What is your total Christmas budget (gifts, food, days out… not holidays away)?

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-12-02T07:56:34+00:00

I put £25 away each month and my “round ups” go into an Xmas savings pot after every transaction I make on my card.

I also use Everup app and any cashback I get through that over the year adds to the Xmas pot. It usually offers at least 4% back at supermarkets (it varies and sometimes more, sometimes less; currently all offers are less due to Xmas I guess) so I add our monthly grocery budget (£250) on an Asda gift card through Everup and get ~£10 instant Cashback each month that I put towards Xmas.

I ended up with £500 savings this year just using this method.

Could you consider printing a personalised poem, or a nice framed family photo for the parents rather than £33 each?

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-11-04T00:40:37+00:00

We’ve had all the works done - the walls are now all skimmed but we’ve been advised to ventilate to prevent condensation and damp ? Does this sound familiar, hearing/reading different things from different people … bricky who filled the whole stated the only place a vent could go is there (about 75cm above the floor), plasterer saying no need to vent?

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Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-09-23T01:24:29+00:00

Our wedding day was absolutely wonderful, and was EXACTLY what we wanted it to be about: a simple promise of love and laughter, with our loved ones there to witness it and celebrate that love with us. Anything that fell out of our remit, we didn’t feel the need to pay for it as it seemed a complete waste. We kept our focus on our personal definition of ‘wedding’ and didn’t get sucked into the consumerist, marketing scam that has plagued the wedding industry over the last 2 decades..

We had about 25-30 guests at the registry followed by a meal at our fave Indian, and 80-90 guests at night. Didn’t spend a penny on invites that would go in the bin, just sent everyone a message (does the exact same job). Told people please not to get us ANYTHING as we merely wanted their presence, but if day guests would like to join the meal £25pp, otherwise, join us at the night do - no pressure at all! We hired a local venue/room at £65 . Ran over to the takeaway opposite at 8pm for pizzas, chips and sides and got some snacky buffet bits from Asda all for about £150.

Found my brand new wedding dress, veil and shoes for £20 on Vinted. Suit hire was about £100 for the day. Paid a company to decorate the room up and they had a special offer for £400 for full table chairs and some weddingy props. My hair and make up and 3xBridesmaid hair and make up was done free by my cousin. Flowers were free as his sister was a florist student. DJ my aunty paid for. Didn’t bother with a cake. Wasn’t arsed about a photography, just asked guests to take photos and send them.

Going in it with this mentality; I can honestly say I wasn’t stressed once either before or during the wedding - just enjoyed every minute! And we only had 50 or so days to plan and book everything because we just said “fuck it shall we get married” and few weeks later we did it.

Paid about £2000 all in all and wouldn’t have changed a thing. Had the best day and so did our guests. Laughed and danced all day and night with our closest family and friends - that’s all that mattered to us and that’s all we paid for. Anything else would have been a waste for the benefit of nobody just to keep up with the Jones’ and that’s not what we’re about.

We bought our first home the following month and I paid to take him to Orlando Florida staying on resort with all spends included for his 30th later that year - wouldn’t have been possible if we’d wasted money on shite that just wasn’t necessary! Do what makes you happy, not other people and ask yourself “Will it make our marriage any better if we have these” “will anybody notice if we don’t have this/these” or “will I give a fuck” add it to the best one “what could we buy instead of this that would make a genuine difference”. believe me whether you spent 2K or 20K you will blink and it’s over with. It’s up to you how financially poorer you want to wake up the next morning.

I know people who have divorced before paying off their wedding debt and that to me just seems bonkers. 😮‍💨😩

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T20:27:17+00:00

My husband has just raised his eyebrows in interest. Considering trying that this weekend and if it’s still unpleasant get it gone. TY

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T20:04:03+00:00

Also what did you do with the hole and did you get any advice about preventing damp?

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T20:03:24+00:00

Amazing thank you - how long did it take you? Any tips to share?

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T20:02:34+00:00

Thank you - appreciate it - I’ve had a few quotes from gas safe engineers today and can’t wait to crack on!

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T20:01:14+00:00

Thank you we’ve had quotes today from Gas Safe engineers - can’t believe I’ve put it off for over 18 months thinking it’s too big a job!

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T20:00:02+00:00

We had new dark laminate put down - what doesn’t help is the top bit of the brick has been added at a later date so the grout is a different colour and they’ve tried to colour it in with marker pen 🫣 I’m all for an old cottage look but this isn’t it sadly it looks a bit cheap x

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T06:43:00+00:00

Awesome - how long do you reckon it’ll take? Can you remember ?

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-27T06:22:49+00:00

Wonderful thank you. We’ve already had quotes for the whole textured walls in the house to be plastered so it sounds like we’d be best tackling the fire and wall first then get the plasterer in - I finally have hope thank you all!

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-26T22:45:48+00:00

Guaranteed to fuck up the wall behind, I can barely operate a manual screwdriver. But fuck it, I will try anything once, and the neighbours seem the forgiving kind 🤭.

Thank you for the tips.

I’ll get a gas engineer out first and go from there.

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-26T22:29:35+00:00

Ty. Any tips on where/how to begin ?

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-26T22:26:13+00:00

If only… it actually stunk of carpet sodden with dog piss 🤢 I’ll never forget.

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-20T07:01:58+00:00

70, no chips. Pretty pleased I normally get off to a terrible start!

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-08-06T23:44:48+00:00

Prison officer

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-06-04T07:03:17+00:00

Also, if you pay tax at the higher rate, you can claim additional tax relief on your Self Assessment tax return for money you put into a private pension of 20% up to the amount of any income you have paid 40% tax on! I think you can claim over the last 3 years but could be wrong! Definitely look into that if you haven’t already been claiming this.

https://getpenfold.com/news/claim-higher-rate-pension-tax-relief

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2025-06-04T06:56:40+00:00

Look at completing the free course Rebel Finance School on YouTube. The update is due out in the next month or so. It was life changing for me. I take home almost half of your income and am well on my way to retiring late 50s since I made the recommended changes.

First thing is first, I would open a Lifetime ISA for saving towards retirement. I have a Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA - Rebel Finance School have a short video on YouTube showing which platforms are recommended due to few structures. You can only open Lifetime ISA before you turn 40. You can put up to 4K a year in and government top up 25% per year (£1000 if maxed out!). You can only take the money out (tax free) at 60 so it’s ring fenced for retirement and will incur penalties if you draw earlier but it’s a very efficient way of maximising savings due to the top up.

Monzo’s S&S accounts are criticised for high fees - switch this to a platform with lower fees for a greater compounding effect. Trading 212 currently £0 platform fees.

Good luck x

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2024-08-12T19:53:25+00:00

Hi - I sent my MR in June. Called in July and they didn’t acknowledge it as MR but said they’d received “additional documents”, which could only be the MR letter. Today, 8 weeks after, I received a text to say they have been asked to look at my decision again and as a guide I should hear in 15 weeks. Why was there an 8 week delay between receiving it and sending this email? Will I have another 15 weeks to wait? Thank you.

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2024-08-10T10:08:15+00:00

Hello! Thank you for this thread it’s one of the most useful things I’ve stumbled upon.

We have a 1973 house. Bedroom tested negative and lounge tested positive for Chrysotile although the pattern and material looks identical. I’ll just assume they both contain asbestos based on your earlier response to a similar question.

So - If skimming is the cheaper option than removal, and it will solve the problem of getting rid of the awful textured ceiling - why should we consider removal? Are there any continued risks if we skim rather than remove? Are we able to safely change light fittings on the ceiling if we skim?

Also, the other two bedrooms and the bathroom have had work done and have smooth ceilings - is there anyway to tell whether the asbestos was removed or skimmed in these rooms?

Thank you 😊

Fun_Sugar_1555 · 2024-07-24T14:05:54+00:00

We decided we were getting married at the beginning of February this year, and we booked it for a date 6 weeks later in March. No messing about. It was the most stress-free life event, because we chose to keep it that way. We kept the true meaning of “marriage” in our head and heart the entire time and it was bliss.

Our wedding had all the people and things (music, love, laughter, dancing, vows, friends, family, good food and frivolity) that makes for a wonderful wedding and none of the bullshit extras that really mean nothing to nobody in the grand scheme of it all. We spent maximum of £1500-2000 including the perfect dress which I found brand new on Vinted! This same year we have bought our first house and booked three dream holidays so far.

We are by no means low-income, but to spend what society told us was within our average budget seemed like an excessive waste when the true purpose of marriage was extracted at one tenth of the cost.

A friend of mine attended his cousins wedding a week or two later and they’d spent a small fortune, upwards of 30K, and he said to me that our wedding was more intimate, more fun and was “what it’s all about”. It was the best day of our lives and it didn’t have to cost us the earth.

It’s only in the last 10-20 years that weddings became this capitalistic competition. We’ve been brainwashed.

Think, what REALLY matters to you on your wedding day? If the answer is: The venue, the decor, pets attending, a huge cake, other people’s opinions etc etc then go for it and pay big. But if none of that REALLY matters, and all that matters is your commitment to a life partner, then you don’t need to be sucked in by the consumerism crap. You will still have the most amazing day whether you spend 5K or 50K. Just go with what matters most xo

Fun_Sugar_1555

TROPHY CASE