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

x_Kaz_x

When I first moved out on my own I used to work closing shift at Micky Dee's and my wages only just covered my rent and utilities (with very little left for food). Any food that was left over at close we were allowed to take home, so I used to grill a chicken breast about half an hour before closing time (grilled chicken wasn't a big seller late at night) so that I could take it home to bake into a casserole that would last me for about 4/5 meals. I would also work double shifts when I could so that I could get breakfast, lunch and dinner.

oopsadaisydoddle

I remember once being so skint and we literally had nothing to eat until payday and no money to buy anything. I went to my local corner shop and got some basics and then took them to the till and when I got there I pretended I'd put my money through the washer. I knew the people who ran the shop but couldn't bring myself to tell them how desperate I was but luckily they 'bought' my story and told me to bring it next time. I did of course pay them back.

Luis

I remember as a student rolling out the dog ends to make new rollie fags (scrabbling through the bins to find them....oh dear - non smoker now though:) )

I've done loads of miserable things over the years to try to keep costs down, as have been in dire straits a few times: eating at work (even when you're not meant to), washing clothes without powder and hoping what clings to the drawer will do, hanging around at all hours to take advantage of off peak public transport, following the discount lady round the supermarket at half four hoping to find something cheap made cheaper lol, eating on alternate days, not putting heating on ever despite mould and mildew everywhere, taking scraps from work to feed the pets, deliberately getting second jobs in chippy / chinese take away for the extra cash obviously, but also for the perk of the meal at the end of my shift, the list is endless.

At present, things are very tight, but I know they have been considerably worse for me in the past. I am currently uncomfortable, but persist in treats such as internet and non-value food, whereas I know in the past I have been BROKE. I just worry that I am heading back there as now have a wee son and just my income to do it with

pennyfrog

* Stands up and confesses to being another member of the Loo Roll Gang! *

When the kids were little we lived in a place that backed onto a large house that had been split into 2 flats. The upstairs flat had its entrance at the side of the building- right behind our back yard. It was down a path, out of sight of the road.
We noticed over a couple of days that the milk delivered there hadn't been taken in and made a comment to a neighbour about it, (unsure if all was ok) only to be told that they'd moved out and the flat was empty.
The next morning milk was there- and we were really struggling, so, knowing it was not overlooked, hubby popped out and took the milk from that doorstep.
Not so bad, maybe- but as we were struggling to manage, we ended up leaving a note out for the milkman on that doorstep for extra milk the next day- and it arrived. Over the course of a month we ordered extra food like potatoes, cheese etc and nipped out early to pick it up off the doorstep.

Not proud of it- especially as the poor milkman ended up not being paid for it, (which is why he stopped delivering in the end, as no one ever answered at the flat when he called round, of course!) but we truly were desperate. I remember waiting for hubby's pay (commission based job- lousy money) to go in the next day and giving my little girl a piece of bread to eat. I was heavily pregnant at the time and I remember the desolation I felt watching her sitting on a chair eating this slice of bread, which was all we had in the house, and trying so hard not to break down in tears in front of her and actually whispering 'I'm so sorry' to the 'bump' that the poor kid was going to be born into this.

Things have never been that bad again- but you never forget the pain of being at such a low point, do you? It's actually making me cry to remember how I felt that day.

Incidentally, the top cupboard in my kitchen (a fair sized one) is my stash cupboard where I put all the extra tins/ jars/ etc that I pick up on bogofs and rollback. Once things started looking up, I promised myself that we'd never ever be without food in the house again, even if it was pretty basic fare.

ooglewoogle

I am just having a chortle remembering some of the things my parents used to be reduced to in the interest of keeping us fed.

I think after putting everything into purchasing their first house, things were very tight indeed. I have *traumatic* memories of sitting down to chicken pie one night. Or at least I thought and was told it was chicken pie. Turned out actually to be rabbit pie. No biggie you might think, except for the fact that this little 6 or 7 year old was bunny daft...an avid follower of Br'er Rabbit and all things fluffy and bouncy. All was well, until my big brother who had been threatened on promise of death if he as much as mentioned it to me, couldn't resist and burst out with a cry of "Bright Eyes in a Pie!!!!!!". Turned out the "chicken" had been a bunny my dad had hit in his van earlier that day. Mortified, I think I sulked in my room for days sobbing.

Trajal

Let's see.

I'm surprised offices I worked at managed to have any amount of loo roll left because I always used to pinch it. Also I used to time my breaks and go into the staff smoking room (remember those?) when no-one was around with a carrier bag, nick all the dog ends then sort through them at night for my tobacco the next day. That was just nasty looking back!

Soap also pinched regularly from loos. Milk from fridges and tea. Used to drop a penny into a collection and pretend like i'd put a pound in.

Another one I did if it was a few days away from payday was to generate a kind of 'self payday loan' where I'd buy £50 worth of dollars from an exchange with a cheque, then go to another exchange and swap it back to pounds. Would take a few days for the cheque to clear and buy me a little time to get paid. Had to be careful with that one though.

I even took back a year old suit to marks and spencers once, got the cash for it in vouchers and spent the money in the food court.

I remember when I was a kid and my parents couldn't afford new shoes, I got my mum to write a letter to school pretending that I had an ingrowing toenail so I could wear trainers for a few weeks until they could afford shoes for me.

FireWyrm

Back when I was a teenager and times were really tough, I've had to resort to a little bending of the rules shall we say. My mother had left the year before and my father had just suffered a massive stroke leaving me as the only one bringing in any money to our little family (eventually). I went to the social and asked for help, but they told me that because I had never paid into the system, I wasnt entitled to very much - I was only 16. They were right, when I got the cheque a week or two later, it was for £0.01 - I kid you not. The day I got that cheque, there was literally nothing in the house to eat and we'd been without food for nearly a week.

I was wondering around the city trying to figure out what to do and to try and scare up some work when I went behind a local supermarket. I was idly looking around and found a skip out the back with actual food. I couldnt believe it. I climbed in and rustled through until I had filled both arms with as much as I could carry. They must have been watching me on the CCTV because a security guard came out and started yelling at me so I pegged it back home. Later that night, about 2am, I came back with my push bike and panniers and filled both 40ltr bags with as much food as I could stuff in there.

We also had a couple of fields near by and I set some homemade stares on more than one occasion to catch rabbits. Strictly illegal. I've taken fish from the local stream for food and I've on one single occasion stolen what didnt belong to me.

All I can say, in my defence is that this was all from desperation and the need to provide for someone who could not take care of themselves. I never broke the law for my own gratification unless you count having a full stomach. I applied for help through the right chanels and was turned away so I had no choice and I am ashamed.

Now, I have a good wage and there is always food in the cupboard. My husband thinks I eat at work, I dont. The money I 'take' for lunches goes into the 'emergency' kity. I hoard dry and tinned food as well and I dont think I'll ever break out of that. I've always done it. My debts are in direct response to my childhood where we had nothing. As soon as I had something, I tended to spend it which I should never have done.

elaine241

Well this thread has brought back some memories and uncovered some feelings I thought I'd forgotton (sitting here in tears). I was a single mum struggling to look after my son after my violent ex cleared our bank account and managed to get us out of the house for 6 months. I came back to an empty house (even unscrewed the doors and stole them!) and 6 months mortgage arrears. I had so little to live on I also nicked toilet rolls, stole Tampax from vending machines, raided the bakeries and shops bins and went round the market stalls on Saturday evening collecting all their veg and fruit they were throwing away. Although times were very hard I also saw the best in people, I lived in a village and often I would come home to find produce, household items I needed or a bag of childrens clothes on my doorstep. Obviously word had got about that the entire contents of my house had gone as once I came home to find a settee and dining table on my lawn!
Today I am comfortable, have a beautiful home and good job but the feelings from those days have stayed with me. I never waste money, use coupons constantly, buy reduced meat, bread etc and have three freezers full of food and veg from my garden and keep a healthy stockpile of food that would probably last us for 6 months. They say whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger and lessons in survival learnt from those days together with the acts of kindness, often from people I never knew or met, has meant that I appreciate and value what I have today.

FireWyrm

elaine241 wrote: »

with the acts of kindness, often from people I never knew or met, has meant that I appreciate and value what I have today.

Kindness....I've never quite figured out who did this, but I once came home to a box of food and 6 pints of milk on the front door step. No-one ever owned up and it wasnt like I had a whole lot of family at the time (just me and Dad) but somehow, this box appeared from nowhere and to this day, I have no idea who was responsible.

We had a warehousing estate directly opposite us so I went knocking on doors looking for work. One of the warehouses was run as a cosmetics depot and the foreman was a gruff old (to me) fella of about 40. I asked him for work and he gave me a job. A few days later, we were sitting in the smoking room on break and he started to question me about my life, so I naively told him a bit of it. A bit later, one of the secretaries from upstairs came down looking for me and wanting documents like my national insurance number. I wasnt quite 16 and I had lied about being older so I was worried that I would lose pay for that week when they fired me. Nick (the foreman) told me not to worry about it and you know what, they never asked for documents again and I never provided them. I never did find out how they were doing it, but I got paid just the same. I worked there for a few months and eventually moved up in the world getting a night shift on a sausage factory, but it was just that sort of simple acts of kindness that kept me going.

quantic

Have never been in a situation where I needed to do any of these things, have (so far) been in the position of always being able to work more if skint (both me and OH where working 2 jobs at one point),9-5 then 6-10 - both of us. This thread is somewhat eye opening, just want to say that I have a lot of respect for you guys struggling through those bad times and making it through the other end.