No matter how broke I am, I will not compromise on

[NorthEndGal]

Butter
If I only had a few dollars left, I'd still buy butter.
Not margarine, not 20-80 spread, just real pure butter.

Anything else, I'll do without, or by a substitute, etc

What is your "I'm not going without" thing?

I said butter. (I meant it though, I would be much sadder without butter and honey) some margarine are much dearer so it's not a step down or anything, I just love butter so much that sometimes I wake up worrying that they will change the recipe

I know what you mean. I've been poor, but never skint. Mostly it was when I was young and I always knew that I had parents who would provide if needed (although I was always too proud to ask).

Growing up, with a depression era Mother, I can remember thinking we were skint, when in fact we were somewhere between poor and 'doing ok'. Heating never went on until one was blowing steam, recipes were checked and more than 2 eggs were deemed unacceptable. Margarine instead of butter for cakes. When butter was used for bread it was paper thin. Ditto Marmite. Meat fat saved for fried bread or potatoes. Hand-me-downs for clothes I was the youngest and so colour me bitter. Everything was mended and quite a bit home-made. I can remember curtains made out of old sheets. We were lucky, neighbours had newspapers at the windows.

Then when I went shopping I realised that butter wasn't actually really more expensive than margarine and it was like WTF. I still feel guilty for putting more than 3 eggs in anything I bake though!

I still vividly remember a meal I had 26 years ago consisting of a small tin of baked beans mixed into some boiled rice and a chopped up pepperami that had come through the door as a free sample. Then a couple of years of beans on toast every single lunchtime even though I hated it (no such thing as 15p noodles back then).

I'm very fortunate to be able to afford more now but just because I can doesn't mean I don't remember or understand what it means to be skint.

I remember rice, oxo, carrot and potato soup.

Nescafé coffee (I know coffee snobs will look down on me for buying instant lol!) I can put up with an awful lot so long as I have a decent cup of coffee.

Having my eyelashes done - to me its a life essential, not a luxury haha

Free range eggs. Free range chicken if I have to buy it at all. Bravissimo bras because no cheaper alternative fits and is comfortable. Rugby and Peller are good but they are out of budget when I'm not skint

@StoatofDisarray Just bought some Cranks whole meal bread to try off the back of your comment yesterday... oh my days, it's divine! Tastes like proper bread, just like my grandma used to make

Estée Lauder double wear

Oh I forgot to add Haagen Daz to my list. I would rather have no ice cream if I couldn't buy HD and am currently addicted to their chocolate covered salted caramel lollies [yum]

I really don’t like this thread.

I do

Coca Cola! Would rather not have it than have a copy

Decent ground coffee.

I volunteer in a Food Bank, and as far as possible, we ensure that we respect people’s choices and give them what they like to eat. It is no use being do gooders and thinking. ‘hungry people should get what they’re given’.
We offer people the brands they will enjoy and the sort of food they would like to eat (which is rarely the worthy donations of porridge oats, pasta and tinned pulses ).

The horror of spreads is odd to me I was raised with them real butter was rare - DH family use spreads as well. I use more butter than my Mum because I tend to bake with real butter as I've read it's better for asthma.

But if your raised on real butter or have got used to it I image spreads are more of a step down and a signal things aren’t right in your world.

Value spread is disgusting. They can't even call it margarine, at least flora tastes half ok, the stuff I had to buy was called 'spread'.

Baked beans, loo roll, coffee.

@Balloondog I'm so glad! Cranks for the win!

Further to my paper-eating comment yesterday, there were weeks at a time when I first moved to London that my boyfriend and I lived on baked potatoes with stork margarine. We used to take them to work cold for lunch too. Alex dropped his and had to chase it along the platform once. This was in the early 90s before anyone asks if I'm 180 years old BTW.

I also grew up on benefits and suffered from both scurvy and malnutrition as a child (plays the poverty card) but I took the thread in the spirit that it was intended though so while I appreciate that some problem might feel irritated by people saying they wouldn't compromise on butter or leather boots, I think it's fair to say that when the chips are really down the only question we should really be asking ourselves is whether we would eat human flesh.

Value spread is disgusting. They can't even call it margarine, at least flora tastes half ok, the stuff I had to buy was called 'spread'.

It's normal in family I grew up in and the one I married into.

Doesn't taste bad to me - our usual is tesco olive spread which isn't the cheapest but have used cheapest ones by Aldi and not found it disgusting.

I've encountered some product where cheapest versions are awful – but spreads don’t register with any of us.

Though I’ve seen idea from an American author that spoke about when she did have more money after years of poverty and could buy decent food it took a long time for the better food to taste right let alone better to her.

It's a different calibration setting.- which was my earlier point - it's not a huge drop for us so the horror seems a bit much to me though I'm sure some people would feel it.

Butter
Free range eggs

I like cheap tea bags though

I'm talking about 20 years ago, and this crap. I'm sure olive spread nowadays tastes fine.

Earl Grey tea bags
Decent loo paper
Likewise coffee and free range eggs.
I am fortunate to be able to afford good quality meat now but I do remember as a treat buying cheap lamb chops from the freezer centre that were so thin you could see daylight through them and we had 2 each for dinner. It's a wonder we didn't waste away

Eliza9919 I'm in my 40s that the kind of stuff we frequently had – though more often asda version.

I still think it's like chocolate today my kids can't comprehend the utter travesty that most modern chocolate is because that's what they know.

Still I’m glad you made it through your personal hell of cheap spreads to a brighter future.

Carte noir coffee
Roberts bread
Lurpak
Best butter for toast
Yorkshire tea
Cathedral city cheese

Butter. Spread won't do. And tea bags. I like Yorkshire tea bags. And twinnings l.. tetley is ok.. but any of the cheaper ones no way.

Walkamileinmyshoesbeforeujudge
Being a veggie you would not understand. I only buy Naked Bacon that has no nitrates etc in it. It’s devine and not piggy.

Free range eggs.

Butter
Tomatoes ( not imported)
Ham
Home made apple tarts (only)
Toilet roll 😣( quality only)
Jam