THERE are many things I want to comment on and it’s rather difficult deciding what are the real concerns.

There’s Burma, Libya, who will be the next American president or North Korea’s missile mistake that I’d love to say are the things that fill my mind.

But, at the moment, what really does concern me is the rising cost of living, the everyday commodities: gas, electric and ‘heavens to Murgatroyd! the absolutely excruciating price of petrol.

Oh I know there are other important things, but let’s face it, at the moment most people are desperately worrying about how to get by.

Hard times are not new and most have struggled at one time or another.

I recall the time that if I had 10 bob in my purse on a Thursday lunchtime, I thought I’d cracked it.

Years ago while working at Donshu, I was in a perm club. Each week we paid 1s and then drew lots as to whose turn it was to have a perm. It worked.

My mum had an arrangement with Chadwick’s, the local corner shop, and everything was on tick till Friday payday. On Monday she would start off again with a clean slate.

Saving money and being careful has never been easy, but has always been important.

It’s the young people I am sorry for, who, having been used to our very affluent society, are now feeling the pinch.

They have not experienced the belt tightening that we, the older end, have, so much so must find the experience not only difficult, but frightening.

In a strange way those hard years taught us a great deal and have almost been a benefit.

Times of depression produced some of our greatest entrepreneurs, as people were forced to focus, so maybe this dip will prove to be a time of challenge and opportunity.

My mum always said that nothing focused the mind quite so much as being skint!

She also used to say ‘the smell of coffee brewing, bacon frying and the glint in a man’s eye’ always promised a lot more than they could deliver!