I had a really embarrassing experience this morning. My card was refused in the supermarket and I had no cash. This meant I had to hastily apologise and try to make a dignified exit. Apart from the fact that I can now never go back there, it means I now have to adopt a lifestyle of extreme frugality.
I know there's nothing wrong with the card or the bank. It was undoubtedly caused by my account being empty; I've always lived on the breadline and I've been in this situation a few times. This also means that the bank will now start to refuse my direct debits, which further means I'll be incurring a £25 fine each time they refuse one. I have no overdraft facility so with the extra burden of multiple fines pushing me further into the red, this means, in a nutshell - I'M FUCKED..!
I've got my car's MOT due in August and I know it will need several hundred pounds worth of repairs in order to pass, which I can't afford. I'll have to sell it and leave my job, which should mean that I might have enough to pay off any bank fines and overdraft fines, but without a car, I can't do my job so it'll be the dole queue for me.
So, I'm adopting an ultra-extreme frugality as of today. No more lights on, no more gas, as little electric as possible and my food shopping will 2 loaves of bread, a toilet roll, a jar of coffee and a pack of tobacco a week. I shall be able to save on the water bill by being selective when I flush the loo, catching the drips from my leaky bathroom tap and having a strip wash instead of a shower. It's amazing how much of yourself you can wash in half a sink of water..!
In the autumn and winter I can go back to putting buckets out to collect rainwater to flush the loo with. Mother will be able to do a lot of reminiscing about her childhood during the war when everyone had to make do and mend, and I'll be furiously taking notes.
People don't believe me when I tell them I'm destitute and other authors often think I'm just being mean when I say I can't afford to pay the huge fees charged by 'professional' editors etc. I'm not making it up, I assure you. I really am this poor.
Sincerely, Invisible Woman.
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