From being comfortable to almost broke in 12 months leads you to rediscover many of the forgotten arts of making ends meet, writes VERONICA FLYNN
WE NEVER THOUGHT of ourselves as a Celtic Tiger cubs with a lavish lifestyle to match. If anything my husband and I thought we were being sensible, investing in bricks and mortar rather then frittering away our money on weekends in Dubai like others we knew. If we knew then what we know now (and the whole country can sing that chorus) we’d have booked that first class ticket to Dubai.
So there we were both of us working away in good jobs, a nose bleed mortgage (yup bought a house in June 2006, how smart was that?) and two small pre-school children ... and then the recession came like a sledgehammer into our lives and in the space of 12 months our joint income fell by 70 per cent.
Now unless you are Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg I think most people would feel a 70 per cent drop – and it happened so quickly. My husband was made redundant (50 per cent), I lost all bonuses (10 per cent) and took a “voluntary” pay cut (10 per cent ). All in the space of six months and we remained that way for over a year. It was not fun, it was actually incredibly stressful. But we learnt a lot.
1 THE JOY OF HOUSEKEEPING
Being broke makes you discover the lost art of house keeping. Well in my case I couldn’t really lose the art because I never had it in the first place.
I was never raised to be a thrifty housewife and to be honest I think very few of my generation were. We were raised to study hard and do well in our exams. If the food in the fridge didn’t look appetising there was always the little restaurant around the corner or a healthy takeaway from Butler’s Pantry.
Over that period I learnt the art of taking soggy leeks and turning them into leek risotto, chopping up dodgy vegetables and turning them into a healthy soup and how to stretch an almost empty fridge on Monday night to last till Job Seekers Allowance day on Thursday.
2 MEAL PLANNING IS FOR POSH PEOPLE
I know, everyone is mad about it at the moment, it is so trendy it is up there with foraging or meat-free Mondays but the reality is that meal planning is for when you have money. When you don’t have money you don’t have the luxury of selecting all that you will eat in advance; you buy whatever is on the discounted shelf in the supermarket. And if that is turkey swizzlers as opposed to chicken breast then so be it.
3 NEVER EVER GIVE UP OR DOWNGRADE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE
I shudder when I read articles urging people to cut costs by downgrading or cutting their health insurance because that is one of the first things we did.
My never sick, fitness fanatic husband decided to leave his previous insurance provider and downgrade at the same time. We might as well have put the money for the new policy in the bin. When he discovered a condition which caused him considerable pain and needed an operation the new policy did not cover him or even come close to covering him.
Eventually we had to make the decision to pay for the operation privately. To the best of my knowledge he is still on the public waiting list 18 months later. Lesson learned? I would go hungry/sell the car/put down the dog before giving up good health insurance for my family again.
4 YOU NOTICE EVERYTHING
In friends’ kitchens I couldn’t help but notice the chocolate covered, pecan luxury biscuits; we had downgraded to value pack digestives months previously.
I would also notice the new iPads, last minute holidays and “bargains” from eBay. Before, I would have thought nothing of this and although I didn’t begrudge any of it, it just made me miss our old life more and realise the chasm which was opening up between our lives and theirs.
5 YOU CAN’T BEAT A GOOD INCOME COMING INTO THE HOUSE
The bottom line is you can scrimp and save. You can skip your takeaway latte or you can have 10 a day.
But ultimately if you have really high outgoings, like we did, then it is almost beside the point. Because unless you get some serious money coming into the house – it is never going to make a difference.
6 WHEN YOU ARE REALLY BROKE YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT IT
I spent years moaning about everything from the cost of pints to childcare fees. But as soon as we were in trouble I never mentioned it again. Because it is one thing to think a restaurant is ridiculously overpriced, it is another to wonder how on earth you are going to pay the post Christmas gas bill.
The kind of broke we were seemed to constrict my throat so much I was never able to talk about it. Most of our friends would be shocked to discover that for most of that period our children were dressed courtesy of Oxfam. When I look back on the photos from that time I can pick out all the Oxfam dresses at a glance.
Once the children grew out of them I recycled them back to the charity shop. Not because I was being a particularly good citizen but, if I am really honest, it is because I don’t like to have a reminder in the house.
7 “GENTLEMAN WE HAVE RUN OUT OF MONEY, WE NEED TO START THINKING”
I love this line from Sir Ernest Rutherford, attributed to him during the first World War. I always assumed I would be one of those entrepreneurial people who would rise out of a recession like a phoenix out of the ashes.
I was always bubbling away with business ideas and money making schemes. But the reality turned out pretty different. It turned out the sheer terror of not having money shut down the creative side of my brain.
Whereas optimism was previously on tap it seemed to disappear down the drain along with any previously good ideas. Risk taking sounds great when you are doing an MBA – not so hot when you have two small children who like to eat and a large mortgage.
8 WORKING MOTHERS ROCK
Now there is a line you don’t see very often. Usually working mothers are only mentioned in the same line as guilt, neglect etc, but in our case the fact that I was working and earning a good salary made the difference between keeping our heads above water and sinking into a financial meltdown.
I can’t say I will ever enjoy leaving my kids in the morning but I was so very, very grateful to have my job over that period. Because we were able to keep everyone fed, watered and clothed, our children (still at a very young age) never knew we were in financial difficulties. They were completely protected from our worries and were never exposed to the screaming arguments about money which I am sure would have happened if I hadn’t been working.
9 DUBLIN CITY IS A GOOD CITY TO BE BROKE IN
In fact it is a great city to be broke in. There are so many free things you can do with kids and I think we did most of them.
Walking Howth Head, the beach at Dollymount, Botanic Gardens, Phoenix Park – they are all free and manage to raise the spirit no matter how low.
When it rains the Natural History Museum or IMMA were favourite spots. Many of these places we could cycle to accompanied by a picnic. I don’t think we would have fared so well if we had been living in London or New York.
10 FAMILY COUNTS
In tough times your family really matters and ours came up trumps. They supported us and helped us all the way. Not necessarily financially but with offers of babysitting and the occasional restaurant voucher so we could get out of the house.
They were there with constant encouragement when CVs didn’t garner a response or interviews didn’t go well.
I really don’t think we would have gotten through the stress of that time without our families. And that is why 18 months on I am writing this while cuddling our new baby boy. Because when later on and times might get tough for my children, it will be family which will bring them through.
THE TWITTERATI'S VIEW ON . . . MY MOST WASTEFUL PURCHASE
All tools and garden equipment from Aldi cause they're a "bargain". Extendable sheers anyone? Genius! @SimoneBehal
My education? @JadeOCallaghan
My collection of summer sandals? @AineNeville
The basket handed around during Mass, only shillings but what a waste! Never again. @keepnett
I spent €60 on a garlic crusher. @Helenamoloney
£900 on a bread maker/juicer/soupmaker. Still in box. Delusional plans about making aforementioned items. @ShonaMurrayNT
Two nights in Vegas . . . $2k on drink alone . . . I haven't been able to drink shorts since! @JonnyKitedude
Spent €500 on a replica rifle in 2006 – sigh – gave it away as a present a few years later. Could do with that €500 now though. @JimmyMcCann01
A mini fridge! It was so mini almost nothing fitted in it. @annemccoy
Sony DVD Recorder! Bought it in May 2008 for €469 in Power City. Still in Box! Probably only worth one-quarter that now! @DavidOLaoghaire
My wife buys organic honey still trying to figure out if there's any other kind. @dgptraynor
A T-shirt with an LCD clock built in. @mrsims82
I once bought a device for re-corking champagne. It was €3, but still – the decadence! @TheKavOfficial
Follow Conor Pope on Twitter at @conor_pope
