Our history

My name is Susan and I started using this domain name in 2001. At that time the name I used for the site was Making the Pounds Meet the Ends. It was a site based on pages that I created using plain html coding. The aim was to create a British web site to rival some of the many American web sites that promoted a thrifty lifestyle.

The problem was that I had come make a virtue of keeping my spending under strict control. I had developed a mindset that said if you are going to be accepted you are going to have to spend as little as possible. I kept looking for more and more ways to reduce what I was spending. My expectation was that I had to be kept poor because I did not deserve to have enough money to be comfortable. There were definitely times when I could have had more money but would not accept it if it was offered or even ask for it. There were even times when I refused to accept any more because I had to be kept on a restricted budget.

I knew that I had to make what money I had go as far as I could and make the pounds meet the ends. Things have changed a bit since I created the original Making the Pounds web site. I have learnt that I can have money. I have learnt that others care enough about me to let me have money and things rather than keep me seriously restricted. I don’t have to go without things simply because I deserve to have my needs met.

What do I do now? I wanted to redevelop this old site using blogging software. I started by using the same name and logo but I was quite uncomfortable because of the way that things had changed. I sat and thought a while about what else I could call a blog with domain name. I wrote the words out and then realised that I could change it to Pounds Can Meet the Ends. Was can the right word? What others could be used in a similar way? There was should, would could, shall and may.  None of them was any better so it became Pounds Can Meet the Ends. Strange how a domain name chosen so long ago could be used for a blog that has a quite different perspective. I changed the words in the image that I used for the heading.

Making the Pounds Meet the Ends was one of two courses that was developed after I did a course design course. The other was Surviving a Household Emergency. They were both accredited with the Open College  Network. These ideas have lasted the test of time. Now a start has been made in adapting them to an online format. Well they were put into one online format but when we moved to a new hosting company we ended up adding the text to a different sort of software. Something that you will find easier to use as this sort of software is so much more familiar.

I did one book and I found it so interesting. It started with stories and pictures that had hooks that the things that I wanted to cover could be hung on. I did another and it was boring and dull and was solid text. A tough read if ever there was one. I had a book on developing a household spending plan that was was also dull and boring. I wanted to make it more interesting. I prayed for inspiration and got it. That was where the idea of making comparisons to a bridge started to be developed. The logo was adapted slightly so that the text was moved up so that it looked more like a bridge.You will see as things develop what this idea of a bridge means but it will be interesting.