Friends of mine a young couple with a young baby have no money. He has no full time job just does odd bits.
They had as I understood no TV and wanted to try and save towards one
I thought having a TV isnt essential but given they hardly get out and all that , a nice idea if i can give them some odd jobs to do
Turns out they have a TV in their bedroom its living room one on the blink, they also want a flat screen TV (I suggested a real cheap one cira £70, they want one at £300)
They also buy CDs and order in a Pizza because they couldn't be bothered to cook
Ive lost the plot
In the forth coming recession will people be 'poor' if they cant afford the 2nd TV or 3rd Holiday
Its all relative of course but how can you be 'desperate for money' if buy CDs and order in Pizza ???
You can get a quite decent-sized flatscreen for £300, actually. Tescos are doing a 32" job for £300. In fact, you could argue that there's no point in spending much less - any living-room TV will cost you at least £250 probably, so you may as well pay a bit more for a much bigger screen.
Of course, that assumes you've got the money in the first place...
It's weird, but the poorest people also seem to waste a larger percentage of their money on "stuff" - they're often the ones who are early-adopters of new technology for example. Satellite dishes, DVD players, etc. Despite the fact that the price of these things always comes down if you wait a while.
Of course, that lack of acumen is probably why they're poor in the first place. If they were smart with money, they'd be less likely to have more of it.
I completely agree with you - people's expectations seem to be so warped these days. I know that everyone has different priorities, but I find it hard to understand the mentality when people moan about not having the latest or newest or the best of everything.
When Marc and I got together we didn't have a tv for a few months (and quite enjoyed it!) til his mother gave us an old one of hers. It doesn’t exactly work brilliantly, but you can get a picture and that's good enough.
She also gave us an old freezer she was replacing, and all our furniture came free or for just a few pounds from people at work. We have never bought any new furniture, except for when Tesco used to do Clubcard deals for mfi. One day, yes it would be nice to get newer stuff, but I have other priorities right now and would prefer to get our pensions and a little bit of savings sorted first.
Then the holiday ...
Then a car which is less than 10 years old ...
And then, perhaps, we'll look at the house.
R. x
read those and the "Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away" confused me at first, i thought "eh ? "poor" as in "poor me"", then i remembered this is America, they don't have the NHS there. Civilisation? Hmmm. And then theres one in a comment later on about being poor is hoping the pain goes away when you're pregnant and cant afford to go to hospital.
ordering pizza I agree is taking the michael. But what's really depressing is that it's cheaper to fed kids rubbish than to feed them properly with fresh fruit & veg: you can't buy the ingredients to make the things that you get 'readymeals' (including pizza) for any cheaper than buying the 'readymeal', especially when you factor into it the power used to cook.
I don't think I actually own any piece of furniture or kitchen appliance that's only been mine (or hasn't been 'seconds'). Oh, hang on - my suite I'm still paying for 5 years down the line. But that's it. It's really annoying that people on the dole can afford labelled clothing, hi-tech technology, to buy booze and cigarettes and go on holidays. Sometimes it makes you wonder why you work :sigh:
Having non-organic crackers with your Iranian Imperial Caviar.
By the way. I'm in a caravan in Caister with internet access....now that IS posh, innit?
As sad as it is, I think it is kind of relative to where you live.
Having been lucky enough to go to Cuba and the Dom Rep a few times and visited places where the tourists don't usually go, I can safely say, these people have NOTHING!
They live in shacks with no doors or windows, with no running water, no electricity, no plumbing and most have no shoes BUT they are happy.
They're self sufficient, the climate is always warm and the land is fertile, they don't have the day to day stresses of a 5 to five job. Families are close, people have time for each other.
They don't have TV or glossy magazines to keep reminding them what they don't have.
And I laughed when one of the families told me the names of a couple of their new piglets... one was called 'shoes' and the other was called 'bike'
I can't see anyone surviving, let alone being happy in this country, even if they had 5 times what these people survive on. It would be impossible AFAIC
MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
"If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine
...ahhh this thread reminds me of my student days, and good old sociology, discussing the concepts of relative or absolute poverty over a few bottles of Stella and a curry
I like this always makes me laugh
if you love the life you live then you'll get a lot more done
Being poor is, not having a shilling for the meter, ‘cos you spent the last one on a pint of Heavy
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