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How to live like its the 1990s?

234 replies

Coffeeandcake12 · 05/07/2023 19:17

Inspired by a thread about how people were happier in the 90s, how can I live more like we did in the 90s?
Obviously no Internet, I already don't use social media apart from mumsnet.
But what made the 90s so good that I could recreate for me and my children a bit more?

OP posts:
AlwaysRequiresImprovement · 05/07/2023 20:45

Mushroom mushroom

It's a snakkeeee

AlwaysRequiresImprovement · 05/07/2023 20:47

Omg now Im singing "Everyone loves Magical Trevor" which always leads me to "My lovely horse... running through the fields"....

I have no idea how they're linked in my brain but there we go 😂

NeverDropYourMooncup · 05/07/2023 20:49

Make sure your home is in negative equity and/or in the process of being repossessed.

Stop receiving Universal Credit if you are working, not even for childcare costs. If you have a job, you are not entitled to a scrap of additional help.

Don't use an app to find out if the bus is coming.

Don't order anything online.

Only listen to music after going to a shop to buy a CD.

No streaming TV or movies.

No paying by Apple Pay or contactless. As you don't have a cheque book, you need to travel to a cash machine and take the money out in advance. This also means if you have a car, you cannot park anywhere, as you can't pay at the machine in cash anymore.

No Ubers, just minicabs that take cash, which you will need on you before making the call.

Keep your child off school and don't phone in. The school will be fine with a note in a fortnight after you've been on holiday. If you want, tell them you've moved. They won't check it, they'll just offroll them without a thought to their safety or wellbeing.

Feel obliged to drink lots of beer and never forget that a true geezer bird enjoys having men feel her up, as she's always up for it. Just ask the writers of the lads' mags.

And if you were wondering, no, you still cannot afford to buy a house without a man. Women were still far more likely to be on less than £13k in London when even the repossessed places were around £40,000. Two and a half times your salary, that's your lot.

On a positive note, it's just come in that you can't actually be sacked because you are pregnant - however, they can sack you for anything else, as there's no way of proving otherwise. And if they say you're actually redundant because the rest of the team absorbed your work during the 6 weeks you were off on your £42.10 a week maternity allowance, you're stuffed.

And don't even think of admitting you have a disability or a child on a job application. You don't have any rights for adjustments or to be treated fairly in recruitment.

Ah yes, the 1990s. Such Halcyon Days.

Ballyhoobird · 05/07/2023 20:49

WomanFromTheNorth · 05/07/2023 20:13

I've never been a Tory but the Conservatives of then were a different breed to the ones we have today; they had some integrity.

Umm, don't you remember tory sleaze, first time round? Jeremy archer, Jonathan aitkin, guy who's name I can't remember who liked sucking toes whilst wearing football kit? Even John major had an affair whilst taking things "back to basics"

frozendaisy · 05/07/2023 20:50

picturethispatsy · 05/07/2023 20:39

Name some of your haunts and I’ll let you know… 😉

Escape from samsara
Return to the source
Whirligig
????

Moonsun88 · 05/07/2023 20:51

Qbish · 05/07/2023 19:32

Only allow yourself to watch BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4.
Lots of sexism in the workplace.
Mortgage rates in double figures.
No internet.
Page Three still a thing.
Tory govt for most of the nineties.

Why, OP, do you think people were happier in the nineties? Which bits of it were they happier in, and why?

Strange my working class parents bought a house, by today's standard wouldn't have been able to, mum said work was fun and banter was great, more laid back, she worked in a school and whilst had it's problems it wasn't as bad as now. Who caress about page 3 friends and families got together more, we talked and called each other, less traffic, less parked everywhere. TV shows were great! I was a teenager! I feel for teenagers now

Ballyhoobird · 05/07/2023 20:51

Having said that, 90s were the best!

TheCyclingGorilla · 05/07/2023 20:54

Illegal raves in woods, farm buildings and abandoned aircraft hangers.
Grunge.
Alcopops like 20:20 and Smirnoff Ice.
Using minicabs which were not legal.
Ringing up for a cab.
Doc Martens in various colours. Tartan skirts.
Watching 90s films like Clueless & mooning over Christian Slater (who was in everything for a time).

It was my teenage years 😍.

Ballyhoobird · 05/07/2023 20:56

AlwaysRequiresImprovement · 05/07/2023 20:45

Mushroom mushroom

It's a snakkeeee

GrinGrinGrinGrinGrin

MrsCarson · 05/07/2023 20:59

In the 90's I had dial up internet (sooo slooow) and a mobile phone, a Motorola one.
No Sky TV, a handful of channels. I read loads of books and had a library card. I had a land line phone with a very long cord and could get to the back of the house while still talking and sorting laundry.
It was pretty good.

tiger2691 · 05/07/2023 21:00

Buy a Sega master system, then the Mega Drive, then a PS1. Play Alex the Kid, Worms, Road Rash, Sonic The Hedgehog. Get stoned on solid, shag like mad and go to raves in a field, dance and scoff ice cream from the ice cream van, which were always there.

Iamgoingtohell · 05/07/2023 21:01

I was a Single parent in the 90’s. If you got any child maintenance if was deducted off your benefit. So if the father agreed to pay £15 you got £15 benefit. Only trouble was if said father didn’t pay up you were left to survive on £15 instead of £30. It was shit to be honest.

AlwaysRequiresImprovement · 05/07/2023 21:01

tiger2691 · 05/07/2023 21:00

Buy a Sega master system, then the Mega Drive, then a PS1. Play Alex the Kid, Worms, Road Rash, Sonic The Hedgehog. Get stoned on solid, shag like mad and go to raves in a field, dance and scoff ice cream from the ice cream van, which were always there.

And now I have Alex the Kid tune in my head. What a night.

This thread will mean a sleepless night for all the earworms and memories 😂

grafittiartist · 05/07/2023 21:02

90's night on Sewing Bee

Thecomfortador · 05/07/2023 21:05

Free music lessons in school, opportunities to do bands, choirs, all sorts for free after school. Maybe it still happens in places, but even my DC primary doesn't do free recorder lessons now.

Sing something simple on a Sunday afternoon - I mean there's a slower pace of life and then there's kill me now so I don't have to endure this slow.

I didn't partake in the drugs and general hedonism but am fond of the dance, indie and grunge / metal bands and the subcultures that formed around them. It all seems very serious now, instead of sling on big hoodies and jeans and just enjoying yourself.

Willmafrockfit · 05/07/2023 21:05

terracotta painted walls
borders.
sure start

LessonLearnedOrLearnt · 05/07/2023 21:08

We used to gather there most weekends with our friends in the 90s and basically chat about the night before - the club we were in, the music, the gossip, how off our heads we'd been etc.

Bet you thought taking drugs was really cool. It wasn't.

MidnightMeltdown · 05/07/2023 21:12

Have pop tarts for breakfast, something sugary for lunch, and pizza rollers and chips for dinner. I don't remember anything nutritious existing in the 90s

PuppyMcPupFace · 05/07/2023 21:12

Wear Timberland boots and be in negative equity

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 05/07/2023 21:14

LessonLearnedOrLearnt · 05/07/2023 21:08

We used to gather there most weekends with our friends in the 90s and basically chat about the night before - the club we were in, the music, the gossip, how off our heads we'd been etc.

Bet you thought taking drugs was really cool. It wasn't.

🥱

It was fun at the time.

LessonLearnedOrLearnt · 05/07/2023 21:23

Feel obliged to drink lots of beer and never forget that a true geezer bird enjoys having men feel her up, as she's always up for it. Just ask the writers of the lads' mags

And now we have free hard-core pornography on our phones.

Howtosolveit · 05/07/2023 21:24

What was with the inflatables?! I had a neon pink inflatable armchair in my 90s teen bedroom. I saved up for ages to buy it and though it was the absolute shizz. I only had a small bedroom and it took up 30% of the floor space but was so worth it.

LessonLearnedOrLearnt · 05/07/2023 21:24

It was fun at the time

For you maybe but not for the poor bastards whose country produced it.

Yawn away, you twit.

MidnightMeltdown · 05/07/2023 21:30

If you're single, you can reply to a lonely hearts ad in the local paper. You will have no idea what they look like until you actually meet in person.

MumofSpud · 05/07/2023 21:30

Go to Uni:
1990-4
to study something just coz you enjoy it - no fees!
Binge drinking is encouraged
One night stands - no judgement Blush

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