Evening comrades. I have been skimming the thread and feeling like I don't really belong in frugal world at present, since I am spending on renovations, and there is just very little I can do to change that. Until the reno is done, I can't rent the flat, and so the income side of my accounts is just down by over £2.5k per month, and that's that.
I am becoming ever more determined to keep Christmas super-streamlined this year: there will be fairy lights, baubles, tea lights and greenery (no tree); nice food for us, but no extensive catering for big family sit downs (I will offer cremante de Loire and cheese straws to those who come here, and take same to anywhere we're invited); money gifts to DNieces, clothes for DS (he shops and chooses, I pay) and naice chocolates and skincare for DS' GF. That's it for gifts. We - in theory - haven't done gifts for adults in our family for years, but there has been gift-creep, mostly instigated by me, and I mean to stop!
Very interested in the charitable giving question. I give to 4 charities regularly, miniscule amounts. My largest donation is to Centrepoint, where I sponsor a room. TBH, my giving is the minimum I can manage to keep my conscience in check when confronted with yet another poor sod in a sleeping bag on the street, needing help. I find homelessness and rough sleeping a fucking affront in a wealthy country, but I can't hand out tens of pounds daily to everyone I encounter who needs money for a hostel place that night. So I give to Centrepoint, and that gives me a tiny morsel of comfort when I don't respond to the young man with ulcerated legs on his cardboard 'bed' or the young woman holding back tears when she asks for help on the Tube.
In more frivolous news, I gave my new bag an outing up town to a restaurant last night, and had a great time with it! The evening was hosted and paid for by a friend, so no cost to me. I have made a date to take him out to a fancy bakery/café for coffee and pastries to say thanks.