Anag Ram Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 3 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said: Being poor isn't just for kids... it's for life! Back in '86, I was 23, in the throes of being divorced, and had dumped my job to care full time for my two toddler sons, as a single parent, on the associated benefits. ... But the good news is, I had a new girlfriend... and she had a car! Result! So anyway... the 'phone bill had racked up... and with 5 days to go until my next benefit was due, I had enough food/nappies etc for the rest of the week, and still had just enough money to pay half the 'phone bill. BT said that wasn't enough, and they'd cut me off there and then, whether I paid half or nothing... so I paid nothing (and got cut off, obvs!). So the following morning, here we were, with about £40 "spare", (and enough food in the cupboard, remember!) so in my girlfriends car we jumped, and we headed off to Skeggy for the day, as a treat to my boys. A great day was had, and the last few quid was spent topping up the fuel tank to get us home (As near as damn it, that's near the cricket ground). We reached the last lay-by before Spondon, before juddering to a halt! With literally not a penny to our name (until my next benefit was due 4 days later.) It was dark (About 9:30pm). The boys were sleeping on the back seat. So we hauled them up, locked the car... and started walking... carrying a child each... along the grass verge of the A52 Dual Carriageway! Luckily, we had walked only a few hundred yards before some kind soul pulled up in his Range Rover, and offered us a lift to the fuel station. Too embarrassed to explain the lack of funds, I said I'd sort the car out the next day, and could he drop us off at Pentagon island, which he did (leaving us with no more than a 5 minute walk home). Two days later, the girlfriend did her Saturday job on the market, got paid (Cash in hand), and after buying a can, and filling it with petrol, headed straight up the A52 to reclaim her car... only to find a ticket on it, for being parked up with no lights on! All in, including the fine, that little lot in the last sentence cost around £40 to £50 from memory... that was back in the day when literally, 50p would have covered us for enough fuel to have got us home! So close, yet so far! But wait... there's good news... A happy ending even... The girlfriend hung around, brought up my kids whilst I went to work, and after spending 10 years living in sin, we'll be celebrating our silver wedding anniversary this coming August... and we not only own our house outright (albeit a crappy ex-council house on a currently crappy estate), we have well over a hundred pound in the bank... and enough food in the cupboard to last until next pay day! ? Have you spoken to Mike Leigh about the film rights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gee SCREAMER !! Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 21 hours ago, Steve How Hard? said: I once asked for gravy on my chips in London. Left the chippy disappointed and feeling like a leper. Probably because they saw you only had a twenty in your hand or Pineapple fritter rate as they call it in London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindernRam Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 I remember a special treat was to put on bread the brown jelly that formed under the fat off the Sunday roast. My Mum used to save that for frying I think, kept it by the chip pan--- No-one thought about too much fat in a diet then, actually used to ask the butcher for a joint with a bit of fat on to add flavour. didn't harm her, she's 97 in 2 months time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 None I am afraid .. petit bourgeois. Striving middle class with desires above their station. holes in bedroom carpet, ice on the inside of windows but Dad borrowed money from the bank to buy a used Aston Martin ... never quite worked it all out, doubt I ever will. Just ploughing my own track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mucker1884 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 4 hours ago, FindernRam said: I remember a special treat was to put on bread the brown jelly that formed under the fat off the Sunday roast... Had to be hot toast... and plenty of salt! ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richinspain Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 4 hours ago, FindernRam said: I remember a special treat was to put on bread the brown jelly that formed under the fat off the Sunday roast. My Mum used to save that for frying I think, kept it by the chip pan--- No-one thought about too much fat in a diet then, actually used to ask the butcher for a joint with a bit of fat on to add flavour. didn't harm her, she's 97 in 2 months time. 25 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said: Had to be hot toast... and plenty of salt! ?? Bread and dripping! I'm not sure if I could face it nowadays. I had many of the "treats" already mentioned on here. A stick of rhubarb and a cup of sugar was always one of my favourites. Banana sandwiches were quite common snacks. Tripe a regular dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie20 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 I can identify with many of the things mentioned so far - council house, tin bath, outside loo etc but one of my biggest worries every winter was frozen pipes in the attic and resultant bursts, with water pouring through the ceiling - my mum used to go frantic - looking back it seemed to happen 1 year in 3 at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 05/01/2021 at 19:39, Eddie said: We were evicted from our hole in the ground. Now where exactly does paper bag in a sceptic tank figure in the narrative ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 33 minutes ago, richinspain said: Bread and dripping! I'm not sure if I could face it nowadays. I had many of the "treats" already mentioned on here. A stick of rhubarb and a cup of sugar was always one of my favourites. Banana sandwiches were quite common snacks. Tripe a regular dinner. I still quite like an occasional banana sandwich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angieram Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 1 hour ago, uttoxram75 said: I still quite like an occasional banana sandwich. Mashed, until they go a bit soggy! Still get dripping as a snack at some darts and dominoes matches. It's always the first thing to disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindernRam Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 12 hours ago, richinspain said: A stick of rhubarb and a cup of sugar was always one of my favourites And a clear run to the toilet! Always a bottle of "Collis Browns linctus" handy, in the days it had morphine in it and worked wonders. Never had Tripe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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