How have you hidden your day to day poverty?

[TeaAddict235]

I was described by a friend as 'a lover of the cheep and cheerful' as she deemed that i chose the cheaper of items when making personal purchases (e.g. food or clothes)

In terms of saving the pennies and trying to increase the pounds in your purse/ account, are there things that you do which others may consider 'poverty'? You may do so as these things are non-essentials or they are just habits?

I habitually shop during the sales for clothes.
I scour the reduced aisle in the supermarket
I've worn DH's cashmere top as it was too small for him and I needed a smart jumper for work.
I am tempted by Charity shops

When dcs were small and no money .. and job was a 10 petrol drive there and back , I had to (no other choice) 'forget' my purse at the petrol station and fill in a pink slip. Then go back to pay when child benefit/ family credit came in .
Colleagues going for coffee ? I had to get DH to send emails to myself (as a client) desperately needing something done.. 'so sorry - I can't join you'..

That sort of thing OP ? If I had had a cashmere sweater in the house I would have ebayed it as soon as it arrived. That , to me was poverty. Along with putting £5 on the electricity metre to get it off the 'emergency' in the coldest part of winter .

Wow. How very judgemental. Anyone can go from owning a cashmere jumper to being on the breadline. It's just one redundancy, one car crash, or heart attack or stroke that leaves you at the mercy of ESA or PIP after your employee sick benefits are exhausted.

I've always found it hard to understand why the hard core Tory voters supported the limitation of sickness/disability benefits. Until I realised that they didn't actually think it applied to them. Sadly it does. As my DM's friends just found out. The house has to be sold to pay for residential care.

Still don’t understand the tempted by charity shop thing!

Thanks for understanding @Lilllypod . Yes, that jumper is seriously the smartest thing that I have at the moment.

I have been so thankful recently for some hand me downs from someone for the DC it's unbelievable. We hope to be staying with my DM shortly over half term as it will help with heating, water and the essentials (like having a bath I'm probably ashamed to say).

Are you one of the Mitfords?

Sorry to take the piss op, not helpful.

There's a 'frugaleers' thread on here, think it's in credit crunch. Loads of tips.

Wearing a cashmere jumper isn't poverty

Sitting hungry in the dark is

I regularly buy from charity shops. Half my clothes are pre-owned. But I am a million, million miles away from "day to day poverty" and I'm not hiding anything!

Me too. The entire contents of my freezer has yellow stickers on it. I volunteer in a charity shop and am happy to buy stuff there. I like nothing better than bargains in the sales. We are secure in our income and I'm not hiding anything either.

the whole thread premise is weird.

Pretending to not be hungry for 4 days running so my kids can eat.

Furnishing almost my entire flat off Freecycle.

No only be tempted by charity shops but actually using them.

OP, when you are faced by poverty you don't have the time or energy to worry about what other people think about you - keeping a roof over your DCs heads and food on the table is much more important.

My 12yr old self thought I would be married to Matt from Bros and an international jet set supermodel by now.
Lol not Matt but I had a very similar thought of how my life would be

TeaAddict235 sorry things are so difficult, I think many are in the same boat. Life may, to others, look fine and dandy but it’s a struggle and a balancing act.

Thank you for the suggestions @PippilottaLongstocking . I would like to try the mooncup, but my periods are extremely heavy and I don't think that I can take that risk. Also they are extremely expensive and I can't really justify spending money in one go for something that I'm unsure will work for me.

I've tried and am still trying to ebay items, but most of my things like clothes are not the best brand or quality, so I've been storing things with the hope of having a car boot stall soon.

I don’t hide my poverty. The kids know we don’t have money to burn. I hope my money saving “skills” will help them in later life.
We shop on eBay, in charity shops and are delighted with our finds. All furniture is second hand, we cook from scratch. These are life skills!

Charity shops are awesome. There's a mind one that I go to sometimes where everything is £1. A colleague introduced me to it, as she gets virtually all her clothes there despite earning a good wage. I think it's quite socially acceptable to go to them nowadays. Kids stuff from nearly new sales and hand-me-downs. I do quorn mince and other meat replacements, stir frys are very cheap meals and we never buy new cars. Always used, which is unusual in our social circle. Never have expensive phones, nothing with an apple logo (I remain unconvinced that they're worth it anyway) don't pay for TV channels, free view only. No Netflix. But these are choices we make that could be seen as thrifty, rather than due to poverty. Our priorities simply lie elsewhere.

I have a few cashmere jumpers (charity shops and a discount shop near me that had a phase of ex M and S stock). I'm fairly broke (although not like I used to be), but I don't feel the need to hide it. It is what it is. I don't care what other people think.

@PortiaCastis and @PiperPublickOccurrences I'm not sure why it might be impossible that someone might come on to MN and ask this question or help. I'm not sure what would have to have been said or written in order for it to be free from snidey remarks.

Is it criminal to be honest whilst yet attempting to regain dignity?

Thanks @delphguelph I'll head over there to get some more ideas.

Sorry if my post is unclear. I'll head off now.

I don't put my heating on until November, my freezer has yellow sticker items, I have to eat at my mums 3 times a week and she makes my dd packed lunch once a week for me.
I've had to apply to college for a financial bursery as I am struggling to even get myself to lessons.
My dd's uniform came from eBay & her Christmas presents have mostly come from the £ shop

I have some really nice clothes which no longer fit me/suit me/suitable for my lifestyle and some outgrown dc clothes good quality nice makes, still in good nick, and after reading this would like to be able to donate so that they get to the right people.

I basically hardly ever eat out. I love charity shops too. You can find some amazing sparkly things in there. When I look at holidays I make sure that I take advantage of any possible deals on accommodation and activities.
We also go for walks in the countryside too. To save money we attend free family events. My nectar card comes in handy when shopping at Sainsbury’s.
I’m currently planning my wedding and saved on printing costs by doing the invitations myself. Also to cut down on other costs, I basically got my mom to bake the cake and handle all of the decorating.
We are forking out for entertainment however. And actually renting a car to take us there. Also I paid for a venue. I saw some low cost flowers I liked at a local supermarket too.

By the way, you do still have your dignity, OP. Many people I know have gone through periods of having either not enough money or nearly not enough. Don't share in real life if you don't feel comfortable, but please be aware that lots of people will respect scrimping and saving.

I'm an over 65 living on a pension. I buy all my clothes ( but not shoes) from charity shops but I'm a snob and only buy good labels I'm fussy about my shoes as I'm crippled with arthritis so I only buy sketchers but I get them from Sports direct online at rock bottom prices. I do my food shopping in Lidl's and fresh fruit and veg in the local Asian market

Haaahaaa! Your definition of day to day poverty is hilarious!

When I was on the bones of my arse, I took an overnight coach (well, two) to a friend's wedding and back again the next night because I couldn't afford accommodation and it was too far for a day trip. It came to about a tenner each way because I booked in advance and used a shitty coach company. Got my dress from eBay and put it back for sale there the next day.

Grew my hair to my waist. Allowed people to think it was because I wanted it that long. Fortunately I have healthy hair that doesn't tend to get split ends, although it really doesn't suit me that long. When I got some money again I went to a very expensive salon to have it chopped to my chin and coloured. Felt incredible.

I can't sew, but when my only pair of jeans wore through, I bought a few scraps of fabric for pennies as patches and stitched them all over the jeans to make it look like a statement. Along with my waist length hair, I allowed people to think I had simply decided to style myself like a 70s children's TV presenter.

Lining wore through on my only warm coat. I stitched it up by hand as best I could. Looked a mess but it was only on the inside. Was invited to a posh do, as it happened (long story) and even though it was freezing I didn't take my coat as I was too embarrassed to let cloakroom staff at this posh place see it.

Day to day poverty is working a fifty hour week as a chef, walking almost four miles each way to and from work, and being so hungry (after the food bank bag was all gone) that you sneak leftovers into a bag to take home so you and your disabled wife can eat that day.
Day to day heartbreaking poverty is knowing your son and Dil do that and not being able to help out because the children still at home are also hungry, even though your DH works full time.
Still, at least our jumpers (hand knitted using charity shop wool) fit us...