Cupidopolis

“I am in a tight financial situation this Christmas as we had a ridiculous amount of unexpected expenses. I don’t want the kids to go without this Christmas but do not know what to do?”

First of all if your children are old enough to understand, you could explain things to them. If they are too young to understand then they probably have not yet understood the concept of our commercial Christmases.

However, if you really cannot face not buying Christmas presents for the children, you could always try getting an Unsecured Line of Credit. These tend to be easy and fast to get. However they are best suited for a short term loan rather than long term. Only take out the loan if you really feel that you can afford to pay it back.

Remember there are things you can make and do that cost practically nothing and will not detract from the joy of Christmas.

“My three year old watches too much TV! She could happily sit in front of TV all day. She throws a tantrum when she is not allowed to watch TV. So I have to let her watch it!”

You should be made aware that you are the grown up in the relationship and you actually know what is best. As you know you cannot let a child stay all day in front of TV. However you do need to provide alternatives. A walk in the park, help with cooking, reading time, playing with Play Doh etc.

TV can be interesting for them as so much is going on but you do need to limit it. Or they will become couch potatoes. Don’t worry about her throwing a tantrum. It is her way of trying to get what she wants. It will die down in a few minutes when she realises that you are not paying her attention.

“I’m fat and hate myself. I am a size 24 and feel like a big blob! I was not always so big which makes it worse because I can remember what it was like to be thin. But I get so depressed all I want to do is eat!”

Being overweight can be very upsetting. But once you have decided that you have had enough of being overweight, there are steps that you can do to help combat your weight problem. There are a number of suggestions that I shall list below. These will all help towards your achieving your goal target. The more you do, the better and the faster your chances of success are.

• First of all you may want to speak to a nutritionist. They will help you choose a target weight and the route to go. You can get referred to one from your GP. Alternatively, your GP may be able to help.
• Join a gym or dance class. You need exercise. It speeds up metabolism and increases your calorie burn rate. If a gym is too expensive, grab a friend and go for a daily walk of a minimum of half an hour.
• Cut out Junk Food and Fried Foods.
• Cut out snacks or replace with Fruit.
• Reduce your carbohydrate intake (Pasta, Bread, Potatoes and Rice)
• Increase vegetable intake (without butter or dressing unless fat free)
• Keep 2 pictures handy - One of “fat” you and one of “slim” you. You can use someone else’s body with your head on top for inspiration.
• Do NOT weigh yourself more than once a week.
• Sign up to a diet club like weight watchers or Tesco eDiets.
• Make it a lifestyle change or the weight will go back on.
• Set reasonable goal targets and treat yourself (not with food) when you reach them.
• Try competing with a friend!

“Money never stretches to the end of the month. I know you cannot help me because I am sure that you won’t give me money. But it gets so stressful at the end of the money I never know what to do. And now Christmas is everywhere!”

Payday Loans could probably help you through the odd month here and there to cover those stop gap periods when the unexpected happens. However you must not rely on the solely. You must learn to budget. Cut out those unnecessary expenses and start trying to save. Even saving

“I want a Laptop for Christmas. My parents don’t want to get me one. They say it is too big a gift. I told them I need it for school and they still refused. How can I get them to give me one?”

Your parents are right in the fact that a laptop is a big gift. Laptops are very expensive. Trying to coerce them into buying it for you is not nice and very disrespectful too.

If you really need a pc perhaps you ought to consider a desktop rather than a laptop, as they can be substantially cheaper.

If you are a teenager, you could get a part-time job and start saving to buy one. Your parents are more likely to partially fund a pc than fully pay for it.

Why don’t you take a look at websites to see just how large a gift you want. A good place to start could be PC World. You could also ask your aunts, uncles, grandparents and anyone who asks you what you would like for a cash gift to go towards your pc. You could also ask for individual parts eg a tower, a monitor, a cd reader, a modem etc. If you split it up, it won’t seem so big and you might have yourself a Merry Christmas after all.