To enjoy being a bit skint

[Welcometotheterrorzone]

I realise this might sound really privileged to some.
We are by no means struggling to pay our mortgage or buy food. We both have alright jobs, low paid but steady and enough to pay for a lovely house in a rough part of town. Like I said, we do alright but have to budget in order to have Christmas and holidays. We camp, we don't eat out, we share subscriptions with friends, we have one car, we buy second hand everything, we use freetogo apps etc to save. I am an obsessive yellow sticker shopper and do not pay full price for any meat, bread, milk or fruit as I hit different supermarkets at different times and have a huge freezer to store it all in. We eat veggie 70% of the time too.
Yesterday it was a one off treat day for DS as he's starting school. I had £24 for the day and no access to anymore money. We had such a lovely time, bakery lunch, went to a national trust place where just going in the grounds is a lot cheaper than tickets for the house so did that, treated them to an ice lolly and found a Poundland on the way home for a toy instead of getting (the same quality) toy in the gift shop. I was a bit worried at one point as we walked past this amazing sweet shop and I thought that they were going to ask for something I couldn't afford (only had £2 left by this point as we were on our way to the train station) but brilliantly they had a reduced section with these Harry Potter chocolate bars for 50p so still had a £1 at the end of it.
My aibu is that I don't want to lose this feeling of joy that we have found something that fits our budget and makes me feel like I'm treating them. I've had times where I felt really down that I can't just say 'choose whatever you like' but I think every parent sets limits so I'm not being unnecessary harsh. I'm trying to teach them to find pleasure in small things, and that finding the right toy in a charity shop is better than going to a big toy shop full of plastic where you can choose anything. I hope they don't resent me for it.
Luckily it's payday tomorrow!

I have to say if I only had £24 for one day out over the summer hols, I would definitely consider myself to be a bit skint.

Sounds like a nice day op

@araiwa my first thought when I read the OP 🙄 I read the comments hoping for one like yours 😂 sadly I think you may have been a tad subtle for OP so...

@Welcometotheterrorzone

@MrsRobbieHart

Ahhh so this is a stealth benefit bashing thread. I was waiting for the point to kick in.

Yeah I read that post and just thought, "oh there it is".

Initially I was sympathetic to the OP who I assumed just worded the initial post badly, because the joy seemed to be gained from finding bargains and being able to stick to a budget and still have a nice time, but with that particular post it starts to feel more like being joyful they aren't like those "scroungers" on benefits, so my sympathy has evaporated.

And whilst there are plenty of people who would consider the op to be rich and have 'no fucking idea of what being skint' means, there are surely many many more who totally get it.

Just look in Costa for example. Loads of people paying £18 for a couple of coffees and a cake and thinking nothing of it

[quote TellMeItsNotTrue]@araiwa my first thought when I read the OP 🙄 I read the comments hoping for one like yours 😂 sadly I think you may have been a tad subtle for OP so...

@Welcometotheterrorzone

[/quote] When i was a skint student nurse, i saw pulp they were headlining at the, FREE Heineken festival in Leeds the irony 🤣

Also meant I got to play one of my favourite songs, just shows how true it is 🙄

People who were really skint wouldn't be spending money on national trust, they'd go to a park or woods, which is free and basically the same but not as posh! You say you went because it was a treat day, I'm sure a small charity farm would have cost the same and he'd have had a different experience to a normal free one.

You said about worrying about the expensive sweet shop but it was OK cos they had reduced stuff - why did you go in if you were worried you wouldn't have enough?

Why waste money on an ice cream at national trust when they could have had more for less £ popping into a supermarket on way back to train?

These are things that should immediately come to mind if you really are watching the pennies, as you've tried to back-peddle, rather than getting a kick out of pretending to be skint for the day

You never let me down mnetters. So much nastiness and horribleness

Op I get it. Being aware of the value of money and not just frittering it away is a good value to have. Whether you have £24 for a day out, or for a whole week. We should never lose the appreciation and value of money which many better off people seem to forget.
I’ve been poor, the not being able to pay the mortgage they’re going to take my house I can’t afford to eat poor. I’ve never been rich. Given that you could easily spend £100 taking a family
Of four on a day out, I understand what you mean. Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing makes you poor in values. If you normally spend £50 but budget and be smart and only spend £10 then you’re doing well.
I doubt the op was trying to rub it in the faces of those who are struggling to pay the bills and feed their families. She’s talking about her situation as it stands now. Did t see this much nastiness towards the woman who wants to spends hundreds on the same handbag her friend has. Typical mn overreaction and dramatisation.

Come abs swap lives with me for a week.

Then you will genuinely understand what being skint means, and I guarantee, you won’t fucking enjoy it.

@FlumpsAreShit

Oh come on, this isn't the pain Olympics. It's nice the OP is comfortable now and can take joy in scrimping. Yes, there are people with less but also many people who can easily spend more than £24 on a couple of drinks.

I know what you mean OP. I've been a single mum with not enough food to feed me after I fed my daughter. Now we are comfortable I still struggle to spend money sometimes and really enjoy the sport of saving money. It helps me feel safe and secure.

This is a kind and understanding post.

As PPs have said, I think it's the word 'skint' in the OP that has been inflammatory. Being truly skint is miserable and stressful. But the op is obviously enjoying the challenge of budgeting whilst feeling relatively secure now.

Yeah, you're not skint.

I think your title would have been better if it was 'I enjoy being frugal and still having a great life' because that is what your post describes. Which is admirable and a good way to live. You're not skint though.

Lol'ing at 'the pain Olympics'. 😂

I used to live off £20 a week

Ah, just read your updates. It's a benefit bashing thread.

Well hope the half price Harry Potter chocolate was nice.

@araiwa

Op,

Do you come from Greece?
Do you have a thirst for knowledge?

Although this made me laugh, as this was exactly my initial reaction too. Now I can't get the tune out my head... Thanks for that @araiwa!

This is nothing to do with being skint. It's about realising that a day out doesn't mean spending pounds on attractions and souvenirs.

OP, unless you enjoyed having your electric switched off, then no, you don't enjoy being skint. What an odd thing to say.

You are proud that you managed to provide a good day for your children with what you consider to be a small amount of money. Nothing wrong with that, and you obviously budgeted well, but that you consider it a small amount of money (so small you're boasting of your victory) is telling.

@araiwa 🤣👏👏👏

Just when you think you’ve seen it all
This is a badly thought out thread. £24 to spend on fun is not skint.

@Hadenoughofthisbullshit

It's inevitable and not a nice side of MNet.

Can you imagine what it’s like for people who genuinely have no money to read about people who ‘just go camping’ (££££) or ‘use the reduced section at the supermarket’, and brag about how smart they are online. It’s playing pauper and it’s not very nice actually.

It's the same as those posters who make a post saying 'we earn 150k and still struggle, not sure we can afford private school, help us please'. Not only does that show a complete lack of compassion and empathy, it also shows they are highly overpaid since they are too stupid to work a calculator.

OP has used bad terminology though. She likes being frugal, not skint. No one enjoys being skint.

@icedcoffees

I am sorry you are getting flak on here. It's inevitable and not a nice side of MNet.

Personally I don't think it's very nice to post about "loving being skint" when you're clearly not skint.

The OP had £24 for a day out.... Its not like she's wiping her ass with wads of bills.... Shes not saying she has £24 per day... She's saying this is what she had for her day out. I don't like referring to people as "skint" but yes, she is and there is no need to be rude about it is there. If your offended by her self claimed "skintness" then why are you on her post...

Being "skint" is all relative and everyone's perception of it is different. If I had any less then 200 left after bills for the month (not any indication of my finances just an example I am throwing out) then I would class myself as "skint" as I would know it isn't enough to cover my life style. Other people may have £500 left at the end of the month but be used to having £1300 and wonder how they will get through the month. Its all relative to your own lifestyle.

I think having the basics covered and only really being 'skint' for the luxuries is a very different scenario to being grindingly skint day to day in every aspect of life.

I have been the latter after redundancy - couldn't afford to run a car or have a cheap camping holiday, lived on value pasta and rice - and I there was certainly no enjoyment in that feeling of being trapped in comparative poverty or the underlying fear of what I'd do if an unexpected bill came in.

So yes, clumsy use of words OP, and I think that's what's getting people's backs up. I am, happily, in a slightly better financial position now but I will never forget what it was like to be properly poor with no end in sight so I know I am sensitive to people claiming to be 'skint' who aren't really, in the scheme of things.

You come across as generally frugal and clever with your money, and it sounds like you had a lovely day enjoying the challenging of maximising the small-compared-to-some amount you had to spend, and I'm sure your DC had a great day.

I’ve only got 27 pence to feed a family
Of five for a month and pay all the bills. You’re so super privileged op. Stop showing off
Smh 🤦‍♀️ 😒 😒

Christ, read the room, OP. So many MNetters are living hand to mouth most weeks, barely scraping by, and you think it's okay to post what a lovely day you've had getting by on 24 quid. That sum could be the difference between some MNetters feeding their family or not.

I think you should ask for the post to be removed.

My friend on UC (but earns more than me) gets a huge hamper of food every two weeks which she doesn't have to pick up, it's delivered. She also gets free holiday club all summer, with a bag of food to take home for dinner

Ahh right. I was actually waiting for the OP to get this in somewhere.

I thought it would have been sooner tbh.

I'm sorry but the only people who I know who have struggled to feed their kids are the working poor, as in those who aren't eligible for much but genuinely struggle.
My friend on UC (but earns more than me) gets a huge hamper of food every two weeks which she doesn't have to pick up, it's delivered. She also gets free holiday club all summer, with a bag of food to take home for dinner.
Why not give up work and join her, put your OH out become a single parent.
It isn't fair she is getting so much however it is naive to believe only the working poor are hungry and everyone on benefits gets a free box of food delivered.
I'm working poor and never hungry.
Whereas someone in a similar situation on welfare payments lives on far less than I do each week.