Reply to: Spending Block

[Whorty]

Bloomin southernor!

My family are from Yorkshire & Brum (I was born down here) my uncles/aunts are up there but most of my cousins are down south for work.
Their friends elders had the same problem the mines etc. closed and there was nothing up there for them.

Successive governments have failed them terribly.

I sometimes look back on my upbringing and think, boy did we have it tough .... then I remember there are those much worse off than I ever was. We refer to them as Northerners

[vetran]

Don't think luck comes into it. I was brought up in an area full of factories and industries where generations of men had always worked. People were generally poorly educated but earned enough money to pay the council rent, buy food and go to the local boozer every night. It's all people knew.

Once those industries (steel and motor mostly) closed down there was no work and for that generation not many prospects. The factories closed, waste derelict land was everywhere - as a kid this was great, as we had new places to play

I know you're not really, but if you are interested in the environment I was dragged up try this book. I have so many parallels to this chap's upbringing it's uncanny. He's a couple of years older than me but we went to the same school, played over the same canals, and as all kids in the area at the time we all played over the Marl holes. We also both had dads who liked the beer a bit too much, and liked to be heavy with his fists against his kids!

Bloomin southernor!

My family are from Yorkshire & Brum (I was born down here) my uncles/aunts are up there but most of my cousins are down south for work.
Their friends elders had the same problem the mines etc. closed and there was nothing up there for them.

Successive governments have failed them terribly.

[Whorty]

Wow sounds like I was luckier than you, my parents were building a business, money was short.

Don't think luck comes into it. I was brought up in an area full of factories and industries where generations of men had always worked. People were generally poorly educated but earned enough money to pay the council rent, buy food and go to the local boozer every night. It's all people knew.

Once those industries (steel and motor mostly) closed down there was no work and for that generation not many prospects. The factories closed, waste derelict land was everywhere - as a kid this was great, as we had new places to play

I know you're not really, but if you are interested in the environment I was dragged up try this book. I have so many parallels to this chap's upbringing it's uncanny. He's a couple of years older than me but we went to the same school, played over the same canals, and as all kids in the area at the time we all played over the Marl holes. We also both had dads who liked the beer a bit too much, and liked to be heavy with his fists against his kids!

[DoctorStrangelove]

Nowt wrong with being mean, doesn't worry me at all.

Bah!

Humbug!

A penny saved is a penny not spent.

Bah!

Humbug!

[vetran]

We would sometimes go to jumble sales, but most of my clothes came from my brother. My dad had worked in the car and steel industry in the black country, and when that went south late 70's/early 80's he rarely worked again. Mom was a typist, so not a big salary.

Christmases were hit and miss depending whether my dad had got any work that year and how sober he'd kept himself.

Wow sounds like I was luckier than you, my parents were building a business, money was short.

[Whorty]

Too poor for Jumble sale clothes & XMAS presents? My kids haven't really suffered that and don't really get it. they do have a better grasp of money than their friends.

We would sometimes go to jumble sales, but most of my clothes came from my brother. My dad had worked in the car and steel industry in the black country, and when that went south late 70's/early 80's he rarely worked again. Mom was a typist, so not a big salary.

Christmases were hit and miss depending whether my dad had got any work that year and how sober he'd kept himself.

[Jog On]

I've heard it said that money is better spent on experiences over stuff. Maybe force yourself to book a sabbatical and go travelling and have some experiences.

This article on the most common regrets of the dying is worth a read - especially items 1 and 2:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."

[xoggoth]

Nowt wrong with being mean, doesn't worry me at all.

[Whorty]

The idea was to get over a spending block! Not how to save money lol

Although I guess your saying that some things are worth spending money on and others maybe aren't?

Or, maybe you don't have a spending block problem .... maybe you're just a typical contractor

[Whorty]

My Scirocco is 11 years old.

My VW Transporter is 9 years old. Still looks cool and gets closer to being a classic every day I own him

[vetran]

If you've never been truly poor it's hard to understand what it's like to live in poverty - wearing socks as 'gloves' in winter, plastic bags on feet to keep them dry as shoes had holes in, only get 'new' clothes when your older brother hands his clothes down to you etc.

At 50 I could probably retire and not need to work again, but I still have a certain amount of fear and so I still work to ensure I have savings for that rainy day (even though I have more savings than some will ever earn in a lifetime!). Is this healthy? Not for me to say, but whilst I enjoy working then it's no hardship to keep earning money

Too poor for Jumble sale clothes & XMAS presents? My kids haven't really suffered that and don't really get it. they do have a better grasp of money than their friends.

[Whorty]

Why would you want to overcome it?
By saving large amounts of money you make yourself free. Don't knock it. You're lucky that you have that work ethic - many don't.

/\ this /\

Money may not make you happy in itself, but it gives you options that those without money do not have.

[Whorty]

I am trying to go with the concept that money can be converted into something that brings happiness. Success isn't how much you have in the bank when you die, but how many experiences that made you happy that money had brought you

Wife and I worked to clear our mortgage back in 2008. We were 'careful' with money, still lived a good life and had some great experiences, but didn't buy things that we didn't need. Clearing debt was very important to us.

Money won't buy you happiness, but what it does do is give you choices; by clearing all our debts, we have opened up far more choices for us. I now work 2 days a week (previous 2 contracts were both 3 days a week). This gives me the choice to now look after my wife full time as she is at end of life - we have created this chance at choice.

Others have gone through a really tough time financially and it scared them into being super careful.

This is very true. I come from a poor family. As a kid I had very few holidays, can't even recall birthdays (never had a party), Christmases were sparse, never had a bike/computer etc. I've always been conscious of this and determined to break away from that life and never go back. If you've never been truly poor it's hard to understand what it's like to live in poverty - wearing socks as 'gloves' in winter, plastic bags on feet to keep them dry as shoes had holes in, only get 'new' clothes when your older brother hands his clothes down to you etc.

At 50 I could probably retire and not need to work again, but I still have a certain amount of fear and so I still work to ensure I have savings for that rainy day (even though I have more savings than some will ever earn in a lifetime!). Is this healthy? Not for me to say, but whilst I enjoy working then it's no hardship to keep earning money

[stphnstevey]

Why would you want to overcome it?
By saving large amounts of money you make yourself free. Don't knock it. You're lucky that you have that work ethic - many don't.

Although it gives options, I feel the opposite and feel it has stopped me enjoying life

[GJABS]

I wondered if anyone else has experienced this and how they overcome it?

Why would you want to overcome it?
By saving large amounts of money you make yourself free. Don't knock it. You're lucky that you have that work ethic - many don't.