Tuesday, December 23, 2008

the calm before christmas

Back from a festive trip up north to visit MC's family. Fortunately they are a fab clan - although manoeuvring the car in/out of the carefully landscaped driveway under the watchful eye of Mr MC is still scarier than any of my driving tests ever were.

MC and I spent what little time we had alone engaged in some hardcore heart-to-hearts, discussing that rather tedious yet hardy perennial of a bugbear: money. As with the rest of the world right now, it's a concern to say the least... And throwing a medium-sized wedding into the mix for 2009 hasn't helped our fragile peace deal when it comes to the M-word.

We have rather different financial priorities, and I have been spectacularly scathing about his, without realising how hurtful it was. It's a nasty family trait, this poisoned bluntness that seems to come all too naturally to me in recent years, generally after a drink. I have resolved to try to conquer it with immediate effect. The art of thinking before speaking urgently needs to be re-acquired chez zuzula.

As for our finances... Well, we'll see. I am going to bite my tongue and respect the decisions of MC just as he is tolerating my ever expanding wedding guest list (ahem).

One thing I will not be doing is wasting any money on thrift books. I have been charged with reading India Knight's latest offering - and by page 29 I'd lost the will to continue. Not only does 'the thrift book - live well and spend less' bear the unthrifty (thriftless?) pricetag of 15 quid, for which one gets such pearls of wisdom as 'go to a farmers market' and 'use freecycle' (well, duh) but the endless plugs for other equally expensive books and shopping websites, some openly run by friends of the author, are eye-wateringly anti-thrift (?) imho.

Further more I question the medical science behind shoving a load of ground aspirin pills on your face to kill spots: and what on earth putting cider vinegar in your hair has to do with saving money is beyond me.

It is beyond annoying that stuff like this is being peddled as people face fuel poverty in the UK. Surely the satisfaction achieved by saving a few pennies from sewing the odd button back on a designer blouse is not the sort of thing one should be crowing about in public at times like this.

I have yet to check the best-sellers lists but I sincerely hope this pile of expensively recycled advice hasn't found its way there. If you really want/need to save some cash, don't buy it!

Rant over :)

4 comments:

almostwitty.com said...

Patronising advice on how to save money:

1. Spend less money. This unfortunately does mean:

a. Don't go to shopping malls
b. Make your own lunch
c. Don't go out so much. or if you do, go for cheaper alcohol. Or better yet, tap water. ;)

Alternatively, keep an eye on moneysavingexpert.com

And there are various books on how to have a thrifty, yet imaginative wedding...

zuzula said...

2. don't accumulate lots of £5 sushi dishes in Yo Sushi of a lunchtime! ;)

Unknown said...

Ooooo... what kind of wedding do you want? Coz I know of a fantastic little known place that is totally adorable and fairytale like and cheap!

No... its not mcdonalds! :-P

zuzula said...

aww thanks hon! We're going for a big rural affair on the coast - complete with smugglers inns and hog roasts!