Over the last few years I have never been in the position where I would question the price of... well pretty much anything really.
If I needed something or for that matter did not need it but merely wanted it I would buy it, the same applied when it came to items for the kids, and as for the law enforcer aka the chief prosecutor aka the wife, she has a wardrobe that could be used in evidence against her.
The household bills were on the same level and no thought was ever given to the amount that would make up the phone bill for example. The weekly shop and the weekly throwing out of un eaten food was just par for the course. The word recession was only ever in use when the news was on and they were talking about double dips and treble dips, however this was happening somewhere else to someone else and had little or nothing to do with my household.
Over the past few months since Christmas that scenario has completely changed, and for the first time it feels like the newsman is talking directly to me when he uses the word recession!!
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| SAVE THE PENNIES! |
Now I was not in denial, but I had considered, that we perhaps had over done things at Christmas, and January to March were simply consequences of this and nothing to do with any recession!! So what has alerted me that my household is no longer recession proof and in fact was feeling its full bite.
You might think being a stay at home granddad, that there would be a number of warning signs that would have alerted me that my household was becoming a statistic, you know the first simple signs, like the weekly shopping was starting to cost a few quid more to put less into the cupboards, or perhaps that the monthly bills were starting to need a little creative accountancy, in order to meet payments, or even more simple than that, I was no longer buying items regardless of need or not.
No none of these warning signs caused even the slightest ripple in my pond.
The first indication that lit the fuse for me was the wee one, no she didn't start questioning the gas bill or start debating the pros and cons of public spending, she simply took yet another growth spurt, meaning all of her clothes bar none, had instantly become too small, the result was a whole new wardrobe was required and add to that summer is on us...allegedly.. and the problems mount, as not only does she need everyday clothes, but shorts and tee shirts are a must.
This is not the first time this year that this has happened and of course clothes for wee ones are not too cheap, in fact my clothes are cheaper, and it begs the question how can this be, They need at least ten times the material to cover me than they need for the wee one, of course as adults the only growth spurts wee take are usually around the middle so there is less chance of us repeat buying!!!
This time around I decided that I would shop around for the wee ones clothes, pretty much in the same manner that I am now having to do, when it comes to the households food shop, every penny is now becoming a prisoner as I tighten the collective household belts.
Living close by to the city comes into its own when you want to mix and match your shopping, and further, because they know they have competition it tends to focus their minds more sharply on the price. However as I found there are one or two discount chains that are almost giving the goods away, leaving you to wonder how the hell they make any money at all!
So by using the discount chains mixed and matched with my usual stores, I successfully replenished the wee ones wardrobe and saved a fair bit of money in the process. I was very pleased with myself as I loaded up the boot and headed home with what I could only class as boot load of bargains.
I was sure the law enforcer aka the wife would be suitably impressed by my prudency, and indeed the wee one loves getting new clothes almost as much as getting a new toy to play with, the journey home would be filled with thoughts of self congratulations, followed up by praise and excitement when I got home.
Sadly before I got even half way home, my bargains were being called blood buys put together in sweatshops in the so called third world, the woman on the radio was clearly talking about the shops I had just come from, I was now more than just an interested listener. There had been a disaster in a far off country, in a factory that made cheap clothes for our high street, many people had died in horror conditions, all because our retailers were driving the prices down to the point that they were paying but a few pence for the products.
Not only does that whole situation leave a very unpleasant taste in the mouth, it leaves me and most likely many parents with a real dilemma, how do we afford to clothe the wee ones that we look after, when our budgets are being squeezed into oblivion.
But before we have to answer and solve that particular dilemma, and there are solutions to it such as the use of charity shops, surely the shop chains should say no to the blood markets and maybe have a look at their overall pricing policy, where jeans for an adult should not be cheaper than jeans for a wee one.
The result would be that we could all shop for a reasonable price, with a clear conscience as each growth spurt takes place!!
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