To ask how 'privalledged' are you?

[GiantGapingAxeWound]

Thought this might be fun. I'll start.

I'm a property owner - of a derelict, empty bedsit (inherited) with smashed in windows, so much mould that it looks like the walls have been spray painted black and even the squatters don't go near it.

I'm a business owner - of a failing tiny business which barely brings in enough money to buy a food shop every week, and I'm in debt up to my eyeballs.

I live in a detached four bedroomed house in an affluent and desirable area - in a council house.

I own three cars - all of which are old bangers worth a couple of hundred each, and two of them don't work at all, but I don't have the energy to get rid of them.

I have a massive flat screen TV, the latest iPhone and my children have all of the latest gadgets - mostly all on finance from Brighthouse or put on the Argos card I can't afford to pay off.

I have a wardrobe full of designer clothes - from Oxfam.

I own 61 pairs of shoes - from Primark.

I have regular holidays abroad - camping in Europe, paid for by Sun £9 holidays.

I have a university education - in a pointless subject sociology that I've never used.

I drink champagne regularly - from Aldi.

I have a shocking lack of shoes though. When I met DH he had more pairs of footwear than I did.

Op, in the amount of time you spent counting your cheap shoes you could have done some ironing for a local family. I don't blame you for not thinking about it, on account of actually being a bit dense. However, this would have been an effort to earn enough money to renovate your bed sit.
What are you going to do op ?

How is a council house a benefit Laiste? We dont all live in London and some of us pay the rent ourselves and in my area its comparative to a private let

FYI- owning a property makes you ineligible for social housing so you might want to add fraud to the list too.

You must be doing ok to have a wardrobe full of designer clothes from Oxfam .. Prices they charge ! ps. I love European camping too. you are blessed !

I'm privileged because I have a sense of humour.

I found the op funny, it made me smile

My dh recently got a big payrise, he said "now I'm earning £x I'm really enjoying the luxury lifestyle" and looked around our scruffy rented home, because crazy London property prices mean we are living in a shit hole. It made me laugh

Im going to play this one straight:

I'm privileged because DH's Dad gave us £25,000 as a house deposit when we got married. This was enough for one third of an ex council maisonette on an estate. And now we have much, much lower housing costs than all our neighbours, despite being better off.
It also gave us the option to work less, spend more time with our kids and save on childcare costs.

DH'S Dad got his start in life at the Timex factory, through masonic connections. At the time the masonic lodge explicitly excluded Catholics and operated to advantage protestants. So a lot of our comfort now is an indirect benefit of religious sectarianism.

We're passing our privilege on in the form of social capital by doing stuff that would be more difficult for us if we had less money or time. I'm thinking of activities, days out, learning Gaelic to support their education at the Gaelic medium school.
We're even able to remortgage and buy a little woodland to build a holiday hut.

It would be easy to put our lifestyle down to making smart choices or having the right "priorities" but it's important to recognise structural privilege where you have it.

OP: I know you didn't start this thread to seek advice but I also think you should auction off the bedsit. Let someone have it, who has the money and time to make use of it. You will feel lighter for it and have a nice buffer for emergencies or treats.

Why is sociology pointless? Do you even know what it is??

Yes, it's hardly a benefit. I don't get housing benefit.

So true. If it wasn’t for my excellent credit rating my life would be a mess and I’m sure it will catch up with me eventually

Though as DP says- If we took some equity out the house we could pay all our debts and live off it for a few years too.

Still, feel broke when I literally have two pennies to rub together.

I’ve been homeless with 2 grand in my pocket and no debts and would rather be where I am today though tbf

Because a sociology degree never appealed to employers, which is why I ended up starting my own business.

Ifeel im very privileged in the i have a roof over my head, 5 beatiful healthy children, and a wonderful man.
Material things mean nothing.

How strange.

I have a sociology degree and the training in social research methods (sampling, statistics etc) landed me an excellent job. Certainly not pointless.

Council housing is a government housing scheme for those entitled to receive it Like a benefit in my eyes. What's wrong with that?

By the way it's nothing like private let. We've just come out of that and it's shit.

Very privileged indeed.

Homeowner, dual citizenship of two affluent countries, good education.

How is a council house a benefit Laiste?

Indeed, my friend lives in a council house, works and pays her own rent, no benefits, and it's by no means cheap. My brother lives in a one bedroom council flat, no benefits, and pays £600 a month.

In my council everyone who has the right to live in the UK has the right to apply for council housing

Why are people being so mean?

I know what you were getting at Giant. You have lots of things in your life a, say, doting elderly mother would brag to her friends about: "Oh my DD, Giant, you know, she has TWO properties, THREE cars, oh yes! That's because she runs her own business you know! Quite the entrepreneur! Not that she's perfect: I keep telling her she buys too many shoes . . ." etc. Yet the reality is not quite the same thing.

Not sure why so many people missed the point.

I read this and was gripped by the fear, as apart from the house, you’re living my nightmare. I know it was meant to be lighthearted, but crikey you’re just one snip away from everything crashing down around you and you must know that inside. In your position I’d be losing sleep at night, as I’ve been in debt before and when it crashes down and you can’t make yourself feel any better by buying stuff on tick to alleviate the anxiety, it’s going to be messy as hell.

Get rid of the bangers that don’t work for scrap. Auction off the shitty bedsit and use the money to settle some of, what must be, eye-watering debt. Go and get debt advice now before you’re forced into it.

I’m privilaged as I got horrendously into debt years ago and it took me years to get out if it. I’m privilaged because I’m now on the other side. You need to sort this. It’s not lighthearted when the bailiffs come.

Oh jesus lets not have this descend into 'is a council house a benefit' or not. My opinion is not that important.

I have claimed benefits. I have nothing against people claiming benefits.

In the context of this thread where the OP is announcing she is a business owner and a property owner and living in a 4 bedder council house and not on benefits i just thought - well, your home is like a benefit. In my eyes. In this thread. That's all.

Council housing is not a "benefit" in the sense of "being on benefits". It's publicly owned housing for a fair rent. It was originally intended to be for everyone and it still should be in my view.

It's a privilege in the sense that it's first world infrastructure and we're lucky to have it. Even though it's maligned and under threat

Sadly it's now also a "privilege" because it's in limited supply and not everyone who needs it can get one.

If i came at this straight up, I know I am privileged - but I think we often present the other way around to people who don't know us....
I drive the messiest oldest car in the world, I buy most my clothes and things second hand, I try to be clean and presentable of course but generally look a bit scruffy (for me going to hairdressers, getting nails done etc is madness), we grow most of our food (inc meat).... but we have no debt and no credit cards, we own a nice house in a small village, we have a small farm, woodland, horses.... I get to spend much of my free time outside with my two children running in a wood, I'm loved, I love and I'm happy. I think we're unbelievably privileged in this lifestyle, but others would find it hell.... oh and I only own 2 pairs of shoes (not including the wellies - I have 3 pairs of them!) - what exactly counts as privilege?

Gosh, this is a bit of a shame isn't it?

I think you're funny OP. And you, ShimmeringBollox. I like you.

Interesting first post OP and a charming username to boot.