Is Old Style a Rose Tinted World?

culpepper

what gets me,is the 'look what we have!' attitude of some people.
One family we know replace their car every few years because they are on a finance deal where you pay every month then in X years you can pay a balance and the car is yours or....change the car and carry on forking out the dosh. Both parents work,the mum,just to keep up the car payments...
The car is needed...to get her to work!
But...
They dont really own the car...
The same for all these people and their must haves..Some of them dont even own the money they pay for their food with,it is all borrowed.
Yuk! I couldnt cope with that sort of hammer hanging over me all the time.
I live in OS because OH works and I stay home for the kids (even when they went to school and now that they are homeschooled).We used to walk to school and often were told it was too far by other people who lived near us. People used to say they wished they could stay home with the kids too and then would get into their large flash cars and drive away.We do have a car and a motorbike(both paid for).
We have a tumble drier which we bought in frustration as we had 2 in terry nappies at once.It proved very useful too when my son had an upset tum and threw up over 3 sets of bed linen in one night.Its 15 years old and rarely used now.
OS is empowering .

Lillibet_2

Thank you everyone, my faith in Old Style has been re-afffirmed. How could I have doubted it??

Rage_in_Eden

Johanne: [I sit quietly in the corner cos learnt the hard way its best not to comment cos i got laughed at for thinking £50 was alot for a night out.. and also revealing i bought clothes second hand on ebay and that sometimes id prefer to sit "vegging" infront of an ITV drama with a cuppa and a biccy rather than going out for a slap up meal then going and getting "trashed".]

I agree. I think your lifestyle sounds perfectly reasonable. Last week was my wedding anniversary and my gift rfom OH was a meal out at a nice restaurant locally. (for nice read expensive...). well, i looked at the menu and all i could think was "i wish we were having a curry" - the place we go to you can be totally stuffed for £25-30 between the two and that's starters mains, side orders and a couple of pints. then he gave me a big bunch of flowers and my first thought was "oh how much have these cost".... sounds like i'm ungrateful but i'm not because it was a major achievement for him to arrange all this BUT we discussed it later and the meal was traditional english and was nothing more than we could make at home really - for an expensive price tag..... we're sticking to a curry in future.... At work everyone knows I baulk at going in a shop and buying stuff - ebay and charity are good enough and the local seconds shops where you can get M&S and Wallis stuff for less than half price because it's got a button missing or a small run (easily mended). I got a john rocha top for £5 once because it had a tiny hole in the sleeve. one sewing session later........ I'm with you £50 is a lot for a night out....... especially if you have a bargain booze nearby. If you say anything though to the people who HAVE to go the John Lewis or where-ever and buy stuff they could easily by in poundstretcher for half the price, well................... :eek: A FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON PARTED...... :beer:

Queenie

culpepper wrote:

what gets me,is the 'look what we have!' attitude of some people. .

What they *neglect* show you .... are the interest charges, repayment plans and umpteen insurances/protection plan payments

Rage_in_Eden

Queenie wrote:

What they *neglect* show you .... are the interest charges, repayment plans and umpteen insurances/protection plan payments

I couldn't agree more. My Mum used to say "you can't have it on your back and on your table"........

johanne

We used to walk to school and often were told it was too far by other people who lived near us. People used to say they wished they could stay home with the kids too and then would get into their large flash cars and drive away.We do have a car and a motorbike(both paid for).

I live 15 mins walk (at a lesuirely walk) away from my place of work - I needed to come home on my lunch break (midnight) one night and as i was leaving my manager saw me and said he was going the late night garageso would give me a lift so i didnt have to walk in the dark.. when i directed him to the main road near my house - cos i live in a maze of little roads off there and he'd have got lost.. he said to me "You live here?? And you were going to walk allll that distance?? Are you mad?!" i told him i do it every morning when i finish work and he looked gobsmacked. Yes he lives a motorway journey away from work so needs to have a car to get to work but he said he wouldnt walk anywhere that was "that far away".

(Just checked on multimap... its 0.6 miles from my doorstep to work)

I'm with you £50 is a lot for a night out.......

I must confess i do spend that myself occassionally... but thats because i have a friend who is a VIP and we have a night out once in a while together when i can afford it and get the time off and we go to the exclusive "members only" bars in Liverpool city centre so we schmooze in places with Hollyoaks stars,LFC players and a few other "celebs" .

But i still spend a max of £60/70 and thats if i have a meal at one these places too... and get a fabulous night out with classy places, good company and get to feel that extra bit special! I still wear my "less than a fiver" off ebay clothes though and people can never tell! :rotfl:

Katgoddess

Me and my friends are frugal when we go out. (We're 25) We go to a local bar and dance the night away. We normally have a bottle of water each that costs £1.50 :eek: but that lasts the whole night.

For birthdays we go out for a meal which will cost us 20-30 quid each.

We all live with our parents. Have no debts etc.

But we still can't afford to buy a house though. :wall:

calleyw

Queenie wrote:

What they *neglect* show you .... are the interest charges, repayment plans and umpteen insurances/protection plan payments

And the sleepless nights because they really can't afford all the things that they believe that they must have.

Like the 32inch Plasma screen. They looks so tacky in the living rooms of most houses are they are way to small.

I want to know when we changed as a society to you are worth more because of what you own and not what you do.

Money does not buy you happiness just makes your life a little easier.

Yours

Calley

Sarahsaver

Old style isnt all rosy - you really have to kick *ss sometimes in order to make the effort, and think more creatively, shop more wisely. For example I go shopping with cash for groceries, and the thought in my mind always that the shops are after my money and I want to protect my money from the companies, shops etc who are out to try and grab it as much as I would protect it from thieves!
Got a cherry pie as a treat today and my kids asked why I hadn't made it myself as it would have been better! I have well and truly brainwashed them with my home cooking:) I am provoding my kids with skills to cook and be wise consumers, rather than in debt up to their eyeballs. Old style is the new black!!!???or something...

KTFrugal

This self-empowerment and smug thing is all well and good, but sometimes you have to mess with the spendthrifts' heads...my neighbour thinks its quaint that we hang the washing out to dry, grow fruit and veggies and cut the grass with a push mower. So I told her I was fed up with the mower and was going to get a goat to eat the grass instead.

Revenge of the frugals, you can't beat it.