Old Finances (back in the day)

mardatha

Aye life was much simpler and we had less chance to get in a mess with money!

MrsMoo2U

Not read the whole thread but what a lovely thread it is. So much nostalgia. I gave my nephews a build a volcano set from ELC for Christmas one year when they were little. They are now 16 and one still talks about the best present he ever had being the volcano. Not sure my sister appreciated all the red food colouring and bicarb of soda he kept using once the original had run out though.

I remember my brother asking me to be guarantor for him when he was 16 to buy one of those tvs with a built in dvd. They wouldnt give him credit. I went along to the shop with him and asked them to show me and him on paper how much the thing would actually cost at the end of the payments (they kept talking APR and my brother thought it sounded cheap) so they wrote down the weekly payments, x by the number of payments and a £150 tv came to £400 or thereabouts! Even the sales man was shocked. So I said to my brother that if he saved the same amount up he might have to wait a while but he would save near £200 and could afford 2. He still thanks me now because before buying anything on credit he works out the amount it will actually cost him! I think we need to teach more youngsters this kind of thing.

PJ1

Hi,
I haven't managed to read the whole thread yet-still on page 8. Just wanted to add my thoughts.
I suppose I came from a relatively well-off family, we had a smallholding, loads of animals & 3 acres. My dad won the football pools shortly after I was born so that's how the family afforded it but unfortunately I was an unplannned & unwanted baby who was brought up to know it (by my mum), so life wasn't all rosy. Mum grew all our veggies and we raised our own meat. Parents had bought a two bedroom bungalow and then had work done to put in an upstairs with two extra bedrooms, kitchen extension and sunroom. My mum stayed at home and bred and showed dogs which was her "income". However, they divorced when I was 10 & things went down from there. I remember the ice on the windows in winter, the leaking roof in my bedroom which blew up the electric lights (which never got fixed) and also the bailiff constantly coming round to take stuff for unpaid bills (although we had nothing worth taking by then!)
I got my first job at 14 for £1 an hour cleaning out goatsheds (where they had built up to chin height!!) which was bloomin' hard!
I moved out at 18 to live with my first boyfriend and we got a tied cottage with his job (he was a gardener at Glyndebourne) and we had a Rayburn which I loved. No heating in the cottage, just the RB and open fire in front room. We didn't have a telly but didn't really want one. I remember our leccy bills were £18 a quarter (this was 1998) because the wood fired RB did all the cooking, hot water and heating providing bf cut all the wood himself. We were happy with that though, no debt and saving a bit each month. Then he decided he didn't want that job any more and we ended up moving into a wooden shed (about 8' wide by about 15' long). We had one cold tap which came straight from a stream so you couldn't drink it and it dried up in the summer. We had one electric socket and a bucket for a loo! I did all the washing in the sink after heating the water on a little Jotul woodburner. Amazing what people will/used to put up with when they are young. Can't see that happening these days!
I seem to remember I was mostly pretty happy though and I find a great sense of satisfaction in getting stuff for nothing/as little as possible.
I've rambled a bit-sorry!
Loving reading this thread
Luv PJ x

PJ1

I've just remembered too, my mum doing Tupperware parties to earn some extra money after my dad went and also Pippa-Dee parties, anyone still got Pippa-Dee clothing stashed in their attics? Lol:eek:

Justamum

cherisong wrote: »

He still thanks me now because before buying anything on credit he works out the amount it will actually cost him! I think we need to teach more youngsters this kind of thing.

I agree with this. When I lived in Swaziland I was horrified by the credit on offer to people earning very little. When people I worked with were looking to buy something on credit which sounded cheap to them I would work out exactly how much more it would cost them in the long run. I don't think any of them took any notice of me though

It's the same with those weekly magazines which come out in the new year to build or collect something over 12 months - the cost of the item you eventually end up with is often hundreds of pounds for something which is worth not much more than a tenner :rotfl:

Justamum

PJ1 wrote: »

I've just remembered too, my mum doing Tupperware parties to earn some extra money after my dad went and also Pippa-Dee parties, anyone still got Pippa-Dee clothing stashed in their attics? Lol:eek:

My mum always hated Tupperware so we never had any. I've never heard of Pippa-Dee clothes. Mum made all our clothes for us until our teens when we were given £10 a month clothes allowance (that was in about 1976). She still made some of our clothes after that.

I've never been bothered about clothes and fashion, even when I was very young. I remember when I was about 9/10 I spent months just wearing a tracksuit! :rotfl:

When we were in our teens my mum had a pair of Scholl sandals which my sister and I would take turns wearing. I've no idea if they were 'fashionable' or not, we just liked them :rotfl:

PJ1

Just had a thought-does anyone else remember Cresta (it's frothy man) fizzy drink and also humphreys which milkmen delivered-Watch out watch out there's a humphrey about, stripey straws with milkshake powder in them? Both very rare purchases but all the more treasured because of it.
PJ x

Gigervamp

Yes, I remember those, but we had Co-op milk, so I missed out on the Humphry's things.

taplady

PJ1 wrote: »

Just had a thought-does anyone else remember Cresta (it's frothy man) fizzy drink and also humphreys which milkmen delivered-Watch out watch out there's a humphrey about, stripey straws with milkshake powder in them? Both very rare purchases but all the more treasured because of it.
PJ x

I remember the Humphreys well:D my Dad used to take me to work with him in his lorry as he delivered eggs and we went to the Unigate Dairies so I got lots of free Humphrey goodies!:T

I also remember my Mum having Pippa Dee parties, we did the Pools too.

mardatha

What happened to the Pools ?