Bad attitude to os?

calleyw

Rachie_B wrote:

calley to be able to afford " a big " ie expensive ? house you have to at least be able to afford the monthly mortgage repayments so its what? 3 or it is 4 x annual wages

but as to the other stuff yeah,its quite easy to buy (and get into debt for !) cars ,household things etc on credit ,designer clothes from catalogues etc etc

The point I was trying to make was that yes housing is expensive unless you bought say 7/8 years ago.

Borrowing 3 or 4 times wages. Not sure where you have been but banks are allowing people to borrow 5 or 6 times your wages. And I have even read of people borrowing up to 7 or 8 times there prespective wages in a couple of years time. Professional types who wages would rise.

And to be blunt you don't have to buy we are rather obessed in this country. Strange though to rent the same place you would not have to prove your income.

I don't see getting in to the brown sticky stuff for a house is worth it anymore than getting in it for designer clothes and the fancy cars etc.

But for me be being OS means stepping off the consumer roundabout. And being happy with what I have. And not spending my time going what if. Or I would feel better if I had a nice 06 reg car sat on my drive etc.

Also it means buying anything be it cars/houses etc with your means.

Yours


Calley

VickyA_2

Rebob wrote:

My os is to get the best quality for the best price.

Absolutely!

I am also proud to be one of these OSers that seem to be dotted around the country. My friends can't believe how little we spend on food, yet we still eat incredibly well ............... sometimes far too well .

One of my vices is that I like to buy decent shirts for work and going out. I have had some for (so far) 8 years and they still look good! They iron beautifully and I've never had a problem. Another friend who thought that she was buying quality from another shirt maker (which seems to be bought by chavs more and more) found that after a year the shirt was falling to bits Definitely worth buying quality!

Hermia

calleyw wrote:

And to be blunt you don't have to buy we are rather obessed in this country. Strange though to rent the same place you would not have to prove your income.

I don't see getting in to the brown sticky stuff for a house is worth it anymore than getting in it for designer clothes and the fancy cars etc.

I think people are desperate to get on the housing ladder because renting feels like money down the drain. I don't live in a rich area, but it costs about £550 a month to rent a bedsit here and flats start at about £800/900 a month. If you want two bedrooms you are looking at a thousand a month. I think most people would rather spend that money out knowing they will eventually get a property at the end of it!

Renting is also pretty unpleasant at times. Having a landlord coming in whenever you are out or telling you you had better look for somewhere else to live at the end of the month is not my idea of fun!

Sweet_Pea_2

I love this thread. I have a snobby relative who works in an office. She was going out at lunchtime to do a bit of shopping in Asda and there was something going on in the city centre that she was working and someone spotted a news reporter. She did her shop at Asda then put the whole lot into Waitrose bags in case she happened to be in the background of the news report!
I was a bit worried about sending my dd's to school with something in their lunchboxes which was obviously from Aldi, (where I do my shopping) 'cos I didnt want them to be teased, however DD1 came home and reported that half her class had the same "fruity shots" (Aldi's version of Fruit Shoots) also one of her best friends who is the daughter of a gp and a headmaster.
We live in an affluent area but it seems to be the more money the family earns the larger house they have but the more moneysaving they are, lots of hand me downs, shopping at Aldi, buying kids toys at the school jumble sale etc. In our area the kids with the designer or more expensive sportswear are the ones whose mums got into debt to buy it and the ones who are also the worse off. The better off they are, the less likely it is that their children will have TVs DVDs or videos in their rooms, no playstations or wide screen TV's or designer clothing, trips to McD's or ready meals. What they do have is piano lessons, horse riding lessons, lots of books, camping holidays in France and at least a few days away at every half term, more brothers and sisters and (old) people carriers, better but hm meals.
Maybe its posh to be Old Style?

Spendless

Sarahsaver wrote:

Here Here!

.
I am SO proud of my kids, when they have a food party at school they say 'what can we make' rather than 'what shall we buy' Sadly nobody else seems to bring in /hm food, so we have a bit of a reputation for yummy stuff, an odd bun or two strays off to the staffroom...

You are lucky you are still allowed to do this Sarahsaver. Home-made stuff for schools parties has been banned for some time here :sad:

KraftyKate_2

My son is the only one in his class who brings home-made cakes to school in his lunchbox. I also make our own bread so his sandwiches also look different to everyone elses! However he is always inundated with requests for bites of his cakes and often I put a couple of extra cakes or muffins in for his friends. My kids are very health conscious, they like all vegetables and take an active interest in what I'm cooking (always from scratch). Being teenage boys this is all the more unusual. They both are able to cook a meal (from scratch) and often give my husband and I an evening off. Because they are aware of good food they tend to shun the likes of McDonalds from both a health and an environmental angle. I have never insisted that they do this - it is through free choice and being well informed and leading through example. I'm very proud of them and hope that they continue my good work both at home and environmentally and pass it onto their children. Long live OS!

Loadsabob

Spendless wrote:

You are lucky you are still allowed to do this Sarahsaver. Home-made stuff for schools parties has been banned for some time here :sad:

Then I would send nothing! Seriously! They'd soon think twice!

Sarahsaver

Spendless wrote:

You are lucky you are still allowed to do this Sarahsaver. Home-made stuff for schools parties has been banned for some time here :sad:

OMG that is shocking! Is it because some peoples' cooking is SO bad LOL;)

Seriously, there are a lot of dietary needs and I take them all into account when cooking, and put a label on the tin so they know exactly whats in it, e.g. for ds's class it's 'free from nuts and milk, suitable for vegetarians and halal' I do this often for a volunteer group I work with, and people think Im marvellous (thats what they have said) but I think Im just being thoughtful :rolleyes:

*edit*
just read the bit about rent vs mortgage. I live in a 3 storey 4 bed victorian pile valued at 200k, bought for 89k 6 years ago. Mortgage £450 plus endowment which still makes it cheaper than the one bed flat next door which is £650 pcm!!! I have been through struggles some of you know but OS definitely helped me, sometimes SCRAPE to keep the house rather then decamp into somewhere small. Now waiting for new mortgage with OH which will be £100 pcm cheaper

OH made his own beer the other day, does someone from the government have to come and measure it to label it for alcohol units LOL;)

thriftlady_2

Spendless wrote:

You are lucky you are still allowed to do this Sarahsaver. Home-made stuff for schools parties has been banned for some time here :sad:

Goodness! why? I have actually been asked to bake for my school's healthy tuck shop every week.I make 4 dozen flapjacks and 2 dozen muffins.The lady who runs it provides fruit and other things.

My own dd has food allergies,and so the children are not allowed to bring in anything with nuts or to share their food.

Sarahsaver

Someone has been taking crisps and chocolate for lunch and giving them to ds1, I can tell by his behaviour when he comes home if he has been given 'treats' by his friends. Usually for swapping some of his healthier stuff forgot to mention that one at parents evening