How do ordinary people afford ...

[EbenyZebraScrooge]

good quality furniture, original artwork, water softener systems, anything expensive?

This is not to criticise anybody, rich or poor, spendthrift or frugal.

DH & I are, I think, relatively very financially comfortable. No debts, own house outright, savings...But we see shops full of stuff that is more than we think we can afford -- more than we can justify spending. We will have to save up for a few years to buy some of the things we want (like good quality solid wood furniture).

Most of our current furniture was inherited/gifts, actually. Are there a lot of very wealthy people out there? Do people buy these big things mostly on installment or credit cards? I just can't imagine how most furniture shops/art galleries/whatever stay in business!

I find it quite depressing when in our local job centre there are jobs for 11k a year and the local rag average wage is 18k - ish. Then you pick up a broadsheet and they are advertising jobs for 100-150k

Yeah but for £100k you have to sell your soul, live in London, never see your family.......... And put up with people moaning about how rich you are

I could live with that!!!!

Merry Xmas Twoifbysanta! You are me! Exactly! Actually, I've just given up feeling poor compared to our friends. I love bargain hunting and would do it even if we won the lottery.
A certain friend recently thought we were totally on the breadline because we live in a flat with a child (oh, horror!), and was very suprised that we're now in the middle of buying a house (just about affordable due to putting my life savings in). I must admit to a certain smugness that I am more 'respectable' than they thought I was!!
But since becoming a SAHM, I do find myself having to justify myself to people more, in terms of why I'm not working, which I resent having to do.

(only joking of course)

Quite Fio, totally agree.

Personally speaking i wouldn't want loads of money just enough.

Dp's wages are crap crap crap, but he works very very hard. He has left a job that he quite enyjoyed just for the extra 1500 a year and really we are no better off as our tax credits were then reduced.

I often think it's people who work ridiculously hard that are least well paid - look at people who do manual jobs and work really long hours - they must be bloody knackered, and for how much??

And look at some of the other professions like nursing. There are other jobs I really admire like people who work in rest homes - it must be exhausting and I couldn't do it (I'm OK with babies, but not old people I'm afraid ) but I bet they don't get paid much.

I don't know what any of these people get btw - just don't expect them to be at the top of the salary scale!

Or even cleaners - that must be exhausting too and then there are others in nice comfy offices who get to go to nice business lunches and jet off round the world and get paid a fortune while they do it!

I've utmost admiration for those who work hard to 'get to the top' and have great jobs, but certainly no more than I have for all the other jobs out there that are less well heralded. I'm harping back to that Ruth Kelly thread now aren't I?? I'd better shut up!

Well dp delivers booze, gets sent all over the bloody place at the drop of a hat, has to lift very heavy loads, regularly comes home with cuts all over his hands and gets no sick pay or pension.

All for 14000.

I'm always interested in this "previous generations didn't do this". DH & me were discussing this the other day. My parents had a set of "decent" wooden bedroom furniture and a dining table & chairs set when they got married, which my mum still has in daily use 46 years later. Their 3-piece suite was re-covered twice & lasted at least 16 years.

In contrast we are on our 4th dining set & our 5th 3-piece (OK so 3 of them were 2nd hand) in 21 years. They fall to bits!

When I was little people didn't go abroad because package holidays didn't exist & flying was only for the rich. My classmates thought we were rich because we had a phone (paid for by Pompey amateur FA), a car (that hardly left the garage), a colour TV (Radio Rentals!) and went abroad (Holland- on a house-swap). There were no microwave ovens, videos/DVDs, PCs, mobile phones.

We have been badly in debt because we "buy now". This is because DH has lost several close friends & relatives very young. What really upset him was a cousin who had a fatal heart attack at 42 and had been saving for many years for his first holiday abroad. It's made him even worse with money than he was

I can see your DH's point though Tallulah, it's a balance, isn't it? I'm in debt atm because I went on holiday this year. I had an au-pair who offered to drive us all around the Algarve, up to Lisbon and down to Sevilla, and I just knew that we would see more of Portugal if I went with him than if I wait until I can pay for it without credit. And also, I'm not entirely sure that I'll ever be brave enough to go on holiday on my own with kids. Did a bit of a miscalculation with the costs, but my solution is to keep moving credit cards for the 0% interest free rates. It's worrying, but otoh I might not be able to go abroad with the kids for another 10 years, so I figure at least we had one foreign holiday together once, which they'll have good memories of, so it was worth it.

Yes, in big debt here too. Do try to pay off credit cards each month and have just got a new one offering 6 months interest free and this won't start until I transfer the balance. I'll wait for the January statements to come in and transfer the lot over.