I am prepared for Winter. I also think that Christmas will be different this year, I have made a start on some little gifts.
ReplyDeleteI think my Christmas will be a quiet affair this year, basically gifts of cash for my sons, the grandchildren and great grandson and cards for the few people closest to me, just one or two packets probably bought from charity shops in the run up to Christmas to support them a bit.
ReplyDeleteI usually buy the dogs a little teddy bear each from a charity shop and wrap it up with a dog treat so it smells suitably dog-food like to get them interested.
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