Liz Jones - I do feel a tiny bit sorry for her but she still has no self awareness

[QuebecBagnet]

Article in the DM today about how she's getting evicted from her rental cottage as the landlady wants to sell. Focus of the article is renters with no security - which I agree is an issue.

So she talks about how when she was made bankrupt she struggled to find somewhere to rent. Had to put all her nice furniture in storage. She has spent 59k "decorating" this cottage - new kitchen, underfloor heating, etc and has now lost all that.

I'm sorry but 59k would be a 50% on a 2 bed terrace in many cities in the UK. I don't know maybe she couldn't get a mortgage for the rest. Though surely she didn't spend all her savings on this cottage. And how did she have 59k if she was made bankrupt a few years ago?

Anyway the thing which really bugged me is she says women of her age have had it harder than "generation rent". Really? Had it harder when she had the opportunity to buy property (and did so) when it was a quarter of the price it is now. She spent years writing about her luxury lifestyle, her horses, trips to Paris, expensive skincare, expensive yoga classes.

I have limited sympathy for someone who has spunked a very good income on frivolous shit and moans about being skint especially when they continue to make shit financial decisions.

Still wish I knew who the Rock Star was. Was Jim Kerr the most likely suspect?

I think she's fucking mental. One awful mistake after another. I found it hard to see how she could go from fancy Somerset farmhouse to rented place and bankruptcy and now I can see why.
If I was her I'd live in a cheap basic hovel until i had enough for a deposit on a house. I wouldn't throw vast sums of money away like this.
I have done that!!!

She moved to Yorkshire (I think it was) and denounced all the locals as toothless yokels in her column, and then seemed surprised that they turned against her

IN her DM article today she's doing the same thing - basically the whole world has got it in for her, from HMRC, landlords who dare to be mature students and not want her dogs in the flat and saying what a dump her current flat was when she moved in.

I feel a bit sorry for anyone approaching retirement age without a roof over her head that is paid for, but if you consistently make ridiculously extravagant financial decisions, that is where you are likely to end up. And nobody needs so many dogs.

In the north I'm guessing

Wasn't there a MN thread about LJ letting a loan horse die of neglect?

She's not a great animal owner as I read a column ages ago where her completely untrained dogs ripped apart 2 of her own cats!

Not everyone thinks like that. i have a SIL who is overseas but in a country where the rental rights are also weak like in the UK (and where apartments are owned by individuals so subject to their life changes) and she rents a 3 bed flat for her and her DH and baby! They have a guest room.

I think they just want a nice place to live in and not live in a hovel just to buy a place. I lived with family for three years (and honestly MIL extended the same invitation to all her children, not just DH) to buy our flat but outside of mumsnet, most people probably think i am mental for doing that rather than just renting a nice 2/3 bed in zone 2 from the get go....

Same! I used to read her columns until I was about 20 and realised she was such a ‘poor me’ character that she was actually quite sad.

She spent ages in that on again off again relationship when it was obvious to everyone that David had no interest long term. I think I stopped reading when he started seeing someone else but she was still holding out hope.

She seems a very passive person who expects to be given everything in life. As others have said I imagine there’s a kernel of truth in each tale but the rest is fantasy.

Sorry everyone, mumsnet server was down, so I accidentally reposted multiple times. I will get mumsnet to remove it.

If you are plucking a location out of thin air though as Richmond North Yorkshire seems to have been chosen with no family connections or ties then why not opt to buy outright with your £59,000 and have security in your 60s. If you want Yorkshire another poster has linked affordable properties. It’s not even convenient for an occasional London commute. But buying a house would mean no topics for columns, so no income I suppose.
I’ve read bits of hers over years and she reminds me of someone we know who we refer to as having princess syndrome - expecting others to do everything, why should they have to bother with mundane stuff, I’m worth it - I deserve x or y and always claiming others have treated them badly.

Her assistant Nic lived in a separate building on site.

I agree she had no connection to Richmond. It’s a nice are of North Yorkshire. She could have moved to Teesside which isn’t far from Richmond but much cheaper

I've been reading her for years. But can't bring myself to now.

Why spend £60k decorating a rented property?

Not one person has anonymously posted anywhere on the internet who the rock star is.

Given that rock stars regardless of age or looks can pull any easy going dolly bird they like why would they choose neurotic Liz who I’m sure would be constantly whining about how broke she is and cajoling the said rock star into stumping up his hard earned cash to pay for her hapless lifestyle?

I actually find this quite unlikely. For a start, Liz had expert live-in help with the horse care. Then there's the fact that horses get colic even when they have seemed to be perfectly healthy. It can suddenly strike them even if they have the absolute best of nutrition and other care. If the owner wasn't there how would they know that their horse wasn't being looked after properly? I am sure that they visited to check their horse was all right and would have removed them if they weren't getting the right care.

I don’t understand any sympathy directed towards Jones. She’s a ghastly person.
She’s not autistic. Piss off whoever posted ‘be kind’ she’s not deserving of any kindness and has regularly berated people in print for years, family members, acquaintances and poor service people.
The ‘rock star’ is a complete fabrication.
She is overwhelmingly offensive. I could cite many examples - but one case in point is her novel, eight and a half stone. It’s littered with racism, and one particularly vile sentence, the lead character claims she looks like someone with Down syndrome without make up. This is meant to be ‘humour’ - read the Amazon reviews.

Gone down a rabbit hole of what you can buy period property wise with a 50,000 budget if you are plucking a location out of thin air. Decent transport links too.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108232889#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120552968#/?channel=RES_BUY

With regards to the care of animals I thought she always hires other people. I know she definitely has a groom at one time and also a gardener. She doesn’t seem very capable of doing much for herself.

I don’t believe a single word this ridiculous deluded fantasist writes about anything. It’s all complete BS.

That's him! The whole thing was a car crash and yes, I seem to remember him exercising his right to reply. Possibly all fantasy that they both profited from, but it seemed toxic and they were both deluded.

of course they do

I appreciate that , in principle, it's hard to be given notice on your rental.

However, other than that, I don't see the point of her article at all.

She's earned a decent income over her lifetime so, sadly, all she is doing here is drawing attention to her mismanagement of money over many years.

It's as if she is trying to blame other people, rather than herself.