Second-hand clothes and low-wattage light bulbs

Press, 25 June 1983, Page 17

Second-hand clothes and low-wattage light bulbs

. . . for a low-income family being frugal is a way of life

By

JOHN HARFORD

“We just have to make the best of a bad situation,” is the attitude which has helped Graham and Barbara Hazelton face redundancy, a wage freeze, illness and life on a low income. At 2 p.m. on a Friday last September, Graham was told his job as a costing clerk would not exist after 4.30 p.m. In 2% hours he would be redundant. Although he was given six weeks pay in lieu of notice and about six months redundancy pay, Graham had no time to adjust to the idea of no longer having a job. He had

worked for the company for more than 11 years. Barbara and Graham have an 11-year-old son, Kim, making Graham eligible to claim about $l5O a week in unemployment benefit. Soon after Graham lost his job, Barbara found part-time work, which paid $BO a week. The Department of Social Welfare cut Graham’s benefit to $lO5. After delays in processing his benefit application, and the subsequent reduction, the Hazeltons were wondering if they would have any money for Christmas. The first payment was made two weeks before Christmas. With $lB5 a week to live on, Graham and Barbara were slightly better off than when Graham was the sole bread winner. The most difficult thing for Graham to get used to was being unemployed. For the first few weeks, he lazed around but now that Barbara is working, the two have swapped roles. Graham has got into the routine of housework and has become an avid soap-opera fan. Graham’s chances of re-employ-ment look bleak. He suffers from cerebral palsy and at times has difficulty with muscular control. It seems no-one wants to give him a chance. He has a file of about 80 letters of rejection and has applied for more jobs in person and over the telephone. He always mentions his disability because it is “the honest thing to do.” Out of 100 job applications, Graham has been given one interview. “I don’t care what people say,” said Barbara. “They do discriminate against handicapped people.” Graham has his School Certificate and University Entrance. Barbara has neither qualification but is certain she could walk into

several jobs she has seen advertised. “If I was Graham, I would probably have thrown the whole thing away by now,” she said. Several months ago Barbara had to go into hospital to have some gall stones removed. Without her earnings, the family had to survive on $lO5 a week. The Department of Social Welfare did not increase Graham’s benefit while his wife was not working. The increase came when Barbara was out of hospital and back at work. “We needed it when Barbara was in hospital,” said Graham. At a time when wages are frozen but the prices of some items, especially meat and vegetables, creep upwards, the Hazeltons consider themselves to be luckier than many families. Without any conscious effort, they have begun to eat less food. Both Graham’s and Barbara’s parents are keen gardeners and give the family home-grown vegetables. “Not just because of our situation but because they grow more than they need,” said Barbara. Graham has tried to grow his own vegetables in the small yard of their ownership flat but without much recent success. “All we seem to have been able to grow this year was cabbages and cauliflowers.” To help keep their food bill low, Barbara buys meat and other items in bulk. She uses a Christmas Club account at a supermarket to buy enough of some items, such as soap powder, to last a year. Groceries are often bought when they are on special but not needed immediately. Barbara has a cupboard full of groceries bought when they were cheap. Without paying for day-to-day necessities like milk, bread and vegetables, their grocery bill is $24

a fortnight. “We aren’t going without anything; we just don’t waste anything. Leftovers are usually made into a stew or something.” The only “luxury” items in their budget are cigarettes for Barbara — $ll a week — and a rental colour television — $25 a month. “When we decided to buy the house, we realised that we wouldn’t be able to go out much. If we were going to be home every night we couldn’t watch black and white all the time,” said Barbara. Evenings out are usually limited to free or cheap entertainment. “Some social functions we could go to would cost two or three months TV rental. That’s how I think of it,” Barbara said. Although there is a pub “just across the road” the Hazeltons visit there twice a year “if we’re lucky.” Any alcohol in the house often sits there from one year to another. The T.A.B. is another place they see their friends spend money at but never frequent themselves. Evenings out are usually the first thing to be sacrificed if they have to “go without something.” Many of the family’s clothes come from second-hand clothing shops. “A lot of people are too proud to buy second-hand clothes, which is ridiculous. After a wash and an iron, no-one need know the difference,” said Barbara. Shoes are bought new. “Everybody has different shaped feet. My mother has terrible trouble with her feet after wearing other people’s shoes when she was younger.” The couple use common sense and intelligence to economise. Worn double sheets can be made into single-bed sheets. Scraps of toilet soap are saved and grated for use in the washing machine. Lights are turned off when there is no-one in the room and low-wat-tage bulbs are used in places such as the toilet and passage way.

Doors are kept shut and drapes pulled to keep the heat in. “They are all small things but they all add up.” When needed, a small, old clothes dryer is used in the living room so that it can warm the room while it dries the clothes. The Hazeltons have arranged to pay their electricity bills every month instead of bi-monthly so that large lumps of money do not have to be found. “Most places will let you pay bills off in instalments. So long as they know you are paying they don’t mind,” said Barbara. “Regular deposits are made into a bank account to save for the rates. A total of $7O a fortnight covers the mortgage repayments and the rates. The couple limit themselves to only two articles on hire purchase at the same time. Usually only one item is placed on a time-payment scheme. Other than what is left of Graham’s redundancy money, the only savings the Hazeltons make is in piggy banks. Barbara empties

her purse of change every day. Into one piggy bank goes 20c pieces and lower denominations, and into another, nothing but 50c pieces. A two-month accumulation of 50c pieces recently totalled $56. “It gets to be quite a lot after a little while,” Barbara said. The savings usually go toward a holiday. The Hazeltons try to take a vacation once a year, often staying in holiday houses rented out at relatively cheap rates. This year they hope to have a trip around the South Island. “We might have to go without something else but we will go. You need a break once a year. “Kim is an only child. It is good for him to get away and have a change,” said Barbara. The parents will “go without” to make sure Kim can take part in all school trips and activities. “We just find the money for Kim at school, even if we have to miss out on something. “It’s not just for the education but also the way other kids would carry on. They would say his

parents were poor and that sort of thing.” Kim is given 60c a fortnight as pocket money. Another $2 is put in his bank account for him to save for whatever he wants. The money in Kim’s bank account had to be used recently to buy him a pair of shoes. Barbara and Graham are now trying to pay him back. “He understands quite well when we have to do things like that,” said Barbara. His parents do not think that he should be given too much pocket money. “No child of his age needs $2.60 a fortnight to spend on rubbish,” said Barbara. She knows of one child who spends his entire allowance — $5 a week — on video games but does not have decent clothes. “I feel sorry for the poor wee beggar. You’d think his parents would bank most of that $5 so he could have some clothes.” Graham and Barbara realise that there are a lot of people worse off than they are but have little

patience for people who mismanage their money or put themselves before the welfare of their children. “There are a lot of people in our situation, but you have to do things for yourself rather than sit back and wait for others to do it for you. There are a lot of ways that you can save money,” said Barbara. “Some people spend their money then worry about how they are going to pay their bills. We pay our bills first then spend what we have left. “I know several families where the unemployed husband spends most of the day in the pub or the T.A.B. Those kids must be going without something. “If you’re going to have children then you have got to make sure that you meet their needs. “There are families I know w'here mum and dad will have steak or pork chops and the kids have sausages. We all have steak or nobody does,” said Barbara. “I didn’t ask to be unemployed,” said Graham, “but we just have to make the best of a bad situation."