December Frugals

[Yppej]

I am keeping my Christmas spending reasonable. Yesterday an envelope was passed around at work to buy a gift for an executive I have never met. The woman next to me and I passed it on without contributing. I also gave a minimal donation towards the boss's gift. I think this whole idea is backwards. In our society income is increasingly unequal, and people at the top expense their gifts to subordinates, yet the rank and file are expected to pay out of pocket for gifts for those at the top. This happened at my previous compsny also. It's like vestiges of a political patronage system where you're paying to get a job in a way.

[danna]

rosarugosa--what are Stuffing Dumplings--sounds so good!

[rosarugosa]

Danna: He said he googled a couple of recipes, but I gather the gist of it was that he made stuffing per package directions, then used egg as a binder and rolled the concoction into little balls and dropped them into the soup. It was wicked good!

[JaneV2.0]

I am keeping my Christmas spending reasonable. Yesterday an envelope was passed around at work to buy a gift for an executive I have never met. The woman next to me and I passed it on without contributing. I also gave a minimal donation towards the boss's gift. I think this whole idea is backwards. In our society income is increasingly unequal, and people at the top expense their gifts to subordinates, yet the rank and file are expected to pay out of pocket for gifts for those at the top. This happened at my previous compsny also. It's like vestiges of a political patronage system where you're paying to get a job in a way.

It's a trend; see the Republicans' tax plan. Tribute, or something.

[SteveinMN]

Enjoyed a free movie from the library last night, "Hidden Figures." It was great!

That is an excellent movie, rosa! And free is even better.

This has not been a frugal month. Let's see what I can come up with now that we're halfway through...

- It's my birthday month, so I've been getting a number of "special offers" from businesses I patronize. The tricky bit is to take advantage of them without spending money we otherwise would not have spent. I did get a $5 coupon from Ace Hardware that won't be hard to spend; I have a running list for the hardware store. I got a free night from Redbox (though I haven't seen anything there lately I want to spend the time to watch). "Thanks, but, umm..."
- DW and I had the stomach bug that's been going around, so that's about three days we didn't eat or drink much of anything. That saved money on this week's grocery budget.
- I did have a computer repair for which I was quoted a charge of $X. I gritted my teeth and paid (the problem was my fault and I can't replace the computer for the cost of fixing it). While paying this month's CC bill, however, I discovered I was charged twice for the repair (I know how this happened; nothing nefarious, just sloppy). An hour-long call to the service provider later, they told me that both $X charges were incorrect; the final charge would be $X/2! Not sure why that is, but I told them I was quoted and expected a bill of $X and they said, "Well, it's going to be X/2; we'd rather overestimate". I guess I would rather they did, too.

Beyond that, I got nothin'. A fair amount of free time this month has been devoted to getting done financial stuff that has to be done by year-end (HCRA filings, etc.) so they're not frugal now (maybe not ever) but they have to get done. Ah, December!

[rosarugosa]

I decked my halls with free holly and boxwood from the garden. Sister helped me work on basement clean out yesterday. We brought a bunch of donations to Saver's. We did go in and look around, but I did not buy anything.
I've been able to spend a lot more time with Mom and Sister since retirement, which is great!

[Yppej]

Time not money is wonderful.

A friend of mine gave me homemade baklava I will take for Christmas dinner instead of buying something.

[iris lilies]

I am keeping my Christmas spending reasonable. Yesterday an envelope was passed around at work to buy a gift for an executive I have never met. The woman next to me and I passed it on without contributing. I also gave a minimal donation towards the boss's gift. I think this whole idea is backwards. In our society income is increasingly unequal, and people at the top expense their gifts to subordinates, yet the rank and file are expected to pay out of pocket for gifts for those at the top. This happened at my previous compsny also. It's like vestiges of a political patronage system where you're paying to get a job in a way.

Someone at your place of work doesnt understand social niceties.

At work, gifts always are to flow downwards, not upwards.

The Goody-Two Shoes/brown noser has decided to appoint herself the gatherer of money for gifting the boss. Someone should be embarrassed and get her to stop.

[Yppej]

There are actually two bosses they collect for. I donated a token sum to the one I do know and report to. Today those who contributed got to sign the card so he can see who gave and who didn't. And I have heard in return I might get something like a candle I will not use. It's stupid.

The bigger boss doesn't need anything and finally a few years ago told people to donate what they collect to an animal charity in his name.

[iris lilies]

There are actually two bosses they collect for. I donated a token sum to the one I do know and report to. Today those who contributed got to sign the card so he can see who gave and who didn't. And I have heard in return I might get something like a candle I will not use. It's stupid.

The bigger boss doesn't need anything and finally a few years ago told people to donate what they collect to an animal charity in his name.

Ah yes, that was another nasty little tradition I stopped cold in my department, allowing only those who put money into the envelope to sign the card.

Actually, after a while, I didnt let anyone circulate an envelope to collect money at all, regardless of who it was for.