Should I use a food bank in my situation?

[Lionking1981]

I am 200 pounds down on my normal wages this month due to taking unpaid parental leave when my Dd was ill. Overspent the first week of the month trying to occupy the kids. Then my oven broke and had to replace it. Been living out the freezer and store cupboard since. To cut the story short, I now have 30 pounds to survive 10 days til payday. I have 3 small joints of lamb in the freezer, a box
of waffles and some fish fingers. A few tins of baked beans, tomatoes and soup in cupboard.

My friend says to go to the foodbank but I am super uncomfortable about it. We earn over 40k between us and i don't think food banks are there for people like us but it is going to be really hard to feed a family of 4 on this. However, we will be fine next month. Would you just make do for the 10 days?

I worked out I pay nearly £40k per year in taxes - that's more than many salaries!

I'm stunned at those posters who say they themselves are living in poverty or work/volunteer with those in crisis, insisting the OP should use a food bank and suggesting that anyone who is shocked by that is somehow judgemental or doesn't understand what it's like . Many people who make a point of donating to charity do so because they actually do know what it's like, in fact often the most generous people are those who don't have much themselves!

I'm well aware that there are people who are struggling long term but sometimes on MN it seems that posters can simply identify as poor and therefore it must be accepted that they are. No perspective required apparently...

The Op is nowhere close to desperate. She has food in the house and money to buy enough to feed them all for the next ten days. No one is going to get scurvy between now and pay day, the worst thing that's going to happen to any of them is they might get bored of lamb or spuds or pasta ffs.

Pencils are you for real? Why is fuel needed? Or equipment? Some empty, washed, sterilised, used jars (free), bag of sugar (56p) couple of hours with my kids (I don't charge for my time).

Are people this slack?!

Nuttynoo

Wealthy people have wealthy friends have you noticed?
Wealthy people also have 'stuff' they could sell or pawn
Wealthy people could afford payday loans - no questions asked

Food banks should be for those who have run out of options

Maybe you should volunteer for a food baknor soup kitchen and grasp real poverty

Why is fuel needed? Does your cooker run on bicycle power?

Lion thank you for coming back, it's not easy on a thread like this. It's easy to become overwhelmed when a situation hits you, but you can do this.
Deep breath, reassess and move forward. The dc's won't miss out for doing free stuff (I spent a summer holiday doing brownie badges with dd one year as it was cheap!) - I've since admitted why we did them all that year and she said it was a summer she remembers as great fun and loves to look at her camp blanket and think back on it.
If funds allow at the end of the 10 days and you have a co op near by they have a 'feed your family for a fiver' meals - ok, not fantastic food but it's a main and pudding, and if it's the pizza or chicken deals could celebrate the last day with a take away type meal and dvd's!
Take it as a challenge, and then on payday maybevlook to open an emergency funds bank account without a cash card that you can put a set amount into each month, and if it gets high, maybe use the excess for treats in the hols next year

Nuttynoo what would you suggest? Foodbanks are independent, so nothing to do with how much tax you do or don't pay. A temporary loan? How much would that cost the government to implement, and chase up repayment? How was it taking the bank that long to address it?

I would suggest keeping some of your 'investments' slightly more fluid, so you can actually use them in times of emergency instead of relying on government help.

@GreenTulips - I already know what real poverty looks like thanks. Was supporting four kids on a 10k per year salary from 16 and not entitled to any benefits because they were siblings. I'm now not poor (people of Indian origin tend to try and climb out of it as quickly as possible as it's considered a big source of cultural shame) but feel very betrayed that I'm paying £40k per year in tax to a system I have never been able to claim from and probably never will be.

@Witsender- I would have expected a referral to a foodbank - they aren't entirely funded privately. Many here are part funded by my taxes. I cook from scratch and so wouldn't even have needed much for that week.

Also @Witsender - many rich people like myself would be more willing to donate regularly if we felt we could turn to them in our time of need. As it stands I can't.

Really? I wouldn't have expected a Foodbank referral, being someone who issues them. I haven't heard of one that receives government funding, even the govt itself deny that ever happens. The trussell trust in particular, who oversees most of them, steer well clear.

Seriously Nuttymoo? Rich people like yourself DO NOT have a "time of need" where foodbanks come into play, you just dont. They are not some public convenience for when rich people have a short term cash flow issue and don't want to dip into their savings they actually exist to help people in real need. Unbelievable

This thread has prompted me to stop walking past the food bank donation tubs in the supermarket and to actually put stuff in.

It's horrible when the money runs out before the month does, but I've never experienced true poverty, or genuine hunger when no food is available, and for that, I'm thankful.

Nutty noo.... purely as an aside, if your mortgage was taken.by Direct Debit and it was an error the bankcould have given you an immediate refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee.

Sorry, haven't read full thread but thought was worth pointing out if it helps others.

Nutty how sad for you that despite your wealth you have no family or friends willing to help your hungry children.

Hey everyone, I was just wondering did OP come back?

She's posted multiple times on the thread, the latest sat around 1am.

FWIW Nutty you don't have to be of a certain culture to be wanting to better yourself, and not everyone of other cultures likes the idea of living in poverty.
People end up in situations due to other people's actions and once in a poverty trap it's not that simple to get out of it. I take great offence at your comment, I didn't choose to be in my situation and luckily I've managed so far to stay one step ahead, but I'm not in my situation because I haven't worked or studied hard, it's through marriage breakdown and abusive husbands, redundancy and trying to work around childcare, so open your mind and your eyes then you might see why foodbanks were set up and how they are used - if you want a loan see a money bank, not a good bank

I can't take you seriously nutty, sorry. A Foodbank isn't an actual bank. You don't pay in and withdraw later.

Do you genuinely think no 'rich' people give generously of both time and money, despite knowing that all this being well, they will never need us? You'd be amazed. As I am amazed, at your selfishness. It may go some way to explain why you had no-one to turn to when you needed help.

Nutty, I'm surprised that somebody paying 40K tax a year, couldn't access any funds, and also didn't have a store cupboard of food, especially if, as you say, you had experienced poverty before and knew how difficult it is to access public funds.

And insinuating that people who aren't from an Indian culture don't try hard to escape poverty is deeply offensive.

Nutty seriously? You earn so much money you pay more than £40k in tax, but when your bank took out 3 times your monthly payment, you were left with money whatsoever for 1 week and had to go and see Citizens Advice. Who gave you a leaflet about foraging for food.

Ok.

Lion I'm not here to slate you Luckily for you, you simply have a privileged perspective of what poverty is.
You are feeling the pinch rather than being anywhere near at danger levels.
It's such an emotive topic because people have genuinely had hungry children, no power, no way out.
I've posted before about being skint (many many years ago) and not having bus fare to get to work, hadn't eaten for several days, a colleague was also 'skint' that month because she had to break into her savings account.

The thread should stay because it has reminded people that the summer holiday see a LOT of hungry families who desperately need us to donate to banks.
Please - it doesn't have to be a full bag, even if you can throw a bag of pasta in as you pass, a loaf, some tins.

It's fucking shocking that we need to do this, but we do. The politics can go on simultaneously, but people are starving now.

People who are critical of the OP's query are not being judgemental or mean. Some posters (including the OP and her friend) are under the impression that food banks are to help generally with cash flow problems. They are not. There are those living in poverty who would otherwise go hungry, proper hungry, not having a temporarily boring diet. Unfortunately, this will be seized on by those who choose to believe that genuine poverty does not exist. ("it's poor budgeting, it's overspending, it's bad parenting" etc).

I wouldn't begrudge the OP using one.

I will go and donate some stuff today.

I recently lent a colleague £20 as his bank card had broke, and it was a Friday evening, no way of getting money from the bank until Monday. I don't know what he would have done otherwise, he didn't have much food or any money. He paid me straight back!

I think some people have never learnt to be frugal or budget carefully, so when they have a sudden cash flow shortage they panic.
Ways round this - a seperate savings account that doesn't have any direct debits coming out of it, buy supermarket saving stamps (even £1 a week soon mounts up), change jars (again, even coppers soon mount up) , keeping a small amount of cash in the house,building up an emergency store cupboard and freezer, and so on.
These kinds of things are basic common sense and not difficult if on a reasonable income as the OP is. Hopefully she will think about starting something like this once she gets paid.