Holding back the Years

BrassicWoman

thanks for the recommendation, watched this morning. I really cannot wait until I can retire! I wonder if pre-made food is to avoid using electricity?

Art_Deco

Love to hear stories like this, Im in my mid 50s but my mum was brought up like this and both me and my sister have inherited her money saving ways, and find it so satisfying to do so, I can remember as a toddler walking miles with my mum to save a penny on something , even when she got diagnosed with cancer and had 6 weeks to live she wrote me a shopping list and on it was a bottle of lemonade with buy the cheapest written next to it!! Im afraid on this occasion I broke the rules and bought the best in the shop , she wasnt too happy even then, bless her.

maman

JackieO wrote: »

I watched this compilation programme last night (it had been on before ) and was surprised at the lady who said she was struggling to live on £50.00 after all bills were paid .She seemed to be making rather odd choices of food to eat I don't know if anyone else saw the programme or not. A ready made pack of carrot and swede mash to last her two days etc Perhaps she didn't like to cook much but as an ex-nurse I would have thought she perhaps would have been able to work her cash out a bit better perhaps she needs to come on here for some ideas The presnters didn't seem to help very much though odd sort of programme more intent on telling people that they should have started saving for retirement in their 20s

I caught up with the programme after reading about it on here. Unless she'd been badly advised, why didn't she have a NHS pension after years of working as a nurse?


I felt there was an implication (from the presenters) that she deserved more after working as a nurse all those years. I know that public servants are badly paid but that was partially offset (not any more) by decent pensions. If she didn't have one then that wasn't explained.


I felt she was rather a strange woman, a bit dreamy, maybe some MH issues.

anamenottaken

monnagran wrote: »

. . .
Do you remember when paper was so scarce that if you wrote a letter you first wrote from left to right, then you turned the paper round and wrote fro m top to bottom. Couple of sides of that and it was fun alive for the recipient to have to decipher it.

. . .

No, I don't remember that.
You would have needed to leave enough space between the lines of writing on the first writing in order to be able to find white space for the reverse. Why not simply have the first lot closely line spaced? What am I missing? (Though I do, of course, remember writing on both sides of the paper.)

suki1964

maman wrote: »

I caught up with the programme after reading about it on here. Unless she'd been badly advised, why didn't she have a NHS pension after years of working as a nurse?


I felt there was an implication (from the presenters) that she deserved more after working as a nurse all those years. I know that public servants are badly paid but that was partially offset (not any more) by decent pensions. If she didn't have one then that wasn't explained.


I felt she was rather a strange woman, a bit dreamy, maybe some MH issues.

I imagine she was only paying married women's stamp ( she has a ring and their are wedding photos) and certainly wasn't encouraged to pay into a pension scheme

I remember one of the older ladies going to her retirement meetings coming back totally shell shocked to find she had to wait till her husband retired four years after her, to collect any pension ( late 80's NHS)

Although married women's stamp was abolished sometime in the 70's, if you were already paying it you could stay on it. Back then women's pay was already dire, so I guess the thought of losing a couple more pound a week was something many a family couldn't afford

THIRZAH

We used to get parcels of used clothes from my aunt in Canada in the 1950s. She had two daughters a bit older than me so would send their clothes and her own cast off clothes too. When a parcel arrived the whole family would gather at my granny's to divide up the clothes. She'd fill any gaps with nylons and candy too.I think I was about eleven before I had any clothes that weren't home made, second hand or received as birthday or Christmas presents.

My grandparents didn't waste anything. Envelopes were saved and we'd open them out to draw on the inside. Clothes were cut down to make children's clothes or aprons. Old jumpers were unravelled. No food was ever wasted. Grandad would eat cold cooked veg from lunch with his supper. Pastry scraps were rolled out and cut into rounds or squares then served with stewed fruit . Grandad was a farmer and when the family pram-used by all the grandchildren-was no longer needed he converted it into a cart for moving piglets around the farm.

monnagran

anamenottaken wrote: »

No, I don't remember that.
You would have needed to leave enough space between the lines of writing on the first writing in order to be able to find white space for the reverse. Why not simply have the first lot closely line spaced? What am I missing? (Though I do, of course, remember writing on both sides of the paper.)

Oh my dear, who said anything about white spaces. Writing was layered over writing only in a different direction. Thus you could get 4 sides of communications on one sheet of paper. It didn't help that most of the paper was so thin that it was almost transparent.

I am so happy to hear of the things people still do to save a penny or two. I am able to reassure my family that I am not the only person in the world to iron used wrapping paper so that it can be used again and save old envelopes for shopping lists.

My father must have been Mr thrifty himself but it seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

silver-oldie

monnagran wrote: »

I am so happy to hear of the things people still do to save a penny or two. I am able to reassure my family that I am not the only person in the world to iron used wrapping paper so that it can be used again and save old envelopes for shopping lists.

My father must have been Mr thrifty himself but it seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I think I am thrifty. Save wrapping paper, re-use all paper, envelopes for lists and notes.
Cut the top off toothpaste to get every last bit out. Get every last bit out of sauce bottles /jam jars, the list is endless, I try not to waste any food, but where it comes from I have no idea.

My mother didn't know the word frugal

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...I cut the top off toothpaste to get out the last bit, use up scrap paper (old envelopes etc) for notes, wash out and re-use freezer bags, leave nearly empty shampoo bottles sitting upside down to be able to get out the last bit. Those things are economies that dont "hurt".

I figure I've spent so many years making economies that do "hurt" that I just don't do so any more at my age (60s). Thankfully - it's now down to making economies in order to deal with still not being financially straight yet:(:mad::( and not ones being made because there simply isnt enough money to live on. There is now - its just I'm trying to keep some of it for "things I've yet to get" (eg further work on the house/getting back most of my savings/etc).

lessonlearned

I love it when you lot start reminiscing about your childhoods and your parents thrifty ways. My parents were born in the 20s, so lived through the depression, WW2 and the austerity of the 50s. My mum lived under the German occupation (she is Belgian) and as you can imagine her parents had to be very imaginative and skilful in order to survive.

I think our generation learned some very valuable survival skills, just by observing the way our parents lived.

According to all the statistics, my income places me below the poverty line. I am certainly in the bottom 10 percent.:rotfl: and yet........I live like a queen....

I lack for nothing. I live simply but very well.

I am not ashamed to say I have expensive tastes and I like nice things. I also like money in the bank. I decided at a very early age that I wanted to live well but I also knew that I would probably never be seriously rich so I taught myself to live a champagne lifestyle on my lemonade budget. I acquired the practical skills needed to achieve this. Cooking, sewing, diy, gardening, etc. Of course finding this site and several other like it have helped enormously.

For me frugality started out as a necessity and ended up becoming a game. I enjoy the challenge of making my money work hard. I could win the lottery tomorrow (well I couldn't because I don't buy lottery tickets) but I don't think my spending habits would change that much.

I enjoy living simply. Frugality doesn't have to mean Living a poor quality life. Quite the reverse, by being frugal you get to enjoy all the good things but without paying through the nose or getting into debt.

I often watch some of these benefit programmes and shake my head as to how some of them get themselves into such a state that they have to resort to food banks or even worse get themselves evicted for non payment of rent. And yet when you hear how much they are receiving in income they Really shouldn't be in such dire straits. They just don't seem to have any practical skills. Quite apart from being unable to budget, they can't cook, they make no attempt to grow a bit of fruit and veg, they have no diy skills, or basic sewing skills.

These are all skills that can be self taught so I don't think we can blame the educational system. I never had a cookery lesson in my life......it just wasn't that kind of school and my mother wouldn't let me near the kitchen, it was her domain.

So I set to and taught myself because I wanted to live a life of comfort and ease and to give my own kids a nice home and a good start in life.

One of the programmes I watched had families who were being evicted, the stress the children were suffering was pitiful to behold. They were bullied at school because of having to live in temporary accommodation, some were getting into trouble, and one young girl of 11, the eldest of three siblings was so stressed she was starting to self harm.

The parents meanwhile were driving cars, had expensive technology, jewellery, far too many clothes, household goods and possessions, relied on convenience foods and takeaways and of course smoked and drank.

Yet they can't afford to pay their rent, put the heating on, cook a decent meal or in one case buy their daughter a warm winter coat.

The thing that is so depressing though is how their life choices affect their health and how it impacts on their longevity. And of course how the cycle of deprivation is perpetuated.

My parents and grandparents for all their hardships were healthy and long lived, (into their 90s) ........probably precisely because of their lifestyle.

They worked long and hard, ate good quality home cooked food, and remained active, tending their gardens and maintaining their homes. I am convinced that is what kept them healthy for so long. I very much doubt that The people we see on some of these programmes will enjoy such longevity or be anything like as healthy.

No chance of them "Holding Back the Years"

As for Angie Rippon and Maureen Lipman, well the pair of them were utterly clueless as well as being patronising and obnoxious. They bought nothing to the table.

I often think Esther Rantzen is a bit like marmite, you either like her or loathe her but at least she is a proper journalist with good people skills who doesnt patronise her subjects. And if you need someone to campaign for a better deal for retirees then she's your girl.

I would like to have seen a bit more from Arlene Phillips on the benefits of exercise such as dance, yoga, pilates etc. She is at least an expert on the subject and a very good example of how to hold back the years and stay fitter for longer.

The programme could have been a lot more informative. I thought it was a wasted opportunity and very disappointing.

We know that there are billions in unclaimed pension credit and similar benefits just going begging and yet this was hardly touched on.