to wonder how some people manage to afford so much "stuff"

[Pushmeinthepool]

My friend is a student and single mum, and it seems that literally all she does is spend. She lives in a largeish house, for which she's told me the mortgage per month is £850. She has a new car every year and she and her DD have 2 foreign holidays per year too. She buys clothes for herself on a weekly basis from fairly expensive clothes and her DD is completely kitted out every season in brand new Next gear and 3 pairs of Clarks shoes. Also her DD does every activity under the sun, some of which are pricey (she has told me the cost of some of them).

Now I know some of you will say it's none of my business etc, but I am just intrigued to know where she gets her funds from. She says she only gets a small amount of maintenance each month, and obviously as a student won't be rolling in it with bursaries and grants (NHS student). I know some of it may well be on credit but surely there is a point where credit runs out, and in the current climate it's not easy to get more credit.

Am just curious, not jealous.

[MaMoTTaT]

Has she had an inheritance from someone??

[Pushmeinthepool]

Not that she's mentioned, no, and she is pretty open about financial affairs really

[Hedgeblunder]

I've got some nice stuff but I really really save for them- we don't go out much and I always buy cheapy own brand food. Depends where you spend your cash!

[saffy85]

I don't get why people feel the need to tell others how much stuff they have, and how much it all cost. Very sad.

[mrspear]

It is called credit

[sethstarkaddersmummyreturns]

she is clearly a spy and taking a hefty income from the Russian government.
(don't let her know you suspect or she will be inviting you round for sushi.)

[BertieBotts]

So why can't you ask her? we aren't going to know, are we?

[Pushmeinthepool]

Mrspear, like I said in my original post, I realise some of it is credit but surely there's a point where credit just runs out. If she's not employed she's not in a favourable position to get new credit cards or loans. She's been spending like this as long as I've known her, which is about 5 years.

[Chil1234]

She's either got generous parents, a big credit card bill or she's on the game... :)

[JajasAKASarahBeaniesLawyer]

I don't think people necessarily have to tell anyone how much stuff they've bought, but it's pretty obvious if they live in a big house, have new cars and go on foreign holidays every year - you couldn't help but notice really!

Could she be a high class prostitute?

[nancydrewrocked]

If she's fairly open about financial matters then just ask her?

Or we could just all guess and come to the conclusion that as a single mother who is a student she is clearly a beneift cheat and then we can all lay into her

[Lulumaam]

credit

credit /store cards

you can rack them up and pay the bare minimum

rich parents/ sugar daddy

inheritance

why not ask her if it fascinates you?

or is this another 'benefit scroungers with their plasma tvs and i work 900 hours a day and live in a hole in the road' thread?

[Pushmeinthepool]

ROFL Chil and Jajas, I do actually wonder sometimes ;-)

[MuGGGhoulWump]

She mugs old ladies.

[JajasAKASarahBeaniesLawyer]

like minds Chil!

[LilQueenie]

Could well be she is very savvy with money. How can you be sure its credit?

[MuGGGhoulWump]

I live in half a hole in the road.

[Pushmeinthepool]

Lulumaam, I didn't mention anything at all about benefits or her being a scrounger. But read into it what you will

[MaMoTTaT]

probably credit you know.

I got a (high interest) credit card 2yrs ago (just after I went onto Is for the first time) to have for emergencies, things breaking down etc and they gave me a credit limit of £1000 straight away! This year they doubled the credit limit to £2k!!!

My littewoods (now "Very") initially game be £750 credit - around the same time, and since then it's risen to over £3k of credit!!!

I haven't worked in that time !

Thankfully I'm not daft enough to spend it just because its there - but I can see how easily it would be fore someone to buy £1000's of stuff on credit.

You can get the credit - you just pay more interest for it, and they bump up the amount quicker so you end up paying more.

[laweaselmys]

Some of the single parents I know get helped out a lot by family. Especially grandparents on absantee parent side seem keen to buy clothes and shoes.

But could be loads of things, she could've earnt well before and have savings or investments, a trustfund, won the lottery, a work at home job that she doesn't let on about, could be anything!

Whatever it is sounds like it's working out nicely.

[sungirltan]

sounds like a friend of mine except she has 2 dds

if you are full time student you can get is in the holidays and extra funding. bit too much extra imo

[Pushmeinthepool]

So none of you have ever wondered where someone gets their money from when they appear to only have a modest income then?

[NorbertDentressangle]

Wealthy parents?
Wealthy 'sugar daddy'?
Inherited money from a relative?
Is secretly a famous author/artist etc?
Is secretly a well paid escort/sex-line worker?
Has made some good investments in her time and is now reaping the benefits?
Prints her own money?
Has endless credit card debts?

...who knows?

[expatinscotland]

Why on Earth do you care? Maybe she is a prostitute, or sells herself pornographically on line.

[nancydrewrocked]

Nope. Honestly I haven't.

It would never occur to me to attempt to calculate what I though someones income was - why on earth would I? Especially in realtion to a few clothes from Next and a couple of holidays.

Now if my neighbour started driving a DB9 or employing a uniformed butler that might pique my interest for a moment but seriously who the fuck cares?!