When it's freezing and you can't put the heating on and breakfast is porridge made with water...

[UndertheCedartree]

AIBU to wish so hard the uplift was never taken away? We were doing so well with that extra amount! But now that has gone and utilities have gone up we are left with little for food and heat.

Sorry, this is just a vent! Nothing anyone can do but I'm just feeling a bit upset this morning.

Ham hock: £3.50 - braise it.
Dinner for two with roasties, Carrots, parsley sauce.
Dinner for two in a pasta bake - use a cheese sauce or
Suet pastry with atora, add the chopped bacon, roll and steam for two hours
Save some for toasted sandwiches.
Use the bone and scraps as a simple soup base: chopped onion and carrot, add the bone, cover with water, simmer, add tin of tomatoes (two if you can) and some shredded cabbage. Should last for 4-6 lunches/suppers.

Packet sauces probably cheaper than scratch. Whilst cooker/hob are on can you decamp to kitchen area or kitchen area to make the most of the heat?

I am sorry you are going through this op. Can you tell us your weekly food budget so we can help more.

Op, reach out to absolutely every organisation you can get access to. There is no shame in any of it. Use olio, Foodbank, speak to your gas company, get coats and dry shoes from school, ask the local church for help.

Your child needs milk and the school can absolutely help with ensuring that kind of thing. I hope things get better for you, it’s bloody unfair.

Another suggestion for powdered milk, it's lovely and really cheap. We used to just get it for camping but I use it day to day now.

My family were poor when I was young.

Consequently, I have fond memories of one of my favourite dinners - cheese on toast with baked beans on the side. DM would beat an egg in with the grated cheese to make it go further.

Even better when she'd cooked a ham hock for previous meals, and the last scraps of the ham were added to the eggy cheese before it was grilled.

We had an open fire in one room, and she used to cook jacket potatoes in the grate to save the cost of putting the oven on.

It makes me so angry that people are still having to live like this 60 years later.

Have you applied for the Warm Home Discount Scheme through your energy supplier? www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme

@Hoppinggreen

That’s awful, I’m so sorry OP This is at the same time as a Tory scum MP is defending his right to literally hundreds of thousands of £ for being corrupt - and the rest of his party supporting him. I voted Tory for many years but stopped after Cameron and Brexit but I will never never do so again while we have these corrupt liars in charge who are so out of touch and are only interested in lining their own pockets while people go hungry. I’m sorry I don’t have any practical advice to offer but I hope things improve for you

I was thinking exactly the same thing- they take £20 off the poorest in our society, but come out in force to protect a bloke on £85k + £200k expenses, with various (legal) directorships etc as well who has shamelessly trousered illegal backhanders in addition to everything he's already got!

We're also in very great danger of losing our wonderful NHS - and this again will, of course, hit the poorest hardest, as well as forcing many people into poverty and homelessness Medical bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the US.

I never thought we would end up with such a corrupt and self-serving govt in the UK - they have no morals, no empathy and are totally callous. The "opposition" is a joke and are allowing the govt to effectively dismantle any and every safeguard we have.

They write the laws to suit themselves. They are VILE!

It's bliddy disgraceful!

I haven't got much to add, but I didn't want to read and run - sending some very un-mumsnetty hugs your way! Like others here, I grew up poor as well, so I really do sympathise. I still remember searching for spare change down the back of the sofa before we decided if we needed a pint of milk or a loaf of bread more because we could only afford one. It makes me so angry that it's still like that for so many like yourself. We're not a poor country. It isn't right at all. I hope it gets better for you and your children soon.

I've got a few possible tips, and you've had lots of good ones already - if you've got radiators, you can make 'reflectors' to go down the back of them quite cheaply. Bit of cardboard box cut to fit behind, wrap it in tinfoil, and attach a bamboo cane/long stick long enough to rest on the parts that fix the radiator to the wall. It reflects back a lot of the heat that you otherwise lose through outside walls.

Add lentils to things if you can. Usually pretty cheap, but they really help bulk up stews, shepherd's pie, casseroles, etc. And you probably already do this, but it's great if you can find out when your local supermarkets put out their yellow sticker stuff. My local Asda puts tons of veg out for 10p a packet at about 7pm every night.

Stick to one room on an evening and shut doors to rooms you're not using, as that cuts down a little on the heat lost.

And I second the Too Good to Go app that someone mentioned, it's brilliant for getting loads of food for very little. :)

You can trap a hot water bottle between you and your clothes: stick it inside a jumper (over a t shirt) and hold in place with elasticated trousers. Has a burn risk, so I'd not do for kids (unless those microwavable bean ones), but it's good to stay warm during the day... Fingerless gloves too! Poundland will have 2 pairs of wooly gloves for a quid - these should fit both you and DD with the fingers cut off. I wear at home and wash as if they were socks. Stops your hands going numb so quickly.

Hot water to drink throughout the day too. You can do it in a microwave (cheaper than a kettle). Replace anything cold with a warm drink instead. It doesn't taste great, but it helps to stay warm properly.

I can never afford heating really and this (and at least 5 layers plus thick sofa blankets, proper blankets not pretty throws) gets me through every winter. That and veg soup: half an hour of gas and a bag of carrots provides a hot meal every lunch with only 2 minutes microwaving each day. I find the key is to get as much warmth in and around you if it can't be through ambient temperature.

Sorry - didn't mean to rant like that - apologies for de-rail. I am just angry

I think it disgraceful too. I was convinced that the government would have to keep it going because taking money away from people is really hard to do, or it should be.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

Sorry - didn't mean to rant like that - apologies for de-rail. I am just angry

So am I They aren’t pretending to be decent human beings anymore but nobody seems able to adequately challenge them

It sucks, OP, commiserations. Though, with the benefit cap affecting the uplift to begin with, we are only down £20 a month. It still makes a difference though.

I send my children to free breakfast club in the morning, it really helps not having to feed them breakfast Mon-Fri.

They complain about the heat not being on yet but I use a space heater before they go to bed so their rooms are warm and wake up early to heat their room before they wake up. I also use the hairdryer trick on their school jumpers just before they put them on, they love it.

All the tips shared so far on the thread are really good and useful, I hope you find something that helps.

Being poor does suck but it isn’t the worst thing. Having a loving, supportive, creative parent goes a huge way in a child’s life.

@BashfulClam

I hate this government who don’t give a shit. I understand the uplift was temporary but prices have shot up. I’d like to see Boris live on UC or minimum wage! I am lucky (touch wood) but I never take it for granted as I grew up poor.

Yes well Boris pleads poverty on his PM salary

It is absolutely outrageous and criminal. One of the banks on the radio was wanging on about helping. By helping it meant going through your expenditure to cut back. That is not helping! I am so cross about all this.

I hope things get better for you. I am so ashamed of our country.

Have a look if you have a surplus food place near you
We have this one which is aiming for to help people on a low income

I agree with applying for the warm homes discount if you have not already, it's actually worth changing supplier to get it and the price comparison sites allow you to search for it.

It is £140 towards your electricity bill. There is a 'core group' who automatically get it but then there are other groups that the power companies decide who is entitled. There is a finite amount of money so it is first come first served.

Yes to Olio and 'to good to go', Olio is great people put small amounts on there eg a loaf of bread. You could ask for a bottle of milk. People also put up non food items.

'To good to go' is a selection of groceries, you select a bag and pay for it and then collect it in the time slot allocated, it's mainly groceries going out of date and depends on the shop so a bag from greggs will be sandwiches, bread and pastry.

Also some pubs near me do a carvery to take away.

Some places have 'pay what you can' markets.

Check out any funding you may be entitled to, local charities may be able to help with one off amounts eg to repair a boiler.

My parents used to be members of 'St Vincent dePaul', now it is an RC charity but one thing they funded each year was a holiday for a family in need. It was usually a week in BUtlins with travel and packet money, it might be worth considering next summer.

Do you have a Sikh temple near by? You can get a free meal as it is the duty of Sikhs to feed anyone whether in need or not, you can also volunteer to help if it feels a bit cheeky.

Do you have a tent? It might sound crazy but a tent inside the house can make a cosy place to sleep and is fun for children.

When it is really cold you might consider all sleeping in the same room so you only have that room to heat. I know it's not ideal long term but you could do a 'family sleep over'.

As door bills and arears, well they can't cut of power and water if yo have a child or a disabled person in the house. And the various companies all have departments to deal with vulnerable families.

I'll be back if I can think of anything else that might help.

I’m so sorry to hear this OP. What an awful situation, that the government has needlessly put people into

THere is also a petition to sign for the uplift to remain. It hasn't even reached 30k yet.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/593104

I also blankets and sheets instead of a duvet as I find them warmer, and it's what we used when I was a kid in the 70's/80's up north with only a gas fire!! Plus having RA makes changing the beds a lot easier.

Layering up helps massively. When we've been financially fucked over the years, old tshirts have been cut into vest, bottoms cut off tracksuit bottoms.

Socks and slippers worn, I learnt to crochet from cheap wool from a pound shop and now make socks/slippers including converse style (pattern on youtube), same with fingerless gloves/mittens to wear around the house, headbands to cover ears and when the dc's were younger made them ear muffs.

Used an old pillow and the leg from an old pair of jeans to make a door insulator, another stuffed with any clothing cutoffs and clothes that were too small. Double bedsheet folded and hung at the front door to help with those gaps.

Freecycle can also be good for extra bedding and more.

Money-saving experts are the best place for tips to reduce costs, but you may already be doing everything you can.
Yes, it's shit, majorly shit.
And there are so many people affected that charities can only help those most vulnerable.

This thread makes me feel ashamed of my priviledge.
Martin Lewis's money saving website has some useful tips on keeping warm and saving heat.

There is also a forum on there called old style money saving. Some seriously thrifty ideas on there.

And if anyone cares about this, don't vote Tory.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned a thick lined curtain to cover the front door and keep out drafts, which can make a huge difference

Another app - Too Good To Go, if you live near any places like Greg’s, coffee shops etc.

Definitely use the links up thread and approach CAB, food bank, church etc.

Do you have any fleece blankets? If so put one under the bottom sheet and another under the duvet or blankets.

It’s a bloody disgrace. I hope you some help.

If you look on Facebook marketplace you might find people selling oodies or similar. Try to avoid the thinner ones. They are really warm and after the initial outlay don't cost anything bar the odd wash. You can pop them over your jumpers too.

Pretty much all I was going to suggest has been suggested here, I am just so sorry this is happening, I just don't understand how we've got to a place where the loss of £20 a week has such a huge impact on someone, I mean I understand it absolutely does because if I lost £20 a week I'd be up a certain creek without a paddle, but how can the government allow people to be so close to the edge that a loss of £20 means no food or heat?! It's a totally negligible amount to someone on the sort of money they are, yet the difference between make or break for those they're ruling over, and I say ruling over because we seem to have lost any pretence at all about them representing us in any way, shape or form.
I was in a similar situation in 2010 when we had that severe winter and we basically inhabited one room, and turned the heating off in all the others. I used to shower with the plug in so there'd be bath water for DD and the room a little warmer from the steam from my shower for her and using the minimum amount of fuel to heat the smallest amount of water possible. I used to boil a full kettle and make a flask so I had warm drinks without having to reboil constantly and as others have said, hot water bottles in the bed before we got in.
Layers of clothing seemed to keep us warmer than big thick things, and as DD was in with me I put her duvet under my bottom sheet with my duvet over us which helped with extra warmth. I used to have the TV or the light on, not both and something I used this year for light in my porch that doesn't have electricity was solar string lights with the solar bit through the window (window closed on the wire) and the lights draped around the window, they were £1 I think from B&M and maybe a couple could add light to your room without using electricity? They're not amazing for light, especially on dull days but they do give a bit of a glow and see where you're going at least.
We did everything in one room, even eat, Because it was set up to be the warmest room, I put DDs desk in there to do homework on etc, and moved other stuff out.
My slow cooker was also a godsend because it uses less electricity and will make most things edible, maybe try your porridge oats in one overnight if you have one? You can make a big amount and reheat in the microwave in about a minute, and the same for making meals in it, I used it to maximum capacity and we ate the same thing 2/3 days in a row or I froze it for another time.

We really shouldn't have to be giving advice to people like this any more because it shouldn't have come to this in any of our lives, or now for the OP and others like her. It should be consigned to the past, not getting worse.