AIBU to “steal” this?

So true, one day she will open the door and he’ll see something he fancies in her house, before she knows it he or his mates will be back and they won’t care who they hurt in the process. Will Serve her right!

Very well said, it’s sickening the amount of people that think it’s ok!

You are probably causing some poor independent shop owner sleepless nights because he's losing stock from his shop. Even if it's Sainsbury's, they have to put prices up to cover thefts so morally you're affecting everyone.

I spend £5-7 on Persil which does about 60 washes. I use half the recommended amount so it lasts ages. I don't know if I get 120 washes out of it!

Don't support a drug habit. Or a thief. Morally, getting him arrested might mean he gets clean and receives training to get a proper legitimate job.

The answer to any question that begins AIBU to steal is YES, you are utterly unreasonable scum.

You are exactly the same as the drug addict you support, and when he can't get into the shops so easily because every single security guard recognises him, he'll be round your house lifting your tv, or your kids PlayStation or whatever else he can sell quickly to one of your kind because there are plenty more scum like you who think they are entitled to what they want rather than what they need.

You are bringing your children up to be scum too, who think it's fine to steal if it gets them what they want so if you want to know what the dregs of society look like, just look in the mirror or at any family photos you may have lying around.

The more people like you in the world OP, the worse the world gets.

No matter how many chemicals you pour on your clothes to drown out the scent of thief, you still stink because you are rotten to the core.

Amongst the hundreds of thieves I've dealt with over the years I could count the one's stealing because they're hungry on one hand. Biggest group doing it are addicts funding their drugs or booze. We get very few obviously homeless shoplifters and most of our most prolific frequent flyers live on the estate opposite. They nick in order of preference: laundry stuff, all the meat, booze. We keep all the laundry stuff behind the till now.

The people we have caught stealing because they're hungry we give them food, but they nick sandwiches or a tin of something, not laundry pods etc.

Part of the profits of our business go to local causes and we support a homeless charity and a local youth outreach thing, we've been contributing to, and encouraging donations to food banks since they were an unofficial thing run by local anarchists.

People like OP are why businesses like ours get robbed. Some matey doesn't see a difference between Tesco and us, they just see someone who's got more than they have (which is OP as well) as an opportunity to exploit. I don't see how people think that's reasonable, or understandable.

If OP and her kids, having exhausted any reasonable alternative, were genuinely hungry then I fully understand nicking stuff, I really do. I would sooner steal than starve, I would sooner steal than see a dependant starve, but this is not that. This is someone buying expensive products because money is tight "right now"

Right now implies not in perpetuity. OP just doesn't want to give up her full wage expectations whilst on maternity leave. Normal people would do without the luxuries "right now"

The question in the op is am I bad person(?) and yes OP is a bad person and so are all the pp who say it's okay. You steal from people, you fund organised crime, you fund drug addiction and exploitation, you steal money from charities and food from food banks. Fine you're not murderers but you collectively blight the lives of everyone and generally help make the world a shittier place for everyone. So yeah, bad is a generous assessment

@dubberrucky

I know what true poverty is.

I've sat in a freezing cold house, and no hot water, this was the case for years, not just a day or two.

Gone without food many a time so my DC could eat. Gone without electricity sometimes as well. There was wallpaper peeling off, and if anything broke, what to do? No money to save for a replacement, not even second hand. I've washed clothes in a bath full of cold water, and where do you dry things if it's raining? The house was damp and in a terrible condition.

Thankfully things have improved for us, and DD2 and me are in a new house now, and receiving proper benefits.

Even with all that, I did not, and never did consider stealing anything. I would never, no matter how bad my situation was.

If your going to steal, do it yourself

I agree with this

Absolutely.

I suspect @AmiABadPersonn is the sort of person who a) can't distinguish between "want" and "need", b) thinks they're entitled to whatever they want, and c) couldn't budget in a month of Sundays so wastes what little money they have on bloody "scent balls".

In answer to your username, OP, yes you are. You're no better than the thieves and if you think this is a victimless crime then that's even fucking worse.

Guess you won't be hearing from that friend again 🤣

Because she's buying stolen goods. She thinks she's getting it cheaply but actually she's spending more than necessary. Its not weird.

To be honest, are you not worried that the baby milk formula could have been tampered with? It's a risk

Because OP claims that money is tight, hence the need to buy stolen goods, yet she chooses to overspend on unnecessary laundry products.
Have you never seen posts on MN telling OP to size down/ move to a cheaper area if money is tight?
At least switching to a cheaper washing powder is easier than moving house 🤷‍♀️

So you’re good with druggies stealing from supermarkets but presumably not so happy if they decided to burgle your house? Because they’re not Robin Hood undermining the inequities of society on your behalf, they’ll nick anything to put money into the pockets of organised criminals who are responsible for major frauds and ltrafficking people as well as drugs.

Agree in general. Anyone who thinks people do not have to scrimp and save to feed their family in the UK today is living in cloud cuckoo land. Many families are in this situation. Many are struggling. Meanwhile energy companies make outrageous profits, are seen profiteering! Were the price of energy to have gone up only by the price of the sources, the energy companies would not be making greater profits, just the same per centage. This is globalisation and the lack of control by governments over big business. And we all suffer.
And a lot of people on here have never been 'on the bones of their arse' - they simply have no idea.

I posted a link above your post to free FF for low income families

Why are people on here so weirdly focused on her laundry habits????

£10 for a week of laundry 🤣 not only are you breaking the law you're getting ripped off. Well done 🤣

If she wasn't spending £40+ on crap for laundry and goodness knows what else, she'd have plenty of money for an £8-£13 tin of milk 🤷‍♀️

And if she's that hard up, she's going to be able to get milk/fruit vouchers.

There really no need to purchase stolen goods.

Of course it's wrong. You're funding his drug habit but also who do you think pays for all this shoplifting? People like me. You say you can't afford baby milk but you are 'choosing' to spend £10 week on laundry 'essentials'. I don't spend £10 month. Cut back on those and prioritise your child's welfare. I for one wouldn't want to have drug dealers knocking on my door.

I definitely don't blame you for buying the baby milk, the government needs to do something about the extortionate prices, that are charged for it. It's not a luxury it's a necessity for babies to live, not every mother is able to breastfeed!!!

https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/healthy-start#summary

This is a bit shit all around, I can’t believe all the ways you are trying to justify it to yourself. Your friend is right to have the ick.

If you are on a low income and you FF you can get help.

This is a risky situation to bring your baby into,

I wouldn’t be buying baby milk from a dodgy source under any circumstances.

What utter rubbish, she doesn’t need fancy washing products to feed her family. She clearly is ‘ not on the bones of her arse’ as you so eloquently put it! She just another greedy, self entitled thief!