"poverty mentality"

quintwins

i think cheaper shoes are ok for older kids who grow out of them, also when there younger i have been known to go get his measured in clarks then buy new ones for alot less on ebay there still clarks and still the right size but maybe an older season, clarks sales are good aswell got him a apir for £8.50 to grown into

cheap/secondhand shoes doesn't make you a bad mother, not buying them shoes when they need them would (my mum never beleived me when i said my shoes hurt and never really bothered to check now my toes look awful ) i'm one of those mothers who sometimes buy the bigger size in the hope they can get extra wear out of them.

PipneyJane

lostinrates wrote: »

I love pipney janes posts.

Awww.... That's so sweet of you to say so.

lostinrates wrote: »

Any way,

The other thing that i think is important to bring into the discussion of poverty mentality and loops is purchasing choice. I prefer to buy local....of things made locally, or as near as possible. There is food miles and all that jazz, but there is also empoyment to consider. If i can save two p in the pound buying something from china rather than something from, say, birmingham, then perhaps i will find my tax eventually goes up by 3p to pay for the poor soul in birmingham who has no customer base anymore.

There is a limit to my magnanamousity, but this poverty loop is another real one.

Ditto. How many jobs have been lost because consumers chase the cheapest item and won't buy something slightly more expensive that is produced locally? (Do we actually get a choice? Most of the big clothing names shifted their production from the UK to pump up their profits, not to offer the consumer lower prices.)

This isn't the thread to rant about that, so I'll stop, but I had to tell you I agree with what you are saying.:beer:

lostinrates

PipneyJane wrote: »

Awww.... That's so sweet of you to say so.



Ditto. How many jobs have been lost because consumers chase the cheapest item and won't buy something slightly more expensive that is produced locally? (Do we actually get a choice? Most of the big clothing names shifted their production from the UK to pump up their profits, not to offer the consumer lower prices.)

This isn't the thread to rant about that, so I'll stop, but I had to tell you I agree with what you are saying.:beer:

You are welcome.:)

But i disagree this isn't the thread to rant on that issue. I think its exactly the most impactful interpretation of the point raised in op!

Os is a super, super board and focuses on personal micro economics, as i used to. When we focus so well we forget the choices we make impact significantly collectively.

In th elast few years there has been a lot of finger pointing...the city, bankers, politicians...and indeed, all of that needs to come out in the wash. But i have a very strong feeling that more significantly economic impact is made by the collective choices we make. You, and i and other old styles, and mse ers, and people for whom mse is an alien concept too.

The big campaign for financial education can start Right here, with those who already have grasped personal economy to see how we can balance this and make choices good for the bigger picture. I would love more help with this personally, and it seems to me a natural extension for os, to explain how we can take os fom our kitchens and homes, into our communities and nation, why what we buy in our old style supermarket trolley or grocers matters, Why for those who can afford it, as opposed to those who can't, spending a little more might be saving everyone a little more in the long term. My head spins when i try and put this in spending persoective of my whole lifestyle. I know i make thousands of mistakes a year, mistakes that might cost my neighbour, or my countryman at the other end of the country, into a financially worse sotuation, but i cannot yet quite join the dots....

Focusing always on our own pockets might be the final deathnail for the ability to have old style living eventually.....now, not everyone can make that choice, but their are some old stylers who can. I want to understand those choices better, and until we can get our collective heads around it, i don't know where else i could learn this from!

Austin_Allegro

Mistral001 wrote: »

I was brought up to put guests first as is the custom and I hope I do it, but sometimes I worry that my "poverty mentally" comes across sometimes and has a very negative influence on others and perhaps makes their visit not as good an experience as I had hoped.

I think you need to think of what your guests will like and that is often popular things and things that you might think of as expensive. You just cannot assume that everybody will like your stew that you think is really tasty and nutrious and costs you 30p a serving to make.

Haha yes - my other half claims that when guests come round and I offer them my 20p-a-bottle homemade wine, which she hates, that they only drink it 'out of politeness'.

I reply in that case, why do they keep asking for more until they are completely p***ed? :rotfl:

Ben84

Mistral001 wrote: »

I think you are generalising here.

I think it might be possible to get a pair of secondhand mens shoes at a car boot sale, charity shop or on ebay for less than the £8 I paid for the plastic shoes in the shops, however you will probably have to make several journeys these place before you get something that fits.

I once bought a pair of working boots for working in the garden at a car boot sale, but in all the dozens of car boot sales I have been to, I have never seen any mens shoes for sale. I have seen some mens shoes in charity shops, but they are few and far between and usually very expensive shoes marked down from £80 new to aybe £20.

I must say I have never thought of buying shoes on ebay, but is it a realistic option with P&P costs and the fact that you cannot try them on?

Absolutely, it's a generalisation and might not fit every situation well. I don't see a lot of second hand shoes around for sale either, but furniture, electrical stuff, kitchenware and some clothes (coats for example) are I've found pretty widely available.

As you mention however, buying second hand does often come with a time cost, you have to look around the car boot or charity shops as neither guarantee a wide selection of items in the same way the new shops do. However, local paper adverts (including placing a wanted one yourself) are pretty quick and so is eBay - although you may be watching a number of auctions and remembering to bid before you get the bargain you're after.

I guess you do have to spend some time, so that's the upfront cost in doing things this way. Still, I do see getting away from owning lots of cheap short lived items as one of the major things that helped me out of being constantly broke.

carefullycautious

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Haha yes - my other half claims that when guests come round and I offer them my 20p-a-bottle homemade wine, which she hates, that they only drink it 'out of politeness'.

I reply in that case, why do they keep asking for more until they are completely p***ed? :rotfl:

Its the Margot syndrome. Couldnt possibly drink that awful stuff hic hic

ragz_2

lostinrates wrote: »

In the last few years there has been a lot of finger pointing...the city, bankers, politicians...and indeed, all of that needs to come out in the wash. But i have a very strong feeling that more significantly economic impact is made by the collective choices we make. You, and i and other old styles, and mse ers, and people for whom mse is an alien concept too.

The big campaign for financial education can start Right here, with those who already have grasped personal economy to see how we can balance this and make choices good for the bigger picture. I would love more help with this personally, and it seems to me a natural extension for os, to explain how we can take os fom our kitchens and homes, into our communities and nation, why what we buy in our old style supermarket trolley or grocers matters, Why for those who can afford it, as opposed to those who can't, spending a little more might be saving everyone a little more in the long term. My head spins when i try and put this in spending persoective of my whole lifestyle. I know i make thousands of mistakes a year, mistakes that might cost my neighbour, or my countryman at the other end of the country, into a financially worse sotuation, but i cannot yet quite join the dots....

Focusing always on our own pockets might be the final deathnail for the ability to have old style living eventually.....now, not everyone can make that choice, but their are some old stylers who can. I want to understand those choices better, and until we can get our collective heads around it, i don't know where else i could learn this from!

Wow, you have made me feel rather bad but totally opened my eyes and I shall certainly give it more thought...

I would go to the local shoe shop for my kids shoes but they closed down a few years ago (probably because of people like me) so I have measured their feet with my startrite gauges and will order on ebay...)

Thanks to those who replied making me feel less bad -

[Deleted User]

I always try to buy 'loved' old things. I feel a real sense of satisfaction if I can rescue something and restore it and fit it into our eclectic home. I do buy some things new and not always made locally but I always try for the best value for the least outlay and somehow it all sits comfortably together. Our best asset is a Jumble Sale run by our local Sea Scout Troop six times a year in the local village hall. They put a flyer through the door a week ahead of each sale and come on the Friday evening before the sale on Saturday to collect anything unwanted from the whole village and we go and buy on the day anything we want. It serves the village well and raises funds for the young folks to run the Sea Scouts.

lilac_lady

I'm reasonably old style but I don't reuse teabags or water down milk as I can afford not to do that. If other people do, I wouldn't think less of them as we all have to find the level of OS-ness that suits us.

If I had to do the above, I would, but I'm glad that my life style (hardly extravagant) allows a bit of leeway.

The main thing is to keep out of debt and if those extreme (IMO) measures are necessary for that, good luck to you. If you're doing it to save money for someone else to spend when you're gone.......???

faerie~spangles

I get 3 maybe 4 cups of tea from one teabag. I drink Redbush or Earl Grey. I'm certainly not depriving myself. Can't stand (builder's) tea you can stand your spoon in.

I choose to shop in charity shops because it gives me a thrill when I get something I need / have wanted and I like rehoming unwanted items. Also I'm not a fashion victim.

I loathe shopping centres, to me they are cathedrals to/of wastefulness. (imo)

Make use of the rind of the Parmesan, who doesn't?

Use my slow cookers/nukelear wave/halogen oven in order to cut costs, tho' I wonder...