Dispatches, Christmas on Credit. Watch it on 4OD

lostinrates

Bristol Credit Union are advertising on tv.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

Bristol Credit Union are advertising on tv.

Now I am aware of Brighthouse, I've seen one when I was having a wander around this morning. Never looked/spotted/saw it before. I was in a bit of a shabby area though.

My upmarket day out has been: walking round a shabby area, a half in a Wetherspoons, look round the charity shops, then the bus home via the shabbiest of the council estates. I know how to live

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Did you find anything good in the charity shops? It's worth checking out ones near more affluent areas as they usually have better stock.

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

My upmarket day out has been: walking round a shabby area, a half in a Wetherspoons, look round the charity shops, then the bus home via the shabbiest of the council estates. I know how to live

I'll swap...I like my life, but today, I'll swap....

edgex

wageslave wrote: »

I have a friend who has, at a conservative estimate, fiddled about 50k in family credit by neglecting to mention the existence of her live in partner.

I have another friend who is a company director and because she pays herself a very low wage plus dividends gets a small fortune from FC and uses it to privately educate her child.

It isn't the system that is at fault it is the people who exploit it.

BTW did you loan her the tenner?

if the system is able to be exploited that easily, the system is at fault

PasturesNew

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Did you find anything good in the charity shops? It's worth checking out ones near more affluent areas as they usually have better stock.

Absolutely nothing to be honest. ... and I was looking. The stuff was good quality, just not what I was looking for, not my size, didn't fit. I went in about 8 I think... there are loads there.

Some prices are a bit high though.

Charity shops are hit and miss. First you need to have access to 2-3 GOOD ones, with good stuff in. Then you need to be able to get into them on a whim, say 2-3x a week or at least weekly. I tend to get to them about 3-4x a year, which keeps the wardrobe ticking over

Nothing today though

abaxas

PasturesNew wrote: »

Absolutely nothing to be honest. ... and I was looking. The stuff was good quality, just not what I was looking for, not my size, didn't fit. I went in about 8 I think... there are loads there.

Some prices are a bit high though.

Charity shops are hit and miss. First you need to have access to 2-3 GOOD ones, with good stuff in. Then you need to be able to get into them on a whim, say 2-3x a week or at least weekly. I tend to get to them about 3-4x a year, which keeps the wardrobe ticking over

Nothing today though

I love charity shops, or as I like to call them 'recycling shops'.

Cheap books, cds, clothes. Fab places.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

January is a good time to pick up all the unwanted and unused gifts that people quietly dispose of once the festivities are over.

My best bargain was Chaucer's works (massive fat tome, compulsory on Uni reading list) for 50p when it was £15 new. I felt like a thief.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

I'll swap...I like my life, but today, I'll swap....

If you can get here in the next 10 minutes you can come out with me again .... onto a bus, to get close to where the car is, then amble back round the charity shops again (for warmth) until the garage phone to say they want oodles of money.

I think I'll drive back via the chippy.

BitterAndTwisted

PasturesNew wrote: »

Absolutely nothing to be honest. ... and I was looking. The stuff was good quality, just not what I was looking for, not my size, didn't fit. I went in about 8 I think... there are loads there.

Some prices are a bit high though.

Charity shops are hit and miss. First you need to have access to 2-3 GOOD ones, with good stuff in. Then you need to be able to get into them on a whim, say 2-3x a week or at least weekly. I tend to get to them about 3-4x a year, which keeps the wardrobe ticking over

Nothing today though

PN, once you come up to that London I'll point you in the direction of a couple of great charity shops, both in rather affluent areas which offer great pickings but only if you promise to let me scour them first. I bagsy early on Saturday mornings. One of them was 90 seconds from where I worked in the West End so I used to pop in twice a week.

Oh, and there are two FANTASTIC dress-agencies I spotted on my travels in Hampstead a few weeks ago. Not as cheap as the charity shops of course but really splendid for "investment items" like good suits. I tried on an Armani one which was so beautiful I wept and I couldn't afford it. But it was about 20% of what it would have cost new if not more. *sigh*