Says it all really!

[Milims]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091129/tuk ... dbed5.html

I whole heartedly agree that those on a low income - that includes us - could do with a little more help and support and less ass kicking from the powers that be - but it's the last line that really tells where the need for education lies! A case for cut your coat according to your cloth I think!

[JulieSherris]

Blimey....

When Andy & I first got together, we were really skint...we could just about manage to pay his petrol back & forth to work, and the first few months were...interesting!

As things eased a touch, we decided that we would get married - went to the town & looked at rings - chose an engagement ring & matching wedding rings... a total of £120 from one of the pawn shops!
Then the wedding took place at Gretna Green - I think we spent a total of about £400, which was higher than our first budget, as I 'found' my real dad the week before the wedding & he invited himself - it was originally going to be Andy & myself & a couple of witnesses from the gift shop

We have absolutely fantastic memories of our wedding, & I wouldn't change them one bit.... cheap? Hell yeah!

[snapdragon]

nod nod giving more tax allowance would help those of us on low incomes (but not no income - where one can claim various allowances) - but!!! spending your savings on all that tax for a new engagement ring??? silly in my view

[Helsbells]

I find it really upsetting how life is made so much harder for the poor and low income people and that people with a lot of money get a much easier ride. I mean if you have no money or are over dran rn in your bank account then you have to pay the bank money, if you have bags of money then the bank pays you. Its very unfair for the poor people and makes their lives harder.
There are otehr little things that annoy me like how some very wealthy people somehow manage to get away with paying little taxes, and things such as if you have a second home you get a reduction in the council tax on that home. Why?

[old tree man]

Unfortunatly its always been like that, one rule for us and one rule for them, the rich get richer and the poor are overlooked, a story made me so angry, during the recession the chelsea team players have to pay for there lunches now............... my god how are they going to survive

[spitfire]

when hubby and i got married (1976). we had no money, (still don't )
the grand total of our expenses were as follows:
license 13 pounds.
rings, silver 10 pounds for both. ( i'm allergic to gold, it makes my bank account go all red )
i still don't wear jewlery to this day. seems such a waste of money.
flowers 12 pounds(2 small bouqets 2 buttoniers)
my dress was one i had bought the year before when i was a bridesmaid, it was cream coloured (did not need a veil, he knew what he was getting )
hubby had a dark blue jacket and pants, just needed a good pressing
my bridesmaid and i made a sponge cake, sausage rolls, and sammies, can't remember the cost, but it was not much,
6 bottles of "cold duck" sparkeling wine, 1 pound a bottle.
we were married at 11 o'clock on a monday morning with only the best man and the bridesmaid at the wedding.
we had the reception at our house, 10 people in all including us.
no honeymoon, except that night and we have been together ever since

[Stonehead]

it's the last line that really tells where the need for education lies! A case for cut your coat according to your cloth I think!

I get the feeling that they're not really poor. Like a lot of people, they've totally embraced the consumer lifestyle funded by credit. When they can't buy their trinkets and treats because the ability to maintain the line of credit has been removed, they throw a huge wobbly. It's not fair! Give my toys back! Etc.

I bet they have recent mobile phones, games consoles, large-screen TVs, fashionable clothes, MP3 players, go out regularly for a "few" drinks, etc etc. (And buy chunky wedding rings!)

If they changed their priorities, they'd probably do okay, just as many of us on here manage to do.

We manage to live quite comfortably in a house full of salvaged and recycled furniture, wearing second-hand clothes,without a mobile phone, MP3 player, PS3, etc, with just one, older car, not "going out", making our own beer and cider, preparing meals from scratch and so on. We might not have much cash and things might be tight some months, but I'd not say we were poor.

We're just differently rich!!

[JulieSherris]

..... snip.....
We're just differently rich!!

The mortgage has just been paid & we have around 70 euros until Friday left in the bank..... so carefully does it over the next few days... and then there's christmas to get through....

BUT....
I've just been outside filling the bird feeder & threw a few peanuts for the chooks... then got mobbed by 2 roosters, 2 guineas, 2 keets, 9 hens and 10 mini-chicks!!
Hubby & I stood in amongst the throng & had a 'I wouldn't change this for ANYTHING moment'

So, I quite agree!!

[Milims]

it's the last line that really tells where the need for education lies! A case for cut your coat according to your cloth I think!

I get the feeling that they're not really poor. Like a lot of people, they've totally embraced the consumer lifestyle funded by credit.
If they changed their priorities, they'd probably do okay, just as many of us on here manage to do.

We might not have much cash and things might be tight some months, but I'd not say we were poor.

We're just differently rich!!

That's just my point! For example we are in a position where we need to buy a car - unrelyable bus service, living in the middle of no-where etc - but instead of going out to buy and brand new fancy one on 20 years tick and paying twice for it, we are looking at buying a second hand one for what we can pay for in cash. It's still a car and it still does the same job, it just won't look as fancy - but so bl**dy what. It's just a real shame that these people feel that they must have then poshest, newest, latest and most expensive everything in order to feel good when there are so many more important things around!

[boboff]

I so agree with all your comments.

I am lucky enough ( harder I worked the luckier I got) to be settled with low outgoings, and low incomings. We qualify for allot of benefits I actually feel rather guilty taking. But it is only whilst my OH is training to be a Nurse.

However, it really surprises me the number of friends and family who all claim to be poor but as the Article says over the £16k a year, that have these massive 42 inch flat tellies. I would love one, but I would rather have a polly tunnel! We have a perfectly good TV, ok the screen in only 30 inches, and it is the size of a small barge but it shows me the TV that I want to watch.

It's one of the things I think defines the bulk of our "chav" friends, big telly, and have made at least three claims on their home contents insurance in the last year. Somehow Insurance for them is a savings plan simply involving a modicum of fraud every once in a while.

They all have I-phones, I-Players, SLR digital cameras, 110% mortgages, 3 credit cards maxed out, a car on HP, a loan for last years Holiday in Florida, got married in the Caribbean, kids called Britney and Chantelle, drink Vodka Redbull, feel upset if they don't have a babysitter once a week and go out with their mates, into Town, eat ready meals, have take a ways, and moan about the "Immigrants"

I want none of that, have had none of it, and feel dirty just thinking about it!

The other thing whilst I am on a Rant is Motivation for Self Sufficiency. I would say I am about 33% moral / conscience 33% enjoyment / healthy & 33% Money Saving / Tight Wad.

This throws up some interesting challenges. Last week I bought in Morrison 1kilo Carrots, 1 Kilo Onions, 1.5 kg of Potatoes all for 30p a throw. That is cheaper than seed potato etc and no work involved. Frozen chips are 79p for 2.5kg, they are peeled and cut. Now I appreciate the quality is so different, but my money "third" wants me to think about it.

I always said I wanted to grow ingredients for preserves as well as fresh, and these never seem to be that cheap.

How do you guy rationalize your "ishness"?

[Milims]

I
I always said I wanted to grow ingredients for preserves as well as fresh, and these never seem to be that cheap.

How do you guy rationalize your "ishness"?

I agree that it may not necessarily be cheaper - but when you make or grow your own stuff you know exactly what's in it, you know where it came from and how it got there. For me the main catalyst to Ishness was health - my OH had been on lots of medication which had an adverse effect on his health and I felt strongly that we needed to be more careful about what we were putting into our bodies. I'm no puritan about it - we don't go completely organic but the food we eat is made from scratch from mostly locally grown ingredients, delivered to us so that we don't have to travel to the supermarket and thereby not doing the car pollution thing. The other advantage is that not visiting the supremarket means that we aren't tempted to buy cr*p so that saves money. We also find that the food we buy is much tastier and so we are more satisfied by it and don't feel the need to fill up on other stuff - which again saves money. I've had it said that because we have local produce delivered we must be really rich! Odd how something that is a money saver for us is seen as a luxury by others!
In addition to all that - the ish lifestyle gives us a much greater sense of personal satisfaction and allows us to use our creativity more. We have a completely different outlook - for us a more openminded one and greater personal peace. We don't feel like we are constantly chasing our tails in order to keep up with everyone else and have more time to appreciate what we have and more opportunity for exploration and experimentation. We don't feel trapped by consumerism, we have greater freedom. I read somewhere that the more we have the more we are trapped by it - things need to be maintianed, kept clean, upgraded, renewed - the things end up controlling us rather than the other way around.
In short - Ishness is financially cheaper, healthier, more free, personally enriching and more peaceful!

[grahoom]

That's just my point! For example we are in a position where we need to buy a car - unrelyable bus service, living in the middle of no-where etc - but instead of going out to buy and brand new fancy one on 20 years tick and paying twice for it, we are looking at buying a second hand one for what we can pay for in cash. It's still a car and it still does the same job, it just won't look as fancy - but so bl**dy what. It's just a real shame that these people feel that they must have then poshest, newest, latest and most expensive everything in order to feel good when there are so many more important things around!

may I recommend a nissan micra - I have had two (the first got stolen and written off) - the most recent one - it's from 1993, cost us £300 (with 95K miles on the clock) and I've had it almost a year, it past the last MOT no problems, good on fuel, and incredible reliable!!! There are plenty of them about.

[Stonehead]

I so agree with all your comments. How do you guy rationalize your "ishness"?

We see no need to rationalise doing things the way we do. We haven't arrived where we are by indirect means or roundabout mental gymnastics so we don't need to devise a logical justification for our choices.

The OH and I have principles. We make fewer compromises on those principles living the way we do than we would pursuing more mainstream goals, agendas, lifestyles, etc. We're also happier doing things our way.

So, no rationalisation is needed or given.

[Green Aura]

We see no need to rationalise doing things the way we do. We haven't arrived where we are by indirect means or roundabout mental gymnastics so we don't need to devise a logical justification for our choices.

The OH and I have principles. We make fewer compromises on those principles living the way we do than we would pursuing more mainstream goals, agendas, lifestyles, etc. We're also happier doing things our way.

So, no rationalisation is needed or given.

Thanks Stonehead, I've been trying all afternoon how to say exactly that without sounding.....wel, arsey, for want of a better word.

You've done it nicely, so I've nicked it.

What he said

[Stonehead]

Thanks Stonehead, I've been trying all afternoon how to say exactly that without sounding.....wel, arsey, for want of a better word.

You've done it nicely, so I've nicked it.

Done what nicely? Sound arsey? Yes, you can rely on me to sound arsey. Or so the OH says...