What's the naughtiest thing you've done at your most skint?

Firewalker

For several days now I have been reading this thread thinking that there is nothing like that I have ever done. Then again I was a student and...two things.

1) when there was too much month for my monthly allowance (often) I used to go and drink warm mineral water - makes you feel full.
2) have been know to collected cigarette buts from the street - I am sure that all smokers have done this one at some point.

Notyhing dramatic, though - which I suppose is not because of difference circumstances but lack of imagination.
Firewalker

*Louise*

Triker wrote: »

The story that sticks with me is fairly recent though, I was working the in court system a couple of years ago...a young lad of about 13/14 was brought in for stealing and criminal damage. He was upset and frightened and at first the magistrates were quite harsh in their questioning.
However as his story unfolded the police had found that he had stolen food from the local shop, some tins of beans, spagetti, stuff like that. When the police arrived at his address he had a fire burning in hs garden from fenceposts he had ripped out of some local fencing (criminal damage).
What the police found was that the lad had stolen the tins of food because his Mum had abandoned the family, he was the oldest, he has 3 younger siblings. He stole the food to feed them and he had made the fire in the garden to keep them warm and to try and cook the tins of food, the electric had run out days ago.....that was only a few years ago in 'modern britain'.

He was given an unconditional discharge and the court staff and police had a whip round to make sure he had a bit of money on him and the relevent support agancies were notified.

That story made me cry a little - I'm wondering what happened to them all

Thrifty_Sister

Just reading some of your stories and gone from crying to laughing like a hyena hysterically!! They say necessity is the mother of invention but some of you on here could teach some people such a valuable lesson.

Well done to all of you who have struggled and got through your desperate situations - and also to anybody who is now facing up to your own battle. I am truly humbled and will never again moan about being hard up.

20somethinghousewife

Wow I've been hooked on this thread, some incredible stories here.
I'm particularly loving all the loo roll thieves Have never done it myself probably because I vividly remember my school headmaster telling a story in assembly about how he was in a queue in the public library at the weekend to check out books and the woman in front set all the alarms off. The staff asked to check her handbag and found loo rolls they'd security tagged from the toilets! I didn't really get it at the time (I was about 11 and had a comfortable upbringing), I just thought it must have been a really eccentric woman, now I realise people actually do get that desperate.
I have bowl in my cupboard full of sachets of salt/pepper/sugar/UHT milk/sauces/vinegar that I've taken from cafes and fast food restaurants though. Feel a little guilty about that. And I have plenty of toiletries from hotels that I felt justified in taking because the room seemed so expensive.

Oh yeah and I used to always walk though Debenhams or Boots on my way to work to discreetly try out a 'tester' perfume

tiff

I'm just wondering how many of us are doing these sorts of things NOW?

tiff

toadyfrog wrote: »

I don't think things were as bad for us when i was a kid, or maybe my parents were good at sheilding us from it. But our sunday family trip out was a walk to the local council tip for a good rummage. Just thinking about it now my OH will cross the road if he sees a skip because he knows I'll have to have a look in it.

I am also going to show this thread to my son so he will think next time he looks in the cupboard and moans there is nothing to eat.

I'm going to show this to my 13 year old. He always moans that we have nothing in the cupboards, we do but he's moaning because we have no fizzy drinks/biscuits/chocolate etc.

LianeB

Shamefully I recently sold my treasured Liverpool FC v Man Utd 96 FA Cup final stub + programme, my Liverpool FC v AC Milan 05 Champs League stub + prog and my Liverpool FC v AC Milan 07 stub + prog just so I could pay my bills.
I have also jumped on the train when I know I'm not going to get caught, used a disabled blue badge to park for free and go 'shopping in costco' just to eat the free samples!!!:rotfl::rotfl:
Soooo sorry mum!!!

missladyannie

hi everyone, wow what a great thread, i've really enjoyed reading it, whilst i havent been in as bad a situation as others on here things have been tight. I confess I have taken toilet roll and washing up liquid and kitchen cleaner from the kitchen at a previous job. Back in the days of cheques I used to pay for my petrol & food a few days before payday when I knew my account was empty and my card would be declined. The worst situation I can remember is paying for petrol with 10ps and 20ps from my change jar, and one day not having enough money in my purse to use the toilet on Clapham Junction station :-( Keep smiling everyone xx

Magpie23

Wow! These stories are really humbling! Thanx for sharing everyone.

I went to check out my 'skeletons' but nothing compares really.

Although, I do think that toilet roll in the handbag on every occasion is genetically built in. I know my mother always did it (and still does) and my own children do it too now.

-x-

scottishminnie

When I was growing up my parents had very little money and my mother often went without food so my dad and I, and later my sister could eat. She always claimed to be on a diet but I now know she wasn't.
We lived on a farm and mum spent many hours sorting through stock feed potatoes and turnips, getting them ready for sale and keeping aside the scabby, blighted ones for ourselves. We stayed near a reservoir and in return for letting them cross his land to get to it some fisherman (poachers) used to bring us the odd fish which mum would gut.
I remember once mum burning bits of old carpet and wallpaper which had been in the loft because coal was too expensive.


When I was first married we were skint (but nothing in comparison to my parents) and I desparately didn't want my husband to know because I felt I'd failed miserably.

We had a tea kitty at work which was paid by standing order so I couldn't avoid paying but I used to steal 2 tea bags from the office each day and take them home. They were used for our evening cup and then I dried them out and reused them the next morning for hubby's flask tea.

I used to ask for bones for the dog at the butchers and then boil them up for soup stock. By the time I gave the bones to my mum's dog there wasn't a thing on them.

I've taken gifts back to shops (mostly M&S) to get the cash to use on food and utility bills.

The one I'm most ashamed of though was when I was asked to organise a 21st birthday present for someone at work. I was asked to buy gold hoop earrings with the money. My grandparents had given me a pair for my birthday the year before so I checked the price in the jewellers and handed mine over and kept the cash to buy groceries. I had a momentery panic when someone asked for the receipt then someone else said that it didn't matter as earrings couldn't be exchanged anyway. My grandmother once asked why I never wore the earrings and I lied and said I'd lost them - I felt a complete cow.

I'm in a fortunate position now but I never take it for granted and nobody should forget that unfortunately there is always someone who is in a desparate situation and has to take drastic action just to survive.