It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

lauren_1

I always thought that council houses started off as 'homes for hero's' after WW2? then gradually spread to the poorer families after.

I am on the council list again, this time for 2 months and have been given silver band status because I cannot afford the rent, the rent keeps going up and up but Im stuck. I was on for 5 years previously and got no where.

seabright

kezlou wrote: »

I'm more than happy making things, in fact i'm going to have a go at making my own bras using the wires from my broken old ones.

Actually, this is one thing I wouldn't do. I spend a lot of money on my bras, but feel it's worth it. The last two I bought I got at Rigby & Peller and they spent over an hour measuring me, assessing me and helping me choose and try on lots of different ones.

So, I've ended up with two beautiful, well fitting bras that should last for ages and make everything I wear look a lot better. In my opinion, that's money I've invested well, not money I've wasted.

(Plus, my sewing skills would never be up to something as complex as a bra, that needs to be really well made.)

Wee_Jo

katiegizmo wrote: »

I'm 27 and i've turned into my grandmother.

:rotfl:Thats exactly how i feel (although I'm 29 now, boo!) I feel on a different planet to a lot of my friends sometimes but I can have in depth conversations about Os with my gran bless her!

I have felt like that too, Katie - but now my friends are starting to see the benefits of my "sensible-ness" i.e. I appreciate things a lot more and I'm not skint as often as they are!

Larumbelle

I wouldn't pay £10!!! My absolute top price for a handbag is a fiver. I buy from charity shops and all were bought because I liked them and they were good quality. I've got a black leather M&S one I picked up for £2.99, a denim Kangol one I got for a few pounds years ago and a burgundy leather Fiorelli that broke the bank at £4.99. Oh, and one for £3.99 from the Argos toy sale a good 5 years ago now, with thousands of dolly mixture beads sewn on to it, that people still stop me in the street to ask where I got it, but I need to put a new handle on it at the moment. When I need something a bit bigger I use a record bag I got from the Topshop sale, I must have been 15 at the oldest when I got it as I still lived at home at the time. I am 29 now and that bag has done me proud!

TBH I assume that most designer bags are fakes anyway.

Ches

Is there anyone who retired at the traditional Womens State Pension Age - but is having to wait for the State Pension to start being paid to them? How have you managed this? Are you living on savings till the State Pension starts up or are you registered as unemployed and claiming JSA (but you are "really" retired, rather than unemployed). Is there anyone else - of either sex - who has decided in the future to retire earlier than their projected State Pension Age and will do so by living on savings or claiming unemployment benefit (and, with that, having to live on an even lower income than State Pension).

I'm only referrring to people of 60 or over when they give up work - or who intend to give up work at 60+ and live on savings and/or benefit (ie not someone of "working age").[/QUOTE]

Not quite the same thing but my OH was a postman and the Post Office retirement age is 60. He had to live on savings and his occupational pension for 5 years until he was 65 and could get his state pension. Because of his age he couldn't get another job during these years, he couldn't claim JSA because of his firms pension and we couldn't claim any benefits whatsoever because there was money coming into the household from me although we are not married. We had no problem with this except the vague feeling of disatisfaction that we were being penalised becasue we had saved for our retirement. I guess this will happen to woman who save into firms pension schemes that pay out before the state pension becomes payable.

Some years ago I was lucky enough to sit on a womans committee for the NPC. One of the discussions was how could they get woman to save for their retirement. I remember I shocked them at the time because I said I couldn't recommend to my DD to do anything of the sort as it seemed to me that this country only bothers to look after those people who don't bother to look after themselves and these are not necessarily those who are genuinely needy. For instance, what happens to those women who have spent years looking after children or parents and haven't been able to save into a private pension. Is it fair to make them wait longer for a state pension when, as carers, they have already saved the country mega money.

And while I am on my soapbox I wil chip in with my twopennyworth. We must not forget that council tenants who bought their CH's did so with huge discounts. If they had wanted to buy they should have bought on the open market like everyone else which would have freed up some of the council housing stock or they could have stayed renting. I agree that people shouldn't have to move from larger than necessary social housing if they don't want to but I think that if they refuse to do so then they shouldn't be given HB to do so. I think council should consider building more gated retirement complex's as these may encourage older people to vacate family sized homes. A team who can do all the arrangements of moving for them might also be possible as most older people can't be bothered to do it themselves so stay where they are because its easier.

Thats_Me_3

*Reading all the posts and feeling glad that this thread is still going because we're all on the same wave length and it's a wave that many others think of as a sign of being mean. We're not mean, we're sensible.*

Well said lilaclady, I would rather be dead than thought of as mean but I do not spend. If I can't make it or borrow it I go without. Not in a deprived way, it's just that I have now got far enough down this road to be more than comfortable with saying "I don't need that". It is very liberating!

Larumbelle

seabright wrote: »

Actually, this is one thing I wouldn't do. I spend a lot of money on my bras, but feel it's worth it. The last two I bought I got at Rigby & Peller and they spent over an hour measuring me, assessing me and helping me choose and try on lots of different ones.

So, I've ended up with two beautiful, well fitting bras that should last for ages and make everything I wear look a lot better. In my opinion, that's money I've invested well, not money I've wasted.

(Plus, my sewing skills would never be up to something as complex as a bra, that needs to be really well made.)

Bras are notoriously tricky to make at home, but never say never. I am lucky (!) to have a smaller bust, so I can get away with buying cheaper bras, the last lot I got were from Avon for about a fiver each but they fit really well and have washed well - I got them about 18 months ago and all are still nice and in shape.

Anyone wondering what to do with their old bras, Oxfam would love them! They are highly prized in the third world as they are so difficult to make yourself.

katiegizmo wrote: »

I'm 27 and i've turned into my grandmother.

:rotfl:Thats exactly how i feel (although I'm 29 now, boo!) I feel on a different planet to a lot of my friends sometimes but I can have in depth conversations about Os with my gran bless her!

And another here! Though the number of us here in our 20s/30s suggests that actually we are a growing force. It doesn't bother me that my friends are so different. I get all their cast-offs when they get bored with things a few months after they've bought them I have tried to teach them a bit of OS but they're just not interested.

kezlou

seabright wrote: »

Actually, this is one thing I wouldn't do. I spend a lot of money on my bras, but feel it's worth it.

I've quite literally got time on my hands to do it, got another two weeks with my leg in a cast. Stupid broken knee cap. So i thought i may as well have a go. I mean i've got the material already in, i'm not brilliant at sewing but i'm trying to have at it. In the future i want to make my own products form scratch and sell them. So if the bra doesn't work then i'm thinking at least i got experience of working with fiddly stitches. Just a learning process with me.

A friend actually offended me yesterday, she didn't realise it, but it got to me. Basically calling me a hippy (taking the pee out of me) in front of total strangers by calling me a hippy. With words of "she's making me grow my own veg" "she's making me make my own curtains" yet this person asked me how to do it so i told her. I would never make anybody do something they wouldn't want to do., including my own children.. I mean she can sew, knit, crochet etc but why feel the need to act completely different and call me a "hippy". She could have left the conversation and make me feel uncomfortable, after all she makes her own things i.e pencil cases clothes etc so why highlight me in this. Oh gawd i've gone on a total rant ignore me i'm feeling very emotional today.

katiegizmo

And another here! Though the number of us here in our 20s/30s suggests that actually we are a growing force. It doesn't bother me that my friends are so different. I get all their cast-offs when they get bored with things a few months after they've bought them I have tried to teach them a bit of OS but they're just not interested.[/QUOTE]


When I got married I acquired a new set of my DH's friends who have more throwaway lifestyles than people from where I grew up - I think they think he married a weird girl lol! I think if I tried to teach them anything OS they'd run a mile!!! Tempted to try.... even if it makes them think I'm weirder!

It doesn't bother me either - I know I have a lot to be proud of in the they way we live our life and I wouldn't change a thing!

katiegizmo

silvercharming wrote: »

I wouldn't pay £10!!! My absolute top price for a handbag is a fiver. I buy from charity shops and all were bought because I liked them and they were good quality. I've got a black leather M&S one I picked up for £2.99, a denim Kangol one I got for a few pounds years ago and a burgundy leather Fiorelli that broke the bank at £4.99. Oh, and one for £3.99 from the Argos toy sale a good 5 years ago now, with thousands of dolly mixture beads sewn on to it, that people still stop me in the street to ask where I got it, but I need to put a new handle on it at the moment. When I need something a bit bigger I use a record bag I got from the Topshop sale, I must have been 15 at the oldest when I got it as I still lived at home at the time. I am 29 now and that bag has done me proud!

TBH I assume that most designer bags are fakes anyway.

ahhh that's really good!!! I budget a tenner max and try to come in far under that. Sometimes I struggle though, I use big bags for work that still fit comfortably around my gym bag (on my back) and the cheap ones that tick those boxes all seem to be rubbish!