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Relationships

On the breadline but going without Sky and sports would cause problems in the relationship.

49 replies

Darkesteyes · 18/11/2012 18:06

I posted this on the News board but ive also put it here because i wondered what other Mners would think of this especially as there have been even more threads than usual about money in relationships over the past week or so.

It just seems to me that the woman in this situation is making the sacrifices or am i being over sensitive.



www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/18/family-finance-tax-credits-lost?CMP=twt_fd&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

OP posts:
TravelinColour · 18/11/2012 18:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lightrain · 18/11/2012 18:20

Poor meal planning. It's easily possible to eat fresh food cheaply, you just have to be bothered to cook every night.

TurnipCake · 18/11/2012 18:30

I can understand people wanting a small luxury when things are tight but something tells me that if it was her spending £24 a month on a hobby/night out/music, it would be put to a stop pretty quickly

Darkesteyes · 18/11/2012 18:36

Exaactly Turnip Thats why i posted this in Relationships because im always seeing threads on here where there is similar or worse.


More detailed article here.


www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/18/families-rising-food-prices-budgets?CMP=twt_fd&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

OP posts:
SmellsLikeTeenStrop · 18/11/2012 18:37

I am shocked that Nicola Probert is the one finding things to cut back on while her selfish overgrown manbaby husband is insisting on keeping sky sports. Apparently it will cause problems to get rid of sports but apparently his wife eating less than their 4 year old son won't.

I said her name in full in the hopes they're people who google names to see what the reaction is.

Darkesteyes · 18/11/2012 18:39

Nicola Probert is nervous. She hasn't let her partner, Tony Hodge, go food shopping for the family on his own since the day he came back with a £3 DVD, a six-pack of premium baked beans and two milkshakes for the children ? an extra £10 on the bill that meant their two sons couldn't go to the soft play centre that weekend. Today, though, Nicola has no choice: she is recovering from a minor operation and can't leave the house. She isn't happy.

"Please don't get Heinz baked beans," she implores him, handing over the shopping list she's written out in painstaking detail. "Even if they're on offer, they're more expensive than own-brand. Don't get posh, individual packets of crisps either; get the supermarket ones that come in multipacks. And please don't buy any of those offers they pile up by the front door of the supermarket ? they're always more expensive than the stuff you can find at the back of the shop."

Tony sighs. Nicola tries to make amends

The above is from the article ive just linked. He doesnt seem to have any idea. He SIGHS at her then she feels she has to coax and make amends?!
Big Red Flag.

OP posts:
Darkesteyes · 18/11/2012 18:40

I like your thinking SmellslikeTeen. Totally agree.

OP posts:
StaceeJaxx · 18/11/2012 18:50

I think she needs to join MN and then LTB.

doctordwt · 18/11/2012 18:56

He isn't prepared not to have his Sky Sports, at £24 a month, but in a month when his little boy isn't eligible for free milk and fruit anymore, she can't think where she could possibly find £20 a month to continue it.

Was that meant to be ironic? What a twat Angry

AbuseHamzaMousseCake · 18/11/2012 19:24

Egg fried rice for filling family meal is simple to make at home: boil and cool some rice. In a wok or large pan, lightly saute finely diced onion with some garlic and ginger. Chop and add whatever veg you have lurking in fridge eg carrot, pepper, broccoli. Throw in a handful of frozen peas and cook for 3-4 mins. Beat 1 or 2 eggs with a little soy sauce, push veg to side and pour in egg. Let egg cook until just set, then add cooked rice and stir well. Cook for another 2-3 mins until rice hot, stirring frequently. That gives us more than enough for a hungry family of four.
Children add a bit of soy sauce, we add some chilli sauce. Can serve as side dish with say chicken made into a stir fried dish(or quorn chicken style pieces). Small amount of meat goes further. Or can eat as is. We make it towards end of month too use up odds and ends. Kids love it.
We never buy it from takeaway or supermarket as prefer the home cooked one. Add some beansprouts for crunch.

Is easy to eat fresh, if you plan your meals and make them at home. Can make bread and cakes, pies flapjacks etc cheaply at home. Is not difficult. Don't need gadgets. Just time. But will have plenty of that if get rid of Sky and don't veg out in front of tv of an evening!
Buy staples ie ingredients like rice, flour, lentils, onions in bulk from Asian supermarkets or Tesco, Asda etc online. Don't go into stores otherwise you impulse buy rubbish. Especially with kids in tow. Look online for good deals, Aldi, Lidl do cheap good quality veg if you don't have good market handy. You have to shop wisely and not just go to nearest supermarket.
This is hard if both working but the internet is your friend. Do bulky shop periodically with free delivery and then you can free up some time to get perishables more frequently.

Problem is where you don't have the money to do this type of shopping, ie have weekly sum. Or if you don't have the energy or inclination!
My parents brought up 6 children like this, they never spent any money on things like Sky Sports. Luckily, we are a bit better off and can be a bit more relaxed about things, but we still make the bulk of our food from scratch. And don't buy expensive ingredients that are rarely used.
All these cookery shows make people think you need well equipped industrial kitchens and unlimited budget for fancy schmancy food. Even Jamie Oliver (though I give him credit re school meals) recipes have stoopid salads with pomegranate seeds etc! Nice but not necessary if you are in tight budget! Home made coleslaw is so easy and yummy, I don't understand how the slimy supermarket version manages to sell at all!
Any way, in my view it is not difficult to eat well on most low budgets. It is a big effort though.

AbuseHamzaMousseCake · 18/11/2012 19:28

Oh good grief, if her pratner can't put family first and shop sensibly, dump the fool.

44SoStartingOver · 18/11/2012 19:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LessMissAbs · 18/11/2012 20:35

Sport is important to him. Err no, thats watching sport on tv! He sounds a bit of a loser and a waster but sadly I agree with 44SOStartingOver not unusual.

fuzzpig · 18/11/2012 21:19

The packed lunch thing bugged me too - in Tesco bananas (big ones!) 12p each, kitkats 20p each (£1.59 for 8), even own brand version £1.09 for 8 so 13.6p each.

I do think food prices are ridiculous though and it often is cheaper to get freezer stuff than all the fresh ingredients for one meal.

SolidGoldYESBROKEMYSPACEBAR · 18/11/2012 21:29

It does seem as though she is the one making the sacrifices. He gets more food than her and doesn't have to give up his TV.
But she does have a point about the difficulty of feeding kids healthily on a tight budget: if they won't eat much of the fresh fruit and veg it starts to feel wasteful buying it for it to be thrown away.

plutocrap · 18/11/2012 21:34

AbuseHamza, was "pratner" a deliberate typo? Wink

CaramelisedOnion · 18/11/2012 21:37

this is utter bullshit. The idea that it is impossible to eat healthily because of cost is insane. Porridge oats? 75p for 1KG . Rice? 40p for 1kg. Bananas cost less than 15p each, broccoli about 90p for a big piece, carrots cost pence, as do potatoes, parsnips, onions etc. You can make and enormous irish stew for about 12 pounds (enough to make about 16-20 portions) Water comes out of the tap for practically nothing.....junk food is NOT cheaper - this is a MYTH. Also the part at the end where she talks about "We have the most basic Sky TV deal ? £24 a month. I would get rid of that entirely if I had to but Tony would have a problem with that, because the sport is important to him. Getting rid of Sky would create problems in our relationship, and that's the last thing we need" UGH. 1. Get the fuck over it, Tony...... and 2. 24 x 12 =288. You can buy a lot of fruit and vegetables for that.

Binfullofgibletsonthe26th · 18/11/2012 21:48

I find the article quite confusing, he is earning £100 more a week, so they should still at least be a couple of hundred better off without the tax credits?

Or have I read that wrong?

Overall it sounds as if she if trying to feed three babies in that household.

How can a father sacrifice peppers and vegetables for Sky sports and look their kids in the eye?

My ds, dh and I get two good meals out of tuna, pasta, sweet corn and peas bulk cooked it makes an excellent lunch. A couple of meat free meals a week won't kill anyone if you ensure you have protein from beans, eggs and cheese. When I was at home on mat leave I used to make the most of the day and have a big cook off to get maximum efficiency out of the oven. Soups are simple, cheap and filling, and I'd knock out some fairy cakes or simple biscuits for a sweet treat.

Perhaps he throws his toys out of the pram when he doesn't get the food he likes though.

SmellsLikeTeenStrop · 18/11/2012 22:08

I think it's a very badly written and poorly researched article. I pointed out on the other thread that tax credits are awarded based on your income from the previous financial year. So for 2012/2013 the tax credits will be worked out from the income of 2011/2012. His income from his new job won't be part of the calculation for this years award.

This family probably are struggling financially, she'll be on SMP but the tax credit award will have been worked out when she was working full time. That's my best guess anyway.

fuzzpig · 18/11/2012 22:35

DH would love to have sky sports but knows it is unnecessary so we don't have it. It is so expensive.

We did have cable in our first flat, as we both had jobs (I was then made redundant while pregnant with dc1) - it broke, and in the fecking ages time it took for Virgin media to sort the damn thing out, we realised we were happier without it anyway as it was such a time sink.

I think I would really struggle to do £80 a fortnight on food, I know it can be done, but we do about £80 a week, a large amount of which is fresh fruit. We don't have many other outgoings though, no car for example, and no childcare now, so can't really make a comparison to the couple in the article.

Iodine · 18/11/2012 23:37

She needs to learn how to cook and meal plan. It's utter bullshit that it's cheaper to buy junk than cook good meals for a family.

expatinscotland · 18/11/2012 23:54

Already answered two other threads on this subject. Nicola's not dependent on a corner shop, where it's still cheaper to buy your own ingredients to cook something besides the stuff in the freezer section (apparently, that's too much if you have a shit life, living in this dump with a dead kid, I won't go there just now) but hey, she needs to meal plan? He's got two functioning arms and legs, too.

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UnlikelyAmazonian · 19/11/2012 00:22

Confused

So suddenly we're all Monty Python "I lived in a cardboard box" stereotypes?

it's not a fucking competition to be poor.

Jesus, this dastardly government has got us all warring over who makes the best soup from cat shit, from scratch.

expatinscotland · 19/11/2012 00:37

Not really, Amazonian. But c'mon, Sky and Mars bars?

FFS, every day of my life is shit, oh, and here's another one! It's still going on, and still need to try to do the best by the kids I have left. And if that means no Sky and keeping the food bill down so the leccy meter doesn't run out then I'd best figure out a decent way to do it.

UnlikelyAmazonian · 19/11/2012 00:53

Expat I count you as one of the people who actually know how to live. I think of Aillidh and I pine for you as ds has leukaemia and I can't imagine your pain. Well I can but if I prepare myself for even a minute I am a mess.

I want everyone to unite and say it's not right or fair that lots of people have to be proud to live on beans and toast. Though beans and toast are ok..but hell, we live in a highly developed first worlds country.

We should rise up. We are a wonderful nation

but sorry, these last few 'governments' have not governed. They have raped pillaged and laughed at us.

Labour bled the coffers dry and laughed as they left the boardroom in darkness.

This government is crucifying the poor weak and vulnerable. It's the Tory way. But it's not a way that morally or financially stands any kind of scrutiny.

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