Five Things This Week
Friday, December 02, 2016
Catching up with friends that I don't see nearly enough of, in a bar we recognise from our more sociable days, that has seen many transformations but always manages to feel like the same old place by the end of the night.
Commenting on a Burt's Bees Instagram post and winning a prize. I didn't even realise it was a competition (didn't read the description properly), but was pleased to receive a back-up for my current favourite mango butter lip balm. It's delicious, and super nourishing, especially in these cold days with central heating and it's dehydrating ways!
Donating to a good cause thanks to Laura, who has been taking part in #hatwithaheart
The idea is that you buy a novelty Christmas hat from Tesco for £7 and £1 goes to FareShare and The Trussell Trust.
I have mixed feelings about these sorts of merchandise incentives, I can see the positive side, I understand why charities do it, but I can't help feeling sad that people need to receive in order to give. I had a mini rant over in Laura's comments, and then felt I should put my money where my mouth is, and donated the cost of a hat via Just Giving.
Donating reminded me that I hadn't visited Lend With Care for a while, I knew I had some repayments adding up, and decided to lend to another entrepreneur. I had enough to lend to two people. I searched for the oldest loans and selected two farmers (I'm fond of a farmer me).
Both are from Ecuador, one needed a loan to buy fertiliser and pay a labourer to help on his farm, the other to repair machinery used extract juice from sugar cane, pay three labourers part time, and also buy fertiliser.
I've mentioned Lend With Care before and this week I was able to help two more families without spending a single penny. By lending I'm able to help more people over time by simply lending the repayments to someone else as they come back to me. I can't even begin to tell you what a genius idea I think this is.
Going KonMarie. Again. I should've listened to the advice in her book and done the whole house in one go but I didn't and things got cluttered again. I don't have time to do the whole lot so I am just focussing on my office, which will no doubt return to chaos over time but at least for now I can see the rug again.
Also: Looking forward to opening my advent calendar, adding to my vast collection of Christmas decorations, planning my festive wardrobe, and pondering goals for 2017
So, that's been me this week, what have you been up to?
18 comments
Busy week for you then. I do agree with the donating dilemma, its a hard one to balance.
ReplyDeleteLove the declutter plan. x x
My office is looking a lot better for it, and it feels like a calmer place to work now.
DeleteSounds like a lovely week. Lend with Care sounds like a really worthwhile program. I will definitely look into it.
ReplyDeleteEveryone I tell about is sees what a great idea Lend With Care is, I heard about it from a blog, and hope that by mentioning it on mine once in a while, I can get others involved.
DeleteHi, first time reader via Janet's blog (Someone Somewhere) :-).I have never heard of Lend With Care, it sounds like a great idea! I have mixed feelings about merchandise that gives a small percentage to charity too, it feels like a marketing plot to me sometimes and I would rather just donate more directly. BUT it does raise a charity's profile, so it's tricky! I have yet to KonMarie or Hygge anything in my life, I think I would really struggle to be honest as I live in a small flat and don't think I have that much to declutter. Most of the things I would like to get rid of were gifts too, from family, so it's tricky/would maybe cause a marital dispute! ;-0 Steff
ReplyDeleteI can not tell enough people about Lend With Care.
DeleteI feel exactly the same about the charity merchandise, perhaps if the donation was a larger percentage of the profits I would feel better about it but it always seems like such a small amount. On the hats for example - how much do Tesco make per hat? I bet it's more than £1.00.
Urgh! Presents from family - particularly in-laws - are so tricky.
Hazel I totally agree with your point about thatMerchandise! I was having a debate with a blogger friend the other day about the exact thing. I hate when companies are like oh buy this moisturiser for X charity and actually the moisturiser is £50 and all of 5p goes to the charity. It's all about maki the brand look good while still making a massive profit!
ReplyDeleteCharlotte
I see why the charities do it - it helps raise awareness, generates donations, and in some cases people might buy the hat - or whatever it is - and not even realise they've made a donation, but it often seems that a tiny percentage goes to the charity, and this seems wrong. Also, if you want to give to a charity, give! It's not about getting something in return. It's so easy to get involved in small ways that don't cost a lot, and if everyone did it would make a huge difference.
DeleteLip balm is essential this time of year. I forgot mine at home a couple of days ago and my lips had cracked by the time I got back home. Decluttering sounds like a good idea. I usually tackle not even a whole room, but a corner, or a cupboard, and it makes such a difference. Donating is always a dilemma for me, as there are so many charities around vying for attention. You can't give to them all, so I usually end up donating to our nearest charity shop. xxx
ReplyDeleteI select a few charities to support and give regularly to them, but I do little things for others by frequenting charity shops and donating to as many as I can. Also, if I see a charity stall in a supermarket or something I always buy something or have a go in the raffle. It makes such a difference to those running the stall, only takes a few minutes and helps a charity.
DeleteI can't do without lip balm at this time of year, as soon as the cold weather hits my lips are in a permanent cracked state. It's great that you're still managing to help lots of people through Lend With Care, it's such a great scheme, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI can highly recommend the Burt's bees ones!
DeleteLend With Care is amazing, it always gets a positive response when I mention it here.
Congratulations on the unexpected prize!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it was a lovely surprise, and it's good to have a spare, I'm always misplacing it!
DeleteI read about Lend With Care in The Guardian ages ago and loved the ethos behind it.
ReplyDeleteThere's rarely a day goes by when I don't donate to charity - either by buying stock from chazzas or donating stuff back to them - but I'd like to do much more. The Indian PM recently declared 500 and 1000 rupee notes obsolete giving people until 31st December to pay them into Indian banks - as we won't be in India until 9 days after the deadline we've posted all the cash we have (£65) to an animal charity we support in Goa, hopefully that'll go a long way with their neutering, rabies injection and adoption campaign. xxx
Sounds like you do a lot. If everyone did just a little bit more it would make such a huge difference to so many charities.
DeleteI love this idea for a round-up post. And I am completely addicted to Burts Bees lip balm, it's a saviour in the winter months!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the mango but feel I should try a few more... ;)
DeleteThank you for taking the time to comment x