to not understand why so many poor people...

[nybom]

...are being called "poor" if they can afford:

• cigarettes/drugs
• dogs
• large amounts of takeaways/ready meals
• ready cut fruit, brands, air freshners and other superfluous crap, kids drinks/other products specifically tailored to kids
• to go out drinking
• FF babies
• to leave lights on, have electrical appliances on standby, not to use energy light bulbs, to keep the water running, to put on half a load of washing, to leave heating on at night
• to maintain artificial nails, to have hair extensions
• buy loads of beauty products
• to leave their car engine on whilst going shopping/standing in a traffic jam
• to have themed children's birthday parties with loads of props
• and most of all: have CREDIT cards so they can overdraw

i'm talking of regular habits not just occasional behaviour...

several of my friends are on benefits, so the observations are firsthand and not just assumptions.

a friend of mine (single mum on benefits) got a party bus for her DSs last birthday party (besides loads of presents), this year he's getting a wii (and loads of other presents). WTF?

why don't these people simply save more?

i on the other hand spend less than 100 pounds on a family of four (whilst buying high quality, fresh, organic products) by buying 50% of my shopping reduced/offers, at local markets and a lot of things (like toiletries) from pound shops or discounters. we buy value toilet paper (amongst other things); and i go to the hairdresser twice a year, and only to the beautycian for special occasions such as weddings. the children don't get any toys or clothes from us, as there are enough family and friends who don't know what to buy for christmas/birthday parties. so the kids basically don't cost us anything. we have one credit card and we make sure NEVER to overdraw because of the high interest rates.

i simply don't get it...

100 pounds on shopping (PER WEEK)

I would ask for this thread to be deleted now before it explodes

you will have offended a whole lot of 'poor' people on benefits.

you sound smug and nasty

how dare the poor take pride in their appearance and have the odd luxury or dare to smoke or even worse, give their babies formula!?!?!?

Because they're not saving. They're in debt.

nybom are you 100% sure that they are actually PAYIONG for it all?

you don;t know for example, that your friend's parents or other people helped her pay for her child's birthday bus and Wii.

ahahahaha!

"READY CUT FRUIT!"

hahahaha.

2/10. MUST TRY HARDER

because they don't have a mortgage?

Oh dear....

you sound very imo whats it got to with you what other people spend there money on?

lololol...you sound mental....leaving the car running while in traffic....classic.

thats a big ole brush you've got there for tarring people.
whilst i agree we could all save money doing certain things i think you are being massively unfair. have you shown your friends on benefits this post? maybe you should try to 'educate' them and see how that goes down firsthand......

I would ask for this thread to be deleted because you've clearly made LuluMaman cross. And that's against the MN rules!

I agree with the first half of OP's post, doing all those thing is not sensible if you're skint. And it's hard to be sympathetic when you see someone doing lots of dumb things with their limited income.
On the other hand, life is full of illogical choices, and why shouldn't poor people have some ordinary pleasures too (like owning a dog)? It's the last paragraph that comes across as smug.

'to leave their car engine on whilst going shopping/standing in a traffic jam'

..surely they should'nt even have cars?..disgraceful poor sods..they are obviously all secret millionaires..

I'm sorry...FF their babies??? I FF my baby because my breast milk never came in no matter what I did. So if I was on benefits I should just let him starve to save £7.00ish a week?!?!

You have no idea of their circumstances no matter how well you think you know them.

How do you breath in that low oxygen up on your high horse?

I too think this post is quite funny but I think what she's trying to say is why are people on benefits classed as "poor" or underprivileged when they can afford the same things (and more) as people who go out to work.

Not a good thread to start though, yes sometimes it's annoying to know that we'd be better off to go on benefits and not work, but ultimately, where ever people get their money from it's their buisness how and on what they spend it.

"the children don't get any toys or clothes from us, as there are enough family and friends who don't know what to buy for christmas/birthday parties"

I bet they simply LOOOVE getting school uniform and a new pair of shoes on Xmas morning. I can picture their little faces: "Hooray! Auntie Jane bought us a NEW SCHOOL TIE!!!"

you tell her, BiWi....

i don;t like being cross this early in the day.

I think it is incredibly daft to assume stereotypical things about any group of people.
I suspect some people are poor because of very poor choices. But I suspect that many people have little experience of financial planning, have little ability to exert themselevs in terms of cooking and saving because they have neither the life experience nor the education to manage these things.

It would be like saying - why did so many comfortably paid people manage to accrue ridiculous and crippling levels of debt just because there was an economic boom? Why do so many people on higher than average wage make no pension provision? Why do people use credit cards at all?
The poor are notthe only socio-economic group to have exhibited finacial fuck wittery in recent years. We all are capeable because we are a) human and b) trying to have a normal life for our children

People do what they know and seek pleasure in the moment. And if you see no financial boom in the future the temptation to give your children the best you can must be over whelming.

It would be more becoming to be grateful that you have the education, ability and determination to manage your finances tbh