To have a thread for us poor folk?

[UsPoorFolk]

I'm really happy for people who have enough money for food/holidays/bills/savings etc...

But it sucks having nothing for anything extra in life, including increasing bill cost.

Anyone else.

If you use the option for a less fixed time slot with Sainsburys (so a 4 hour delivery window instead of 1 hour) you can usually find delivery for £1-£2. For Ocado, there’s often a £1 or a free slot available if you’re spending over £80. For a once a month ‘big shop’ of longer lasting things it works well. I keep an eye on offers too as theirs are usually quite good, and they often send free delivery codes.

I completely understand about second hand stuff. In my working class family growing up, second hand was seen as humiliating and a failure. New cheap stuff was preferred even though it wasn’t as good quality and didn’t last as long.

It’s really much more complex than can be imagined by the jolly hockey sticks types with so little empathy they think it’s ok to boast about the ‘thrill’ they get when saving money because they just can’t grasp there’s no thrill involved in buying the cheapest because it’s all you can afford.

Bargain shopping isn’t a jolly jape.

It is very shit. We are like a pp - living off pasta, frozen chips and Asda essentials range food. Heating is an old duvet on the sofa. We sit mainly in darkness and only put lights on if essential. It shouldn’t be this way. Life feels quite pointless to me at the moment. I used to love Christmas, but this year I feel like I can’t be bothered with it. I have to though because I have DC. The school have also asked for money for various activities etc. Life is just so unaffordable right now. There is not a day that goes by without money needing spending even if it’s just the gas and electricity constantly ticking away.

Back in the late 2000s & early 2010s life was a lot easier. I remember doing food shops & not worrying about the cost, wasn't terrified about electricity & gas costs, could go out & have nice holidays. Mortgage was £600 a month but everything else was far cheaper (combined salary of £2500 plus a baby)

Now it's ridiculous. Just watching my smart meter hitting £3 to £4 a day on electric (though sometimes can get it down to nearly £2 if nothing is used & did you know that the oven uses more electricity than the tumble dryer)

Growing up second hand or cast offs was seen as a bit icky.
But now I don't care as had some real bargains off eBay brand new Boden, Damsel in a Dress & my best find a £140 pair of Jaeger ballet flats for £12 (brand new think they might have been seconds as the little leather bow is a bit wonky on the front but it's not noticeable unless you get down on your hands & knees)
The trick with eBay bargains is to use various search terms & sometimes misspellings as that's how I b found my Jaegar ballet flats as they'd been misspelled as Jeagar.

Which are the free TV apps, please?

I love hand-me-downs / eBay bargains. Pretty much do all my non-grocery shopping on eBay.

No Lidl near us, but do have Aldi. I still find them cheaper than the bigger supermarkets. Though Tesco have bargain spaghetti, which my children love with an easy tomato pasta sauce, so we have that twice a week.

Only had the heating on once so far this winter, and that was only because the kids had come home late from swimming. Swimming now hard to pay for but I feel it's pretty essential for them after missing two years during lockdown, so somehow manage. Helps, I suppose, that we live in a tiny apartment, so hopefully costs less to heat when the real cold comes.

Have cut back on absolutely everything. Only have access to Prime video and Netflix as my kids' father let's them use his accounts, though I believe Netflix are looking to do away with account sharing between households. Definitely won't get it if that's the case.

Sorry there's so much struggle.
Fuck this government.

I spent 2 years not getting UC that I was entitled to so I'm in a better position now than many on here, and I have also been in work and had no spare cash.

When I was a student I discovered a book called ' The directory of grant making trusts'.

The book itself is expensive but it is available in public and uni libraries (you can often use your local uni library as a reference library).

I was looking for funds for studying and I got some. This was the late 1990s so I was applying by letter. I got a lot of rejections but I did also get money, from a £10 in an envelope to a cheque for £1000.

If you have the time and energy it is worth looking through it.

I made a database and used mailmerge and I spent the first weeks of the summer holiday applying.

Lots of these trusts were set up by victorians so the wording can be amusing.

Strangely lots prefer that you apply to more than one trust.

www.dsc.org.uk/publication/the-directory-of-grant-making-trusts-2022-23/#:~:text=%27The%20Directory%20of%20Grant%20Making,stay%20on%20the%20right%20track.

As well as that lots of local branches of things like the rotary club have small grants available.

My parents used to volunteer with their local 'St Vincent de Paul' which is an RC charity but don't restrict who they help. One fund they have is to send a local family on holiday. It is a week at Butlins, they pay for the accommodation and travel and give some pocket money, it used to be £100.

I know it sounds like begging, it really isn't there is money there looking for applications.

A link to some more charities.

www.charityexcellence.co.uk/Home/BlogDetail?Link=New_UK_Charity_Grant_Funders

I am also currently getting some help from my water provider, Severn Trent, they have a charitable organisation that will supply some household goods, a friend had a new bed supplied via this charity.

I had stopped paying for my water as I know they can't cut you off, they wrote off part of the debt and cut what I pay each month. If you are a severn trent customer you can get up to 90% discount on your bill.

www.sttf.org.uk/big-difference-scheme/

. I can't remember who said they had no curtains or carpet but that is the kind of thing they can help with. I believe other water companies have similar trusts.

www.sttf.org.uk/online-application/

I know it is difficult to ask for help, and it is a matter of pride. Put that pride in your pocket for now.

If I can help anyone with applications please let me know. As I said I'm in a better position but I have lived through the going to bed at 6pm because you can't put the heating on, having grated cheese for 'dinner' and hoping you can afford to get to work.

Oh and because these are one off payments from charities they do not affect your benefits if you are claiming anything.

Honestly, it is so awful taking other people's casts offs. Uttermet humiliation.

There's nowt wrong with recycling, I've got plenty of second hand stuff. Are you saying you'd rather have no sofa than a used one?

They don't want something, you do. You pay for it. They've got rid of it. Better for planet. Better for both of you.
Begging in the street would be humiliating. Buying secondhand is not. This is emotion, not logic.

Makes me angry that I’m still on benefits!
The taxpayer is subsidising my company’s million-plus profits. They could just fucking pay me properly. But no. And I have to show up and smile and be helpful every day while being so fed up inside.

Yep also in this club. Barely above minimum wage job. Brought up poor, still poor. At least have stable housing now, which wasn't the case growing up. After bills and food, what's left has become less and less and is mostly spent on the kids to make sure they've got what they need and can have a little bit of fun sometimes. I know we are luckier than some who have nothing left. It's going to be a very tough Winter for so many people.

Why humiliation ? How silly. I love getting a second hand bargain. Maybe if you lower your standards you could get a second hand settee and carpets and curtains! Honestly 🤦🏻‍♀️

Can I join?
Brought up poor, my Dad was a miner so we lived through the strikes.
We live in a housing association house and I'm full time carer for a disabled child.
DH has ADHD and mental health issues so isn't currently working either.
No idea how we are going to afford Christmas. Currently living of Asdas Essentials range, have rent and council tax arrears etc etc

Me too! I get such a buzz from getting something I know I could never afford new, for less than I'd pay for cheap new things. I will always go for second hand over new.

That's your opinion. Not all poor people feel the same.

You can search for them and apply online now.
grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/

Exactly. I've always been poor, I come from a working class mining family but I love second hand because it means I can get better things for less.
Growing up though, it WAS frowned upon, so I think that stigma has stuck around in some areas.

I don't go to Lidl or Aldi I did used to but shopping online with Asda is just as good. I tried going back twice the other month but it made zero difference.

Bought 4 packs of 25p spaghetti in Lidl yesterday because it's the first time they've had it, when I've been in, for months.

Vastly reduced the amount of meat we eat, and we're having 'tea on toast' a couple of times a week and porridge for breakfast, but the food bill is really the only place we can make cuts. We've no subscriptions, need the car so DH can get to work, have cut treat stuff completely, had the 'no Christmas presents' convo with extended family , checked all the insurances etc to make sure we're not paying over the odds.

We thought we were going to be OK - just paid off a loan that was £200 per month but after out last power bill it's obvious where the extra £200 is going to end up, and we've not had the heating on yet.

Our house is pretty much furnished with second hand stuff, but I love it - really lovely quality furniture for next to nothing. The likes of Laura Ashley curtains for £5 and Barker and Stonehouse dining table and chairs for £90 which was practically new and would have been £1600 out of the showroom. My home looks a million $$$ (to me, anyway!).

I'm really fed up. Normally I've done all my Christmas shopping by now and ahead of my bills for January.

My bills are behind thanks to the ever increasing costs, I have no where near finished Christmas.
I have £7 left on my emergency prepayment meters and was hoping for the COL payment this week... no such luck. Hoping to get to the weekend where it's friendly credit hours so we can at least have the lights and heating on!

I’ve heard stopping avocado on toast buys you a house in 12 months. Not sure if that would help anybody. A woke 20 something told me that so may need to double check my sources 🙄

I'm probably telling you something you already know, but TopCashback offers £1.70 back on Asda orders for existing customers (more for new customers).

Do you get univerasl credit or tax credits?
Its universal credit that receive the COL first those still on tax credits should expect their payment from the 23rd of november

I’ve downloaded U.K. TV play. Currently working my way through old episodes of Bad Girls. Beware that it does have a lot of adverts though. Roughly 2-3 minutes every 10 minutes but I guess you could have a loo break or go and get a drink.