Can't afford a night out? You're poor!

lazygal

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/a-quarter-of-population-cant-afford-winter-coat-or-night-out-with-friends-29068735.html

Is not being able to afford a night out really 'deprivation'?

Duggys Housemate

lazygal wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/a-quarter-of-population-cant-afford-winter-coat-or-night-out-with-friends-29068735.html

Is not being able to afford a night out really 'deprivation'?

Yes.

TGi666

whats the price of a pint these days?
€4.50? that's 2 pints for €9
or stay at home €10 for a 6pack of your choice
I know what I'd be choosing anyway

Interceptor

lazygal wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/a-quarter-of-population-cant-afford-winter-coat-or-night-out-with-friends-29068735.html

Is not being able to afford a night out really 'deprivation'?

No. Feed your kids, then see if you can afford a night out.

jaffacakesyum

Water is free in most pubs/clubs.

mike65

The definitions of poverty become more "wussie" by the year. Soon not being able to afford a 12 pack of Dutch Gold will be proof of penury.

hightower1

mike65 wrote: »

The definitions of poverty become more "wussie" by the year. Soon not being able to afford a 12 pack of Dutch Gold will be proof of penury.

LOL, I can see it now!...


"Nearly 22% of households cannot afford basic amenities such as heating, ESB or Netflix"

G Power

we are social creatures so yes not being able to socialise without sacrificing some other essential for a week or two is certainly being poor in my mind

Would I consider it poverty? no.
Would I consider it a pretty sh*tty existence? yes.

I'm grateful at how lucky I am.

BraziliaNZ

Yeah well I mean people drank in pubs in Dickensian times ffs, so it's a human right at this stage! I have to go to the pub on the reg, I live alone and it's a great outlet for chat with the regulars from the area.

Celly Smunt

G Power wrote: »

we are social creatures so yes not being able to socialise without sacrificing some other essential for a week or two is certainly being poor in my mind

It's fairly easy to socialise without sacrificing essentials.It's called not having alcohol rule your social life.

Cupcake_Crisis

I have no kids, no major bills bar rent, no real outgoings and i still can't afford a night out. Least of my worries tbh.

bedrock#1

Social contact outside of the home and/or work is essential for human beings because we are fundamentally social creatures. Isolation has a powerful effect on people. If our aim is to create a society where as far as possible we have fully functioning human beings then we should take all aspects of life into account. "Man cannot live on bread alone". Some people have a very narrow sense of what a "LIFE" actually is. But sure in Ireland we are expected to just grit our teeth and carry on regardless of the state of our mental health, sad really.

awec

"Anti-poverty groups have warned that one in four of the population are unable to afford at least two items generally considered necessary, including a warm winter coat, a night out, a roast once a week or home heating."

Only 2 things on that list could be considered necessary, a winter coat and home heating.

The others are luxuries, pure and simple.

bedrock#1

awec wrote: »

"Anti-poverty groups have warned that one in four of the population are unable to afford at least two items generally considered necessary, including a warm winter coat, a night out, a roast once a week or home heating."

Only 2 things on that list could be considered necessary, a winter coat and home heating.

The others are luxuries, pure and simple.

So good nutritious food (which is essentially what a roast is, meat and veg) is a luxury?

dr.bollocko

awec wrote: »

Only 2 things on that list could be considered necessary, a winter coat and home heating.

We need a bit more bolshevism in this country. You only need one or the other Mr. Aristocrat.

lazygal

What if you don't like roast dinners and have a coat that last a few years?

awec

bedrock#1 wrote: »

So good nutritious food (which is essentially what a roast is, meat and veg) is a luxury?

That is not even close to what I said.

Is a roast dinner essential? No. Are roast dinners the only nutritious food out there? No.

Are there much cheaper but still nutritious alternatives? Of course.

I love fillet steak. Fillet steak meals are lovely and nutritious. If I can't afford a weekly fillet steak am I poor? Of course not, that's idiotic reasoning.

squod

bedrock#1 wrote: »

So good nutritious food (which is essentially what a roast is, meat and veg) is a luxury?

People won't be happy on here 'till we're living in the gulags.

jank

Every year they come out with this ****. Of course you have people like David Begg and Jo Higgins spout off these numbers as some sort of proof that ireland is a third wold country being exploited by those greedy capitalists, while at the same time calling for more tax hikes. It's amazing how the term "poor" has changed over the past 25 years.

bedrock#1

awec wrote: »

That is not even close to what I said.

Is a roast dinner essential? No. Are roast dinners the only nutritious food out there? No.

Are there much cheaper but still nutritious alternatives? Of course.

I love fillet steak. Fillet steak meals are lovely and nutritious. If I can't afford a weekly fillet steak am I poor? Of course not, that's idiotic reasoning.

And by extension, mentioning any nutritious food could be termed a luxury by your reasoning. What's your point?

mike65

If you want good nutrition on a budget do not eat roasts! Make beans, pasta, peppers, rice etc the bedrock and embellish from there. More healthy as well.

fishy fishy

social interaction is a necessary part of life. Not being able to go out once every couple of weeks or month won't mean that you are dirt poor, but it does mean that you are probably more likely to become depressed, stressed and your health will diminish.

I know for a fact that for the last few weeks the weather has been driving me crazy, rain, rain, rain. Thankfully I have the privilege of getting away for a week in the sun if I so chose. I cannot imagine how I would be if I could not actually go out for a night to blow of steam with my friends.

I really do think a lot (not all) of posters on this boards.ie are too young to actually understand life yet, or are still living at home with the parents footing the bills, and have not experienced real life yet. good luck to them.

ShadowHearth

mike65 wrote: »

The definitions of poverty become more "wussie" by the year. Soon not being able to afford a 12 pack of Dutch Gold will be proof of penury.

I can't believe that they calling 20k eu per year to be near poverty levels!!! I came from a **** hole country in Eastern Europe and there 20k is a very very very good wage! Damn, I would kill for 20k after tax job even in Ireland. I am around at 11k eu per year after tax, after i got wage and hour cuts. I still manage to live a very decent life.
My misses earns about 20k per year and we find that her job pay is fantastic. So 15k per person in our family. I guess we are worse then those rich poverty bastards!

Celly Smunt

awec wrote: »

That is not even close to what I said.

Is a roast dinner essential? No. Are roast dinners the only nutritious food out there? No.

Are there much cheaper but still nutritious alternatives? Of course.

I love fillet steak. Fillet steak meals are lovely and nutritious. If I can't afford a weekly fillet steak am I poor? Of course not, that's idiotic reasoning.

That's actually a good point to bring up.I have a friend with 3 children who say's he can't afford food,yet refuses to shop anywhere but superquinn (i think it's more the other half).

Poverty isn't what you can't afford anymore,it's what you can't afford full stop.The poverty line is,if an unexpected NECESSITY arises (shoes for the kids etc) and you can't afford it,then you're in poverty.

Well, what are they comparing it to? How the majority of people in the world live or how people in rich western countries live?

I personally don't consider not being able to afford a night out living in poverty. Pub and club prices in Ireland are absolutely ridiculous and if I moved back now, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to 'afford' it either. I'd struggle to buy a new winter coat every year, which is why I buy them second hand. Have a lovely Warehouse coat I picked up for a fiver in a charity shop. Another tenner for the dry cleaning and it's lasted me two years so far. I've never been able to buy new furniture - everything is second-hand, freecycled or given to us by friends. Am I living in poverty? It certainly doesn't feel like it to me, given that we have at least two holidays a year and eat out all the time.

I have no doubt that real poverty exists in Ireland. I also have no doubt that a lot of the people pleading poverty actually just can't manage money at all. I have relatives who are always 'poor', well no wonder when you're smoking 20 a day, have Sky and refuse to buy second-hand clothes because they're 'manky'.

awec

bedrock#1 wrote: »

And by extension, mentioning any nutritious food could be termed a luxury by your reasoning. What's your point?

No it couldn't ffs! This is exactly the sort of hysterical hyperbole that we see in these articles.

If I can't afford my weekly fillet steak am I poor?

Angron

dr.bollocko wrote: »

We need a bit more bolshevism in this country. You only need one or the other Mr. Aristocrat.

Eviscerate the proletariat! :P

bedrock#1

mike65 wrote: »

If you want good nutrition on a budget do not eat roasts! Make beans, pasta, peppers, rice etc the bedrock and embellish from there. More healthy as well.

So, maybe start with a starchy food (potato) and embellish with veg (beans/peppers/carrots/turnip) and add some meat (chicken/beef/pork) - You've just described a roast.

Celly Smunt

fishy fishy wrote: »

social interaction is a necessary part of life. Not being able to go out once every couple of weeks or month won't mean that you are dirt poor, but it does mean that you are probably more likely to become depressed, stressed and your health will diminish.

I know for a fact that for the last few weeks the weather has been driving me crazy, rain, rain, rain. Thankfully I have the privilege of getting away for a week in the sun if I so chose. I cannot imagine how I would be if I could not actually go out for a night to blow of steam with my friends.

I really do think a lot (not all) of posters on this boards.ie are too young to actually understand life yet, or are still living at home with the parents footing the bills, and have not experienced real life yet. good luck to them.

I think you're missing the point that socialising doesn't need to cost money.

mike65

Celtic Tiger cubs seem to be quite out of touch with actual poverty.

hardCopy

It seems newspapers will just reprint any press release they receive these days.

bedrock#1

awec wrote: »

No it couldn't ffs! This is exactly the sort of hysterical hyperbole that we see in these articles.

If I can't afford my weekly fillet steak am I poor?

If you can't afford ONE decent nutritious meal a week you are damn poor.
F8ck me I'm sure caviar has nutritional properties but it's ridiculous to use this as an example, quit trolling.

awec

I actually never have roast dinner come to think of it.

I've been living in poverty all this time!

lazygal

bedrock#1 wrote: »

So, maybe start with a starchy food (potato) and embellish with veg (beans/peppers/carrots/turnip) and add some meat (chicken/beef/pork) - You've just described a roast.

There's cheaper cuts of meat to be bought, like chicken thighs, mince, stewing beef etc, that work out way cheaper. I got eight chicken thighs in lidl, cost very little and got three dinners and a lunch out of them. I make a meatloaf with 500g mince which does dinner for two of us for three days. Costs hardly anything.

bedrock#1

pmcmahon wrote: »

I think you're missing the point that socialising doesn't need to cost money.

Really?

awec

bedrock#1 wrote: »

If you can't afford ONE decent nutritious meal a week you are damn poor.
F8ck me I'm sure caviar has nutritional properties but it's ridiculous to use this as an example, quit trolling.

It's a simple question.

I can't afford a weekly fillet steak, am I poor. I mean a fillet steak is nutritious.

You are completely missing the point, it is going way over your head. You appear to be under the delusion that a roast dinner is the only way to have a nutritious meal.

"If you can't afford one nutritious meal a week you are damn poor" is TOTALLY different to "if you can't afford a roast dinner you are damn poor". Completely different.

You can have a nutritious meal that costs a lot less than a roast. This point appears to have totally evaded you.

I never have roast dinner. Are you telling me I never have a nutritious meal?! :eek:

Celly Smunt

bedrock#1 wrote: »

Really?

Yes really.

fishy fishy

fishy fishy wrote: »

social interaction is a necessary part of life. Not being able to go out once every couple of weeks or month won't mean that you are dirt poor, but it does mean that you are probably more likely to become depressed, stressed and your health will diminish.

I know for a fact that for the last few weeks the weather has been driving me crazy, rain, rain, rain. Thankfully I have the privilege of getting away for a week in the sun if I so chose. I cannot imagine how I would be if I could not actually go out for a night to blow of steam with my friends.

I really do think a lot (not all) of posters on this boards.ie are too young to actually understand life yet, or are still living at home with the parents footing the bills, and have not experienced real life yet. good luck to them.

That's really condescending. I've been financially independent for years. I spent a year living in London, one of the most expensive cities in the world, on little more than you get on the dole in Ireland. You don't need to go out and spend 6 euro on a pint to be happy. The same 6 euro will buy a pack of beers in the supermarket - go to a friend's house and have a great time there. This Celtic Tiger idea of a 'night out' where you spend 60 quid on drinks, 20 quid on a taxi home, 10 quid on a takeaway is bullsh*t. It's a complete waste of money.

fishy fishy

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I can't believe that they calling 20k eu per year to be near poverty levels!!! I came from a **** hole country in Eastern Europe and there 20k is a very very very good wage! Damn, I would kill for 20k after tax job even in Ireland. I am around at 11k eu per year after tax, after i got wage and hour cuts. I still manage to live a very decent life.
My misses earns about 20k per year and we find that her job pay is fantastic. So 15k per person in our family. I guess we are worse then those rich poverty bastards!

aren't you lucky - 30 K for you and your girlfriend. Average of 575 per week. Lovely. Now try adding a mortgage to that, a couple of kids, school fees, property tax, food and clothes, and all the other expenses that come with life - a different story then isn't it??? Don't judge others on your own experience.

Re. your **** hole country in Eastern Europe - that means nothing. We are dealing with Ireland and Irish expenses.

reprazant

bedrock#1 wrote: »

If you can't afford ONE decent nutritious meal a week you are damn poor.
F8ck me I'm sure caviar has nutritional properties but it's ridiculous to use this as an example, quit trolling.

So if I can't afford a nice silver side of beef, I am poor?

I am can quite easily have many decent nutritional meals through out the week for a lot less than a bloody roast.

Duggys Housemate

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Yeah well I mean people drank in pubs in Dickensian times ffs, so it's a human right at this stage! I have to go to the pub on the reg, I live alone and it's a great outlet for chat with the regulars from the area.

This. I could go out when I was on the dole a few years ago. I could socialise as a student. If you can't socialise, reasonably, you are poor.

fishy fishy

pmcmahon wrote: »

I think you're missing the point that socialising doesn't need to cost money.

really? So your friends are all going for a couple of drinks. And you, being poor are expected to join them, but drink water? or drink nothing? That will do wonders for your self esteem. As I said, a lot of posters on here have no idea what life is about. :rolleyes:

Duggys Housemate

Camilo Echoing Traction wrote: »

That's really condescending. I've been financially independent for years. I spent a year living in London, one of the most expensive cities in the world, on little more than you get on the dole in Ireland. You don't need to go out and spend 6 euro on a pint to be happy. The same 6 euro will buy a pack of beers in the supermarket - go to a friend's house and have a great time there. This Celtic Tiger idea of a 'night out' where you spend 60 quid on drinks, 20 quid on a taxi home, 10 quid on a takeaway is bullsh*t. It's a complete waste of money.

But that's not what the survey is about. It's about people not financially able to drink out in a local. Or have a meal out.

CreepingDeath

G Power wrote: »

we are social creatures so yes not being able to socialise without sacrificing some other essential for a week or two is certainly being poor in my mind

There's plenty of ways to socialise outside of the pub, including inviting people around for a cup of tea. If you're unemployed there might be walking groups / mother & toddler groups etc.

If your "friends" will only ever meet you in the pub, then they're not very good friends at all.

It's bad enough that the middle class/coping class have to financially carry all the unemployed, without having to pick up their bar tab as well.

awec

fishy fishy wrote: »

really? So your friends are all going for a couple of drinks. And you, being poor are expected to join them, but drink water? or drink nothing? That will do wonders for your self esteem. As I said, a lot of posters on here have no idea what life is about. :rolleyes:

Why does socialising mean you have to go for a couple of drinks?

You know you can invite people to your house? That's socialising. That costs you nothing.

Again, there is a delusion that people think socialising = spending a night in the pub.

fishy fishy

Camilo Echoing Traction wrote: »

Well, what are they comparing it to? How the majority of people in the world live or how people in rich western countries live?

I personally don't consider not being able to afford a night out living in poverty. Pub and club prices in Ireland are absolutely ridiculous and if I moved back now, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to 'afford' it either. I'd struggle to buy a new winter coat every year, which is why I buy them second hand. Have a lovely Warehouse coat I picked up for a fiver in a charity shop. Another tenner for the dry cleaning and it's lasted me two years so far. I've never been able to buy new furniture - everything is second-hand, freecycled or given to us by friends. Am I living in poverty? It certainly doesn't feel like it to me, given that we have at least two holidays a year and eat out all the time.

I have no doubt that real poverty exists in Ireland. I also have no doubt that a lot of the people pleading poverty actually just can't manage money at all. I have relatives who are always 'poor', well no wonder when you're smoking 20 a day, have Sky and refuse to buy second-hand clothes because they're 'manky'.

what country are you writing this from? :roll eyes:

lazygal

fishy fishy wrote: »

really? So your friends are all going for a couple of drinks. And you, being poor are expected to join them, but drink water? or drink nothing? That will do wonders for your self esteem. As I said, a lot of posters on here have no idea what life is about. :rolleyes:

What is life all about then? Maybe you could enlighten us.

Celly Smunt

fishy fishy wrote: »

really? So your friends are all going for a couple of drinks. And you, being poor are expected to join them, but drink water? or drink nothing? That will do wonders for your self esteem. As I said, a lot of posters on here have no idea what life is about. :rolleyes:

Going to the pub isn't the be all and end all of socialising.Socialising in it's raw terms is mixing with people wouldn't you agree?,well what stops you mixing with your friends without alcohol?.I have an idea of what life is about,and it's not about getting pissed with your friends.

awec

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

But that's not what the survey is about. It's about people not financially able to drink out in a local. Or have a meal out.

The sense of entitlement in Ireland is shocking.

So you are saying now that if you can't go for drinks in the pub or out for meals you are poor?

Jesus fcukin wept.

Duggys Housemate

awec wrote: »

Why does socialising mean you have to go for a couple of drinks?

You know you can invite people to your house? That's socialising. That costs you nothing.

Again, there is a delusion that people think socialising = spending a night in the pub.

The survey was "going out". most people can afford to go out. Some - the bottom 22% - can't. That is by definition relative poverty.