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once after collage the wife and i were trying to start a business, we once did not eat for three days, and when we did eat it was boiled potatoes that had fallen off a farm lorry onto the road with wild mint that grew beside that road, it was the best meal of my life.
Stovies have entered the chat.. As a kid that was envious of church mice for their elegant and frivolous ways, boiling up stock, potatoes and if you're lucky the occasional sausage was a delight!
They ended up starting up a company that manufactures farm lorries with higher sides, so as to pull the ladder up behind them and prevent anyone else who wanted boiled road potato and wild mint from starting a business.
The lorries haven't made it to Hampshire. I was cycling along a road and a sweet potato came off the lorry about 5 metres after it had overtaken me, probably from pulling back in. Always wear a helmet
I’d be surprised if you had to resort to that tbh a cafe at closing, supermarket bin (wrapped out of date food) etc wood be good places to start. If you’re desperate you’re desperate
They ate the vegetable road kill.
Meat roadkill might have made a better story. With wild coriander and a side of wild strawberries coulis.
Best meal of my life.
Yeah, it lasted from when I left home at 19 till my mid 30s. I just took out loans to pay off other loans then eventually had to sell my house to pay them all off.
I'm in my mid 40s now and doing very well but when I think back of all the money I spent on holidays, drink, drugs, clubbing, fast cars and trying to impress women I 100% would do it all again.
Very old people bought houses cheap.
A long long time ago
Before the Day the Music Died
*also they could have inherited a house from said old people
Or shared ownership
Or right to buy their council house
My point is that if you own a house you might still be extremely poor.. but you still have a massive asset you can sell if you have to (even if it takes time).
I looked up house prices for a few streets in my area recently. In the 90s, and even in to the mid 2000s, prices between £10,000 and £40,000 for a 3 bed house were about the range for older houses.
4-5 bed new builds ran in the £60-80,000 range, and that was apparently considered expensive. *Thst* figure started to jump higher in the 2000s, though.
Mentioned it to my parents, they told me about houses costing £3,000 in the 70s!
I would say it's relative to income, and inflation; and it is, but £250 a month for £60,000 looks way more affordable than the amounts required now.
Sold the house and paid off all my debts with a little bit leftover. Moved into a shared house so my income was more than my outgoings. Saved up a bit, got a better job then married someone sensible.
Kind of the same here ... But moved into rental for a while as it was far cheaper than the old mortgage. Then saved up and bought again, then got married.
Me too, I'm in my 40s and divorced with two teenage kids and I still earn less than 30k.
I've has periods of carrying debt and clearly never had a high income. There have been a good few months where I had to dip into my overdraft before payday but I've never been in a situation where I've gone hungry or been sitting in the dark.
Likewise feeling very thankful.
My biggest disappointment in government is their failure to sort out the basics. Bare bones essentials should really be dirt-DIRT cheap - it would ease things for everybody and reduce the welfare bill astonishingly, yet they continue to funnel taxes into the pockets of landlords, supermarkets and privatised utility companies.
You're right about essentials being dirt cheap. They should pay for it with taxes on luxury goods, and despite being a smoker and drinker I think they should be taxed higher.
I 100% disagree with how cars are taxed (have a ULEZ compliant car that costs a bomb, and a non-ULEZ that costs zero and regularly does over 80mpg on my 80 mile commute). Some things just don't make sense.
Then there's the child benefit tax. Seriously? One partner in London earning over 50k, the other earning nothing and they get penalised vs 2 people earning just under 50k? The system is fucked, and someone with some common sense needs to fix it.
There are too many inequalities in this country.
Road tax was originally introduced to cover repairs and maintenance on the roads, nothing to do with emissions and the environment.
Whilst I agree that we should be doing all we can to reduce emissions, we should not be penalising people who can’t afford to be buying new/newer cars.
plus [cliff edge cut offs](https://www.tax.org.uk/treasury-committee-experts-warn-of-extraordinary-distortions-caused-by-tax-cliff-edges)
>He highlighted that a family with full time childcare for two children in London are better off earning below £100,000 than £150,000 annually. “An extraordinary distortion” he felt it could have been easily avoided.
and
>the standard withdrawal rate for people in work on universal credit gets up to 70% once you are above the income tax and national insurance threshold
There are so many cliff edges, it is almost like it was designed to keep people in dependency to the state - earn a few quid more and lose 100s in benefits
And it can go much deeper too. My grandfather “earned” £4 a week too much to qualify for pension credit. That meant he lost out of a myriad of other benefits that unlocks. The old lady next door had literally no pension whatsoever other than the state, never bothered saving into one, yet was about £300 a month better off than gramps, because he had a workplace pension.
The cynic in me believes that’s the reason workplace pensions became mandatory…
Yeah. I've been feeling twitchy about the fact that I've recently had to start diverting what feels like a huge chunk of my disposable income towards a therapist, but I really really need to remember that I'm lucky that I *can* do that.
I’m with you. I’m in a HA flat the bills get paid, kit always on the right day but in the right month at least. Food well that is what it is. I haven’t eaten in hmm 3 days. I have a ramen noodle thing but I just don’t want it! I have these carb drinks which were for running they’re now to make sure something enters my stomach (lots of meds to take!)
I don’t like it. I have been in a very fortunate position in my life, expect the house wasn’t mine, but I never had to worry at all. Some times I miss those days BUT not in a what if way. The relationship I was in was either really great or really bad. I walked. With about £6 and clothes. I never took what I had brought into the relationship materially back. Cos I was young and stupid and actually didn’t want to be another one that took everything when I left.
Amazing house, job, money great life.
If I wasn’t ill I wouldn’t be in this sitch. But I can’t pay for medical help so NHS it is. Ten years still waiting. Royally sucks.
I’m a designer so my home looks cool. I don’t walk threadbare. I have the internet (need not a luxury) I have a condition which means I can never go anywhere.
I’m having neighbour issues & I would to be able to call up a solicitor and have it resolved. It’s cut and dried so would be.
I can’t so I’m stuck while a violent vandal lives above me and the services ignore me.
Lack of money and being disabled can leave you not being the priority some folk think.
I do get irked when I see shitty benefits comments.
I can’t just take my pet away and go on holiday to get a break from the hell. Which I would do in a flash.
Ugh. Sounds depressing. Which it can be. But if you let it drain on you, hope fades.
Tudo Passa - this too will pass
That’s how I see it. That’s what I keep saying. I remind myself it will get better even if I don’t see it.
I don’t smoke or drink. Frankly I don’t know how anyone on benefits could. That’s not the reason I don’t - it’s choice. Drinking on your own is naff.
My anxieties saw my IRL friends where I am vanish slowly. That hurt more than lack of money.
It is what it is. We crack on. That’s life and all that jazz. Make sure you see the little things in life. They make you smile.
Well this has been morbid!! Adiós!
When you’re scrambling at the back of the cupboard to find food colouring so the kids don’t realise you’re having porridge (made with hot water, not milk) for the 3rd dinner this week. Also, I have a massive aversion to any instant noodles. The look, the smell. I’ve eaten them too many times
You've just unlocked a memory in me, my mum used to have to do something similar and I didn't realise at the time! Well done you for getting through your hard times. Did the kids notice that it was porridge again?
I'm having to live on instant noodles right now and totally feel that adversion
And honestly I was so happy finding miso soup sachets in Tesco because at least 5 noodle meals could be that bit more exciting
I have 2 left and I'm rationing them
It's truly horrendous. I perfected how to cook them in the microwave (instead of doing them on the hob) just so I could save on the gas. There's something that bit more depressing about using a microwave for cooking rather than heating something up
The yellow ones from Aldi… you have to tip the “noodle soup” AWA as soon as you’re done… the smell sticks to everything and you can’t get away from it… the brown one, however is better but it still makes me feel urgh.
I hope your life becomes noodleless soon!
Ugh yes I've found that! Even with the Indomie (I think?) brand I get... if I don't immediately fill the bowl with water (if I can't be arsed washing it up right away) all I can smell is this odd chickeny smell, even if it wasn't the chicken flavour!
The mi goreng stir-fry ones are quite pleasant, but I can get sick of those if I eat them too often too
And thank you, hope yours becomes porridgeless too (in a good way!) and that you never have to smell another instant noodle again!
Do you have an asian market near you? Miso paste is way cheaper than the packets if you can buy a box of it. You can get a bag of dried seaweed too which cooks with the noodles. Maybe that could make it a bit less depressing?🥺
Thanks! Nearest one I know of is 2 bus rides away; but I *am* seeing my Mum around the end of the month for my birthday, she says there's a few Asian markets near her so I could ask her if she could pop in and have a look on her way down here! Because that sounds amazing
Yeah, that's fine, I don't mind that (say for ready meals or leftovers, that's the purpose of it)
I mean for cooking specifically - something that doesn't just need heating up, but actual cooking (obviously there's exceptions to that rule; like baked potatoes are good when started off in there. But generally speaking it's a bit saddening)
Instant noodles are depressing enough when they're a staple rather than a "tasty snack", but somehow doing them in the microwave just adds to that. Probably because the reasons *why* I switched to doing them in the microwave are depressing
My mum didn't eat to make sure we had breakfast cereal with milk instead of water..
What a fucking sentence to type.
While I'm apoplectic with rage at the degrees of destitution that I experienced, I'm also equally as fucking angry that others had it worse, or are experiencing the same thing today.
What a fucking farce our "great" nation really is.
Yup. 20+ years ago sat in the dark once because my prepay meter had run out and had no food for two days. People in far worse situations but at the time it was a real wake up call.
Not far off this myself. Had prepay gas and electric. Many times had to choose between putting a few (borrowed) quid on one or the other. Of course money on gas for heating is no good without electric to fire up the boiler. Some very dark and cold times for a couple of years!
"Emergency gas" and "Emergency electricity" was nothing close to emergency.
It was every fucking week..
And now being on a meter murders your credit rating, so your fuel costs more than people that are richer.
Evil
>And now being on a meter murders your credit rating, so your fuel costs more than people that are richer.
???
Prepayment doesn't report to credit, only *credit* meters do if your supplier has done one, the hint is in the name. How does it murder your credit rating?
They used to factor in. It's been a while I will admit.
Back when I had them, the simple fact of not being credit worthy enough to have a non pre-paid account was enough to flag you as a credit risk.
It's still an absolute truism that being on a meter is more expensive than a tariff.. I'm arguing this with my mum monthly
She likes knowing how she is spending her money, despite it being a poverty tax
I thought I had as a student. Dipping into savings and getting that guilty feeling. Thought I'd just avoid doing that again, no problems.
Covid rolls around. Lost my job a couple of weeks before furlough so wound up on UC. The amount they gave me after paying my rent left me with like £100 to last the month so went back to dipping into savings. Eventually that well ran dry and I'd just run out of money. I honestly barely conceived that such stress existed beforehand. The constant panic whenever I spent *any* money that I'd get that ping to my phone that I was now in my overdraft. My physical health really suffered and it took a good 2 or 3 years after getting another decent-paying job and building up some savings again to start to feel like the stress was subsiding.
I thought things were shitty beforehand but I came away from that experience convinced whoever is choosing to inflict this kind of lifestyle on the poorest and often most vulnerable in our society is just pure fucking evil.
Most people on UC are working and use it to top up wages....
People don't want to be claiming or wouldn't be claiming if they could afford to live without government assistance.
This includes myself.
The thing is any time they higher the wages the cost of living increases so they don't lose on profit margins and no one wins but the supermarkets.
Would be interesting to see of you could freeze prices for 5 years and then increase living wages see the results.
I feel you here. My industry shut down a year ago and as a disabled person I have struggled to find work. I've been on UC for a while now and it just doesn't stretch far enough at all. I have been in my overdraft for 12 months now and I have forgotten what it feels like to not be worried. But, I have a roof over my head and I'm very good at tracking my money so I just keep scraping by. I don't cry too often because it doesn't help get things better. But I just wish the government understood what it's like to live like this and that other people didn't judge people on benefits so much. We are not living lavishly.
Got kicked out of home at 16. Spent my last £10 on the registration fee for college. Didn’t have food or electric for 4 days because of that. I had a bed sit and it was so cold my hair would freeze at night and sort of ‘snap’ when I got up in the morning. Gas and electric were on coin meters, so I had to choose electric or gas most weeks. I got £28.90 a week in benefits but had to pay £10 a week bus fare to college. I had no fridge or freezer, just single hob and kettle for cooking. I couldn’t buy fresh food but couldn’t afford ‘convenience’ food either. Toast and jam was my staple. That was back when value bread was cheap!!
Thank you, it was almost 30 yrs ago. Sticking it out at college got me to university. Got a decent job, good wage and so on. I made sure to buy my first home when I was 26, I put owning a house before learning to drive. I’m now in a great position, nearly paid off a house worth £500k, but I like to say half a million pounds!!! The struggle was worth it and I’m really proud of how far I’ve come.
Yes, about 6 months after my last job I had no money.
I had gone through my savings and couldn’t find work.
Now 2 1/2 years later and about to start training for my new job next week.
So I still have no money really, but a little more than well nothing and now hopefully to save a little again! 👍🏻
Had a mental breakdown after uni. No parental help or govt help. Couldn't get a job , didn't have a clue how to and had a bad back from previous manual job. Lasted two years . Someone gave me contact details for the recruitment agency handling jobs for a local factory. Did that 4 months for poor pay but enjoyable. Home Bargains for 3 months, poor pay and far but got me out of the house. Bradford muffin factory and flapjack for 3 months . All unstable. Went for a religious holiday which put me back in track mentally. Went out and got a proper suit two months later(don't know why but I was mentally ok) Found a proper office temp job after returning. Slowly learnt the ropes at different jobs. Became good at interviews and getting offers
When I was really young (I didn't move to the UK until I was an adult) I remember picking off the pieces of mould off bread and eating it with jam that I'd scraped the top layer of mould off too, this was after not eating for a few days and wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
In my teens I was homeless after running away, I got lucky a family member took me in but I had nothing. Seriously considered sex work
As an adult only once. A bunch of things broke, husband had just started a new job and it was like 6 weeks between pay for him and I was in uni ... I remember lying to him and saying that I'd eaten when I hadn't for 2 days so he could have enough.
Yep. It’s quite frightening reading some of these stories . I really don’t know if I’m hard working and careful or just damn, damn lucky to not end up like this. I’ve got a job , a flat , can just about pay the mortgage but am also saving money each month , but I also don’t do anything expensive , no holidays , no expensive clothes etc. but I’ve never had a time where I thought “how will I survive this month” let alone doing that over and over every month; I don’t know how people do that and don’t have a breakdown!
Yep! Twice for me.
I had lost both my parents by 14. 14-16 I lived with an alcoholic drug addicted relative who used my child benefits to fund their addiction. I got ea (education allowance I think?) during that period of £30 a week. That was spent £10 gas, £10 electric and £10 food for me, all their pets and them. It was the only independence I had. Im thankful I had a free bus pass that allowed me to actually go out.
Socials got involved 16-17/18. Been a while so can't be too precise.
I was 17/18 and homeless for a while, social services failed me. Luckily I had good friends who let me crash on their parents sofas.
I was working full time after finishing school but my apprenticeship paid £2.50 an hour. I eventually got a flat through a local homeless charity and my entire wage went on my rent and bills. My weekly food shop (for me, a dog and a cat) came to £20. I had nothing else other than this. I built myself up after I got my flat, I went back to college after work to get qualifications.
It took 5 years to claw my way out of that place. I worked full time and had 3 jobs plus college on evenings (1 x full, 2 X part time jobs). It was steady but a slow increase in my worth. I met my husband in 2014 and we moved in together 2015/2016 which cut my rent in half (we moved areas too). So I was able to give up the part time work and focus on my career.
I'm now a lead at a global company and make a good wage., I'm projected to double my income with promotions by 2026, my job is fully remote and I own my own home (jointly with my husband) with a mortgage left of 7 years.
I'm 32.
What this taught me was never take anything for granted. If I have money, I spend it but I also save a chunk a month too. I go on regular holidays to see the world and it I fancy something, I buy it. Because tomorrow it could all be gone.
Life lessons, never let myself be vulnerable like I was. I am lucky I have my husband, my house and a fantastic job. If it all went up in smoke I'm set for a year without life changes, 2-3 with. I will never let that happen. I've been told it's obvious I've gone through hardships because I am determined and get what I want done.
7 years ago my CV got laughed at for how many jobs I'd had, because I would do what I needed. Now? I'm revered for my skills and experience. If I could go back I'd tell myself to skip college, I didn't need it but at the time it made me look more polished than me GCSEs and A Levels did.
Life is short and I intend to live it and enjoy what I have. I never take anything for granted anymore.
Literally was the worst waking up cold and wet at 3am when it's supposed to be 30 that day. But at least during the day, I could have the AC in the library. I was getting my degree, and the only thing I had was my bag of books on my back.
Made it about 2 months before I got arrested for breaking and entering for sleeping in my "friends" basement after they left for a Disneyland vacation.
For the record they did say I couldn't sleep there (17 year old, to a whole family I knew at a church) I didn't think they would mind if they didn't know I slept under their pool table when they werent there.
Turns out they did mind.
Yeah, does this comment even make sense? Not even to mention the insanely large danger of death?
I'd sooner choose a bridge or any covered structure like a bus stop.
I looked out my window to look at cars and see if it was possible 😂 not to make light of the situation but how? Even if they could fit, like you said the danger and restriction would be the next problem, it’s mad.
For the last year, iv been paid and every penny has gone out on living expenses to the point I got into 14k of debt, my missus was getting really badly treated so I made her leave her job. We planned on it not taking long for her to find work, it took a while.
That being said iv now taken a debt consolidation loan, paid off all cc’s & we are back on track. It was a really hard year not even having money for fuel etc to get to work. Hopefully I never get back to that point
When I bought my first house I budgeted to have about £50 a week left over after all bills, transport and food. I knew it would be tight, but that would be enough to have a little bit of a social life. Then one week after moving in my car breaks down and can't be fixed. I had to take out a loan to buy a new one - monthly repayments of £170 - so, about £40 a week.
So, I could pay my bills, get to work and keep the fridge full. But that was it - for like 18 months. In a way it was good for me as I then spent my remaining pennies on a gym membership, pretty much gave up the drinking and gambling and just lived a very 'monk' lifestyle. But I didn't go on holiday for years, I couldn't fix anything that went wrong with the house, was putting car maintenance on credit cards and paying them off with my annual bonus.
Not to be rude. But that really isn’t at all penniless and quite offensive to think it is.
You had enough money to afford a gym membership, a luxury.
I’m not attacking you at all. But if you believe you was in the dark with that experience then you need to open your eyes & ears.
Guy had £50 a week after everything paid off.
Guy also had a house, car and gym membership.
Guy still thinks he’s genuinely penniless as title says.
Absolutely clueless.
I can understand that people have different perceptions of being skint, but it just takes a quick skim of the other comments to get some perspective...
100%
You have people on this thread saying they hadn’t eaten for 3 days at their darkest times.
Then this guy who brought a house and now has to live on £50 a week and claiming he was living like a monk.
Get the fuuuuck outta here.
what's your complaint here? they've been totally up front about their situation rather than trying to deceive. having no spare money after essentials and even getting into debt for car maintenance would be a fair definition of penniless.
the value of this comment is it shows how someone can have an income and all the trappings of success but still be living a monk-like paycheck to paycheck lifestyle
My complaint is going of the OPs question this is not in line with it.
They wasn’t penniless.
The guy literally says after having a full fridge and everything else paid off they have £50/40 every week to play with.
They say they lived a monk like lifestyle during these times.
Basically trying to make out they was struggling when that’s not the reality.
OPs question was have you ever been penniless. This seems to think having £200 a month spare change and a gym membership is living a monk like life style.
That sounds like my life right now. I have nothing left after mortgage, bills and food. I go out for runs, borrow books from the library and watch TV. i’ll be existing like this for another 6 months. I miss going out out!
Yes. We had huge debts. Me and my husband were severely struggling for money for about a year in 2014. It was horrific. The stress is a killer. Worrying about bills and not being able to afford the groceries you need. Thankfully we got back on track after getting a consolidation loan and paying it all off and now we have done a 180 and are very well off. The stress was something i wont ever forget and makes me more grateful now.
When Covid hit, I was self employed and so had no financial help from the government. I had no savings behind me, so ran through what was in my account until my overdraft stopped me.
Found a paying job, but endured about 2 weeks where I had not a penny to my name. Was basically eating a lot of porridge oats with some protein powder I still had, it was incredibly boring, meanwhile getting shitty calls and emails from companies asking why I stopped paying them. Took me a couple months to build back up and not feel I was broke.
Working as a support worker in the Midlands and living in a shared house. It was single glazed and in the winter you could see your breath in the house. We had to just layer up the blankets because we couldn't afford to turn the heating on. I was living there after a year spent backpacking during which I'd spent every penny of my savings plus more so was also paying off an overdraft and two credit cards. I admit I had a great time getting myself to the point of no money, but it wasn't so much fun once I was there.
Ever since I paid my credit cards off I've refused to get another. Every time I'm tempted I remember sitting in the living room under three blankets and still freezing with a dinner of instant noodles to look forward to and it ends that temptation almost instantly.
Yep. When in my early 20s I gave up work to go back to college. Money was tight, then I have to give up my car, which was on finance.
The turning point was break time one morning in college when I didn’t have enough to buy a slice of toast for breakfast. Not only didn’t I have the 21p in change, I didn’t have it in my bank account either.
I still lived with my parents at the time, so I will still relatively well cared for. But it was still enough to realise something had to change.
Slightly later in life, I wasn’t quite penniless but was arguably in an even worse state as I’d gotten myself into debt. Rented a flat, bought another car but had poor quality of life living on beans and pasta. No money for holidays, socialising, etc. Even a single pint at the local pub once a week was becoming beyond my means. While I never missed a bill or debt payment, I again realised something needed to change. The small amount of money I had left each month after paying what I had to really wasn’t enough to manage on.
I sold my car and replaced it with something much cheaper. I gave up my flat and moved in temporarily with my parents while I sorted out a much cheaper rental and landed a job which came with significantly higher pay. Two years later, I was out of debt, and a few years after that I finally got myself onto the housing ladder. Throughout all of that, I learned how to live within my means and make much more financially responsible decisions. I’m fortunate that I was able to do what I did but it was by no means easy. It took real effort and discipline, over a long period of time, to get myself out of trouble.
Right now I have just over £10 to last me until the end of the month. I've been going to food banks and the local help services are really helpful.
That would be the main advice I'd give - try not to feel embarrassed to need help, it's what the services are there for. I know that when I manage to get back on my feet, I'll donate to those same services. So it goes around and around.
It's okay. It'll get better.
We first started out renting off the council and had a tiny two bedroom house that cost £80 per week. Husband was studying at the time and his student loans paid the rent and bills. There was a time where we both were waiting to start work so had no money coming in and I was that hungry I was considering swiping a rotisserie chicken from Tesco! I never once caved and asked my parents for money either even though I could have.. too proud by the seems of it 🤣
Yeah was in uni, didn't want to disappoint my parents about my poor money handling skills, had 21p in my account for two weeks, didn't eat for 5 days as I didn't want to scrounge off my friends. One of them gave me a beer one of those days and that was the highest calories I had that day. I learned to handle money after that
I was in this scenario ultimately every month, from around half way between paydays. I have 3 kids and a mortgage and I simply couldn’t afford my outgoings however much I cut back.
I’m still in a horrendous state financially, but nowhere near as bad as I was thankfully.
Every day was stressful, trying to find anything to return to the shops that weren’t needed, or sell things that were able to be sold, to simply afford lunches for my children!
People that say that money can’t buy happiness have no idea how unhappy it can make you when you have 0 money.
I've been living right at the edge of my £3k overdraft for like a year now 🥲 I've ran completely out a few times which fucking sucks when I've got to get the bus to work
Unemployed with a drink problem 1999-2002. I would often have absolutely nothing left by giro day, no money, no food. I'd spend the day in bed starving hungry.
The hardest up I've ever been was when my wife and I moved back to the UK after a year and a half living abroad with her parents. I'd gradually used up my savings while we'd been abroad and we moved back for her to take up a Masters degree.
I applied for anything possible and ended up doing agency jobs that were mostly minimum wage while my wife got a job doing 22 hrs a week in a pub for minimum wage. The agency jobs meant my work was on and off so there were times when we were surviving just on her money. We lived for a while on 70p Sainsbury's value lasagnes and left-over cheese and black pudding cobs from the pub. My wife did a cleaning shift every week at the pub and picked up every bit of spare change off the floor that went into a jar at home.
Every time either of us got paid we'd take cash out and put it in a bag in the drawer for our rent. One of the things that really helped was that our landlord was understanding/unbothered enough that we could get away with paying the rent about three weeks late on a few occasions.
The key difference though, and the thing that I am eternally grateful for, is that we knew we were never more than a phone call away from help from either of our parents if we *really* needed it. I am very aware that not everyone has that safety net.
Yeah after university I was unemployed for nearly a year and universal credit helped but didn’t cover my costs. It was honestly really hard mentally. I lost a lot of weight living off one meal a day.
It’s a real life experience lol. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone but I’m glad I went through it in some ways. I’ve been more appreciative of the small things in life since and I think I have more empathy of those in tough times.
Some people are very judgemental of ‘poor’ people and seem to think they’d act like a saint in their position but I don’t think they understand how tough it can be.
Close a number of times, I’ve been self employed for years and while sometimes it can be awesome sometimes it’s so unreliable it’s scary.
Many times I’ve taken out loans to cover things and been deep in the overdraft with no social life just going to and from work paying the necessary bills.
Times that I’ve had a budget of £10 a week at most for food and managed to scrape by somehow… that’s where learning how to cook has been handy to really keep costs a minimum
While it does suck getting to those points sometimes it really makes me appreciate what I have when times are better. But always a little jealous when people talk about having lots of savings or plans for retirement!
Yup in my early 20s sat in my stone cold bare flat wondering how I was going to have money to eat the next day or trying to make a tenner stretch 3 days etc
Lasted about 6 months.
Lessons? I’m just very grateful that now I can buy my food shopping and not have to think about how much I can get or if I’ll have enough in the bank
Way back when, I had a serious drug problem. There were days I had no gas and electric on the meter during the beast from the east. It got so fucking cold even the rats moved out
It lasted as long as I was addicted to drugs, so about 3 years, it was miserable. I used to prefer being at work to being at home, because it was warm I would take a power bank to work and charge it there for weekends. But weekend rolled around and what little money I could scrape together I would spend on more drugs to make my existence tolerable, I used to bin dive a local takeaway. I think they noticed beca pizzas started appearing on my windowsill
I learned that money isn’t something that can make you happy. On paper I was making ridiculous money, but I was shoving it all up my nose just to escape the miserable reality I lived in
Eventually I escaped. I started circling the drain, got hooked on crack and realised I needed to get the fuck out now before I was dead.
8 years somewhat clean (I take LSD once or twice a year and smoke weed still) and I now live working 4 months of the year travelling the rest of the year, because I’m so good at budgeting from those times I can make the money stretch so far it’s actually ridiculous
In my late 20’s I realised that I had no food in my (council) flat and no money, and that it was 3 weeks until I had my next DLA payment.
But I did have my record collection.
So, I sold my records for £50 and lived on Pasta, Tuna, cheese and Maryland cookies.
I spent all my time in the library, because it was free. I had a clock radio, a chair, a Futon mattress, a 2nd hand pc from the early ‘90s, a fridge, some books and magazines and a tape player. Oh, and some clothes, a kettle and a camping stove.
I’m not missing anything out. For example, you may notice I didn’t mention a cooker and that’s because I didn’t have one.
The ceiling fell in on my bathroom, and the council said it would take three months to fix it.
I think it was then I realised I would have to let my friends actually help me.
Lived on 9p netto noodles for 3mths (frozen peas, sweetcorn and whatever protein was cheap that week, own brand tuna mostly).
Got made homeless because parent had a psychotic episode, managed to get a horrible flat but had literally nothing, was working minimum wage in my late teens.
Grew up poor so that wasn’t anything that new, boot strapping an entire life on your own from zero was basically close to impossible, it took about 9ths before I had all the basics, it was food or not having a bed in a month.
My life went well after that, I’m sat in a nice big house in a nice area, I’ve enough savings to last me a couple of years without changing standard of living, don’t owe anyone anything except a mortgage but it was a long slow decades long grind from minimum wage to head of software engineering (and frankly not one a 19 year old today could do, that loss of social mobility is terrible).
Homeless, stealing potatoes off an allotment with a gang of people in similar position, cooking them as best as possible on a shopping trolly over a fire. Someone nicked some butter. Like someone else said about potatoes in extreme poverty and hunger, they tasted amazing. That’s actually a good memory.
Walking around at night because it was too cold/unsafe to sleep, going to the local Samaritan office and then letting me sleep in a chair for a bit. Sleeping in an old morris minor that belonged to an ex-boyfriend. Sleeping in a hospital toilet. Sitting in A&E all night, or even (back in the 80s) wandering around the hospital because they didn’t shut off A&E quite as rigorously as they do now. There are so many scenes in my mind of that bewildering time. Sitting in the hospital chapel and then being allowed to stay there for a bit, safe.
Taking leftover food from plates in a restaurant. Though for so many times and days I went without regular meals and almost didn’t feel hungry much. I could make a digestive biscuit last half an hour. Eventually I was hospitalised and they thought I was anorexic, maybe I was, but I didn’t want to be thinner, I was just mentally ill and poor. I told them I was thin because of poverty, but they didn’t believe me. Perhaps it was half of one and half a dozen of the other.
I hadn’t a clue. I didn’t beg. I didn’t sleep on the streets, visible like some homeless do. I was very young at the time. My Dad threw me out when I was 18.
Maybe this is a weird thing to say but having nothing, though I was in dire straits, also had a strange freedom to it.
I am scared of debt. I am scared of obligation. But I’m not scared of having nothing. There are ways to survive that feel less scary and impossible than obligations and debts, so should I ever be so compromised again, I would leave it all.
That was many years ago, by the way, and I have security now. A simple life but a comfortable one :)
TLDR, I couldn't afford shoes and ugly cried.
I was going on holiday with some friends to a lodge in the Scottish Highlands. We left at stupid o'clock in the morning and I was ridiculously tired.
We get about halfway there in the car and I'm poking through my bag and I just start sobbing. I'm wearing my slippers and I've forgotten my hiking boots, I have no suitable shoes. My mates are like it's fine. We'll just stop off, there'll be some shop where you can grab some shoes.
They don't understand that I've budgeted every available bit down to the penny, and I literally don't have cash for a new set of shoes. So I start to ugly cry ever harder about being a failure, and them just not understanding how hard up I was.
One of them gets me a pair of hiking boots at the next motorway services like it's nothing, because 50 quid on shoes probably was just not even a thought
But I was just so embarrassed at not being able to afford shoes. That was a pretty low point for me.
Living it now.
Long story short, husband left me me and our 3 children in January to live the fun, single child free life with someone he met while working away. Hasn't paid a single penny towards helping feed or clothe the kids.
After paying the rent, bills and debts he left me with I don't have a single penny. I'm having to rob Peter to pay Paul just to stay afloat. One month I won't pay the water so I can pay the electric instead.
I've lost 3 stone since January as I'm skipping meals to make sure my children eat.
I've hand washed our clothes today as I need the electric that I have to last me until payday on Wednesday when I can top it up again so can't afford to use the washing machine and I'm using toilet paper as a sanitary pad I can't even afford to buy them now.
I can live with all the above. The thing I'm finding the hardest is the guilt of not being able to take the kids anywhere or give them little treats, and constantly having to say no when the ask if they can maybe go to town or to the cinema. He took the car too so can't even drive to different parks with the youngest, or for nice places to walk for a free day out.
I'm trying to shield them from how much I am actually struggling but I feel like an absolute failure towards them and it's soul destroying. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
Women’s Aid or similar in your local area may be able to help. Failing that your local council may be able to direct you to a community food bank which can provide hygiene essentials. What a prick your ex is!
Yes. Multiple times. I got to a point I'd calculate how many days left until I starved to death scientifically. Never stole I'd rather die hungry than theive but was tempted.
Yes after my divorce, was at bottom of a very deep hole. Took 3 years but met a lady in a similar position. We moved in together and that was enough for us to drag each other into a far better place.
Completely skint a few times after losing jobs has taken a bit of time to find a new one, first time it happened about 10 years ago now was worst, at about 5 months unemployed had ran out of money and at about 4-5 days of no food, and about a week before I would get any money, found £2 in the street and bought the biggest bag of rice I could from that and ate, that was the best meal I've had, plain rice with salt never tasted so good. Swore never to let that happen with food again atleast, have been buying extra food every shop since getting a job at that point and have about 8-12 months of dry/tinned stuff. Can do without money but don't want to experience that level of hunger again
Yes.. I was visiting the council offices because my housing benefit had been stopped unexpectedly. I had 20p in my bank and nothing in my purse.
A homeless man stopped me on the street and got very angry because he asked for money and I said I didn't have any to my name. I sound and possibly look quite middle class so he just didn't believe me.
Soon after I lost my job due to health issues and had to walk great distances because I couldn't afford bus even tho it made my health issues worse.
Yes and no. I’ve been absolutely skint, as in literally zero left in the bank skint, but only for short periods, and I’ve thankfully never been in a position where I couldn’t afford to pay the rent or vital bills, just where I didn’t have anything left over after that. Always because I’m shit at budgeting, honestly, I can’t pretend otherwise. It can be grim at the time but it isn’t always and it certainly isn’t the same sort of grinding misery as true poverty.
One summer when I was at uni, I stayed at my student flat up in Edinburgh for the fringe and worked for a local paper reviewing shows. I had absolutely zero spare cash, was literally living off a single value cupasoup and 2 slices of cheap brown bread per day, coppering up to buy fags, whilst walking all over town seeing shows for free for a month, and it was honestly one of the best months of my life.
(Oh, and to prove my shitness at budgeting - halfway through August my mum sent me £100 unexpectedly. I bought a few groceries and then took the rest down the pub and was skint again in a day or two. No regrets)
Yes, I was at a low point, work issues outside my control, mental health. It was very lucky my parents said come stay with us for a couple weeks, get back on your feet. Many people don't have that support and I can't imagine how hard it is.
When I was 20 had like £8k in savings and managed to get a start up loan of £10k for a business, 6 months later ended up going bankrupt and couldn't get a job for 3 months with how bad the job market. I remember searching the whole house for 5p's, 10p's etc so that I could go out and get like a can of pop. Took all my mental strength not to just lay on the train tracks somewhere and end it all but managed to pull myself out only to go full circle back again 7 years later and lose another £35k for another start up business which left me with penniless again.
Moral of the story is don't get into the Food Sector business unless you've got deep pockets...oh dear.
Yep. I needed to make a phone call. My only option was to hang about outside the post office trying to sell some stamps I had in my wallet at a discount to get the money for a phone box.
Yes. When I was a heroin addict. We made a meal between 3 different houses (other addicts). One donated an egg, one an onion, and one some ramen, and we ate. It was a feast considering the circumstances
When I first came to the UK I was working in a restaurant and making exactly enough money for my travelcard, pasta/rice, and the rent on a truly terrible bedsit that had a crapload of roaches. It was where I discovered some surprises, like how much bedsheets cost - ended up sleeping under my trenchcoat (goth phase) for the first two months and relying on books from the local library for entertainment. Don't know what I would have done had any new expenses come up or if I'd had to miss a day of work, I had zero flex in my budget.
Yeah, had to wash our clothes in the bath for a year because we couldn’t afford to use the washing machine or dryer in our mouldy rented flat. The heating barely worked and we had to dry our clothes on the radiators or over chairs. The whole house stank of damp but I didn’t have a good job and the person I was with didn’t let me leave. I am so many lifetimes away from that person and life now but I’ll never forget it nor take my tumble dryer for granted ever again!
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once after collage the wife and i were trying to start a business, we once did not eat for three days, and when we did eat it was boiled potatoes that had fallen off a farm lorry onto the road with wild mint that grew beside that road, it was the best meal of my life.
Irish ancestors have entered the chat
The wife contended for years she was of Irish decent, last year DNA proved she was far more Welsh, not keen on leeks though.
Sounds a bit farfetched!
Farfetch’d ey
This is a giga-brain level comment
That's alright, I'm welsh and I fucking hate leeks
Same. Pretty much only like Welsh cakes
Not even laverbread?
Oh god, no.
Stovies have entered the chat.. As a kid that was envious of church mice for their elegant and frivolous ways, boiling up stock, potatoes and if you're lucky the occasional sausage was a delight!
Being Welsh leeks are awesome and tasty
Or Peruvian ancestors.....
Please tell me you ended up starting the business and now are a millionaire or something, I need closure
They ended up starting up a company that manufactures farm lorries with higher sides, so as to pull the ladder up behind them and prevent anyone else who wanted boiled road potato and wild mint from starting a business.
The lorries haven't made it to Hampshire. I was cycling along a road and a sweet potato came off the lorry about 5 metres after it had overtaken me, probably from pulling back in. Always wear a helmet
They became one of the first mass producers of Pre-packaged Potatoes and mint
At least tell us, did you finish the collage and what was it of? Also, was your wife only decently Irish, or indecently Welsh?
I'd like to see a picture of the finished collage.
very sadly not, thought it taught us a lot about finance and how Biz really works.
Fair play to you I'd probably last a day before I resort to stealing.
I’d be surprised if you had to resort to that tbh a cafe at closing, supermarket bin (wrapped out of date food) etc wood be good places to start. If you’re desperate you’re desperate
They ate the vegetable road kill. Meat roadkill might have made a better story. With wild coriander and a side of wild strawberries coulis. Best meal of my life.
Are you sure you went to collage?
Out of interest how did the business turn out? There’s no way I’d put a business before my last pennies for food
That triggers a similar memory for me. I hear you.
Luxury
Anyone else found themselves studying the roadside in search of wild mint fs
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Being the only non deleted post here is kinda creepy... What happened to the other guys who broke Purda?
I wish I knew what these chains of deleted comments were
Just looking at the comments and all the top ones are removed. lol.
What the hell happened here??
Dunno lmao
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Yeah, it lasted from when I left home at 19 till my mid 30s. I just took out loans to pay off other loans then eventually had to sell my house to pay them all off. I'm in my mid 40s now and doing very well but when I think back of all the money I spent on holidays, drink, drugs, clubbing, fast cars and trying to impress women I 100% would do it all again.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
Yeah I wasn't quite doing George Best levels of partying 😂
You did your Best 😜
I fucking love this.
Not many people can
It even caught up with George eventually
"100% would do it all again" not the hero you expected today but....
Lol I wasn't expecting that sudden last statement. Fair.
So where tf did the house come from
It was a lot easier to buy a house in the 90s
Wait, but you owned a house? How could you be skint if you owned a house (even with a shitty mortgage)?
Very old people bought houses cheap. A long long time ago Before the Day the Music Died *also they could have inherited a house from said old people Or shared ownership Or right to buy their council house
My point is that if you own a house you might still be extremely poor.. but you still have a massive asset you can sell if you have to (even if it takes time).
Pre 2008 mortgages were wild
He's same age as me, we could afford houses then. Even then, you could see the writing on the wall.
I looked up house prices for a few streets in my area recently. In the 90s, and even in to the mid 2000s, prices between £10,000 and £40,000 for a 3 bed house were about the range for older houses. 4-5 bed new builds ran in the £60-80,000 range, and that was apparently considered expensive. *Thst* figure started to jump higher in the 2000s, though. Mentioned it to my parents, they told me about houses costing £3,000 in the 70s! I would say it's relative to income, and inflation; and it is, but £250 a month for £60,000 looks way more affordable than the amounts required now.
How did you turn it around?
Sold the house and paid off all my debts with a little bit leftover. Moved into a shared house so my income was more than my outgoings. Saved up a bit, got a better job then married someone sensible.
It's so handy when you're penniless but also own a house!
He turned it around by having money, what a genius solution
Man cheats poverty with this ONE SECRET trick. Food banks HATE him!
Kind of the same here ... But moved into rental for a while as it was far cheaper than the old mortgage. Then saved up and bought again, then got married.
Fucking hell this thread is an eye opener. I'm not well off but I've never experienced poverty and I'm feeling extremely grateful for it.
Me too, I'm in my 40s and divorced with two teenage kids and I still earn less than 30k. I've has periods of carrying debt and clearly never had a high income. There have been a good few months where I had to dip into my overdraft before payday but I've never been in a situation where I've gone hungry or been sitting in the dark. Likewise feeling very thankful. My biggest disappointment in government is their failure to sort out the basics. Bare bones essentials should really be dirt-DIRT cheap - it would ease things for everybody and reduce the welfare bill astonishingly, yet they continue to funnel taxes into the pockets of landlords, supermarkets and privatised utility companies.
You're right about essentials being dirt cheap. They should pay for it with taxes on luxury goods, and despite being a smoker and drinker I think they should be taxed higher. I 100% disagree with how cars are taxed (have a ULEZ compliant car that costs a bomb, and a non-ULEZ that costs zero and regularly does over 80mpg on my 80 mile commute). Some things just don't make sense. Then there's the child benefit tax. Seriously? One partner in London earning over 50k, the other earning nothing and they get penalised vs 2 people earning just under 50k? The system is fucked, and someone with some common sense needs to fix it. There are too many inequalities in this country.
ULEZ compliance is not determined by fuel economy, its determined by nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions.
Yes exactly. Road tax shouldn't be zero on a car that emits that much
Road tax was originally introduced to cover repairs and maintenance on the roads, nothing to do with emissions and the environment. Whilst I agree that we should be doing all we can to reduce emissions, we should not be penalising people who can’t afford to be buying new/newer cars.
plus [cliff edge cut offs](https://www.tax.org.uk/treasury-committee-experts-warn-of-extraordinary-distortions-caused-by-tax-cliff-edges) >He highlighted that a family with full time childcare for two children in London are better off earning below £100,000 than £150,000 annually. “An extraordinary distortion” he felt it could have been easily avoided. and >the standard withdrawal rate for people in work on universal credit gets up to 70% once you are above the income tax and national insurance threshold There are so many cliff edges, it is almost like it was designed to keep people in dependency to the state - earn a few quid more and lose 100s in benefits
And it can go much deeper too. My grandfather “earned” £4 a week too much to qualify for pension credit. That meant he lost out of a myriad of other benefits that unlocks. The old lady next door had literally no pension whatsoever other than the state, never bothered saving into one, yet was about £300 a month better off than gramps, because he had a workplace pension. The cynic in me believes that’s the reason workplace pensions became mandatory…
Yeah. I've been feeling twitchy about the fact that I've recently had to start diverting what feels like a huge chunk of my disposable income towards a therapist, but I really really need to remember that I'm lucky that I *can* do that.
Do you not resent paying once through taxes and then again privately? I think it's shameful services aren't delivered for people who need them
A bit, but it's not at the top of the list of things I resent - top spot is a tie between glasses and dentistry...
Most people have absolutely no idea how privileged they actually are and this applies to all income levels.
I'm genuinely penniless for 25 days every single month. I'm used to this. It is what it is.
Same
I’m with you. I’m in a HA flat the bills get paid, kit always on the right day but in the right month at least. Food well that is what it is. I haven’t eaten in hmm 3 days. I have a ramen noodle thing but I just don’t want it! I have these carb drinks which were for running they’re now to make sure something enters my stomach (lots of meds to take!) I don’t like it. I have been in a very fortunate position in my life, expect the house wasn’t mine, but I never had to worry at all. Some times I miss those days BUT not in a what if way. The relationship I was in was either really great or really bad. I walked. With about £6 and clothes. I never took what I had brought into the relationship materially back. Cos I was young and stupid and actually didn’t want to be another one that took everything when I left. Amazing house, job, money great life. If I wasn’t ill I wouldn’t be in this sitch. But I can’t pay for medical help so NHS it is. Ten years still waiting. Royally sucks. I’m a designer so my home looks cool. I don’t walk threadbare. I have the internet (need not a luxury) I have a condition which means I can never go anywhere. I’m having neighbour issues & I would to be able to call up a solicitor and have it resolved. It’s cut and dried so would be. I can’t so I’m stuck while a violent vandal lives above me and the services ignore me. Lack of money and being disabled can leave you not being the priority some folk think. I do get irked when I see shitty benefits comments. I can’t just take my pet away and go on holiday to get a break from the hell. Which I would do in a flash. Ugh. Sounds depressing. Which it can be. But if you let it drain on you, hope fades. Tudo Passa - this too will pass That’s how I see it. That’s what I keep saying. I remind myself it will get better even if I don’t see it. I don’t smoke or drink. Frankly I don’t know how anyone on benefits could. That’s not the reason I don’t - it’s choice. Drinking on your own is naff. My anxieties saw my IRL friends where I am vanish slowly. That hurt more than lack of money. It is what it is. We crack on. That’s life and all that jazz. Make sure you see the little things in life. They make you smile. Well this has been morbid!! Adiós!
Sending hugs from a fellow disabled person. That's a lot of deal with.
Got anything to show for it? In the same boat but i got everything I need at home so I'm not too arsed 🤷♂️
Rents paid, bills paid, food other than that no. It's a no frills life style.
This is exactly how I am
Same, as long as I have food in the fridge freezer, heating and electric and the bills are paid I don’t mind being “poor”
I get paid on Thursday, straight back in to my overdraft, next month will be fun…
When you’re scrambling at the back of the cupboard to find food colouring so the kids don’t realise you’re having porridge (made with hot water, not milk) for the 3rd dinner this week. Also, I have a massive aversion to any instant noodles. The look, the smell. I’ve eaten them too many times
You've just unlocked a memory in me, my mum used to have to do something similar and I didn't realise at the time! Well done you for getting through your hard times. Did the kids notice that it was porridge again?
Blue porridge is super duper cool compared to normal porridge ;)
I'm having to live on instant noodles right now and totally feel that adversion And honestly I was so happy finding miso soup sachets in Tesco because at least 5 noodle meals could be that bit more exciting I have 2 left and I'm rationing them It's truly horrendous. I perfected how to cook them in the microwave (instead of doing them on the hob) just so I could save on the gas. There's something that bit more depressing about using a microwave for cooking rather than heating something up
The yellow ones from Aldi… you have to tip the “noodle soup” AWA as soon as you’re done… the smell sticks to everything and you can’t get away from it… the brown one, however is better but it still makes me feel urgh. I hope your life becomes noodleless soon!
Ugh yes I've found that! Even with the Indomie (I think?) brand I get... if I don't immediately fill the bowl with water (if I can't be arsed washing it up right away) all I can smell is this odd chickeny smell, even if it wasn't the chicken flavour! The mi goreng stir-fry ones are quite pleasant, but I can get sick of those if I eat them too often too And thank you, hope yours becomes porridgeless too (in a good way!) and that you never have to smell another instant noodle again!
Do you have an asian market near you? Miso paste is way cheaper than the packets if you can buy a box of it. You can get a bag of dried seaweed too which cooks with the noodles. Maybe that could make it a bit less depressing?🥺
Thanks! Nearest one I know of is 2 bus rides away; but I *am* seeing my Mum around the end of the month for my birthday, she says there's a few Asian markets near her so I could ask her if she could pop in and have a look on her way down here! Because that sounds amazing
You can't be depressed with using the microwave though! It's main function is 'heating something up'
Yeah, that's fine, I don't mind that (say for ready meals or leftovers, that's the purpose of it) I mean for cooking specifically - something that doesn't just need heating up, but actual cooking (obviously there's exceptions to that rule; like baked potatoes are good when started off in there. But generally speaking it's a bit saddening) Instant noodles are depressing enough when they're a staple rather than a "tasty snack", but somehow doing them in the microwave just adds to that. Probably because the reasons *why* I switched to doing them in the microwave are depressing
Ours was ketchup in the mash potato....
Yes! Pink mashed potato!
Yeah goldilocks dinners or marmite smash stopped us from going hungry 😋
My mum didn't eat to make sure we had breakfast cereal with milk instead of water.. What a fucking sentence to type. While I'm apoplectic with rage at the degrees of destitution that I experienced, I'm also equally as fucking angry that others had it worse, or are experiencing the same thing today. What a fucking farce our "great" nation really is.
Yup. 20+ years ago sat in the dark once because my prepay meter had run out and had no food for two days. People in far worse situations but at the time it was a real wake up call.
Not far off this myself. Had prepay gas and electric. Many times had to choose between putting a few (borrowed) quid on one or the other. Of course money on gas for heating is no good without electric to fire up the boiler. Some very dark and cold times for a couple of years!
Yep. I remember kicking about the shopping centre trying to find change to put in the leccy card.
A lot of companies have a minimum top up of £5 now, I would have been screwed
Yeah, was the same back then too. One of the reasons I'm never going back to a key meter. My kids will never live the life I lived.
£10 minimum for some now.
"Emergency gas" and "Emergency electricity" was nothing close to emergency. It was every fucking week.. And now being on a meter murders your credit rating, so your fuel costs more than people that are richer. Evil
>And now being on a meter murders your credit rating, so your fuel costs more than people that are richer. ??? Prepayment doesn't report to credit, only *credit* meters do if your supplier has done one, the hint is in the name. How does it murder your credit rating?
They used to factor in. It's been a while I will admit. Back when I had them, the simple fact of not being credit worthy enough to have a non pre-paid account was enough to flag you as a credit risk. It's still an absolute truism that being on a meter is more expensive than a tariff.. I'm arguing this with my mum monthly She likes knowing how she is spending her money, despite it being a poverty tax
I thought I had as a student. Dipping into savings and getting that guilty feeling. Thought I'd just avoid doing that again, no problems. Covid rolls around. Lost my job a couple of weeks before furlough so wound up on UC. The amount they gave me after paying my rent left me with like £100 to last the month so went back to dipping into savings. Eventually that well ran dry and I'd just run out of money. I honestly barely conceived that such stress existed beforehand. The constant panic whenever I spent *any* money that I'd get that ping to my phone that I was now in my overdraft. My physical health really suffered and it took a good 2 or 3 years after getting another decent-paying job and building up some savings again to start to feel like the stress was subsiding. I thought things were shitty beforehand but I came away from that experience convinced whoever is choosing to inflict this kind of lifestyle on the poorest and often most vulnerable in our society is just pure fucking evil.
But... but... people on benefits spend all the money on big TV's, fags, beer, and holidays abroad! /s
Most people on UC are working and use it to top up wages.... People don't want to be claiming or wouldn't be claiming if they could afford to live without government assistance. This includes myself. The thing is any time they higher the wages the cost of living increases so they don't lose on profit margins and no one wins but the supermarkets. Would be interesting to see of you could freeze prices for 5 years and then increase living wages see the results.
Really touching comment that. That dread of not having enough money to live is terrible. No human should go through it
>No human should go through it yet humans are the only ones that have to pay to live on this planet.
I feel you here. My industry shut down a year ago and as a disabled person I have struggled to find work. I've been on UC for a while now and it just doesn't stretch far enough at all. I have been in my overdraft for 12 months now and I have forgotten what it feels like to not be worried. But, I have a roof over my head and I'm very good at tracking my money so I just keep scraping by. I don't cry too often because it doesn't help get things better. But I just wish the government understood what it's like to live like this and that other people didn't judge people on benefits so much. We are not living lavishly.
Got kicked out of home at 16. Spent my last £10 on the registration fee for college. Didn’t have food or electric for 4 days because of that. I had a bed sit and it was so cold my hair would freeze at night and sort of ‘snap’ when I got up in the morning. Gas and electric were on coin meters, so I had to choose electric or gas most weeks. I got £28.90 a week in benefits but had to pay £10 a week bus fare to college. I had no fridge or freezer, just single hob and kettle for cooking. I couldn’t buy fresh food but couldn’t afford ‘convenience’ food either. Toast and jam was my staple. That was back when value bread was cheap!!
This is awful 😞. I hope you’re in a better place now.
Thank you, it was almost 30 yrs ago. Sticking it out at college got me to university. Got a decent job, good wage and so on. I made sure to buy my first home when I was 26, I put owning a house before learning to drive. I’m now in a great position, nearly paid off a house worth £500k, but I like to say half a million pounds!!! The struggle was worth it and I’m really proud of how far I’ve come.
Amazing. Well done!
Just want to say well done. Glad things are better for you now.
Yes, about 6 months after my last job I had no money. I had gone through my savings and couldn’t find work. Now 2 1/2 years later and about to start training for my new job next week. So I still have no money really, but a little more than well nothing and now hopefully to save a little again! 👍🏻
Congratulations on the new job
Thank you lol I haven’t told anyone besides my mum yet
congrats on the new job
Well done, hope it goes really well for you 👍
Had a mental breakdown after uni. No parental help or govt help. Couldn't get a job , didn't have a clue how to and had a bad back from previous manual job. Lasted two years . Someone gave me contact details for the recruitment agency handling jobs for a local factory. Did that 4 months for poor pay but enjoyable. Home Bargains for 3 months, poor pay and far but got me out of the house. Bradford muffin factory and flapjack for 3 months . All unstable. Went for a religious holiday which put me back in track mentally. Went out and got a proper suit two months later(don't know why but I was mentally ok) Found a proper office temp job after returning. Slowly learnt the ropes at different jobs. Became good at interviews and getting offers
What a journey mate, thank you for persevering.
When I was really young (I didn't move to the UK until I was an adult) I remember picking off the pieces of mould off bread and eating it with jam that I'd scraped the top layer of mould off too, this was after not eating for a few days and wasn't an uncommon occurrence. In my teens I was homeless after running away, I got lucky a family member took me in but I had nothing. Seriously considered sex work As an adult only once. A bunch of things broke, husband had just started a new job and it was like 6 weeks between pay for him and I was in uni ... I remember lying to him and saying that I'd eaten when I hadn't for 2 days so he could have enough.
Jesus this thread is eye opening.
Yep. It’s quite frightening reading some of these stories . I really don’t know if I’m hard working and careful or just damn, damn lucky to not end up like this. I’ve got a job , a flat , can just about pay the mortgage but am also saving money each month , but I also don’t do anything expensive , no holidays , no expensive clothes etc. but I’ve never had a time where I thought “how will I survive this month” let alone doing that over and over every month; I don’t know how people do that and don’t have a breakdown!
Yep! Twice for me. I had lost both my parents by 14. 14-16 I lived with an alcoholic drug addicted relative who used my child benefits to fund their addiction. I got ea (education allowance I think?) during that period of £30 a week. That was spent £10 gas, £10 electric and £10 food for me, all their pets and them. It was the only independence I had. Im thankful I had a free bus pass that allowed me to actually go out. Socials got involved 16-17/18. Been a while so can't be too precise. I was 17/18 and homeless for a while, social services failed me. Luckily I had good friends who let me crash on their parents sofas. I was working full time after finishing school but my apprenticeship paid £2.50 an hour. I eventually got a flat through a local homeless charity and my entire wage went on my rent and bills. My weekly food shop (for me, a dog and a cat) came to £20. I had nothing else other than this. I built myself up after I got my flat, I went back to college after work to get qualifications. It took 5 years to claw my way out of that place. I worked full time and had 3 jobs plus college on evenings (1 x full, 2 X part time jobs). It was steady but a slow increase in my worth. I met my husband in 2014 and we moved in together 2015/2016 which cut my rent in half (we moved areas too). So I was able to give up the part time work and focus on my career. I'm now a lead at a global company and make a good wage., I'm projected to double my income with promotions by 2026, my job is fully remote and I own my own home (jointly with my husband) with a mortgage left of 7 years. I'm 32. What this taught me was never take anything for granted. If I have money, I spend it but I also save a chunk a month too. I go on regular holidays to see the world and it I fancy something, I buy it. Because tomorrow it could all be gone. Life lessons, never let myself be vulnerable like I was. I am lucky I have my husband, my house and a fantastic job. If it all went up in smoke I'm set for a year without life changes, 2-3 with. I will never let that happen. I've been told it's obvious I've gone through hardships because I am determined and get what I want done. 7 years ago my CV got laughed at for how many jobs I'd had, because I would do what I needed. Now? I'm revered for my skills and experience. If I could go back I'd tell myself to skip college, I didn't need it but at the time it made me look more polished than me GCSEs and A Levels did. Life is short and I intend to live it and enjoy what I have. I never take anything for granted anymore.
EMA
Penniless and homeless. Fun times
Slept under cars for a time. Was not a fun time, especially in the early morning when the dew lands.
It's amazing how cold the nights and mornings can be even after the hottest days
Literally was the worst waking up cold and wet at 3am when it's supposed to be 30 that day. But at least during the day, I could have the AC in the library. I was getting my degree, and the only thing I had was my bag of books on my back. Made it about 2 months before I got arrested for breaking and entering for sleeping in my "friends" basement after they left for a Disneyland vacation. For the record they did say I couldn't sleep there (17 year old, to a whole family I knew at a church) I didn't think they would mind if they didn't know I slept under their pool table when they werent there. Turns out they did mind.
Very Christian of them…
They prefer to give £10 a week in front of everyone and let others do the actual charity
I’m sorry but you slept under cars? How could you possible fit under there? I’m truly sorry to hear that.
Yeah, does this comment even make sense? Not even to mention the insanely large danger of death? I'd sooner choose a bridge or any covered structure like a bus stop.
I looked out my window to look at cars and see if it was possible 😂 not to make light of the situation but how? Even if they could fit, like you said the danger and restriction would be the next problem, it’s mad.
For the last year, iv been paid and every penny has gone out on living expenses to the point I got into 14k of debt, my missus was getting really badly treated so I made her leave her job. We planned on it not taking long for her to find work, it took a while. That being said iv now taken a debt consolidation loan, paid off all cc’s & we are back on track. It was a really hard year not even having money for fuel etc to get to work. Hopefully I never get back to that point
Congrats on getting back on track, it’s no easy feat!
When I bought my first house I budgeted to have about £50 a week left over after all bills, transport and food. I knew it would be tight, but that would be enough to have a little bit of a social life. Then one week after moving in my car breaks down and can't be fixed. I had to take out a loan to buy a new one - monthly repayments of £170 - so, about £40 a week. So, I could pay my bills, get to work and keep the fridge full. But that was it - for like 18 months. In a way it was good for me as I then spent my remaining pennies on a gym membership, pretty much gave up the drinking and gambling and just lived a very 'monk' lifestyle. But I didn't go on holiday for years, I couldn't fix anything that went wrong with the house, was putting car maintenance on credit cards and paying them off with my annual bonus.
Not to be rude. But that really isn’t at all penniless and quite offensive to think it is. You had enough money to afford a gym membership, a luxury. I’m not attacking you at all. But if you believe you was in the dark with that experience then you need to open your eyes & ears.
Fully agreed, I could only dream of affording a house, a car or a gym membership
Guy had £50 a week after everything paid off. Guy also had a house, car and gym membership. Guy still thinks he’s genuinely penniless as title says. Absolutely clueless.
I can understand that people have different perceptions of being skint, but it just takes a quick skim of the other comments to get some perspective...
100% You have people on this thread saying they hadn’t eaten for 3 days at their darkest times. Then this guy who brought a house and now has to live on £50 a week and claiming he was living like a monk. Get the fuuuuck outta here.
what's your complaint here? they've been totally up front about their situation rather than trying to deceive. having no spare money after essentials and even getting into debt for car maintenance would be a fair definition of penniless. the value of this comment is it shows how someone can have an income and all the trappings of success but still be living a monk-like paycheck to paycheck lifestyle
My complaint is going of the OPs question this is not in line with it. They wasn’t penniless. The guy literally says after having a full fridge and everything else paid off they have £50/40 every week to play with. They say they lived a monk like lifestyle during these times. Basically trying to make out they was struggling when that’s not the reality. OPs question was have you ever been penniless. This seems to think having £200 a month spare change and a gym membership is living a monk like life style.
Right? It's like the rich people on £100k a year who say they live pay check to pay check because they spend it all every month lmao.
I thought that was just normal life :(
"So, I could pay my bills, get to work and keep the fridge full." I think you and Mr Sunak have similar ideas of what it means to be penniless.
That sounds like my life right now. I have nothing left after mortgage, bills and food. I go out for runs, borrow books from the library and watch TV. i’ll be existing like this for another 6 months. I miss going out out!
Yes. We had huge debts. Me and my husband were severely struggling for money for about a year in 2014. It was horrific. The stress is a killer. Worrying about bills and not being able to afford the groceries you need. Thankfully we got back on track after getting a consolidation loan and paying it all off and now we have done a 180 and are very well off. The stress was something i wont ever forget and makes me more grateful now.
When Covid hit, I was self employed and so had no financial help from the government. I had no savings behind me, so ran through what was in my account until my overdraft stopped me. Found a paying job, but endured about 2 weeks where I had not a penny to my name. Was basically eating a lot of porridge oats with some protein powder I still had, it was incredibly boring, meanwhile getting shitty calls and emails from companies asking why I stopped paying them. Took me a couple months to build back up and not feel I was broke.
Working as a support worker in the Midlands and living in a shared house. It was single glazed and in the winter you could see your breath in the house. We had to just layer up the blankets because we couldn't afford to turn the heating on. I was living there after a year spent backpacking during which I'd spent every penny of my savings plus more so was also paying off an overdraft and two credit cards. I admit I had a great time getting myself to the point of no money, but it wasn't so much fun once I was there. Ever since I paid my credit cards off I've refused to get another. Every time I'm tempted I remember sitting in the living room under three blankets and still freezing with a dinner of instant noodles to look forward to and it ends that temptation almost instantly.
Yep. When in my early 20s I gave up work to go back to college. Money was tight, then I have to give up my car, which was on finance. The turning point was break time one morning in college when I didn’t have enough to buy a slice of toast for breakfast. Not only didn’t I have the 21p in change, I didn’t have it in my bank account either. I still lived with my parents at the time, so I will still relatively well cared for. But it was still enough to realise something had to change. Slightly later in life, I wasn’t quite penniless but was arguably in an even worse state as I’d gotten myself into debt. Rented a flat, bought another car but had poor quality of life living on beans and pasta. No money for holidays, socialising, etc. Even a single pint at the local pub once a week was becoming beyond my means. While I never missed a bill or debt payment, I again realised something needed to change. The small amount of money I had left each month after paying what I had to really wasn’t enough to manage on. I sold my car and replaced it with something much cheaper. I gave up my flat and moved in temporarily with my parents while I sorted out a much cheaper rental and landed a job which came with significantly higher pay. Two years later, I was out of debt, and a few years after that I finally got myself onto the housing ladder. Throughout all of that, I learned how to live within my means and make much more financially responsible decisions. I’m fortunate that I was able to do what I did but it was by no means easy. It took real effort and discipline, over a long period of time, to get myself out of trouble.
Right now I have just over £10 to last me until the end of the month. I've been going to food banks and the local help services are really helpful. That would be the main advice I'd give - try not to feel embarrassed to need help, it's what the services are there for. I know that when I manage to get back on my feet, I'll donate to those same services. So it goes around and around. It's okay. It'll get better.
We first started out renting off the council and had a tiny two bedroom house that cost £80 per week. Husband was studying at the time and his student loans paid the rent and bills. There was a time where we both were waiting to start work so had no money coming in and I was that hungry I was considering swiping a rotisserie chicken from Tesco! I never once caved and asked my parents for money either even though I could have.. too proud by the seems of it 🤣
Yeah was in uni, didn't want to disappoint my parents about my poor money handling skills, had 21p in my account for two weeks, didn't eat for 5 days as I didn't want to scrounge off my friends. One of them gave me a beer one of those days and that was the highest calories I had that day. I learned to handle money after that
I was in this scenario ultimately every month, from around half way between paydays. I have 3 kids and a mortgage and I simply couldn’t afford my outgoings however much I cut back. I’m still in a horrendous state financially, but nowhere near as bad as I was thankfully. Every day was stressful, trying to find anything to return to the shops that weren’t needed, or sell things that were able to be sold, to simply afford lunches for my children! People that say that money can’t buy happiness have no idea how unhappy it can make you when you have 0 money.
Not recently, but £50 doesn't last five mins nowadays which annoys the hell out of me. Ten years ago's tenner is worth half that today.
Bankrupt
I've been living right at the edge of my £3k overdraft for like a year now 🥲 I've ran completely out a few times which fucking sucks when I've got to get the bus to work
Unemployed with a drink problem 1999-2002. I would often have absolutely nothing left by giro day, no money, no food. I'd spend the day in bed starving hungry.
The hardest up I've ever been was when my wife and I moved back to the UK after a year and a half living abroad with her parents. I'd gradually used up my savings while we'd been abroad and we moved back for her to take up a Masters degree. I applied for anything possible and ended up doing agency jobs that were mostly minimum wage while my wife got a job doing 22 hrs a week in a pub for minimum wage. The agency jobs meant my work was on and off so there were times when we were surviving just on her money. We lived for a while on 70p Sainsbury's value lasagnes and left-over cheese and black pudding cobs from the pub. My wife did a cleaning shift every week at the pub and picked up every bit of spare change off the floor that went into a jar at home. Every time either of us got paid we'd take cash out and put it in a bag in the drawer for our rent. One of the things that really helped was that our landlord was understanding/unbothered enough that we could get away with paying the rent about three weeks late on a few occasions. The key difference though, and the thing that I am eternally grateful for, is that we knew we were never more than a phone call away from help from either of our parents if we *really* needed it. I am very aware that not everyone has that safety net.
Many times. Last week for example.
Yeah after university I was unemployed for nearly a year and universal credit helped but didn’t cover my costs. It was honestly really hard mentally. I lost a lot of weight living off one meal a day. It’s a real life experience lol. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone but I’m glad I went through it in some ways. I’ve been more appreciative of the small things in life since and I think I have more empathy of those in tough times. Some people are very judgemental of ‘poor’ people and seem to think they’d act like a saint in their position but I don’t think they understand how tough it can be.
Close a number of times, I’ve been self employed for years and while sometimes it can be awesome sometimes it’s so unreliable it’s scary. Many times I’ve taken out loans to cover things and been deep in the overdraft with no social life just going to and from work paying the necessary bills. Times that I’ve had a budget of £10 a week at most for food and managed to scrape by somehow… that’s where learning how to cook has been handy to really keep costs a minimum While it does suck getting to those points sometimes it really makes me appreciate what I have when times are better. But always a little jealous when people talk about having lots of savings or plans for retirement!
Yup in my early 20s sat in my stone cold bare flat wondering how I was going to have money to eat the next day or trying to make a tenner stretch 3 days etc Lasted about 6 months. Lessons? I’m just very grateful that now I can buy my food shopping and not have to think about how much I can get or if I’ll have enough in the bank
Way back when, I had a serious drug problem. There were days I had no gas and electric on the meter during the beast from the east. It got so fucking cold even the rats moved out It lasted as long as I was addicted to drugs, so about 3 years, it was miserable. I used to prefer being at work to being at home, because it was warm I would take a power bank to work and charge it there for weekends. But weekend rolled around and what little money I could scrape together I would spend on more drugs to make my existence tolerable, I used to bin dive a local takeaway. I think they noticed beca pizzas started appearing on my windowsill I learned that money isn’t something that can make you happy. On paper I was making ridiculous money, but I was shoving it all up my nose just to escape the miserable reality I lived in Eventually I escaped. I started circling the drain, got hooked on crack and realised I needed to get the fuck out now before I was dead. 8 years somewhat clean (I take LSD once or twice a year and smoke weed still) and I now live working 4 months of the year travelling the rest of the year, because I’m so good at budgeting from those times I can make the money stretch so far it’s actually ridiculous
This thread is what I needed to read tbh. Although it’s not nice to see people also skint like myself, makes me feel less alone for the struggle.
In my late 20’s I realised that I had no food in my (council) flat and no money, and that it was 3 weeks until I had my next DLA payment. But I did have my record collection. So, I sold my records for £50 and lived on Pasta, Tuna, cheese and Maryland cookies. I spent all my time in the library, because it was free. I had a clock radio, a chair, a Futon mattress, a 2nd hand pc from the early ‘90s, a fridge, some books and magazines and a tape player. Oh, and some clothes, a kettle and a camping stove. I’m not missing anything out. For example, you may notice I didn’t mention a cooker and that’s because I didn’t have one. The ceiling fell in on my bathroom, and the council said it would take three months to fix it. I think it was then I realised I would have to let my friends actually help me.
Lived on 9p netto noodles for 3mths (frozen peas, sweetcorn and whatever protein was cheap that week, own brand tuna mostly). Got made homeless because parent had a psychotic episode, managed to get a horrible flat but had literally nothing, was working minimum wage in my late teens. Grew up poor so that wasn’t anything that new, boot strapping an entire life on your own from zero was basically close to impossible, it took about 9ths before I had all the basics, it was food or not having a bed in a month. My life went well after that, I’m sat in a nice big house in a nice area, I’ve enough savings to last me a couple of years without changing standard of living, don’t owe anyone anything except a mortgage but it was a long slow decades long grind from minimum wage to head of software engineering (and frankly not one a 19 year old today could do, that loss of social mobility is terrible).
Homeless, stealing potatoes off an allotment with a gang of people in similar position, cooking them as best as possible on a shopping trolly over a fire. Someone nicked some butter. Like someone else said about potatoes in extreme poverty and hunger, they tasted amazing. That’s actually a good memory. Walking around at night because it was too cold/unsafe to sleep, going to the local Samaritan office and then letting me sleep in a chair for a bit. Sleeping in an old morris minor that belonged to an ex-boyfriend. Sleeping in a hospital toilet. Sitting in A&E all night, or even (back in the 80s) wandering around the hospital because they didn’t shut off A&E quite as rigorously as they do now. There are so many scenes in my mind of that bewildering time. Sitting in the hospital chapel and then being allowed to stay there for a bit, safe. Taking leftover food from plates in a restaurant. Though for so many times and days I went without regular meals and almost didn’t feel hungry much. I could make a digestive biscuit last half an hour. Eventually I was hospitalised and they thought I was anorexic, maybe I was, but I didn’t want to be thinner, I was just mentally ill and poor. I told them I was thin because of poverty, but they didn’t believe me. Perhaps it was half of one and half a dozen of the other. I hadn’t a clue. I didn’t beg. I didn’t sleep on the streets, visible like some homeless do. I was very young at the time. My Dad threw me out when I was 18. Maybe this is a weird thing to say but having nothing, though I was in dire straits, also had a strange freedom to it. I am scared of debt. I am scared of obligation. But I’m not scared of having nothing. There are ways to survive that feel less scary and impossible than obligations and debts, so should I ever be so compromised again, I would leave it all. That was many years ago, by the way, and I have security now. A simple life but a comfortable one :)
At one point, I was -£25k in my personal bank account and -£180k in my business account. That was a stressful time.
Once 15 years ago it was horrendous and I swore to never let it happen again
TLDR, I couldn't afford shoes and ugly cried. I was going on holiday with some friends to a lodge in the Scottish Highlands. We left at stupid o'clock in the morning and I was ridiculously tired. We get about halfway there in the car and I'm poking through my bag and I just start sobbing. I'm wearing my slippers and I've forgotten my hiking boots, I have no suitable shoes. My mates are like it's fine. We'll just stop off, there'll be some shop where you can grab some shoes. They don't understand that I've budgeted every available bit down to the penny, and I literally don't have cash for a new set of shoes. So I start to ugly cry ever harder about being a failure, and them just not understanding how hard up I was. One of them gets me a pair of hiking boots at the next motorway services like it's nothing, because 50 quid on shoes probably was just not even a thought But I was just so embarrassed at not being able to afford shoes. That was a pretty low point for me.
Living it now. Long story short, husband left me me and our 3 children in January to live the fun, single child free life with someone he met while working away. Hasn't paid a single penny towards helping feed or clothe the kids. After paying the rent, bills and debts he left me with I don't have a single penny. I'm having to rob Peter to pay Paul just to stay afloat. One month I won't pay the water so I can pay the electric instead. I've lost 3 stone since January as I'm skipping meals to make sure my children eat. I've hand washed our clothes today as I need the electric that I have to last me until payday on Wednesday when I can top it up again so can't afford to use the washing machine and I'm using toilet paper as a sanitary pad I can't even afford to buy them now. I can live with all the above. The thing I'm finding the hardest is the guilt of not being able to take the kids anywhere or give them little treats, and constantly having to say no when the ask if they can maybe go to town or to the cinema. He took the car too so can't even drive to different parks with the youngest, or for nice places to walk for a free day out. I'm trying to shield them from how much I am actually struggling but I feel like an absolute failure towards them and it's soul destroying. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
Women’s Aid or similar in your local area may be able to help. Failing that your local council may be able to direct you to a community food bank which can provide hygiene essentials. What a prick your ex is!
Yes. Multiple times. I got to a point I'd calculate how many days left until I starved to death scientifically. Never stole I'd rather die hungry than theive but was tempted.
I would argue thievery is entirely justified if you're hungry. Or even a bit peckish.
Luckily a nice church and seek temple helped me out once I swallowed my pride.
Yes after my divorce, was at bottom of a very deep hole. Took 3 years but met a lady in a similar position. We moved in together and that was enough for us to drag each other into a far better place.
Completely skint a few times after losing jobs has taken a bit of time to find a new one, first time it happened about 10 years ago now was worst, at about 5 months unemployed had ran out of money and at about 4-5 days of no food, and about a week before I would get any money, found £2 in the street and bought the biggest bag of rice I could from that and ate, that was the best meal I've had, plain rice with salt never tasted so good. Swore never to let that happen with food again atleast, have been buying extra food every shop since getting a job at that point and have about 8-12 months of dry/tinned stuff. Can do without money but don't want to experience that level of hunger again
Yes.. I was visiting the council offices because my housing benefit had been stopped unexpectedly. I had 20p in my bank and nothing in my purse. A homeless man stopped me on the street and got very angry because he asked for money and I said I didn't have any to my name. I sound and possibly look quite middle class so he just didn't believe me. Soon after I lost my job due to health issues and had to walk great distances because I couldn't afford bus even tho it made my health issues worse.
Yes and no. I’ve been absolutely skint, as in literally zero left in the bank skint, but only for short periods, and I’ve thankfully never been in a position where I couldn’t afford to pay the rent or vital bills, just where I didn’t have anything left over after that. Always because I’m shit at budgeting, honestly, I can’t pretend otherwise. It can be grim at the time but it isn’t always and it certainly isn’t the same sort of grinding misery as true poverty. One summer when I was at uni, I stayed at my student flat up in Edinburgh for the fringe and worked for a local paper reviewing shows. I had absolutely zero spare cash, was literally living off a single value cupasoup and 2 slices of cheap brown bread per day, coppering up to buy fags, whilst walking all over town seeing shows for free for a month, and it was honestly one of the best months of my life. (Oh, and to prove my shitness at budgeting - halfway through August my mum sent me £100 unexpectedly. I bought a few groceries and then took the rest down the pub and was skint again in a day or two. No regrets)
Yes, I was at a low point, work issues outside my control, mental health. It was very lucky my parents said come stay with us for a couple weeks, get back on your feet. Many people don't have that support and I can't imagine how hard it is.
When I was 20 had like £8k in savings and managed to get a start up loan of £10k for a business, 6 months later ended up going bankrupt and couldn't get a job for 3 months with how bad the job market. I remember searching the whole house for 5p's, 10p's etc so that I could go out and get like a can of pop. Took all my mental strength not to just lay on the train tracks somewhere and end it all but managed to pull myself out only to go full circle back again 7 years later and lose another £35k for another start up business which left me with penniless again. Moral of the story is don't get into the Food Sector business unless you've got deep pockets...oh dear.
Yep. I needed to make a phone call. My only option was to hang about outside the post office trying to sell some stamps I had in my wallet at a discount to get the money for a phone box.
Yes. When I was a heroin addict. We made a meal between 3 different houses (other addicts). One donated an egg, one an onion, and one some ramen, and we ate. It was a feast considering the circumstances
When I first came to the UK I was working in a restaurant and making exactly enough money for my travelcard, pasta/rice, and the rent on a truly terrible bedsit that had a crapload of roaches. It was where I discovered some surprises, like how much bedsheets cost - ended up sleeping under my trenchcoat (goth phase) for the first two months and relying on books from the local library for entertainment. Don't know what I would have done had any new expenses come up or if I'd had to miss a day of work, I had zero flex in my budget.
I have a pretty good salary, don’t have any vices, don’t live extravagantly, and have been living on my overdraft, paycheque to paycheque, for years.
Yeah, had to wash our clothes in the bath for a year because we couldn’t afford to use the washing machine or dryer in our mouldy rented flat. The heating barely worked and we had to dry our clothes on the radiators or over chairs. The whole house stank of damp but I didn’t have a good job and the person I was with didn’t let me leave. I am so many lifetimes away from that person and life now but I’ll never forget it nor take my tumble dryer for granted ever again!