What does being skint mean to you?

Willsnarf1983

lynzpower wrote:

that usually does it!! Not charming particularly, but i am pretty well liked for my straight talking - I hope!!
:beer:

not that they would tell u coz u'd just snap back at them

Will

dollindebt

Well, I suppose the good thing which has come out of all my (self-inflicted) debt and skint-ness problems, is that I do appreciate so much more all the other things in life I used to take for granted (good health, lovely husband and family, fantastic friends and plenty of food and a roof over my head). I am very fortunate and grateful.

amosworks

slash40 wrote:

i agree with most of the posters above. being only the middle of the month and having only a few pounds with which to buy food(including packed lunches), gas and electric:having to send the kids to school with nothing to eat and getting them to tell teachers mummy forgot and getting school dinners "on tick", not having seen a dentist for 5 years and not being able to eat certain foods in case your teeth break off: going to the hairdressers once a year - if im lucky and not being able to afford clothes even necessities such as uniforms and shoes.

Slash, I must be totally honest and say that your post really touched a nerve with me and bought a little tear to my eye. When I was much younger, my mother too struggled as you do, bless her heart, to try and keep us in school and looking respectable and did everything she could to put us first, she always came last. I really feel deeply for your situation and can only hope that things really pickup for you and you have some good luck. Don't give up (((((((((Hugs)))))))))

skint_manc

Not to be judgemental as we all have different circumstances.. but I look at people's SOA's on here at times and see money for holidays, socialising, drinks out etc.. often think, I wish!.. A colleague of mine is always crying poverty yet is having a garage conversion, a new car and yet another foreign holiday this year!

Being skint to me means not having a penny in my purse for food, household essentials.. not being able to have a holiday with my kids for many, many years (street cred would be out the window if they were seen on hols with me now!).. not being able to give them money for lunches when they were at school.. or even having the making of a packed lunch in for them having my sister bring food up for us which makes me feel absolutely crap, but wouldn't get by without it at times!.. having to use kitchen roll as no loo roll left and no money to buy any!! :rotfl:

I'm another with a cracked tooth.. which will have to stay that way as I can't afford to go to the dentist (probably been struck off as its that long since I went).. as for the hairdressers? can't remember the last time I went in one

Friends have stopped asking me out as I always make some excuse, as I can't afford to go out, but I dont let on.. I pay my bills, mortgage, debts.. so long as these are paid I can manage to live without.. its pretty dismal at times but hey, I've got myself in this situation so its my only choice at the moment

I've still kept my sense of humour.. (I think)... good job it costs you nowt to laugh

Chris120A

Pees me off when I say I'm skint to people at work (meaning I have ZERO money til payday, usually bills to pay too), and they say stuff like "Yeah I'm skint too, I can only afford to go out once this month" or "Yeah, I had to borrow a tenner off my mum last week"...

It goes without saying these people are usually students and/or living with parents.

Also pees me off when people say "Oh, I've got no money" and they mean they have no money ON THEM. :mad:

homersimpson_3

being skint means having no money for basic essentials - food, heating. not being able to invite anyone for dinner because you can't afford plates (even paper ones); having to use a supermarket trolley to move your possessions from one place to another because you don't have any money to pay a removal firm; not being able to afford to go out (even to cinema) or on holiday; eating cheap rubbish food which is full of fat and sugar.

could go on but whats the point, all it does it make me feel even worse. I get really angry when people moan about being skint when they really havent got a clue,

my sentiments exactly. some people don't know their born!

LookingAhead

I'm in debt now, sure. And I guess that means I am skint as every penny I spend just takes me further into the red. But it's just numbers on the computer when you log in to your account isn't it? They still dish it out to me so I can't say I am skint.....not like how it was when I was growing up...now that *was* skint! :rolleyes:

My Mum = single Mum on a council estate with three kids.

Clothes = pretty much only the stuff we could get for my school uniform via a school grant or what Mum could get at jumble sales...and they'd usually been passed down via my big sister.

Food = whatever she could get...oh & if you didn't eat all your breakfast it was going back in the fridge till tomorrow morning. :eek:

Heating = if you were lucky. In the living room. Bathroom & bedrooms would have ice on the insides.

Holidays = were what everyone else had not you.

Funny though, we were always clean, tidy, honest & my Mum didn't owe anyone anything.....now I feel ashamed because I have so much more than she ever did & I have racked up so much debt.

I have a moan every now and then but you have to keep things in perspective. That person with £500 a month to spend needs to go & do some charity work in Africa or Asia in my opinion...or even on a council estate in an inner UK city. Grrrrr!

<rant over!>

Willsnarf1983

LookingAhead wrote:

I have a moan every now and then but you have to keep things in perspective. That person with £500 a month to spend needs to go & do some charity work in Africa or Asia in my opinion...or even on a council estate in an inner UK city. Grrrrr!

<rant over!>

why? seriously why are we having a go at a person that actually might have money left in their account at the end of the month when the majority of people here are in trouble down to their own cause. I am sorry but comments like that just make me think that people are jealous due to their own situation. Also if this person with £500 left means that they have £500 of credit and that they maybe thousends of pounds worth of debt still doesn't give us the right to judge...they are only a matter of time away from being in the same situation that we are in.

Will

Chris120A

Willsnarf1983 wrote:

why? seriously why are we having a go at a person that actually might have money left in their account at the end of the month when the majority of people here are in trouble down to their own cause. I am sorry but comments like that just make me think that people are jealous due to their own situation. Also if this person with £500 left means that they have £500 of credit and that they maybe thousends of pounds worth of debt still doesn't give us the right to judge...they are only a matter of time away from being in the same situation that we are in.

Will

We're not moaning because they have £500 left over, we're moaning because they see themselves as being "skint".

It just struck me that being skint is relative - she is skint because she has lets say £500 left in the bank until payday (I should add here that she is 25 and still lives at home and has no debt - good on her)

£500 to last you 2 weeks, when you have no bills, rent or debts to pay is pretty much as far as you can get from being poor.

I have no problem with her having money, but I do have a problem with her describing herself as being "skint".

I'm not jealous of her situation, I am a year older, and if I still lived a home, no doubt I would have £500 left over halfway through the month. But in the adult world, you have to pay such things as rent, bills, tax, etc., and people who make the kind of statements this girl is making don't seem to understand that. She could live with her parents until she's 45, spending £200 a month on clothes and £80 haircuts, for all I care. As long as she doesn't moan about having no money, without realising what having no money really means.

Lucifer

Klare- your story made me cry!! I have a hubby, 2 children, and 3 dogs. we don't have lots of money, and I have amassed debt, by my desire to drive a nice car, have a nice house and kids to be well dressed. Now I just feel ashamed. I feel skint - because I am trying to pay back my debts. But in real terms according to you guys, I am not!! I have money to go to the dentist, my children have school dinners, they have swimming and gym lessons, and I have money to grocery shop each week. I have a warm house, a roadworthy car, and a job that pays well!!

I AM SORRY - YOU HAVE HUMBLED ME... :embarasse