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

notatvstar

I have to join in and say that this thread has to be one of the most moving and at time hilarious ones that I've read in a long time. I am especially envious about finding blank whoopsie stickers...

To all those who did 'stuff' to feed their children. So did my Mum and my OH's Mum (we're both from skint families), but me and OH turned out alright (sort of). I do not think you should ever feel ashamed or embarrassed about whatever you had to do and my heart goes out to you.

Mags_cat

My mum used to work for one of the big banks. I had an account with them (still have, though it's no longer my main one).

When I left home she used to "keep an eye on it" - there was, apparently a marker on it that read "DO NOT send nasty letters, this is our Chief Cashier's daughter" so I never got charges...also she used to make a very occasional deposit if my month got too much for my money

Lovely as that was (and it was, honest!) it did make me think twice about putting stuff on the debit card - mum could see *exactly* what I'd been buying :eek:. Luckily, she left that position a few years after I'd moved out and I got my privacy back.

Living away from home for the first time also resulted in the invention of "gunge" - mashed potatoes, fried onions and baked beans, all baked together. If we were flush, there was grated cheese in it too. Still make it now :rotfl:

Memory_Girl

I told my Mum about this thread today ....................... we had a chat as she was reading through. She then asked what was doing?

"I'm sewing"

"What are you making?"

"6 pairs of trousers, 8 shirts and three pair of shorts for the toddler"

"Nice - where did you get the fabric?"

"From the bin liner of Dads clothes you asked me to take to the Charity Shop" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

But seriously we are talking quality chinos and decent M&S shirts:D

So "Forgive me Martin for I have sinned":money:

MG

BEAT_THE_DEBT

I have sold my birthday gifts for money. . Well done to all that have posted on this thread i think it shows people who are really struggling that they are not alone xx

toothfairybuttkicker

BEAT_THE_DEBT wrote: »

I have sold my birthday gifts for money. . Well done to all that have posted on this thread i think it shows people who are really struggling that they are not alone xx

Me too!! Worse still recycled a gift from OH as a present for a friends 21st. She was over the moon as she thought i'd spent a bomb on her!!

Sharon87

Worst things that I've ever done... well only had one time where I couldn't feed myself, it was getting to the end of my student loan period, and I stupidly bought a DSLR camera at the beginning of term, which I still own now, didn't do anything naughty then though, juts borrowed money and found a part time job!

But other times when I was skint, just not as skint, but more in debt I 'forgot' to tell job centre about some work I done (1 day) so I wouldn't lose any of my JSA! I was annoyed with them a few months previously as they took 6 weeks to process my claim!

I currently am in an ok position, I'm a food hoarder too, but in a shared house so a bit more difficult with one fridge and freezer between 5 people. But at most places of work we can get free tea/water/juice/cans of coke/toast/bicsuits/fruit, so I usually take advantage of that, sometimes take fruit or a can home with me, have breakfast there and sometimes use the bread for lunch with something cheap I bought from a supermarket.

My uncle is a toilet roll pincher. We paid him some money to drive the van to take me to uni (parents couldn't drive then) and when he was at my mum's house he stole 2 loo rolls! We knew it was him he's known for it lol. He was shocked the amount of money I spent at the service station!

regret70

We have a diet club at work we pay £1 a week and whoever looses the most in the month wins the kitty. I was so skint I wore the heaviest clothes I could find at the beginning of the month and put things in my pockets... The last week I wore a skirt and vest top. Needless to say I won lol
People still said I looked like I had lost weight (I hasn't!)

I_Should_Be_So_Lucky

Gingernutty wrote: »

I haven't switched my heating on all of last winter. I really do have a house coat (and blanket for my knees when I'm sitting here). :snow_grin

Fantastic, wish I could do this. I'd have a good go at it if I was on my own but don't think the rest of the family would be too impressed if I turned the heating off over winter. I only ever wash my hands using the cold tap as it never gets hot enough anyway in the time it takes to swill your hands after the loo.


I, like most people I think, nick the toiletries/left over tea and coffee when I stay in a hotel and sauce/jam etc when I go for a meal. Apart from removing all the toilet rolls in our halls of residence at uni for a (not really very funny) prank at uni, I've never thought about stealing them.

Worst thing I ever did was when I was as a 16-year-old student and worked at Littlewoods. I swapped my tatty shoes for a nice new pair in the stock room :eek:. My heart was beating at double speed all day and I was waiting for that little tap on my shoulder. I got away with it but it really wasn't worth it. It feels much better when you have paid for what you have.

However, when people/stores are chucking out perfectly edible food that has just gone past the sell by date, I don't think there's anything wrong with raiding the bins. If you work in a store/restaurant there's nothing wrong with taking left overs home rather than chucking them in the bin. When I go out for a meal I collect all the uneaten bits of meat etc for the dog.

P.S. I don' t have a dog.

*Louise*

I consider ourselves quite lucky after reading some of the posts on here

We did reach a bad point where OH was seriously ill for 18months and we were living on next to nothing - my mum would cook dinner for us 2/3 times a week, buy nappies for DS and send us home with freezer food and loo rolls (they are a recurring theme on this thread lol) and thankfully baby milk was free!

Thankfully we have never been so poor since and are now in a position where we will be able to help out my parents financially now my Dad is ill.

I also HAVE to have savings now, I feel miserable if I don't have some money stashed away.

PinkKiwi

I can't think of anything myself (I'm sure theres something I've forgot it will come to me later) but I remember when we were kids there was a few things my dad did on the rock bottom days.

2. He once got up really early and followed the milk float with a carrier bag taking milk, eggs, bread and orange juice

1. One christmas he stole a fully decorated christmas tree from a reception :eek Not a necessity obviously.