to wish all these filthy rich people who claim to know what it's like to live off a pittance, would just fuck the hell off?

[sickofthisshite]

AIBU?

Sarah Ferguson claims a family of 4 can easily live off £80 p/wk to cover all living costs

Boris Johnson has said the poor "should show gratitude to the mega rich"

Iain Duncan Smith says living off £53 is doable for a single person.

According to DC, customers at Waitress are "friendlier & more engaged" than those he has interacted with at other supermarkets. As if people who shop in Sains, Tesco, etc don't have opinion on politics & the state of the country, their lives. Just because someone is inarticulate or introverted does not mean there thoughts & feelings are irrelevant.

The list goes on.

Who the hell are these prats to judge those in the vicious, relentless struggle of poverty.

I hope there perfect little bubble is one day burst.

It makes me sick to my very core.

Rommell - I only expressed an opinion after a poster had provided information.

As for the rest of your post - what exactly is your point?

On a mainly unrelated note, I'm thinking of getting Rommell for President badges made up.

Zero hours contracts at our place don't suit students as going to a class would be making yourself unavailable. I'm incredibly lucky that I started before they decided zero hour contracts were a good idea.

People aren't slating the rich on this thread. They are slating people who talk rot about being poor and claim to understand it despite obviously having no understanding and never having experienced it. That is not the same thing.

My point, objection, is that you stated that I thought little of people's intelligence and abilities, and then went on to say that you were not saying that I didn't value people's independent thought. I'm just confused as to whether or not I do, or don't; that's all.

trufflesnout

HappyMummyBot come and live on my GENEROUS benefits.

Here's a pound. Make a meal for 5 out of it.

You spout the same shit on every single thread.

^the rich - bashing which in some cases is just as unfair as poor - bashing.^

I doubt David Cameron would lose much sleep over a thread like this. Whereas the people living in poverty who have been financially clobbered by the govt are certainly losing plenty of sleep. Or are you talking about actual rich-bashing a la the Bolsheviks? (Which, incidentally, doesn't happen here. (Although I can live in hope.))

People aren't slating the rich on this thread. They are slating people who talk rot about being poor and claim to understand it despite obviously having no understanding and never having experienced it. That is not the same thing.

^ THIS

I also agree with uselessidiot and LuisSuarezTeeth and would only add that when one combines such rank idiocy with the constant stream of rhetoric about how those on benefits should have their already difficult lives made worse just for the sake of making their lives worse, I would say that there is something really quite sinister going on by giving wankers like Ferguson airtime to espouse those opinions.

facilities such as libraries are within walking distance, what about those that live in rural areas?

This one drives me mad, I live in a rural area, public transport is extortionate, because there are so few people here.

When dh had to sign on, it was at the nearest job centre 15 miles away. £8 on the train. No extra money available to pay to get there. How the hell is that fair compared to someone in say, London?

The nearest library or public internet is 5 miles, or an hours walk. And of course if you get a job, you will need to get a car. Public transport to and from the villages is too infrequent, slow and unreliable to use if your job depends on it.

Then they wonder why the place is full of empty second homes and hardly any one who was brought up here can afford to stay in their villages - it isn't just property prices but the whole additional cost associated with rural living. Great if you are an MP and you just pop to your county house for the weekend, less good if you are a third generation villager trying to hold a Job down and support a family.

On a mainly unrelated note, I'm thinking of getting Rommell for President badges made up

President of what? What presidents do we have in Britain?

President of what? What presidents do we have in Britain?

Oh dear. It was a joke, partly based on an internet meme.

I've only read the first few posts. Not sure I want to read the whole thread - I'll either get more annoyed or more depressed.

For the first time in my life DP and I actually had to go hungry for the last 4 days in order to feed DS. Money came in today and, fucking hell, am I glad!

In the last week of April we searched down the back of the sofa, went through all our coat pockets and raided DS's money box for PENNIES. I have never felt so grateful for what I'd previously have tossed into a busker's hat without a second thought.

And while I'm at it, I'd like to say that MN has become a really dodgy place to admit to being poor since the Tories got in power. There's always a hoard of posters who can manage a family of 4 on a lump of coal and a jar of fresh air, desperate to ram their superiority down your throat before you can even suggest that the cost of living has priced you out of aspiring to anything more than social housing and battery farmed chickens.

I am so bitter and pissed off.

DocDaneeka - you make good points.

I also live in a rural area.

I have health issues and may not be able to drive for much longer.

If there is little / no public transport, you cant drive / afford a car, how the hell are you supposed to get to work, even if you can find a job (shepherding anyone? no, be a ghillie then? no?)

If you can't, will they simply stop your benefits and leave you to starve in your wee picturesque tumbledown shack, like in Victorian times???

you might be able to live off £53 pounds per week for the first week, oor perhaps two, but as you use up the things in your cupboard and things start to wear out... oh and that relies on you having had surplus income in the first place to get more than the bare minimum.

I wonder how I managed it then, with no whinging, griping or complaining?

Loads of pasta, toast, rice-based dishes, soup made out of leftovers and lots of water.

I didn't have any surplus income . . . . .
I suppose luckily I was in B&B for a year, so I had a bed ... oh, and breakfast

We managed it because we had to evans it's not pleasant is it? But we did it. Because we had no other choice. Made me stronger though!

Twerking

Twerking :( It's bloody shit isn't it. I'm not much better off right now. I did a happy dance when I found 2 quid in my purse yesterday.

The truth is that the levers of government are incredibly clunky (inefficient).Nothing works for everyone.

Loads of pasta, toast, rice-based dishes,

Yes and if I did this I would quickly gain back the 2 stone ive taken since last summer to lose.

Yay then I could be bashed for being overweight too Happy Days

I used to have veg and rice, frozen veg is v. cheap. Homemade soups too.

Yes and if I did this I would quickly gain back the 2 stone ive taken since last summer to lose

How do you make that out? a sensible portion of pasta or rice or soup would not pile the weight on. Most especially if it's your main meal of the day. Pasta, rice and soup are cheap - I thought we were talking about surviving on a meagre amount of money, not at the moment worrying about weight (which you're not likely to gain in great amounts if you eat sensibly) which eating pasta, rice and soup is.

Weight is the least of your worries when you're skint. It's either eat or starve!

When I said "loads of pasta and rice and toast" - I didn't mean all in one go
I meant loads of it - spread over lots of mealtimes because it was cheap

What about sanitary wear? What about clothes? Plasters, toothpaste, toothbrushes, pens, decent paper for cvs? I've been poor and had to wear knickers til they fell apart.