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?

Decent ground coffee, everything else I could improvise
-and SKY-

www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-2017

About 14 million people are defined as living in poverty in the UK.

Do you think none of them ever eat butter?!

This is actually a very lucrative market for companies, as people may not be that mobile, stuck next to expensive corner shops, higher rates of smoking in this group, often use high interest borrowing as not good credit (see BrightHouse which wouldn't exist if disadvantaged people didn't spend money, would it?)

Even disadvantaged people can choose how they spend their money and they do. There may be occasions when it absolutely is the noodles or nothing, but think about it- there would be no spending on alcohol or drinks ever if people only bought what was essential and necessary for survival as we have access to tap water.

Frith. I’m sorry to hear that. Is that usual for you or just a bad week/month? These lighthearted threads can really hurt when things are beyond bad. No idea what your full situation is, but please don’t be embarrassed or whatever to use the Foodbanks if you need to. I know young teachers, nurses etc using them because after rent etc they cannot make ends meet. I hope your situation improves soon 🌷

slacksandblouse it’s funny how we are all so different. I’m late 40’s and haven’t worn make up in forever and my clothes are, let’s generously say, ‘casual’. They’d be the last things on my list. But I can totally see how it could be top of your list. I hope things improve for you 🌷

It doesn’t have to be ‘competitive poverty’ but when people are citing gym membership and cleaners, it does bear pointing out that those things are out of the financial reach of many families. Not just those on the breadline.

Some people have never been poor, that does not make them bad people.

Nobody said it did. But you don't have to have been poor yourself to understand that some people don't have the luxury of choice.

All these comments about free range eggs, expensive face creams, ground coffee - when you have £20 to feed your family you don't even think about buying those things. If you need to make sandwiches for your children out of that money then yes, you do buy (as one person so eloquently put it) "polystereney sliced muck" because you can't afford anything else. It's the 25p loaf or nothing.

Chopped tinned tomatoes. The basics taste like tomato-flavoured water in a can, bleughhh.

Good quality chocolate.

A good coat.

Good quality leather shoes.

@NemisPoorlyFinn have you tried Yorkshire tea, loose tea? Far superior to the tea bags.

I think if you have never been in dire straits then you can't understand what it's like.
Sure you can empathize, but you would never understand what it's like to look at your bank account and then look at your kids and know you will be going hungry so you can feed them, and pray they don't go to bed too hungry.
If you are truly broke you just don't get it, sometimes you can't even substitute.

I didn't take offence to the op but I can see where some people are coming from

Proper Sacla pesto. I won't have the supermarket own brand stuff that has potato starch and heaven knows what else.

Meridian peanut butter - no palm oil!

Free range eggs.

I am also quite fussy about moisturiser and shower gel. They don't have to be expensive but they do have to be reasonably allergen and irritant-free; the fewer ingredients the better, usually.

Free range chicken

But I agree on butter too. And I would add free range eggs but I have my own hens for those!

And Birds Eye peas - all other peas are crap. I buy almost no brands for anything else but I like a Birds Eye pea

Decent running trainers. Keeps me sane, and saves me from injury

Baxter's crinkle cut beetroot. Cheaper versions just aren't as nice!!

Vine-ripened tomatoes

Quilted toilet paper

Loo rolls - the nice plush soft stuff, always.

Animal products here too, eggs, meat and dairy.

Have forgone all of these things in the past over buying cheaper poorer welfare versions.

Shoes. I save like a man woman now to buy decent shoes. One £50 pair if properly looked after will last more than five years. A £10 pair barely lasts six months before getting full of holes.

It did take a couple of years of uncomfortably leaky winter shoes to do it but has been well worth it

I have been bones of my arse skint before (as in a fiver to live on after bills for two weeks, so a fiver for food, transport and fun). Had to choose between a six mile walk home and eating etc.

But I still won't buy crappy animal products. They are in my view a luxury, and if I can't afford decent meat/dairy, I can't afford it.

*I’ve got £4 to last 3 of us until next Tuesday.

LOL at these...*

Yes, I was just to thinking many of the people on this thread have never been short of money! Absolutely EVERYTHING gets compromised on. There is no Clinique makeup and haircuts and good walking boots in sight.

Yes MitziK, must be grain-free for our DDickhead Dog - the horror show that results from him eating anything else are awful...like the exorcist except the other end. Not fair on the animal and will cost a hell of a lot in the long term with vet bills. I would sacrifice stuff for myself rather than feed him something else.

See also laundry products - must be the stuff that doesn't clog the machine with gunk.

Everything else I can work with personally. Cheap tea and coffee I can live with. Cut your cloth and all that.

Don't understand the love for Yorkshire tea though - its makes a very middeling brew tbh.

At a previous point in my life I've been so skint that I've had £2.50 to spend on food for the week. There was no way I could afford toilet roll so I would take it from public toilets. For 6 months I struggled to make ends meet. It was the toughest time of my life, so I totally get why some posters feel the way they do.

Nowadays, I'm more financially robust, but I still shop economically, If you asked DH what was his absolute must have he'd say good quality loo roll. I tried getting him to use bog standard ('scuse the pun) stuff but he wasn't having it!

Butter, coffee beans, decent bread (or I make my own), dry cured bacon

in no particular order:
DCs stuff for school
DCs shoes
DCs meals
DCs activities
DCs clothes

purplelass

Why does it always have to turn into competitive poverty on MN?

Because it's insensitive posting stuff like this

Jesus. This place just gets more ridiculous by the day. It's simply a thread canvassing opinions for what stuff folk prioritise over other stuff. It's not insensitive. Some people, however, seem to love finding the offensive in the innocuous.

Coffee. Italian style ground and a cafetière. That would be the last thing to go.