Noor77's personal budgeting thread

Re: Freedom in discipline

MissRibena

I know that wasn't directed at me, but I would just like to say anyway that I never buy myself or other people rubbish and I do think before I buy things, but obviously now that I am striving to save I will have to think that bit more, and that bit differently.

I don't believe that money brings happiness, what it brings is a certain level of security. And it is true (if very clichéd) what they say about the best things in life being free.
 
Re: Financial freedom

Thanks Clubman :)

I particularly like Woody Allens quote:

"I don't like money, actually, but it quiets my nerves"
 
re

Noor, just wanted to ask how the 80 euro in one day was broken down - ie how much on present, how much on food, how much on drink? Did you shop in Aldi/Lidl or did you go to Tesco/Dunnes?

I just find if I'm having people around that Lidl is the best for nibbles (huge bag of nachos for €1.29! - can't go wrong with that!).

Do you cook much?
 
Re: re

Hiya Bluebean

The €80 was spent as follows:

€35 - present and card
€20 - bottle of wine and bottles of beer
€10 - travel to and from work, lunch, breakfast
€8 - biscuits and cake
€7 - more flu remedy!

I do cook, not every day though..I do things like pasta and noodle dishes
 
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Noor, I'm not trying to offend you by the following, but I really think that 35 euro is a lot to be spending on a gift. I rarely spend more than 20, including a card. The only people I spend more on are parents + boyfriend, but brothers, sisters, friends are all limited to 20 euro or under. I know you say you dont want to come across as mean, and I appreciate that you like giving gifts, I'm the same. However, if you give a present worth 35e and also go out for drinks etc. to celebrate the birthday, including taxis you could end up spending up to 100 euro on someone's birthday. That is a lot of money.
I'm not saying for a minute to drop your friends, but perhaps you could reach a compromise? I think your friends should respect you more if you tell them you are trying to save a bit. I really look forward to my Christmas night out with my friends (see earlier posting). Some years we even manage to get away for a night and still spend less than we would have if we had bought gifts for each other!
 
Re: gifts etc...

I appreciate where you are coming from Bluebean. It was actually a Mothers Day gift. I don't just place value in monetary gifts, I like to give people more meaningful gifts too - one year I gave Mother a framed painting I had done, which she loved. I would give more paintings as gifts but unfortunately I don't have enough time to dedicate to this. I like thinking about what somebody might like, what would suit them, and I always put a lot of thought into something before I buy it.

I probably do go somewhat overboard at Christmas though - I spend about €160 on each parent, but they are worth it :)
 
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Fair enough Noor, parents are indeed worth it! The framed paintings sound great. You sound very like me, I love giving presents which I know people want/like. I sometimes spend weeks, even months doing research! Example of this was I bought 1 Christmas present for boyfriend in August, as it was on sale and I knew he'd love it!

Some friends/most friends will appreciate your thoughtfulness, but if there are some who give you the same present/box of chocs every year then I wouldn't waste my time on thinking what they would like - they're obviously not thinking what you would like!
 
Re: gifts etc...

I don't just place value in monetary gifts,

Then it should be easy for you to buy cheaper ones so?
 
Re: gifts etc...

Yes Clubman, but I would not buy something for someone because it was cheaper than something else if I thought they wouldn't like it :)

What kind of gifts do you buy??? And do you rigorously count the pennies when you buy them?
 
Re: gifts etc...

And do you rigorously count the pennies when you buy them?

No. But I'm not the one asking for budgeting advice either. :)
 
Re: gifts etc...

Ooooooh, cutting ;)

I was only making a general enquiry about your gift spending out of curiosity Clubman. I am endlessly fascinated by the spending habits of other people :)
 
ooh

I think we have a love/hate relationship going on here lol

Parents I spend about 50 each on presents.
Sisters I spend about 20 - 30 each

anyone else....well i dont buy anything.
 
Re: gifts etc...

Due to the numbers (particularly of kids) in our family we agreed a few years back to limit things to a Kris Kindle sort of approach at Winter Solstice time where each person gets one adult and one child to buy for with a budget of c. €25-30. I'd generally stick to a similar budget for other presents (birthdays etc.) for adult family members and c. €10-€20 for children depending on age. I'd spend a bit more on the mammy and wife of course. My circle of friends wouldn't tend to buy presents for each other as a matter of course other than for weddings, births etc.
 
Enlighten us Cushtie ?

Sounds alright Clubman, I don't know that the Kriskindel approach works long-term though. I've only ever used it in work situations and at secondary school. I take it you have no children yourself. I think when you do, Kriskindel might go out the window ;)

I think I am probably spending less on gifts now though, because in the past where I would spend IR£30 on a gift I now spend €30...probably force of habit!
 
Melybaby : I don't know that it's love-hate, but it does prove that money is such a contentious and highly subjective issue!

The next Mr. Noor is going to have to share my spending philosophies or there may be trouble ;0 Honestly though, it would be very difficult to be with someone who had fundamentally different attitudes towards money than you
 
Sounds alright Clubman, I don't know that the Kriskindel approach works long-term though.

It's worked fine for years now. It used to be ridiculous with adults getting crap that they didn't want and kids getting too much stuff altogether. Now at least each person (adult or child) generally gets one decent present. We have no plans to change this approach.

I take it you have no children yourself. I think when you do, Kriskindel might go out the window

Why?

it would be very difficult to be with someone who had fundamentally different attitudes towards money than you

Good point!
 
What I meant by the Kriskindel thing not working when you have your own kids Clubman is that presumably when you have little jimmy, johnny and jack you won't just pull one of their names out of a hat at Christmas and tell the other two poor souls that they might get lucky next Christmas!!! ;)
 
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