Sunday, March 23, 2008

Poverty


The good times are over. A life of poverty beckons. It's 'Goodbye Waitrose, hello Asda!' and as for going on holiday, forget it. It's not as if I had much money to start with. I have never earned more than £25,000 a year, which I'm told is the average salary these days, but somehow we always seemed to get by, until now. As from last Thursday, my income has dropped by over 50%.

This should feel like a huge setback, but I feel strangely elated. I have spent a long time dreading this moment, but I now understand that the fear of being poor has enslaved me far more than any drop in income. After several months of living frugally I have realised how much money we used to waste and although we will now have to count every penny, I doubt that our quality of life will suffer.

I apologise for being a little enigmatic. I will explain fully at a later date, but for the moment discretion is the better part of valour.

5 comments:

bye bye bellulah said...

Sounds like Fight Club.

JRSM said...

Is this a permanent state of affairs, or a between-jobs thing? Either way, best of luck: the apocalyptic reading might be just what you need in terms of living in a pared-down situation!

Gonçalo Veiga said...

:) Good luck Steerforh. May better times come soon.

Ms Baroque said...

That's wonderful. I would love to take a pay cut of 50%, but unfortunately I pay nearly half my take-home pay in rent alone.

I had a very nice bottle of wine last week for £3.99. But that savings wouldn't be quite enough to make up for the rent!

Best of luck with it. The freedom of oneself is a marvellous thing.

Nowhere Girl said...

Sorry to hear of your predicament, but I understand what you're going through (I just got laid off - AGAIN). I hope this turn of events will lead to new and better opportunities for you.

I understand not paying full price for books. I haven't bought a new CD in over three years. Thankfully, my sister buys a lot of new music, so I've been copying hers!