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Original poster

To be irritated by people on C4 news taking out payday loans

281 replies

SilverSixpence · 18/12/2013 19:31

I am Shock at people taking out loans to buy brand new fridge freezers and playstations from Bright House instead of buying secondhand/doing without if they can't afford it. 8 year olds are old enough to understand they cant have the latest thing if their parents can't afford it. If your kids are influenced by ads just turn them off! Isn't this basic common sense?

OP posts:
ShoeWhore · 19/12/2013 21:04

There was an interesting article about Brighthouse a few months ago in the Guardian.

Darkesteyes · 19/12/2013 21:05

YouAreMyFavouriteWasteOfTimeThu 19-Dec-13 18:21:38

is washing machine necessary depends completely on individual circumstances. you cannot compare the amount of washing needed in a household with young children or adults with continents issues with a house where everyone only needs a normal number of clothes/bed changes.

Yep There it is You are childless So FUCK YOU.. seen a lot of this on here lately Usually on threads where ppl think that ppl with kids should get priority for the day off on Christmas and the childless can suck it up and have NYE off.
Whether you are childless or not how the fuck do you squeeze the water out of a thick jacket properly What would i do? Ask Lou Ferrigno to pop over from the USA and squeeze it out for me.
I think our HA would also have something to say about clothes dripping while drying all over the place creating mould.

Because...guess what we havent got a garden so nowhere for a washing line.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 19/12/2013 21:05

ouch at over 100 a week. Shudder.

MrsDeVere · 19/12/2013 21:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MadAsFish · 19/12/2013 21:34

If you have 3 kids you'll be getting something like £50 a week child benefit as long as whatever else, a mini fridge can be bought for under £40 so how long does it really take to save £40 out of that sort of income? A couple of months if you're being generous. And unless you've had a really recent change of circumstances - ie escaping from an abusive partner with just the clothes on your back - why haven't you been saving a few quid a week anyway? If you can afford a big fuck off interest rate loan you can afford to save.

Holy crap. And for the couple of months you're fridgeless, while saving up for something that won't do the job anyway? What happens then?
And the second point, wow, not going there.

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 21:35

Nobody should judge anyone unless you have walked a mile in their shoes, and yet we all do.

What bothers me is not that opinions are formed as such but how completely ignorant and uneducated some of these opinions are. I have been there and truly hope that I am not ever again but that isn't to say I wont be. I can honestly say I would have rather had nothing at one point in my life and have the common decency and respect to not act like half of the posters on this thread.

I would be interested to see how some people on this thread would cope if they could literally not afford the essentials. There has been a few people saying that they hope these people never find themselves in this position, but actually there is a part of me that hopes you do at one point in your life find yourself desperately trying to keep your head above water. I say this because then you might actually have the ability to empathize with people in what is quite frankly the hardest situation you can be in in your life.

3asAbird · 19/12/2013 21:45

my private landlords have rarly provided appliances.

when moved into 1st flat.

had convection micro-got fed up dolmio mirowave pasta and readymeals

2nd hand fridge.

couldent afford bed so had inflatable mattress from argos

had 2nd hand washer no drier but no kids back then in bedsit flat.

Darkesteyes · 19/12/2013 21:48

my HA expects its tenants to NOT CREATE MOULD. So no dripping clothes drying in the flat creating condensation

TheBigJessie · 19/12/2013 21:48

MissWinter01 Not so much this thread in particular, but past threads with similar themes, but many posters on Mumsnet have shown me that having achieved a financially comfortable life isn't necessarily a result of financial sense.

I have seen some really shit "cut your nose off to spite your face, so you will have bread today, but starve for the rest of the week" advice given in an astonishingly smug manner. Turns out the middle classes don't universally have a "delayed gratification" mindset!

Elsiequadrille · 19/12/2013 21:54

A friend of mine provided a reference or some such for Brighthouse, for an ex-employee who was very embarrassed, but desperate, in that they needed a washing machine and had no other way of affording one.

Dreadful place, Brighthouse. I remember reading about it (though it was called something else, but I think is the same place) in Polly Toynbee's book, Hard Work, the one where she experienced life on benefits or minimum wage.

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 21:57

TheBigJessie I actually just cannot believe what some people or posting on this thread...

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 21:59

are posting* bloody auto correct

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 19/12/2013 22:00

I think some of the middle-classes would rather believe that poor people borrow because they're shit with money and too greedy to wait than that they're desperate and can't actually live without essential items.

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 22:07

VampyreofTimeandMemory I actually don't think some of them can fathom what it is truly like to fall hard on your luck.

There was a post further up that I saw saying if you can afford to make these payments you could have afforded to save before. Do you actually think it crossed that posters mind that people actually go without in order to pay these bills? Or that prior to you being in a position you were having to pay this "loan" off that maybe they used just that tiny little bit of money to give their kid's a tiny little bit of a life. Going swimming, or saved to take them to the zoo?

Makes my blood boil. I am so lucky to not be in that position now but my god if I ever was at least I know my strength to make it through and do it with pride and dignity.

MadAsFish · 19/12/2013 22:08

If you can blame the victim (and yes, I'm aware a sizeable proportion are borrowing for non-essentials), it means having no impetus whatsoever to do anything about it.

Elsiequadrille · 19/12/2013 22:11

Just wondering just how useful a mini fridge would be at storing fresh foods and milk for three children, and one or two adults Confused

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 19/12/2013 22:11

Credit cards aren't ideal either but plenty use them and not as much stigma attached. I hate the attitude that a few middle-class people seem to have, that 'poor' people shouldn't ever spend money on anything unless they really, absolutely NEED it. I thankfully don't live in poverty, nor am I by any means well-off but if I ever do have more money than I expected or have worked a load of extra hours, why can't I enjoy the extra cash a bit? Grr.

dementedma · 19/12/2013 22:18

Haven't read every post but can I give a plug to credit unions? We both work but have hardly any savings, overdraft or credit card. The credit union has been a godsend for us.

TheBigJessie · 19/12/2013 22:18

Absurd, really. As if poor people have a copyright on greed...

Bankers with £1000 a week cocaine habits, anyone? A bit lower down, there's plenty of young, single professionals who blow their month's wages in the first fortnight and scrimp for the last week!

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 22:21

I think the reason there isn't as much of a stigma against credit cards is that they do carry out proper credit checks so therefore really shouldn't lend you what you cannot afford to repay. I know this isn't always the case but there are also proper repayment plans that don't involve the bailiffs at your door for people who cannot pay.

leftkidney · 19/12/2013 22:25

A mini fridge would clearly not be a long term solution, but could be used to store the very basic things that a fridge is used for (milk and margerine generally), until you can save up for a better one. It also answers the questions about medicines that need to be stored in a fridge. Seems to me like a better solution than going to brighthouse and paying for four fridges and only getting one (or none, if you miss a few payments).

I did actually live for a couple of years without using any refrigerated goods other than milk and margerine, so yeah, tell me it's impossible, but whatever, I'm still alive...

TheBigJessie · 19/12/2013 22:25

Elsiequarille good point! Sweet fanny adams is what. I remember visiting a friend in his uni halls. He had one. Could barely get anything in it!

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 22:27

leftkidney did you live this way with kids? I'm going to guess not.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 19/12/2013 22:27

I do think that companies like Brighthouse and payday lenders are eager to get people into as much debt as possible, that's how they make so much money, of course. I also think that anyone who has had to use them wishes they'd had a choice.

MissWinter01 · 19/12/2013 22:29

I also think that anyone who has had to use them wishes they'd had a choice.

Exactly!!

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