The Poverty Thread

jester77

thrill wrote:

I dont ever remember getting one down here (cork) stingy b******ds.:mad:

They did it in Limerick, although I wouldn't touch it no matter how hungry I was. Used to worked the crew for our Student Union (one of the great sources of free drink in college) in one of the clubs in Limerick, can't remember the name but it was in a hotel on the main street. Used to serve chilli con carne on paper plates out through the cloak room and there was always a limited amount of forks... you'd have the rough heads eating and slurping it with their fingers... was some sight... as were the footpaths outside afterwards!

seamus

The food at midnight thing was common everywhere. They didn't have to buy a late licence if they served "a meal" during the night. Fibber's on Parnell Street used to continue serving, but stick up about 20 beef curries on the counter at midnight. That was great

Gandhi

thrill wrote:

I dont ever remember getting one down here (cork) stingy b******ds.:mad:

They had them in Cork alright. I remember the bouncers coming around pointing over at some young-fella handing people curry and rice on a paper plate through a hole in the wall, and saying "Curry dinners are ready lads". I presume they were horrible but when you were plastered they tasted like heaven.

Can't remember which nightclub it was, as it was that long ago.

exCrumlinBoyo

Great Thread brought back a lot of memories. I have had some poor days and lived on 40 quid a week to feed and entertain myself during the college days. I managed more when I was in college on the little I got than when I got my first Job as a web developer right out of college, I did not know myself on a Monthly Salary, which at the time was a fair amount of money. So I moved out of my parents house into my own place with a few mates as so on. Pay day came paid bills looked at what I would have left and put some money away for food. 1 week into the month I would be broke due to the fact I would be on a bender thinking I was loaded after getting paid. It was a vicious circle I tell you. Get paid, pay bills and lends, feed your self go drinking until the ATM wont give you any money and wait until the end of the month to get paid again. 2 or 3 weeks are a long bleeding time when you don’t have a penny to your name. When I had no money I would live on Corn Beef Sambos. I ate them so much I was ****ting like a constipated cow.. It was messed up. I would eat a lot of cheap sausages and cheap everything.

One particular bad month, it was one week till pay day and for two weeks up to that point I was living of a 20 pound note. I had not a bean to my name. All avenues had been explored, the back of the chair, all my sources for lends were broke also or credit limits had been breached. I had no money to get myself to work, let alone survive for the day. I am sitting on my bed, thinking, what the bleeding hell am I going to do? Something happened, a Devine intervention some may call it. The sun broke the clouds and shone through my bedroom window and light up my wardrobe. I am thinking poxy sun, feck off. As I looked up at the light up wardrobe something brought me closer. I got on my tippy toes looked up towards the back and there was 40 pound looking right at me. I said, fcuk me, I grabbed it, could not believe my eyes and started dancing around the house like a mad man, I was rich I tell you. It was the best bus journey out to City West I had in years, the best breakfast roll and the best pint I had that night and still had some change.

I have done the gone out with a fiver in my pocket thing and got pissed just picking up drinks and knocking them down, some of the best nights I have ever had.

Sh it like that build character I tell you. Now that I am married with a family I am very careful with money a tight fisted fecker me wife calls me, but you have to. Looking back though, it brings a smile to my face..

scojones

Ruu wrote:

I had to live on the students specialty dinner/tea aka Pot Noodle for a week when I lived in London before my first paycheck came in.:)

I did that for five years.

rainbow kirby

There was a week when work screwed up my pay while my parents were away, and I had €30 in my bank a/c to last a week... thankfully my parents had stocked up the freezers before going away!

Pighead

rainbow kirby wrote:

There was a week when work screwed up my pay while my parents were away, and I had €30 in my bank a/c to last a week... thankfully my parents had stocked up the freezers before going away!

30 quid? A freezer full of food? Get the fcuk out of here Lord Kirby of Rainbow Manor. Pigheads talking about poverty here, not extravagance.

Ruu_Old

sjones wrote:

I did that for five years.

Ooo impressive strength.

DublinEvents

Thank God I've never been without money so far. But the prospect of that is quite terrifying nonetheless.

Black Swan

Out on my own in a foreign land pinching pennies and saving for my own little place someday.

ArphaRima

What's with all this pint robbing? I would -how would I put it nicely- MURDER (not condoning violence on boards, really) anybody who stole a pint off me. It is one of our most sacred rules. Dont **** with a mans car is one. His beer is surely second. I guess his woman would be close by too.

Sleepy

A friend of a friend landed himself in Vincents with the first case of scurvy the doctor had ever seen through his diet of tea and koka noodles whilst in college! :eek:

My own college life was never that harsh considering I lived at home and always had a part-time job. I do remember perfecting the £10 night out with a friend whilst in first year in UCG: finish work at 9, down to Cactus Jacks (now the Gaf) for three £1 shots of tequila, up to booze brothers for a £3.40 naggin of vodka, £2 each for a hackney to the Warwick where it was free in before ten leaving us with £1.60 for 3 cordials to pour the contents of the naggin into over the course of the night before walking home to Knocknacarra. Was great!

Until the night some bastrd robbed my jacket from it's hiding place behind one of the couches

5starpool

Pighead wrote:

There was this phase in Galway when the nightclubs would stop at midnight for half an hour and Chicken Curry would be served to everybody. It was designed to stop the kids getting drunk I think.

I think this was a legal thing they had to do in order to be allowed to stay open until about 6 or 7 years ago or something. I remember finding this out when I was a student, and it would nearly be my best meal of the week no matter how bad it was. A few times before grant payments I had to go into the bank to withdraw my last less than a fiver (when you could still get fivers out of bank machines). One lad I shared with in Limerick lived on toast and cup a soups his mother brought in. I think at one point he was close to getting scurvy.

The worsst I have ever been though was in 3rd year in college living in Elm Park in Limerick (anyone that went to UL knows the hell of Elm Park) and there was no central heating in the place. There were radiators though so we were fooled into thinking there was, but they were run off the open fireplace, but we couldn't afford coal or any burnable substance. It was horrendously cold too, and many times there were 6 students in the sitting room drinking from flagons of cider wrapped in 3 layers of clothes and a quilt each. Scumbag of a landlord called the health inspectors on us too cause we weren't the tidiest of lads I must admit.

No matter how broke I was I never stole pints though. That just is not cool.

Sleepy

5starpool wrote:

they were run off the open fireplace, but we couldn't afford coal or any burnable substance.

Amateurs, you could have just gone to the local newsagent and asked for the previous day's papers. Roll and twist the pages of a broadsheet and you'll keep a fire going for half an hour or so. Many broadsheets = hours of free heating

This trick was perfected by my ex's flatmate, a rather ingenious chap called Peter who was something of an artist at having a good time in college off of fvck all money.

Naked Lepper

stuck in new york one winter working for some miserable old furniture moving company and wasnt getting the hours at all
was horrible, was surviving on pasta or beans on toast while the lads who i was living with were coming in with 1000+ dollars cash a week and waving it in front of my face
hard times

Wez

I'm going through college at the minute, those €10 nights are so good! I'm living at home (I'm aware it's a real luxury) so before I go out I get as much scotch as I can into me before having to leave. I then tend to cycle to wherever I'm going (although have to get the bus sometimes because of friends) and so I tend to save money there. The challenge of getting into clubs without id when I was younger helped me to perfect the whole getting in free.. I normally buy a naggin of Glenn's vodka and sneak it in, then either drink it straight, or bum the end of a coke off someone with enough money to buy a vodka & coke in there.. Getting home is usually about €2 in a taxi if there's enough people to split it.

They're always the best nights! Loads of my friends have spend like 40-50 by the end of the night and haven't had a good time, but I've spent a tenner and had great craic!

I've got a policy of never buying girls a drink, damn skanks go around all night trying to get guys to buy them drinks, then they **** off, never to be seen again!

Dear god I need a job!

watna

I'm poor at the end of every month. Last month I emptied out all the 20c and 10c from my change bottle and lived off them for a week. There was about €20. It was beautiful!

The way I survive is to do monthly shops and buy monthly DART tickets. No matter how poor I am (usually very) by the end of the month at least I can get to work and eat.

cujimmy

As a poor student nurse years ago I once survived a full 10 days on "clinifeed" the stuff they tube feed sick folk with.

StupidLikeAFox

This one time i spent the night in dublin, got the train up and that. Had a great night, didnt get a wink of sleep from partying, lost my wallet, and forgot to bring a charger for my phone. That was grand, i had somehow managed to hold on to my train ticket and two euro, got to the train station and spent my last two quid on food coz i was starving. All goin well, i only fell asleep on the train! Woke up about 3 mins after my stop, hopped off in Carlow with no money, no phone and no way of contacting anyone. Ended up going into the garda station and asked to use the phone there. I suppose those were the poorest couple of hours i ever had!

nobodythere

I was stuck one week when I was moved out. Went out every night, got stamped for 3 or 4 clubs for free. In front of the bar on the floor, it's a great place to make money. I made €35 that week. Best money I ever had.

It looks shameful to see it written down for the whole world to see but when ya need it you really ****ing need it!