Things you've done when things got desperate!

harryhound

"Why does the government say that poor people are more likely to be obese?"

Fried or griddled fatty food?

Long hours of work meaning little time to bother with healthy cooking?

No heritage of home cooking?

Comfort eating?

Sedentary life-style?

Poor is not defined as an absolute measurement, third world style, it is just those with a low percentage of the average GDP as income - it would be "stinking rich" for those trying to survive on a dollar a day.

FunBrum

Our house was so cold in the winter, as we only had an electric fire in the sittingroom to keep warm, so my brothers and sisters would get loads of coats and pile them on top of the bed. You couldn't see who was sleeping where in the morning!

Also, I shared a bed with my two younger brothers and often woke up to a warm wet patch! :rolleyes: Guess that was one way to heat up the bed! In fact, things got so bad my dad had to put guttering around the bed and I swear you could see a rainbow over us at times!(Last bit a bit of a fib, but bed wetting true)!

My friends were as poor as us and I have known them to sneak a bag of coal off the back of the delivery lorry when no one was looking, and told their mum that they found it just lying there! If that wasnt possible then they went out into the streets to pick up the bits of coal that had fallen off the back of the lorry. If they didnt eat all of their dinner.. their mum was renouned for her lack of culinary skills and only cooked with a dodgey tin opener.. then she would serve it up for the next meal and so on til it was all gone! yuk!!!

My aunt was in the same boat and with nine children had no means to buy pressies for crimbo. We would sort out our old toys from the previous year and take them round on Christmas eve. I still shed a tear to think of the look on their little faces to receive a gift, even though they were old and often broken! My cousins also had our hand-me-downs, which were usually handed down to us. Who said that this recycling lark is new?!

Sounds like I grew up duing the war.. not true, Im 48 so this was not so long ago, and Im still doing a lot of things mentioned on this tread to make ends meet. Not a lot changes!:eek:

HBFS

I once survived one month on two loaves of bread, I was that skint. Just a slice of toast a day.

elantan

i remember once we had no money and only 1lb if mince for food it had to do us from a thursday till the next tuesday (when i got family allowance) luckily hubby got a job on the sat night to be a bouncer (never done this before but was helping out a friend) he got £10 for it we thought we were in heaven but had to survive the thur to the sun(he worked till 2 am) on that 1lb of mince (to feed 3 people)

dreams_R_free

FunBrum wrote: »

Our house was so cold in the winter, as we only had an electric fire in the sittingroom to keep warm, so my brothers and sisters would get loads of coats and pile them on top of the bed. You couldn't see who was sleeping where in the morning!

Also, I shared a bed with my two younger brothers and often woke up to a warm wet patch! :rolleyes: Guess that was one way to heat up the bed! In fact, things got so bad my dad had to put guttering around the bed and I swear you could see a rainbow over us at times!(Last bit a bit of a fib, but bed wetting true)!

My friends were as poor as us and I have known them to sneak a bag of coal off the back of the delivery lorry when no one was looking, and told their mum that they found it just lying there! If that wasnt possible then they went out into the streets to pick up the bits of coal that had fallen off the back of the lorry. If they didnt eat all of their dinner.. their mum was renouned for her lack of culinary skills and only cooked with a dodgey tin opener.. then she would serve it up for the next meal and so on til it was all gone! yuk!!!

My aunt was in the same boat and with nine children had no means to buy pressies for crimbo. We would sort out our old toys from the previous year and take them round on Christmas eve. I still shed a tear to think of the look on their little faces to receive a gift, even though they were old and often broken! My cousins also had our hand-me-downs, which were usually handed down to us. Who said that this recycling lark is new?!

Sounds like I grew up duing the war.. not true, Im 48 so this was not so long ago, and Im still doing a lot of things mentioned on this tread to make ends meet. Not a lot changes!:eek:

Hi Mark
Great post by the way:T . Welcome to MSE:beer:
Imp x

Lemon_Tree

sadly i still collect sugar and sauce sachets from cafe's and restaurants. I always walk along looking at the floor to see if i can find any lose change. Have to admit i've not liberated toilet roll from public loos, but i do alway go to the toilet before i leave work (officially just in case the traffic is bad).
I have been known to wear three cardis, two pairs of socks and a blanket because i can't afford to turn on or up the heating (Jan/ Feb time this year).I even turned off the hot water this year as most of what i use heats from cold anyway, i've only turned it on because i can stand cold water just not freezing cold water.
I regularly have a bowl of very cheap pasta and a spoon of pesto for tea, and if i'm feeling extravagent a sprinkle of cheese. I live on cheese spread sandwich at work and can usually eek out a tub of cheese spread for almost a month, i often pick the mould off bread as well.
Not as bad as many but some of my other 'skint' friends they say i go to extremes and things can't be that bad, but it all helps the money go a bit further.

squirrel_pigeon

chevalier wrote: »

When I was a student and use to smoke, I did one very desparate day take all the tobacco out of the stubs and used it in rollies. Of course it was absolutely disgusting, but it fed my nicotine habit just at that moment.......

Did that on a regular basis when I wasn't working and giro day was only every fortnight. Have only had to do it a few times since I've been working and I hate it. Need to stop smoking!!!!!

squirrel_pigeon

Squirrel29 wrote: »

I have often got in a taxi after a night out and asked for it to stop when the meter got the the amount of shrapnel I had left! It meant the remainder of the journey was spent walking but I often got halfway home at least!

Have done this too. Used to work in a restaurant and by the time the last customers had finished ignoring us sweeping round them I would mostly have missed the last bus.

Found that if a taxi took me half way up Meanwood Road then I got to the bit with the proper street lighting so I didn't feel too scared walking the rest of the way.

squirrel_pigeon

black-saturn wrote: »

In my student days I lived right opposite the Uni so when I needed the loo I used to go over the road to save on loo roll.

I have always made the most of any freebies. If a supermarket is giving out samples I make sure I go round 3 times and send my children round 3 times each too. The last time I did this was last week when someone was handing out free chewing gum.

Whenever there was an offer on at Safeway, my dad used to get !!!!ed off cos you would only be allowed to buy 6 of the item on offer. So he made the most of having 3 kids

squirrel_pigeon

madmum33 wrote: »

I have done this.... a new Spar shop opened across the road and were giving away free fresh cod fillets (to promote a service to order fresh fish once a week), I went over and got a bagfull, OH got another, eldest DD got yet another! We ate very well on fried cod and chips that night

The fish ordering service never took off, there was a very good fishmonger in town just a mile away which was cheaper and more convenient!

I made alot of my kids clothes when they were small, buying cheap fabric from the market and making it go as far as possible. Many clothes were handed down (eldest DD ended up wearing lots of boys colours/trousers so her little brother could wear it next!)

While most people my age were turning their noses up at any offers of hand-me-downs from friends and family, we accepted everything offered and sold whatever we didn't need!

My parents didn't spend alot on me and my brothers for Christmas - bikes were second hand (one I was given had been painted pink with flower transfers all over and I loved it!), and gifts were put in a character pillow case (smaller than a sack).

We ALWAYS got a pillowcase at Xmas.

And we (me and my ex) didn't buy any clothes for DD for the first 3 years of her life. Nowt wrong with hand me downs. Even though I'm the oldest sister I'm also now the smallest and the skintest so I get loads of my sister's clothes too

My food bill is paltry cos I either live on pasta & rice (or cheese & crackers the week before payday) or if I fancy a treat I go to Jack Fultons (do they have those outside of Leeds?) and get loads of frozen food for a tenner.

As long as DD is eating properly, I can cope. I'm quite happy to live on basics for the next 5 years as long as she is eating properly and is growing as she should