I used to be a boy scout. Well, I went for a week. I guess that’s not enough time to learn how to Be Prepared.

Due to lack of funds and wanting to get as much use out of everything I own as possible these days, I’ve been wearing my clothes for much longer than I probably should have done. My t-shirts have become faded and the designs have all but flaked off. My jumpers are last year’s and bitty. My jeans all have holes in places they should have holes and I find myself having to think about when and where to bend, for fear of scaring some innocent child who happens to be walking passed.

All-in-all, I could really do with some new clothes. Fingers-crossed that as Christmas is just around the corner, some replacements will be on the way. Either that, or some vouchers for clothes stores would be greatly appreciated.

It’s not really been a huge issue up until today. I mean, I don’t look quite as smart as I used to, but I’m not at down-and-out stage just yet. However it all became an issue this morning when my one and only pair of footwear finally gave up on me and split on the bottom. It just happened to coincide with a downpour of sleet whilst on my way to work. Fortunately I did have an old pair of shoes in the office which I could change into, although these have also seen better days. I use them more as slippers for work, given that they too have huge holes in the bottom and are completely unsuitable for wearing outside.

A colleague was kind enough to lend me a pair of socks and offered to give me a in lift into town to buy some replacement shoes, but I guess it does highlight a change in my attitude which I’d not recognised until now. Whilst I’ve never be someone who has to rush out shopping to get the latest fashions, I at least used to make sure what I was wearing was suitable for the job. These days I’m wearing whatever comes to hand, whether or not it’s suitable. I really shouldn’t have been wearing my trainers in snowy conditions anyway, but I’d found myself completely unprepared. I had no other choice. I’d also been using them to walk five miles a day for a couple of months, which they certainly weren’t designed for.

In these austere times, I guess I need to have a rethink about where my money heads and to what I see as a priority. At least, I know I definitely have to start spending more than I currently do on clothes. That, or I’ll have to find a new job that pays more. A very tempting idea…