Definitions of "I'm broke"

piptom&AndyPandy

Hi
Just been having an interesting discussion with each-other re people's definitions of - 'broke'.
We have friends and family from many walks of life (i'm sure most of us do). A few of them having been saying - "we're really skint". Now we're quite generous with time and when we can sharing what we have. However lately we've notice people say with one breath "i'm broke" and next they're off for a day out or buying someone this that or the other - having nails done etc etc.

We now find this intriguing - to us broke is no access to funds, little fuel (just enough to get to work) and no money to shop etc at all e.g. 0.73 in the bank.

Wondered if anyone else had been caught up in this - we had one friend we paid for dinner (years ago now) because they were skint - then it transpired they went out for a huge meal (paid for themselves) with other friends a night or so later - needless to say we've learned out lesson. Now we just observe.


xxx

lvm

"I'm Broke", when I use it myself, generally means "I don't want to do/buy whatever it is you're suggesting" - easy excuse when I don't want to have a night out or go for dinner where I know everyone will be drinking and I'll be expected to put the same money in a kitty despite me not drinking (a different argument there though!).

But I agree with you - if you're skint/broke, I would assume you have no money for any non-essential purchases.

cleggie

I agree with you. My version of 'i'm broke' is i have hardly any petrol in the car, and hardly any food in the cupboards, and no money to buy any either.
Describes my life in early Jan every year!

tanith

I know someone who is always hinting that he's down to his last ha'penny and will have to work forever but has a luxury apartment abroad and eats out all the time , its just peoples perception of 'broke' is different , mine is as yours when I could'nt afford to drive the car or buy a dencent meal..

FireWyrm

My version of broke is the car running on fumes, a couple of mouldy potatoes in the veg bin and a few tins of tomatoes and no money to buy another thing, including milk. Broke for me means literally penniless and I have to pull a sickle just to have an excuse not to use the car.

As it happens, after many years of living hand to mouth, I now have a small war chest of tinned food which is only to be used in the case of dire emergencies and £30 celotaped to the bottom of one of the cupboards for that same dire emergency. I also carry a £20 note in a small vial on my keyring which is emergency petrol. If the so called emergency is bigger than that, we're screwed anyway and there's no point worrying about it.

ali-t

Broke for me can mean not having any access to cash so I not go out for drinks, buy lunch, play the lotto syndicate etc but still have credit available so can put diesel in the car, get shopping in etc.

lucystardust

I agree with alot of what other people have said, to me being 'broke' is having no money in the bank and means if I need to buy things/pay bills before pay day I'm gonna have to use a credit card. Previously though it would mean I was near my credit limit!

Some of my friends say they're 'too broke' to come along to things we invite them to because they have no money, yet these are the same people who every year still go on a 3 week holiday to some exotic destination and always have the latest iphone etc. I remember once meeting up with friends for a meal, a few weeks after my birthday. One friend apologised that she hadn't yet bought me a present, as she had no money in the bank. Yet during the meal she was going on about how the day before she'd bought new shoes, she didn't want to go into her overdraft but thought 'yeah why not treat myself'.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Lat year was the first year i knew what skint really meant i had to borrow money for petrol and i wouldnt say we had no food but was really close x Then i entered dmp and i hope to never go there again x

NicChanna

To be honest, being broke to me means...

• putting 2l of petrol into the car at a time to get to work
• eating every last thing in the cupboard for dinners
• if necessary to buy new food, only buying whoopsies or basics
• eating smaller portions of food at dinner so that some can be taken for work lunch the next day
• selling something on gumtree like books, CDs, DVDs to get to the end of the month

Probably other things too but that's a start ...
Other people have different ideas ... one friend of mine talked all the time about how broke she was, getting me to pay her breakdown cover, buy food for her etc ... imagine my surprise when I found she had over 3000GBP in an easily accessible savings account. When I challenged her about this she said, well they're my savings, I never touch them ever.

sharronej

NicChanna wrote: »

one friend of mine talked all the time about how broke she was, getting me to pay her breakdown cover, buy food for her etc ... imagine my surprise when I found she had over 3000GBP in an easily accessible savings account. When I challenged her about this she said, well they're my savings, I never touch them ever.

WOW! That's shameful, I hope you no longer consider her a friend?

Skint to me has in the past been not being able to pay my bills or perhaps I can manage to pay but only have £25 per week for food for 4 adults and a teen. These days it's having paid all my bills (on time) food, petrol, scouts and school dinners etc are paid but there's no money left :rotfl: Still it's an improvement - thanks to the wonderful people on this site.

I agree though people definitely have different ideas of 'skint/broke'

fozmcfc

Thankfully it's years since I have been broke, largely because I have after years of spending finally woke up that I need to save.

For years, I would however, use the I'm broke phrase, when I had less money then I needed just to go out for an evening for a meal, drink or both. So generally less than about £50 - £100 until the end of the month.

I do sometimes use the phrase now, if I'm being asked to do something or lend someone money. Even though I have savings I want to keep them rather than spend them on things I don't want to do or other people.

Normally each money I put money in my savings, leaving enough money for essentials and a bit of extra for a few nights/days out or just to treat myself to something. If that extra money is low, then although I'm not broke, I will say I'm broke, because there is no way I'm going to touch my savings.