Christmas is the ideal occasion to spend time with one's family and, in fact, it is customary to prepare lunches and dinners for others for the festivities. There is always someone who is prepared to lay on a spread for others. But it is also true that a single person should not take charge of everything, especially when it comes to hosting large families. The subject of this story decided to divide the expenses of her Christmas dinner equally with all her family members, including the children. Here is the story:
Caroline Duddridge is a 63-year-old pensioner living on £1,000 pounds a month pension. While she's grateful to receive this amount, it's definitely not enough to get through the month without worrying about bills and groceries. The cost of living increases dramatically during the Christmas holidays, and you always tend to spend more on food and gifts at this time of year. Caroline, however, has a plan that allows her to save a bit: Christmas dinner, every year, is held at her home, but to offset the costs, Caroline asks all the family members to pay a small contribution. Her two sons pay £15, her three daughters £10, her four grandchildren over the age of five £5, and the youngest £2.50.
Paying for their Christmas dinner seems to have become a tradition in this family: "In the last days of November, I log into my bank account," explains Caroline, "I check who has paid and who hasn't. After that, make a few calls to those who have not yet paid and I remind them of the deadline - December 1st. Although some make excuses or ask for an extension, in the end, all the money gets paid in".
Caroline strives every year to host the perfect Christmas dinner, opening her home and allowing everyone to use her utilities (including electricity).
"I know a lot of people will criticize me, but it doesn't bother me," Caroline stated, anticipating a flood of criticism. "It's not just about money. This way, the cost of the dinner can be distributed equally among all who are present. To expect one person to pay for the whole meal, prepare it, clean it, cook it, use a lot of electricity - it's too expensive and demanding for one. The amount I charge for dinner includes the electricity. I think it's the only way to do things fairly," she concluded.
In reality, many users do not seem to have been too critical of this "tradition", revealing that they the system to be fair.
How do you handle these occassions? Do you pay for everyone or does everyone contribute something?
