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AIBU?

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Original poster

Panorama( Young families Struggling)

413 replies

dottydodah · 12/04/2022 11:12

Did anyone see this last evening? A lady with 2 small DC and a husband working as a Research Scientist was struggling with bills .Another young Mum in tears as her energy bill was so high.A third lady (working as a Nurse) not able to run a car. How will they manage to keep going? Surely Govt could do more?

OP posts:
desiringonlychild2022 · 14/04/2022 09:23

@tfresh and the government debt. If they increase interest rates to crazy levels, that would affect th government debt which are at record levels.

Angelswithflirtyfaces · 14/04/2022 09:35

@mydogisthebest Not sure you are reading the room here
People are desperate you twittering on about M&S ( you probably have shares in them the way you are banging on)
All the branches of that establishment are in town centres which a lot of people here simply cannot access or pay fuel parking charges.
Perhaps they could fuel up on cauliflower and lentils and fart their way there super speedy like. After all there is no fart like an M&S fart

Eviebeans · 14/04/2022 09:50

People are quite often so busy working/looking after their families that they have no time for traveling around to various shops to pick up bargains/see if there are reductions etc eating according to what is cheap.
I have had my time of doing that years ago (I'm old lol) luckily only for a relatively short time and it is joyless. Sometimes people just want to eat what they fancy and why not ...

howtomoveforwards · 14/04/2022 09:59

House insurance is not very expensive. Mine is £10 a month for buildings and contents insurance

The cost of insurance depends on complex risk assessing by the insurance companies - living near the sea, close to a flood plain, in a high crime area, size of the property, age of the property etc all make a huge difference.

If you are down to £10 a month, I would hazard a guess you have no accident coverage and your contents insurance is at a bare minimum. I bet your excess is high as well which is great if you have the money to cover it but that’s not for everyone. You may well find there are huge restrictions on your policy - I pay considerably more but at the cheaper end of the range for my property but made careful calculations to ensure that if it burns down, it gets rebuilt and everything inside is replaced. But I was involved in a major flood as a child and from my parents perspective, have a clear understanding of what happens when you need to really claim on your insurance. I would hazard a guess a £120 a year policy just won’t cut it. Please have a very careful look at your policy.

ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave · 14/04/2022 10:40

I would bet I spend less on food for me and DH than most people and we eat well. We just don't eat meat or fish.

Neither do I. And I've also used a single cauliflower (Ocado, ner ner) in three meals this week.

...because they were made up to reasonable portions with at least two other vegetables in each of them, plus pulses, plus a carb on the side, and made with a minimum of five spices. Spices which I have in my cupboard but cost around £2 each if you don't have full cupboards like, you know, a lot of people with a minimal shopping budget.

The meals also took at least 30 minutes on the hob and, in one case, a further 30 minutes in the oven. That's a lot of gas.

So stop embarrassing yourself and pipe down.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 14/04/2022 10:47

I would bet I spend less on food for me and DH than most people and we eat well. We just don't eat meat or fish people are allowed to want to give their children meat and fish ffs

MissyB1 · 14/04/2022 11:03

people are allowed to want to give their children meat and fish
Apparently not if they are poor Hmm
Honestly the cheek of these poor people daring to get above themselves.

CharSiu · 14/04/2022 11:30

I had a year of being vegetarian not by choice as I was hard up, it was about 30 years ago and it was bloody miserable.

I hope the Father of the 3 three children whose Mum is a nurse saw that and felt thoroughly ashamed of himself.

DH started his career as a research fellow in science like the guy who lived in Wales. 25 years ago DH was on 19k. Those positions are now in the low 30k area. We rented a small but lovely house then and it was £100 per week. I have checked and a comparable house on the small estate is up for rent at £200 per week. DS nursery 20 years ago was £25 per day, my friend pays £50 now. The biggest expenses have doubled.

Housing crisis is out of control.

mydogisthebest · 14/04/2022 11:42

@howtomoveforwards

House insurance is not very expensive. Mine is £10 a month for buildings and contents insurance

The cost of insurance depends on complex risk assessing by the insurance companies - living near the sea, close to a flood plain, in a high crime area, size of the property, age of the property etc all make a huge difference.

If you are down to £10 a month, I would hazard a guess you have no accident coverage and your contents insurance is at a bare minimum. I bet your excess is high as well which is great if you have the money to cover it but that’s not for everyone. You may well find there are huge restrictions on your policy - I pay considerably more but at the cheaper end of the range for my property but made careful calculations to ensure that if it burns down, it gets rebuilt and everything inside is replaced. But I was involved in a major flood as a child and from my parents perspective, have a clear understanding of what happens when you need to really claim on your insurance. I would hazard a guess a £120 a year policy just won’t cut it. Please have a very careful look at your policy.

I do have accident coverage and my contents insurance is far from a bare minimum. I actually think it is too high which I worry about as years ago when we were burgled the insurance company were funny about our cover being too high.

The excess is not high either. I certainly don't have the money to cover it.

I know exactly what my policy covers and I spent a long time making sure I got a good deal. Plus I got cashback on it

OberthursGrizzledSkipper · 14/04/2022 11:44

@Eviebeans

The government should make tackling the situation regarding absent fathers a priority. I don't think that is the only situation where people are struggling though. Two people working full time should mean having a reasonable standard of living for themselves and their family.
Yes, I agree. The point is though on this programme not one of the families had 2 parents working full time.
mydogisthebest · 14/04/2022 11:46

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

I would bet I spend less on food for me and DH than most people and we eat well. We just don't eat meat or fish people are allowed to want to give their children meat and fish ffs
When did I say people can't eat meat or fish? Stop reading things into my posts.

I said I bet we spend a lot less on food than most people. People can go without meat or fish for some meals surely?

mydogisthebest · 14/04/2022 11:47

@CharSiu

I had a year of being vegetarian not by choice as I was hard up, it was about 30 years ago and it was bloody miserable.

I hope the Father of the 3 three children whose Mum is a nurse saw that and felt thoroughly ashamed of himself.

DH started his career as a research fellow in science like the guy who lived in Wales. 25 years ago DH was on 19k. Those positions are now in the low 30k area. We rented a small but lovely house then and it was £100 per week. I have checked and a comparable house on the small estate is up for rent at £200 per week. DS nursery 20 years ago was £25 per day, my friend pays £50 now. The biggest expenses have doubled.

Housing crisis is out of control.

Not sure why being vegetarian was miserable. By far the majority of the meals are tastier than any meals with meat or fish.

Far more interesting and better for you

mydogisthebest · 14/04/2022 11:52

[quote Angelswithflirtyfaces]@mydogisthebest Not sure you are reading the room here
People are desperate you twittering on about M&S ( you probably have shares in them the way you are banging on)
All the branches of that establishment are in town centres which a lot of people here simply cannot access or pay fuel parking charges.
Perhaps they could fuel up on cauliflower and lentils and fart their way there super speedy like. After all there is no fart like an M&S fart[/quote]
For a start not all M&S branches are in town centres. I was trying to make the point that if you buy things like a large cauliflower you can make at least a couple of meals out of it.

I DID NOT say that everyone should shop at M&S. I don't shop there all the time. I shop at Tesco, Lidl, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Asda, Home Bargains, B&M, M&S and, rarely, Waitrose. The only shop I don't use is Aldi because every single one I have ever tried to shop in has had the most disgusting display of fruit and veg and would be a complete waste of money.

ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave · 14/04/2022 11:55

I said I bet we spend a lot less on food than most people.

Maybe, since you're happy to eat a meal that consists of 1/6th of a cauliflower cooked in milk with a tiny amount of discount cheese. Most of us like to eat better than that.

mydogisthebest · 14/04/2022 11:56

@Blossomtoes

Oh put a sock in it. Your sanctimony and smugness are unbearable. As if having no money wasn’t bad enough without having your nose rubbed in it and being blamed for it.
People need to take responsibility for their life choices.

If I came on here moaning that I could not afford to feed my 5 dogs I can guarantee every single answer would be to tell me how stupid I was to have 5 dogs. Yet people can supposedly have as many children as they want as it is their right.

I don't actually have 5 dogs because I am not that bloody stupid. Although if I did, 5 dogs are a damn sight cheaper than 5 children

mydogisthebest · 14/04/2022 12:01

@ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave

I said I bet we spend a lot less on food than most people.

Maybe, since you're happy to eat a meal that consists of 1/6th of a cauliflower cooked in milk with a tiny amount of discount cheese. Most of us like to eat better than that.

We both enjoyed our cauliflower cheese which, by the way, wasn't cooked in milk.

I made a cheese sauce. I only needed a small amount of cheese as it was strong cheese so using a lot would just be wasteful. I also don't particularly like cheese.

We eat plenty of different meals which we both enjoy but there is no need to spend a fortune on food.

Judging by programmes like Eat Well for Less @most people spend stupid amounts on food but still end up eating rubbish

desiringonlychild2022 · 14/04/2022 12:02

@mydogisthebest do you live in London or a large city because thats quite a list of shops? I shop in many places too and without a car (and I live on the second floor without a lift) but mainly because i live 0.7 miles from a zone 3 tube station and am on several bus routes. Also have a DH who is basically my Sherpa.

This is not the situation that a single mum of 3 is in! Also its quite sad but it can be cheaper to live centrally in a big town/city despite the higher house prices because you don't need to spend so much on transport and the increased number of shops means you can bargain hunt so that offsets the housing costs. But cos the bank lends money based on typical spending, a lot of people on lower incomes aren't able to live more centrally even if they were willing to live in a smaller place so they end up having to spend more money on transport, groceries and also heating (as the homes further out tend to be bigger). So they are literally paying more despite having less money.

Angelswithflirtyfaces · 14/04/2022 12:04

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Organictangerine · 14/04/2022 12:08

if you buy things like a large cauliflower you can make at least a couple of meals out of it.

With other ingredients presumably?

Blossomtoes · 14/04/2022 12:09

@Angelswithflirtyfaces. 👋👋👋👋👋👋

Angelswithflirtyfaces · 14/04/2022 12:14

@Organictangerine yes in mydogs case a large helping of patronising language, a sprinkle of superiorism and a dash of ignorance. Its a truly delicious dish

Organictangerine · 14/04/2022 12:15

[quote Angelswithflirtyfaces]@Organictangerine yes in mydogs case a large helping of patronising language, a sprinkle of superiorism and a dash of ignorance. Its a truly delicious dish[/quote]
Yummy. I was expecting a roast chicken that lasts 6 weeks or so.

Angelswithflirtyfaces · 14/04/2022 12:17

@Organictangerine 😁😁😁😁

crepesncream · 14/04/2022 12:17

When you've got old Etonians running the country we can't expect to live decently. They neither know nor care about us.

Blossomtoes · 14/04/2022 12:19

Yummy. I was expecting a roast chicken that lasts 6 weeks or so

Nope, just an everlasting cauliflower.