When I was young

Cash was the only form of money we used

Nobody had a credit card

We did not have bank accounts or check books

Weekly wages were brought home as cash

Our electricity and gas meters were fed with coins every day

Men came round regularly to empty the meters 

The rent man came to the door every week to collect cash 

The insurance man would do his weekly rounds

Collecting cash for life insurance policies

He was almost like a family friend

Selling a new policy when he saw a need

We had milk delivered to the door every day

Once a week George the milkman called for his cash

Coal was delivered once a week in sacks

Carried on the backs of black faced men

The boss man carried a satchel to collect money

When he gave you change it was covered in coal dust

Groceries were bought from the local CO-OP store with cash

They would share profits with each customer

In the form of a cash dividend

Your spending was tracked against your divi number

Which you called out when you paid cash at the till

Our divi number was 76785

Budgeting was not at all complicated back then

The weekly wages were put on the table

The cash was split into piles for rent food coal and other bills

Surplus cash was put into a post office savings account

It was very easy to know if you were overspending

There would too much week left at the end of the money