The worst/naughtiest thing you've done to survive whilst at rock bottom

poodledoodledoo

When I was 17 I was pregnant and living with a guy who didn't work and spent all of our benefit money on parts for his motorbike. It eventually came to a point that myself and the girl who lived in the bedsit opposite mine (also broke) used to steal chocolate and pasties from the local shop because we literally had no other way of obtaining food. One of us would distract the person on the till while the other would stuff food down their clothing. I still feel bad about it now

Nitha

Used a credit card. Dumbest thing I ever did.

geoffky

Another thing i have done when i was skint was when dole day came me and my best friend who lived in the same flats as me went out for our food shopping..
What we did was make a list between us and agree to it.He would go in with the list and get everything on the list and pay out of the £20 note he had..when he came out he would give me the same list ,the receipt and the exact change and off i would go and get the same..if i was ever pulled i would show the receipt and the exact change.
We never got pulled but looking back the early 80s living on the dole was the most depressing time of my life..boys from the blackstuff sums the time up very well.....
Does anyone remember the documentary "boys from the tip" about all the grown men having to try and make a living on a rubbish tip in birkenhead...bad times indeed..

Bambywamby

A great thread and a fab read. :T It reminded me of a thread from a couple of years ago that has similar content if anyone is interested.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1741781

TwelveStopsThenHome

Once when I was awaiting for some job seekers to go in (I was 21), and I returned back home after seperating from an ex, I managed to get a loaf of bread, and a pizza from the local shop. I said I had no money, but he said to pay him when I was sorted. My Dad covered the cost of this as he knew the man who ran the shop.

When my grandfather was alive, he used to give me tins of spagetti as he was never keen on it, which used to serve as tea until I got paid. At this time, I was in a part-time job earning minimum wage and I always ran out of money a week before I got paid. I used to walk there the three days I worked in the morning by leaving @ 6.45-7 in the morning and would get there for 8.30 as I used to cut through the park and take a few of the side roads. Getting home, I used to ask for the bus fayre home....OK it was only one bus, but I used to a) deliberately leave early to catch this one bus that used to stop over the road from my old house or b) get another bus and then walk about 30 mins to my old house.

My ex who we got back together with and he lived in Coventry with his folks gave me money before I got paid and never asked for it back, although I did pay him when me and my Dad got some inheritance money from my Grandad after he passed. The money he gave always went on electric and food.....never fayres as I found food more important. I would always just by one lot of the same food and make the same each day e.g. mince = spag bol, chilli and mince with mash + things like beans on toast, spagetti on toast, pilchards/sardines on toast.

I am struggling now as I always live off an overdraft in the final four days before payday, but my partner does provide some money so we're never too desperate like before.

TwelveStopsThenHome

Also sometimes with the bus thing, as I was around 22/23 when this would happen I could pass a yonger lad, especially as my workplace shared a premises with a secondary school. I always wore a shirt, blazer and trousers and just did my hair different (this was before I started shaving my hair and growing a beard) like spike it up and paid a child fayre which was about half price and used the 20 or 40p to put towards the leccy This was handy on rainy/cold days.

We had a loose change tub, I used to raid this and pretened it was the bus fayre

TwelveStopsThenHome

no_choice_now wrote: »

I'm very confused.

My spelling/grammar can be bad lol

My ex boyfriend (well 2nd ex, before the psycho Dutchie I spent a year with between 09-10) lived in Coventry with his folks and was working full-time. He always lent me some money if I needed it, or I stopped over there during the weekends after visting my Grandad.

The bus thing, I was 22/23, and could pass as 16/17 due to my height and looking younger. This was before I was shaving my hair and started growing a beard and have now bulked out a bit. My workplace shared the premises with a secondary school, so I just wore something resembling a uniform, did my hair different and paid a child fayre of about 90p.

Googlewhacker

lol this thread will be deleted soon but FWIW

1) Stealing toilet rolls from your employer is dodgy and if caught its the same as stealing money from the till and you should expect dismissal and if you have done this in the past I wonder how many have replaced them once in a better situation? How many of you would be first to shout if the employer took a short cut because 'it won't be noticed'?

2) The OP you are the most judgemental on here!

bananachip

Things were desperately bad for me growing up. My parents divorced when I was 12 and then my mum sunk into alcoholism. I ended up taking a lot of responsibility for running the household and there was very little money, often no food and the electricity would often go out as there was no money for the meter.

A friend was a milk boy and he told me they used to also deliver bakery goods to certain shops. We used to go up to one post office about a mile away as it did not open until reasonably late and take some bread rolls and sausage rolls/pies. I also used to take milk from the doorsteps and once pulled up some fresh vegetables from someones garden and used to occasionally shoplift. I did feel guilty for those things at the time and still do to some extent. Other things I did were sensible and legal like living on lentil bolognese for weeks on end.

I left home and sorted myself out, got a job and went to college and was exceptionally good at managing my meagre income from my grant and part time job and actually used to do things like buy my mum food when I visited or buy her clothes and shoes for presents. I however became a single parent of a young baby with very little money at one point and I went on a crazy shopping spree taking myself over £1200 overdrawn using my cheque book and guarantee card because I was overdrawn anyway and past the point of caring about consequences and also suffering from post natal depression. I went to Boots and stocked up on loads of nappies and wipes, bought toys, went to the supermarket and bought nice food instead of the basics and bought clothes. The guy from the bank came and took my card away and I lived with the consequences of that spree for many years and only now many years on able to get any credit.

I don't think a lot of people realise how much true poverty grinds you down and that people still do struggle for the everyday basics in this country. It is only in the past 4 years for example that I have lived in a house with double glazing and an efficient heating system which I could afford to use but I managed to take being warm and having hot water for granted very quickly. I get furious with my own child sometimes because of how spoiled she is relative to my upbringing and how she takes things like having good food, clothes etc for granted. We are far from being rich but she has such a casual attitude to money and possessions that it really annoys me. On the other hand I am also very glad she does not have the level of worry and responsibility I had at a young age and had always vowed she would be brought up better than I was.

I also still remember the feeling of being hungry and wondering where the next meal would come from and end up overspending at the supermarket and always have cupboards bulging with food, in fact sorting out my groceries budget is something I need to do now.

FOXGLOVE_2

Birdy12 wrote: »

That reminds me of something my mum said. When she was little she lived with her mother and two sisters. One particular Christmas Day there was nothing to eat in the house except porridge oats. Her elder sister made the first batch in the morning but made it too thick, by the time it got to the evening it was gruel consistency.

Think I mentally blocked out the Christmas in my first flat, no furniture apart from single bed in the living room and a Bachelors pasta n sauce for Christmas dinner.

You're right, it makes you appreciate the small things when you remember at one point you had nothing.