If it comes to it would you choose heating or eating?

[Tuliprain]

We were having this discussion the other night. I would choose eating and husband would choose heating - so we are already stuck. Im thinking we could warm up with blankets and hot water bottles etc but nothing you can do about hunger. He says the house will go mouldy and he’s rather be hungry than cold. Such a depressing subject to be considering.

@KurtWilde I feel like people here are not familiar with the copious amounts of excess winter deaths in the UK due to cold damp housing. Check the charts, in 2018 almost 20000 people died like this in the UK.

Where has anyone been gleeful?
No one is suggesting a return to the middle ages.
There was heating but we dressed warmly and blocked draughts/ reduced waste.
Your Dad was in charge of coal and no one would consider lighting the fire until it was really needed.
As a nation we are extremely wasteful
Fuel, energy, food, clothing.
You name it we chuck it away!

Thats what I was referring to.
The idea if people cant afford heating they will just freeze.
Jesus hopefully common sense and dressing warmly might make a come back !

Honestly there's some fucking glib comments on this thread 😡

Someone educate me - if your income is so low that this is a real dilemma surely you get benefits/allowances so you can have both. This is a genuine question.

I would always choose food. Grew up in a house with no heating (other than a small log fire), we wore extra clothes in the winter.

My heating will be off during the day, if home I wear extra clothes, bed socks and I have blankets, heating goes on for a hour or so in the evening (5-7pm) and a hour in the morning when kids are getting ready for school. We could probably manage with out it being on at all tbh, food is more important.

Job seekers is £73 a week out that depending on how much your rent is you may have top it up. In my area you still have pay 10% council tax so that’s another £2.50 a week gone. Then fed yourself , gas , electric , water, wifi or phone data essential for benefits and job seeking, travel clothes and everything and anything else. Of course your meter is what 50% more expensive than someone who can afford it and trip to a cheap supermarket is £5 on the bus return.

@bitemyarsenic I had no heating due to issues with the meters for a few months back in 2010 when it was utterly freezing. I will never forget the cold.
I wore every single item of clothing, dressing gown, every blanket, sheet, quilt. My son and I stayed in one room with rolled up towels under the doors, curtains closed.

It was only a couple of months thank goodness but when the cold gets in your bones there’s no shifting it. As soon as we had heating we had hot bath, climbed into hot pyjamas, and literally cuddled the radiator. Maybe we would have eventually got used to the cold but I’m so, so glad I didn’t have to.

@Aaaabbbcccc

Someone educate me - if your income is so low that this is a real dilemma surely you get benefits/allowances so you can have both. This is a genuine question.

No, you can’t. Benefits and allowances won’t cover this huge increase. Many people aren’t entitled to benefits as well, and they too will struggle.

@BobbleAlong

I've just popped on to MN to see what if anyone was discussing this. I have tried to ignore what is happening because I am in disbelief. We are set to experience the largest fall in living standards since comparable records began. I work FT as a single Mum after 5 years of HE and there is no way I can afford this.

So in answer to your question...I won't eat, my children will and the heating will be on low. I'd rather go without food.

Yup, this is our stance :( Feed the kids. Keep their house warm. Eat pasta or whatever for ourselves.

We're not there yet thank goodness but who knows what will happen. Due to previous financial difficulty we're also on a prepay meter so will be one of the worst hit as I understand it.

@Aaaabbbcccc you are kidding right ????

Unfortunately Heating or Eating has become a slogan spouted out by many who really don't make such decisions in their on lives.

It's become a T-shirt or a Twitter hashtag, overused to critique 'ideologies' they don't agree with and so has lost its meaning.

I variate my priorities daily between heating and eating so I don't prioritize one over the other, they are equally important, especially in February. I'm quite poor, with few prospects of improving my economic situation, which I take on the chin, such is life.

But don't 'trope out' Heating or Eating when all it means is some minor adjustments to your thermostat or food bill.

@Aaaabbbcccc

Someone educate me - if your income is so low that this is a real dilemma surely you get benefits/allowances so you can have both. This is a genuine question.

Benefits only stretch so far. Many on benefits already have debts with electricity companies so are already paying more than just their usage.

Debts can build up because Universal credit takes 6 weeks to kick in. Or because they’ve been sanctioned in the past. Or there was a cock up with UC top ups when in work. Or they’re dealing with UC not accepting their income has lowered. Or they’re on zero hour contracts and got no or very low hours that week.

There are grants but they are low, barely dent the bill and apply once per year.

[quote AutomaticMoon]@lightand
‘I never get the heating or eating argument.
There are many many things I would cut out before any of those.
Less clothes, less grooming, cheaper tv package. The list goes on.’

The list doesn’t go on for a lot of people, are you unaware of this? Blissfully ignorant, I’d say [/quote]
Many people have already cut those things out. Some of us buy 2nd hand clothes and lots of people don’t have sky tv (I don’t), I rarely get my hair cut and have never had my eyebrows or nails done.

I hate how people assume people on benefits are living the high life with big tv’s the latest mobile phones and spend £££ on cigarettes and booze 😬.

@Aaaabbbcccc

Someone educate me - if your income is so low that this is a real dilemma surely you get benefits/allowances so you can have both. This is a genuine question.

Can only speak for me but when I was on benefits I would get sanctioned so they would stop my money.

@daisypond @Akire thanks for your responses. This is awful. A lot of people don’t understand the true reality. Sorry to those dealing with this unacceptable situation, and your poor kids. We all need to act to stop this.

Someone educate me - if your income is so low that this is a real dilemma surely you get benefits/allowances so you can have both. This is a genuine question

It depends on people's circumstances and also, if benefits have been designed to cover a certain standard of living based on previous standard costs, it's natural that they will not stretch to meet a sudden large rise in living costs.

The same as anyone else's budget, benefits or not really. If you have £400 to spend on food shopping which was getting you by but then suddenly food shopping costs skyrocket and your bill is suddenly £200 for the same goods, even cutting back is still likely to put you dramatically over your original budget.

[quote Tillymintpolo]@Aaaabbbcccc you are kidding right ????[/quote]
My question was genuine - I do not know what job seekers is per week and PP have now educated me.

@KurtWilde

Honestly there's some fucking glib comments on this thread 😡

Absolutely! It’s easy to be smug for some people.

B0J0ker my bills are in excess of £300 per month and were cheaper when we were on the PAYG metre.
We changed to monthly DD but firstly the company won’t allow me to set up an online account to monitor my account and secondly instead of emailing me what I owe each month someone sent me a copy of my latest bill and the metre readings to begin with don’t correspond with the metre reading on our metre.
I can’t do anything until I get an online account and go through their figures from day 1 but we are in month 5 of a 12 month rental and I am no further on with finding out what the problem is.

Also we are all electric which is a huge issue as it costs so much

I will never get a house either buying or renting with electric heating again.

Eat because even a basic hot meal like beans on toast or soup will warm you up a bit. Like it's been said hot drinks, hot water bottles, extra clothes or blankets will all keep you warm. Not sure how I'll be drying my washing mind you.

Is it going to come to this?

@Aaaabbbcccc

I’m in a different situation now as my son gets dla.
However before we would get after paying rent £300 a month.

That’s for, gas, electric, water, council tax, food, toiletries, nappies, anything baby might have needed like clothes, cream. Everything had to come out of that £300. Including saving whatever the hell you can incase the washing machine breaks because you can’t afford house insurance.
Gas and electric on a meter so a hell of a lot more expensive than direct debit.

It literally covers the absolute basics. There’s nothing to cut down on except food and energy bills.

People need fuel, aka food, in order to survive which in turn helps to deal with living in cold homes

Body fuel first, home fuel second

at some people suggesting buying thermals or heated throws

Someone educate me - if your income is so low that this is a real dilemma surely you get benefits/allowances so you can have both. This is a genuine question.

Not necessarily. There are (great huge) gaps in the system. Benefit sanctions, age, refugee status, students, debt, people in financially abusive situations, disabled but not considered 'disabled enough', etc. Benefits are not given according to need, but according to set levels. So some may find their expenses outweigh any entitlements. These are worse for longer term poor - if you've struggled to pay bills before you may be put on a prepay meter, for example, which costs more.

I was completely without food (or heat) for a week when I was younger - there were no foodbanks in those days. I spent a week in bed. There is begging, of course, but it's hard. Some would rather starve.

@Gingerkittykat

Where do the people live who say they rarely or never heat their house?

I'm in central Scotland and right now it is 1degree but feels like minus 4 according to Google.

I've got a crappy old heating system which will thankfully be replaced soon but I'm still cold with the heating on right now. There is no thermostat so no way to have it switched onto a lower temperature.

I'll definitely be looking at ways to save energy (I'm going to be buying a multicooker to cut down using the oven) and also have to cut back my food spend.

Quite. Even down here in the NW of England it's pretty Baltic today.

It is a hideous irony that people who struggle to afford their food and fuel needs are the very same people who can't afford the high capital costs of insulation. We're very fortunate, can afford both, are fit enough to put up with a chilly house, and are doing our best to make this old house better insulated, but it doesn't blind me to the terrible situation other people are in. I cannot understand why some people here, who have clearly nothing to worry about when it comes to food or fuel costs, have so little sympathy for those in such dire situations as so many currently are. I'm finding it horrifying.