Things you've done when things got desperate!

Jarvisma

bobbadog wrote: »

We also lent our flat to the Police to use as a watchpoint for prostitutes and pimps, as we lived in a red light area - they weren't allowed to pay us for it, but they did buy me my first buggy.

That's so cool! :cool:

jo1972

Rain_is_Insane wrote: »

I also did something real bad to 3 seprate take away places. I'd place an order then deny it was me when it turned up....2 out of the 3 times they ofered to let me have it as they would only bin it when they got back.

I'll have to remember this :rolleyes:

jo1972

We used to take the kids swimming at least twice a week just so me and OH could have a warm shower to save money on the electric....well what's wrong with that? It's good excerise for the kids

lady_fuschia

My poorest moment in the second year of university, living with an equally skint friend we tried the following:
-dog end rollies (we dug down the back of sofas for enough coppers for a pack of rizlas and then got the ashtray out and - hmm- yes)
- stealing food out of the skips at the back of Somerfield (we actually got some good stuff, cream cakes still perfectly fine just one day past the sell by date. It was just a bit humiliating to think about getting caught)
- shared one teabag between three cups of tea!
- Lentils for lunch (yes, just lentils. Think Neil in the Young Ones)
- Walked around wrapped in blankets to avoid turning the heating on.

Thing is I kind of remember it all with a faint nostalgia now. Weird that.

Joolsey_2

Crikey,
I think I've done most of these things, particularly when I was on my own years ago with my baby daughter. Even tho I was working it was a nightmare paying for childminders etc on top of all the bills. I just had no money for anything. My parents took pity on me & took me away for a holiday. The baby was still in nappies & for some reason they kept on leaking. Got home & wrote a letter of complaint to the very well known company. Low & behold I got an apology & vouchers to go buy some more. That opened the flood gates. Wrote to every company that makes any kind of baby stuff & got vouchers for everything. I even managed to get her a pair of shoes from a very respectable high street store. So naughty, but it got me through!!
In happier times now with more kids & a lovely hubby thank goodness. but a few years ago we were both made redundant from our very good jobs & only had enough money to cover the mortgage. Sold all my jewelry (not that I had much!) my beloved flute & anything else I could think of to pay the 'leccy & gas & then went shvelling dog poo at the local kennels to earn enough to feed the family. Not glamourous is it? But whenever I got down about it I had lots of hairy friends to cuddle & that made me feel better.
I'm on the verge of being made redundant again but at least I know we'll get through - it's all good !!!!!!

fuglyjowls

Some very familiar things on here from when my son was a baby and we only had one (small) wage coming in and my ex-husband used to spend money on himself when we had no money for food (but that's another rant:mad: )

I used to buy a large cheap chicken on a Monday and cut it into pieces - we'd have one breast Monday (between two of us), the other breast Tuesday, the legs & wings Wednesday, any other meat I could pick off made into a curry or a stir fry Thursday then use the bones to make soup which would have to last us until Monday again and would vary each week according to what I could buy cheaply (e.g. potatoes/beans/lentils).

Once I was using toilet roll (liberated from a pub I think!) instead of a sanitary towel and to my shame it worked it's way out of my knickers and fell on the floor - I have never been so embarrassed in all my life:o - luckily I managed to scoop it up and throw it in a bin before anyone realised where it had come from. Happy days - not really :rotfl:The best moneysaving move I ever made was to get divorced :T

Triker

:rotfl:The best moneysaving move I ever made was to get divorced :T[/quote]




:rolleyes: Yep I can relate to that one, now v. happly married to my other half.

fuglyjowls

Triker - yes me too - my new hubby can't beleive how good I am with money and leaves it all to me - unfortunately I had to learn the hard way. My ex used to throw all bank statements and letters from the bank in the bin unopened. I definitely don't miss the days of making up excuses as to why my ex's cheques had bounced and why he (once) memorably borrowed money off a good friend of mine (not his) and didn't tell me - first thing I knew about it was when they, very embarrassed asked me when they could expect to get it back - 6 months later. We never had money for decent food or to pay the bills but he always managed to find the money for tobacco and alcohol :rolleyes:

The scary thing is - he is still living like that 13 years on - and I now get fed up of my son saying "Dad can't buy me a birthday/christmas present cos he's skint"

natlie

where to start?

I lived off one packet of crisps a day for 3 years, went down from 10stone to 7st 4 and at 5ft 10 I looked terrible

I used to smoke - waste of money would buy 25 royals for £2 would last me a week, would if desperate squash out any left over baccy from the butts to make rollies

Used to work in a pub so would only drink while I was there - soda - thats all we were allowed.

I did a moonlight flit from my flat because I couldn't afford the next months rent

Fortunately didn't have to use rolled up loo roll for sanitary towels as periods stopped due to starvation

I think I have blacked out most of my desperate phase now, probably loads more to add

wherediditallgo

Tetsuko wrote: »

When I was a kid my mum hardly ever bought me any clothes. Everyone used to take the mickey out of me at school. I had to go to school in football boots for a while because I had no shoes. I was sooo embarressed. I used to click when I walked down the corridors. >.<

Oh, I feel for you on that one! I can remember having to remember to keep my feet firmly on the floor under my desk instead of letting them stick out under my chair or my desk, because my dad would put layers of cardboard over a hole in the sole & I was scared other pupils would see it. When I went to secondary school, my mum wouldn't let him do it any more after I came home crying one day when it rained - the cardboard got soaked & fell apart, & the rain worked its way up my socks making them look like I'd been standing in a muddy puddle a foot deep.