[monster]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

My family were poor by today's standards, and still reasonably poor by the standards of the day. I remember getting our telephone, and our first fridge freezer - prior to that it was the callbox on the corner and a larder fridge with a tiny icebox.

We didn't have a car when I lived at home, and hired one to go on holiday - although we went every year it was always camping and never at a time when the weather was really suitable as the prices were too high on those weeks.

My parents cooked "real" food - making their own chips, breading their own fish, lots of casseroles with cheaper cuts of meat and mince (ground) beef that had to have the fat skimmed off it a couple of times before use. We always had enough to eat, but towards the end of the month the choices would diminish - cheese or ham for sandwiches, no crisps (chips) with packed lunch, a biscuit (cookie) wrapped in foil rather than a chocolate biscuit bar.

Both my parents worked, and worked shifts, so there was always someone home, when we woke up, when we came home for lunch, when we got home from school. It was a great way to grow up.

We went to the cinema about once a year - it was a big treat. We saved all our pocket money after Christmas for our holiday, so we could buy seaside tat, postcards and ice cream. We only ever went out to dinner when family visited (and paid for it) and we always packed our own food when we went anywhere, rather than eating at the concessions. I envied the children eating burgers and drinking out of waxed paper cups with straws - we'd be sharing a limp sandwich and a warm lemonade.

I remember my first visit to McDonalds and I wondered about the fact our burgers were in paper, as were our fries, when other people had burgers in polysterene boxes and cardboard. I silently concluded that we'd had to buy the cheapest option, although it was probably more to do with portion size than money.

That about sums up mine too, SG. My mum's family were wealthier, but they wisely did not subsidize my parents. When they died, my mum quickly pissed away her inheritance. Good job I'm not relying on getting it one day!