My father kept telling me that if I worked hard and saved money I'd be able to afford my own house.
yeah, right.
( NooShmoo It's a fantazmagorical pile of ultra bollocks, Thu 8 Mar 2012, 22:03, 12 replies)

I was talking to my sister about this the other day.
I feel that people who say, 'Fifty years ago, if you were in full time employment, you could buy a house, but now you have no chance' have failed to take the difference in life style into account.

What I mean is, if you got rid or had never bought your phone, computer, washing machine, TV, internet connection, stereo, DVD's, CD's, foreign holidays, DVD player, imported and processed food ect. you probably could have a house.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Thu 8 Mar 2012, 22:13, closed)

Darn tooting!
And indeed correct.
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Thu 8 Mar 2012, 22:27, closed)

Dunno - seems like
Houses 50 years ago really weren't as valued as they are now.

I have heard on more than one occasion about people buying houses with a carrier bag full of fivers in the 1950s.

I'm pretty sure they weren't paying the inflation adjusted equivalent of what we do now.
(username failed moderation, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 8:41, closed)

I actually have the house, it's affording it that was the lie.

( NooShmoo It's a fantazmagorical pile of ultra bollocks, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 0:38, closed)

Have you stopped working hard and saving?
No, well he's not wrong yet then is he? It might just take a bit longer.
Yes, why? You'll never manage it if you don't follow his advice properly.
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Thu 8 Mar 2012, 22:33, closed)

If it was just me, that would be correct...
but raising two children doesn't come cheap nowadays and I have to cut back on other things (as per a reply above I have a phone which costs £10 a month, not a shiny new one. I don't have Sky, don't drink any more either)
My father knew costs would accelerate faster than earnings and affordability would be an issue. He passed away before it kicked off with the bailouts etc.
( NooShmoo It's a fantazmagorical pile of ultra bollocks, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 0:42, closed)

I guess kids are the real clincher, aren't they?
But, it's the kids that really don't see the lifestyle change. When my mum talks about growing up, she didn't have the toys, gadgets and mobility that kids today take as a given. She even told me once that baths were a once a week family affair. Six days out of seven you just washed you face and arm pits.

I also think cars make a big difference to a families finances. It's a shame people can no longer pop down to the butcher and green grocer's at the end of the road. My mum spent her 20's as a midwife on a push-bike with her black leather bag cycling around Nottingham to deliver babies.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 9:34, closed)

She wouldn't be allowed to carry babies in a leather bag these days

(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 12:19, closed)

Here's an idea.
Spend your working week cycling everywhere on a pushbike and only having a bath once a week, and see how long it is before the people who shower daily start to avoid you and your boss pulls you in for a little chat about acceptable standards of personal hygiene at work.

Some social norms have to be matched to what's going on around you now, rather than a wistful imagineering of a bygone era that somehow misses out all the shit bits.
( Batsgirl, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 12:40, closed)

I wasn't suggesting people should bath once a week.
I was pointing out why a higher percentage of disposable income is spent on essentials today than sixty years ago.
As for wistful imagining, have you read the whole thread, or do you just have no reading comprehension skills? My point was people can't afford houses now because they spend their money on better lifestyles. The only thing I would change is a return to local shops.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 15:38, closed)

Blimey!
She even told me once that baths were a once a week family affair. Six days out of seven you just washed you face and arm pits.

Bit posh, was she?
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 12:54, closed)

I believe it was the norm.
I assume getting the bath into the living room and heating enough water to fill it was considered a bit much to do on a daily basis.

Edit: Even if they did want to bathe daily, fuel to heat the water must have been in short supply, seeing as there was a war on.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Fri 9 Mar 2012, 15:40, closed)