Being the only 'OldStyler' in your friendship group.

[Deleted User]

I remember being that hard up myself, couldn't afford to heat the bedsit, eat AND get the bus to work so a friend and I (she was next door in another bedsit) heated our own room one day and whoever didn't provided an evening meal of some kind which was shared in the warm room and we both walked the 3 miles into and back from work together. I don't think it did us any harm, I only remember the laughter and comradeship of those days not the grinding poverty and we both stayed fit and healthy in some very cold winters.

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I remember being that hard up myself, couldn't afford to heat the bedsit, eat AND get the bus to work so a friend and I (she was next door in another bedsit) heated our own room one day and whoever didn't provided an evening meal of some kind which was shared in the warm room and we both walked the 3 miles into and back from work together. I don't think it did us any harm, I only remember the laughter and comradeship of those days not the grinding poverty and we both stayed fit and healthy in some very cold winters.

Ah the 'good old days' of bedsit land how well I remember living it a particularly grotty one back in 1962 with damp walls and having to put coats on the bed to keep warm, especially when it got to Thursday and payday was next day and you had just put your last shilling in the gas meter.
I once had to spend almost a week eating custard every night for dinner as my cupboards were bare, but I had a tin of Birds custard powder in there, and the milkman used to deliver milk that didn't need paying until the Saturday morning

Reusing tea bags and remembering not to put milk into the cup until you had fished out the tea bag first for reuse .(if you did the milk residue got into the teabag with the leaves and went mouldy)

I got adept and squeezing three cups from one bag,although the last cup was a bit like dishwater it at least gave you a hot drink
washing out your smalls in the sink and hoping they would be dry by the next day.My tiny room was deorated with a collection of underwear in various states of drying :)

The first date my husband-to-be took me on was to go to the cinema in Oxford (where I was living at the time ) and we went to see Singing in the Rain and afterwards we went to a cafe in the market called George's where for half a crown you had a huge fry-up with an enormous cup of builders tea and bread and butter. I was a skinny thing in those days and my future OH said I needed feeding up as I looked like a sparrow :):) more like an Ostrich these days :):)Bless him he was always feeding me on dates as I was a bag of bones back then. I have always had a store cupboard of some sort since then and everytime I make custard it reminds me of those far off days when being old was a million miles away :):)

[Deleted User]

Memories of those days are walking on Friday lunchtimes from my office in Chatham to Rochester Market and buying small tins of food without labels for very little cash ( mainly because I had very little cash) which then became 'meal roulette' which was our supper most evenings, made me very inventive when it came to cooking and extremely un-fussy over combinations to eat as not fancying things was NOT an option. Goodness, anything on my plate was a great improvement on fresh air sandwiches!

WantToBeSE

Thanks everyone for your replies, i really appreciate it

I just need to worry less about what people think. But i honestly dont feel like my friends are judging me for it, i just think the 'feeling like a poor relation' thing is an insecurity that i have maybe.

I feel embarrassed that i cannot afford all the things that society says we should do, but i am trying to get away from all that societal pressure anyway, so this is a good lesson for me.

milasavesmoney

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financialcareers/10/buffett-frugal.asp

The epitome of old style is Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest men in the world.

lillibet_dripping

ariarnia wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:

That brings back memories - when I was completely brassic (about 10 years ago) I used to keep boxes and a roll of clingfilm in my bag.

I'd wander around the office at around 2 and if a saw a meeting room that had been catered for lunch I'd pop in and 'rescue' any not too manky food - no one ever eats all the fruit or salad/garnish and it used to bulk out my evening meals (or be my evening meals some days).

If they'd overcatered/lots of people had cancelled - there were sometimes entire covered trays of sarnies completely untouched and destined for the bin - I was doing a public service :A

Morning coffee meetings were the best - lots of fruit teas and mini cakes/pastries

I also used to pocket any extra tea bags, sugar, packets of instant coffee, milk pods.

All used to go into bowls at home and let me have a hot drink of an evening.

Those were the days

Oh, this brings back memories! When I was a TA at the local primary school, I was very good friends with the school Cook. If she had any left over veg/potatoes/pasta etc that hadn't been served she would let me take it home 'for my chickens'. Little did she know, it was my dinner more often than not!!!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I think it was at university where I realised how your life is shaped by your attitude to money. Many of my friends got into Clinique cosmetics at that point, entranced by the sleek packaging. I was genuinely puzzled as to why skinto students were spending £12 on a bottle of moisturiser, when they could use Boots own brand at £1.25 a tub and spend the difference on booze and books?

I didn't know then that taking a packed lunch to work and buying stuff from charity shops was labelled "Old Style", it was just normal behaviour to me. So I've always felt like other people were the (mentally) poor relations.

Note that I still use the cheap Boots moisturiser and have no debts and several months salary in the bank; while many of my brand-loving mates needed the BOMAD to buy their homes, are on interest only mortgages and have no savings.

Rosemary7391

ariarnia wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:

That brings back memories - when I was completely brassic (about 10 years ago) I used to keep boxes and a roll of clingfilm in my bag.

I'd wander around the office at around 2 and if a saw a meeting room that had been catered for lunch I'd pop in and 'rescue' any not too manky food - no one ever eats all the fruit or salad/garnish and it used to bulk out my evening meals (or be my evening meals some days).

If they'd overcatered/lots of people had cancelled - there were sometimes entire covered trays of sarnies completely untouched and destined for the bin - I was doing a public service :A

Morning coffee meetings were the best - lots of fruit teas and mini cakes/pastries

I also used to pocket any extra tea bags, sugar, packets of instant coffee, milk pods.

All used to go into bowls at home and let me have a hot drink of an evening.

Those were the days

Where I work is pretty good with leftover catering - it gets taken to the common room, and an email is sent around informing us of this, and approximately 5 minutes later the problem has been adequately dealt with by the grad students


I just treat OS ways as prioritising properly. I happen to like the coffee shop coffees, probably have one or two a week. I don't like the cafeteria food so I bring my packed lunch/leftovers, dried milk for my tea, and even with buying expensive coffee I still spend less on lunch/drinks than my colleagues - probably a good £10/week.

[Deleted User]

You're NOT a 'Poor Relation' love, you're an 'Enlightened Woman' who is doing her own thing in life. You can sit back and watch, with amusement, the rest of the world going to Hell in a Handcart because they all want to be sheep and follow blindly in what they do and have in their lives. All things from that daily coffee through the latest must have gadget, the most 'interesting and luxurious' holiday, the new furniture with each season (In time for Christmas!!!), the latest fashion, haircut, colour etc.etc.etc. they hate the idea of being different, not being exactly the same as all the others in the herd. You though pickle, are an individual and that's a rarity in this day and age, celebrate being you, with individual needs, tastes and priorities and choices. No one has to explain that, you can just sit back and smile a lot while you're doing the watching and know that at the end of the month YOU won't be the one in a blind panic because you won't have spent out your bank accounts and put everything on credit and be trying to work out how to pay for it all!!! They'll never ever know why you're smiling, you'll gain a reputation for being enigmatic, just like the Mona Lisa, ENJOY!!!

Rosemary7391

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

You're NOT a 'Poor Relation' love, you're an 'Enlightened Woman' who is doing her own thing in life. You can sit back and watch, with amusement, the rest of the world going to Hell in a Handcart because they all want to be sheep and follow blindly in what they do and have in their lives. All things from that daily coffee through the latest must have gadget, the most 'interesting and luxurious' holiday, the new furniture with each season (In time for Christmas!!!), the latest fashion, haircut, colour etc.etc.etc. they hate the idea of being different, not being exactly the same as all the others in the herd. You though pickle, are an individual and that's a rarity in this day and age, celebrate being you, with individual needs, tastes and priorities and choices. No one has to explain that, you can just sit back and smile a lot while you're doing the watching and know that at the end of the month YOU won't be the one in a blind panic because you won't have spent out your bank accounts and put everything on credit and be trying to work out how to pay for it all!!! They'll never ever know why you're smiling, you'll gain a reputation for being enigmatic, just like the Mona Lisa, ENJOY!!!

Do people really do that !? That would totally explain the sheer volume of old furniture that seems to get thrown away around here, but seriously!? Furniture is expensive!