Quirks from a poorer childhood that have followed you through life.

[Motorwayview]

Inspired by the tight people thread.
No matter how much underwear I have I am always slightly panicked that I'll run out of clean underwear so have been known to handwash and leave overnight to dry. Ive got draws and draws of the stuff now - BUT growing up for a while I had just enough to get by on but only if DM washed them every night. ( 3 pairs knickers) Sometimes we didn't have the 50p for the meter to use the emersion heater or boil a kettle (this was the '70's).
The one that drives DH mad is that I have to use every last drop out of a bottle even if Ive got 3 more of the same in the cupboard ( shampoo ect) .
Anyone else ?

I've gone the other way. Grew up poor. Now I can afford to indulge (within reason!).

I am grateful every day that I and my children live well - and I make no apologies if others (hello SIL) think I'm being flash.

I do tell my kids they live a soft life compared to how I grew up. They do not believe me

Keeping clothes and bags "for best".

Doctor and dentist appointments booked months in advance as I was never brought to either as a kid. I didn't have my first dental visit until I was an adult and was shaking in terror.

Rodent traps in the attic and out of sight places, our house had rat infestations when I was growing up. I'm also terrified of them.

I grew up in the winning combo of poverty and neglect. I was adopted into this shitshow as the real cherry on top.

I always turn off lights and appliances when leaving the room or not in use. DH drives me mad because he never turns anything off.
And I’m another of the saving things for best team.

The best thing about not being poor is having constant hot water - I still remember my mum trying to wash up after Sunday dinner with cold water and also having to ask my dad to put the immersion heater on for my weekly bath. (Actually we weren’t poor at all, but my grandfather died when my dad was 5 and his family had been really poor).

The need to properly clean out bottles and jars - sauce, shampoo, body wash etc
Jar sauces still a novelty for cooking esp curry!! They are so good today
Making sure to eat things up even if just beyond use by date - thinking of imaginative things to do with fridge food to avoid buying more for a couple of days
Still have a good rummage in yellow sticker items, think of it as an extension of my fridge "no waste" policy
I am Mrs Fix It and sort it for a good price
Obsessive about clothes and keeping them nice - still spot clean and air things for 2nd and third wearing if not next to skin. Wear vests and cardis to avoid putting heating on - I just remember the later 70s being cold all the time!
We didn't have a TV till I was 8 and thankfully still don't really have the habit - I tell everyone I am saving all the fantastic programmes around today for when I am old and can't walk far - lol

Going to a few shops because I know where items are cheaper.
remember traipsing round the supermarkets with my mom for the same and getting annoyed but now I understand

I agree with using scraps up - it took DH nearly 2 decades before he would join me in using leftovers. Now he loves nothing more than leftover bol/ chilli/ casserole for lunch the next day.
Soft bananas make banana loaf.
Fruit going off is made into smoothies.

Not wasting food! It’s been a long time since I’ve needed to be very frugal, but even now hardly anything ever gets wasted.

In other ways I have certainly not followed childhood traditions. When DDs started senior school I bought them everything brand new - still had memories of being just about the only one with all hand-me-downs from my elder sister, including the ‘Mary Jane’ indoor shoes we had to have.

The few non-school clothes were the same - having ONE new summer dress, actually from a shop, when I was about 9, still stands out as a highlight many decades later!

Being terrified to spend money on big purchases. Money is my security.

we used to use newspaper as toilet roll when we ran out, which was frequently! as a result, I make sure we never run out of loo roll!

I also have too much food in the house - it drives dh potty.
I reuse teabags.
Add a bit of water to washing up liquid and shower gel towards the end.
Reuse tin foil.
Use food past its sell by date.
Recycle all clothes no longer in use to charity or hand to family.
Cut open moisturiser tubes, toothpaste tubes.
Have quick showers (luxurious having a shower and dishwasher- never had these until my 50’s).
Love corned beef from a tin cooked with onions.
Always try to mend holes in clothes to get an extra year out of them or re-sole decent shoes.

I love his rationale! Maybe he wasn’t privileged compared to the upper class who boarded, but definitely privileged compared to the working class who couldn’t go to private school. 🤣

I never went on the school trip in secondary, I didn't even ask, we couldn't afford it. At my high school reunion 40 years later I was the only one of my friends not in the pictures. So I started saving when they were about 9 or 10 so my dcs could afford to go on one trip at secondary they wanted to go on. Mind you all their friends went on every trip and mine only got one, but at least they had that.

I have only recently begun to be a bit bolder with spending. I have cleared my wardrobe of all the clothes that are too big for me and invested in some that are the right size. I have bought things I need for the kitchen and have bought a picnic table for the patio to replace the one that is rotting and falling apart.
It has felt very bold indeed and taken x decades to overcome the instilled attitudes of my family. I still feel a bit guilty.

I remember in the 70s all the powercuts and the 3 day week, not having electricity or hot water. I always have candles and battery operated torches to hand.
Back then we had a tepid bath once a week and I remember my first experience of a hot, deep bath when I went to university! Bliss.
I still have in my head that it's wasteful though.

Being allowed only two baths a week and being in big trouble if you ran away your bath water before offering it to other members of the family. If you wanted to bath on the other nights it was second or third hand water.

I never realised I did this until there was a thread about it.

I would literally keep things in their original packaging and not use them because I was saving them.

I’m really trying hard to get out of that mindset and I am a bit of a hoarder as I once had literally nothing and so I’m trying to get out of that mindset too.

Ooh yes, I remember the immersion heater and having to share baths to preserve the hot water.
Also had all hand me down clothes including underwear and sometimes had to use safety pins to keep my knickers up.

We were free school meal pupils and in the 70’s we had to stand in a separate queue to get get our lunch tickets. It was shameful looking back. I always make sure dc have enough money for food even if we’re a bit short ourselves.

Me too!!

It's really, really hard to get past the hoarding, isn't it? Having things just in case, and saving things for best.

Doesn't everyone do this? I didn't have a poor childhood, but surely this is normal behaviour?

Licking the lid off yoghurt pots. My kids didn’t bother but we didn’t get many treats as poor kids so nothing was wasted. I still can’t throw a lid away if it has a smear of yoghurt or dessert on it.

to cope mentally, I have MH illnesses to cope with, I have to have clean clothes washed and dried in my wardrobe and drawers, food in the cupboards and basic toiletries like shampoo soap. So I know everything I need is there.

I was not brought up in poverty but i became homeless as a teenager which added to my insecurities over these things.

the rest is linked to my neglectful parents where certain things I wouldn’t need as I didn’t count. I’d have hung in my wardrobe hand me down clothes from my cousins which were too small for me or clothes from the village jumble sale that were too small for me. Food was limited and regimented by my mum she is still the same so I over compensate for this as an adult. As for toiletries once again mum too tight to buy me anything so i had to do babysitting and so on at 13 to buy shampoo or tampons. No one should have to live like that especially when we lived in a nice house.

I know that feeling. I think I’ve finally reached the menopause but I’ve still got a few boxes of tampons hunt incase but also because my brain can’t cope with the fact I might not have any again or any money.

I try very hard not to do things my mother did. Keep every bit of leftover.
There were always small tiny pots of things in the fridge. Peas usually. Endless old margarine /spread containers kept because they could be useful.

I find it very difficult to throw away clothes - I have far too many - in case I fall on hard times again and can’t afford to buy any more. When my DC were small, money was very tight (thank you, useless ex) and I know one of my DD’s shares the not getting rid of clothes thing. The DC never went hungry, but I did have to count the biscuits to be sure there were enough for packed lunches. (It used to make me very cross that at the time, six apples were more expensive than six small chocolate bars.) It gives me immense pleasure to be able to buy nice yoghurts and ice creams, expensive fruit and lovely bread and pastries for my DGC that would have been completely beyond my purse for my own DC.