To have cried in asda

[Littlemissdan]

Is it just me that the whole cost of living thing is getting too much for? I actually had a (very small and no one watching!) cry in asda when I saw some reduced bakery goods because I didn’t know if I could afford them alongside my entire smartprice shop. £30 I had for a 2 week shop including nappies, and it just broke me that I actually had to wonder if I could afford a 55p treat for my kids. I can’t believe we’re living like this, 3 years ago we were comfortable and now I’m relying on the free school meals half term vouchers.
Not really looking for advice or budgeting advice here, just a bit of solidarity really :(

[quote Crikeyalmighty]@Hawkins001. But that’s what the government want you to think— it’s like saying if we tax Amazon fairly they will leave the country— no they won’t— it’s one of their most profitable markets— they do tax efficiency here- because they can. certain countries it’s a condition of business that if you do physical business sakes (whether on line or not) in ‘that ‘ country , those sales are taxed within that country, nitcehete registered address is — I believe the USA works that way and I think Sweden and Denmark do , as do others.[/quote]
Much appreciated for the context and information, Im a bit more knowledgeable on the issue.

I grew up naively thinking that all governments want to help people...even the Tories but I've heard quotes like 'we don't care about the poor, they don't vote for us ' and the callous cynicism of that sort of attitude takes my breath away.
They know...they just don't care. Everything is about enriching themselves or their donors.
I don't see an end to it, I really don't. It's frightening.

Thank you for mentioning the direct debit to the food bank. I do normally buy something at Morrisons for our foodbank but have just set up a monthly direct debit instead.

I am a pensioner waiting for my state pension, but have a widow's pension, I am careful and don't have to choose between heating and eating. I do feel for my young adult kids and will be setting up a dd for them too. I don't need much.

Another one - line dry dont user dryers, even if its not a warm day if the washing is pegged out in the morning it will be dry my the afternoon

OP, I would encourage you to get in touch with the food bank and let them know that you can't come during their opening hours because you are working.

Our local food bank will make accommodations by staying open or dropping food round to people who can't get there. Also, it lets them know that there is demand for this - it might help somebody else too if they open later once a week.

PS have you seen

www.savvysavings4mums.co.uk?

Some good recipes :)

Sorry, it's -

savings4savvymums.co.uk/?msclkid=b8fe59a6b34c11ec8bb30691e90ef71c

For baked tatties - cheap as chips (badoom tish), but are expensive to cook.

So when I bake tatties, I do as many as will fit on a tray and fill the oven. They freeze well and can be microwaved. Although obviously they don’t stay crispy after being frozen and microwaved - they do actually taste like a baked tattie should!

@beguilingeyes

I grew up naively thinking that all governments want to help people...even the Tories but I've heard quotes like 'we don't care about the poor, they don't vote for us ' and the callous cynicism of that sort of attitude takes my breath away. They know...they just don't care. Everything is about enriching themselves or their donors. I don't see an end to it, I really don't. It's frightening.

And on the flip side, theirs also a good majority of the public that don't want to help improve society or even care about political issues ect. (Admittedly I'd need more research to confirm this as my current perspectives of this are anecdotal.

For those who have said they are going without food so the kids can eat:-
A cup of sugary tea fills you up and raises your blood sugar
Water works in moderate quantities
Boiled sweets fill you up - even one boiled sweet (32p a packet can stop hunger for an hour or two)
I’ve just torn a little hole in a plastic bag and stuck it in Henry Hoover. I can’t be paying £4 for hoover bags

just torn a little hole in a plastic bag and stuck it in Henry Hoover. I can’t be paying £4 for hoover bags

Is that safe to do? Sounds a risky tactic

@Discountclaimed

For those who have said they are going without food so the kids can eat:- A cup of sugary tea fills you up and raises your blood sugar Water works in moderate quantities Boiled sweets fill you up - even one boiled sweet (32p a packet can stop hunger for an hour or two) I’ve just torn a little hole in a plastic bag and stuck it in Henry Hoover. I can’t be paying £4 for hoover bags

Just thought, a carrier bag with elastic bands ?

@velvet24

Another one - line dry dont user dryers, even if its not a warm day if the washing is pegged out in the morning it will be dry my the afternoon

I wish that were the case - a cool day with no breeze and everything still feels damp at 5pm on my line - and I put mine out at 8. It's just starting to get dry at the end of the day now the weather is warming, but the snow on 1st April really did feel like a joke when I had to use the dryer.

I’m so sorry you’re in such a terrible situation. It’s awful that this seems to be becoming the norm for so many people.
Possibly not a helpful idea but I keep getting emails from the money saving expert website saying about bonuses for switching bank accounts. Could you do that for an extra £100-150 depending on the bank. It won’t give you any long term support but could give you a little bit of a buffer to bulk buy some bits to make into meals and portion out for the freezer. I wish I had some other helpful advice.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/

YANBU OP

I’m sorry you are in this position.

I don’t know what day it is but M&S sell their stuff off really cheap at the end of the day.

I am so sorry you are in this situation, it's plain awful. Reminds me of the Victorian days. I've just taken my house off the market because my fuel bills in my house are a lot cheaper than most, because it's a newer build with lots of insulation. I couldn't afford to move to a property with fuel bills coming in at £400/£500 p/m. With the price of petrol as well, it's utter grim. 💕💐

I hang stuff out on the line and if it feels damp/cold at 5pm just give it 15 mins in dryer. Quite often it just needs a quick blast of warm air.

@velvet24

Another one - line dry dont user dryers, even if its not a warm day if the washing is pegged out in the morning it will be dry my the afternoon

Or possibly get a cheap greenhouse, Aldi has one £69 or there’s a pvc one in Wilkos £14 clothes may dry on a sunny day or could possibly be finished off in there? My mum has a conservatory and that’s where she dries her clothes and airs them if she’s going out etc she’s been doing it for years.

@WaddesdonWanderer

The fucking government, and anyone who supports them, should hang their heads in shame.

^^ this

I’m so sorry OP, it must be shit. I don’t suppose you’re in Buckinghamshire at all? Our local parish council has set up a scheme to provide cheap food, no questions asked.

@WaddesdonWanderer I'm on our parish council; I'd be very interested to know how you set that up. I'd like us to offer something similar for our parishioners. Thank you for doing it, I'm sure it's being a big help. X

We are fortunately not (yet) having to choose between heating and eating, but I've been there.
We had an email from the Junior Engineer's school about the Holiday Hunger bags, I posted about it at the time. Gave me the absolute rage to think that when we take for granted getting chocolate eggs and lovely Sunday roasts at Easter, those bags have got cheap pasta and cheap pasta sauce in them* and people are supposed to be grateful.
I may throat punch the next ignorant fuckpig who tells me "yeah them people going to food banks they just want to get free food don't they?"

*I asked, specifically, because I wanted to know if I could use some extra money I'd earned unexpectedly, to pay for an Easter egg for each of the bags. And I could! So I did! But I do know what's in the bags, I'm not just making it up.

Even if it’s not fully dry it will still need a lot less time in the dryer. I massively reduced my use of the drier last month and was amazed how much my electricity usage came down (about 20%)

@Londoncallingme

Get an electric bike for work?

Are you on drugs or something?!

I’m a big fan too of hanging washing but giving it all 12 minutes blast in dryer, it softens it all up too and does feel like it’s been fully tumbled dried.

I'm on our parish council; I'd be very interested to know how you set that up. I'd like us to offer something similar for our parishioners. Thank you for doing it, I'm sure it's being a big help. X

There's some advice available via the community fridge and larder sites.

www.hubbub.org.uk/the-community-fridge#find

www.sofea.uk.com/purpose-projects/community-larder/