Did you think you were poor growing up?

We moved into a school house when my father accepted a headteacher post. The school was right next door to our home and it was a very cold one with just one fire in the sitting room. Thankfully we had a gas fire in the dining room and the kitchen was reasonably warm. There were a few carpets and the downstairs floors were stone slabs. We had one toilet upstairs at the end of the landing and a toilet in the back yard - though rarely used. I didn't feel poor as I had the whole playground to play in after school and at weekends. To me that was wonderful and friends often came to play.. Looking back though I do remember wallpaper pealing off the walls and winter was chilly while my friends lived in nice houses nearby. I went to see the old house a while back but found it was gone. My parents moved to another area near the sea and the house my parents bought small but certainly warmer!

My parents worked in a factory on the shop floor . Not very high wages . But we had good food all cooked from scratch. I was 8 before my dad had a car. But they saved and brought their own house. My brother and me went on holiday in a caravan every year.
Not brought up with money but good values and we where rich in love and attention.

I did not think of our family as poor. I knew money was tight - but then it was for everyone. Initially we all lived with grandparents, but before my then youngest brother arrived Mum and Dad bought their own house, following a change of job for my father. My grandmother used to come over on the bus once a week. Eating out ( tea or orange squash) was very rare and I still remember clearly the very few occasions this occurred. I shared a Welsh rarebit with my sister whilst visiting my great grandparents- I don’t remember the great grandparents but I remember the cafe and the treat!
We had a larder but not a fridge. Dad ( a physicist by day) used to mend neighbours TVs and radios so occasionally we got to watch ( intermittent) TV whilst he sat at the back adjusting valves to try and get one working better! You probably all remember thesqiffy picture when a TV valve was loose! Dad also looked after an elderly ladies garden- with our ‘help’- growing vegetables for us and the lady. Food was seasonal. I got to dislike parsnips and beetroot’s! Once my then youngest brother started school, my mother went back to work as a secretary at the local residential special school- which had a farm to help feed the children. We would sometimes go to the farm in the holidays if mum needed to work- I don’t think we were much help but it kept us busy and safe. Like most families, we mostly wore hand me down clothes and handmade, but a relative from overseas kindly bought my sister and I new shop made dresses- quite a wonder!

born 1944 and brother 1943, father never seen, but Mum was paid like a woman, despite being a very clever secretary/PA. She couldn’t cope with not having enough money in the end.
Have a friend recently bereaved and charities, council and government all chucking money at her. She is extremely well off now being widowed. Things were tough for women in 1940s and 50s.

As per Monty Python sketch from decades ago “you were lucky!”

Old and Proud - you sounded a bit scathing about pupils going on school trips abroad.
We were certainly not well off and my mum went to work through necessity not choice.
My brother and I went to state grammar school and my parents took out 2 small endowment policies to enable my brother and me to go abroad with the school. In fact I developed a great desire to travel abroad due to going and have been lucky enough to be able to do a lot of travelling.
My brother's school year went on a ship which impressed him so much he decided his career was to be a marine engineer and he reached 2nd Engineer and also sailed as a !st.