Nice people thread part 7 - a thread in its prime

sparrer

vivatifosi wrote: »

Welcome to the NPT sparrer! You're not far from the Herts epicentre either. Oh, and I think Sandy Beds is a fabulous place name. Incidentally, I'm with you on mushrooms not being for eating, but admit that I do like stuffing things in yorkshire pudding.

One of my offspring lives in Sandy, it's a funny little town. The best part about it is the radio mast which can be seen for up to 20 miles (very flat terrain here). If I've been any distance in the car it always lets me know I'm getting near home

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

I'm looking for some ideas for a slightly lucrative sideline, something I can do in the evenings. Thoughts?

G4y p0rn/offering webcam 'fun' to the pink market.

SRSLY though....? Obvious innit - put together some short workshops, or a series of them, around what you do in the daytime. Not sure what you do to be honest, but something like "Hedging your risks from your poolside", where people learn to understand some small aspect of what it is you do that's achievable for your average Joe.

Or, write a book.

Or both.

Or blog it, then publish.

Or all three.

PasturesNew

Nikkster wrote: »

How about a proper inflatable mattress (camping type) rather than a Lilo?Might last a bit better? (this might be what you've already been getting)

It is, just used the generic word. It's a Regatta proper job... well, they're Regattas.... as I've got through two in four weeks now (three weeks' usage).

PasturesNew

Masomnia wrote: »

I've just bought an inflatable double mattress from Argos, Regatta, £14.99. Can't go wrong.

That's what they want you to think.... that's what I've got (except single).....

PasturesNew

Quick question .... why does Gen need 'more money' when he's so loaded?

PasturesNew

wageslave wrote: »

How are you connecting PN?

Inadequate and dropping dongle signal.
I'm in a signal blackspot for phone, internet, digital TV. I blame the trees..... but I think I'd be arrested if I set fire to them all.

Spirit_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

Quick question .... why does Gen need 'more money' when he's so loaded?

Because he has children. Girls I think. You can never have too much money when you have a daughter. They will empty your wallet faster than you can say "Ponies" or "Sparkly things".

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Quick question .... why does Gen need 'more money' when he's so loaded?

Long answer....

If I was loaded I wouldn't want more money or at least I wouldn't want to work for it!

My life is pretty expensive as I have kids. I think that this board has a larger than average proportion of childless people on it who are old enough to have or have had kids. It's very hard to explain to someone without children just how expensive they are.

Some examples ways I lived as a student/poor worker to save money that I can't/won't do now as I have kids:

- Cereal for 3 meals a day until the next money comes in
- Walk around in knackered clothes/shoes (the kids grow out of things, especially shoes)
- Forgo club memberships: the kids need after school activities to develop skills they are not taught at school, also I am not prepared to let them go without the sort of thing that will get them into a better Uni if I can help it
- Car: I used to drive an old banger and mostly didn't drive at all but I want to drive the kids in a car that is safer in a collision than when I was single. That means buying new(ish) although not necessarily big.
- Housing: I need more space and I can't just have a single room in a slum as once was the case
- Choice of suburb: when I was a young man I lived in some of the high-crime areas of London. It didn't bother me that much as I can take care of myself and for some reason, despite being quite small, I don't seem to be a target. Now I have kids I don't want them thinking that serial rapists and drug murders are a normal part of life.

There's probably other stuff too. I genuinely don't have what the vast majority would call a profligate life. I don't go out for meals or drinks much (drinks out are mostly client entertaining (work) or a few beers on a Friday after work from the office beer fridge), holidays are either paid for by in-laws or are sleeping in a mate's spare room. I eat pretty well but mostly that's because I cook from scratch which makes things cheap: I make things like stock, pastry etc that people normally buy in.

Don't forget, I lost everything before moving to Aus. Not just everything but everything. I maxed out the cards, spent the tax money that was set aside, the lot. We fed the kids for 2 days on a jar of stolen peanut butter and bread.

When we moved here I had nothing but a load of debts and a CV that nobody was interested because in 2008 who wanted an investment banker/hedgie to work for them? We were that @r5eholes that destroyed the world!

I could go on but I won't.

vivatifosi

Generali wrote: »

Long answer....

Don't forget, I lost everything before moving to Aus. Not just everything but everything. I maxed out the cards, spent the tax money that was set aside, the lot. We fed the kids for 2 days on a jar of stolen peanut butter and bread.

When we moved here I had nothing but a load of debts and a CV that nobody was interested because in 2008 who wanted an investment banker/hedgie to work for them? We were that @r5eholes that destroyed the world!

I could go on but I won't.

Gen, I wish I could thank this a million times. I read this and it made my cry (I'm such a bloody softie). You know that I went through similar when I had my cancer scare, but to do it with kids, well, I take my hat off to you. I can't imagine what that is like.

I know it happens though, it happened to my own parents. Something I don't talk widely about is one of the reasons I'm a veggie now is that when I was a kid and they were seriously dirt poor immigrants, my Mum ate the fruit from the garden and nothing else in order to keep us, she went down to 5 1/2 stone and nearly died. Meanwhile, she managed to get the cheapest flour and fed my brother and me meat pies made of dog food because that's all she could afford.

It gives me a pretty weird attitude to money I have to be honest, as well as to hoarding food; none of which has anything to do with Mayan calendars, survivalism or all that other crap.

Generali

Sorry viva, the last thing I want to do is upset anyone and I nearly deleted rather than posting. I don't want people to think I'm whinging: I took a calculated risk in working for the hedge fund and if it had paid off I'd be a multi-millionaire by now. It didn't pay off and the downside was worse than I could have possibly imagined. There was other, darker stuff going on in my life too at the same time which I can't/won't go into here but I ended up having what I think, in hindsight, was a breakdown of some sort which lasted about 7 months and which I've only just really gotten over in the last couple of months.

We've had good times and bad. One of the reasons we moved to Aus was that if we had nothing then better to have nothing by the ocean and better to be poor in Sydney than London. In London we lived a pretty good life and overspent to some extent: we certainly could have put more aside for the rainy day. I did a lot of things I never thought I would or could like living in The Barbican and cycling up several Alps. They weren't super expensive things to do but definitely cost more than living in a damp terrace in Croydon and spending 2 weeks a year in Benidorm.

We each have one life and we live it the best way we can. If I had my time again I don't think I'd change much.