PlayStations VS food

[Createcreate23]

I have a friend let’s call her Mary, we both have 3 kids. Once a week I take her shopping to the big Asda or tesco as she does not drive.

now I know the next part is judgy and I have me hard hat on 🤣

the last few weeks she has been cutting down on her food shop and mainly buying the Asda basic chicken nuggets / pizza etc the yellow packet ones which I know can be a life saver in people who can’t afford more expensive food.
I asked if everything was ok in which she replied oh just making some cut backs cost of living and all that, got Xmas and birthdays approaching.

they yesterday I was going to the large Smyths as it’s one of my DC birthday soon. She asked if she could come as she needed to sort at least 1 of the dc Xmas this month.

anyway it transpired that each of her 3 boys want a ps5 for Xmas ( not shared ) plus games and controllers. I was surprised at the 2k plus price tag it would cost. She then laughed and said now you see why we cut back the food shop.
now it’s her life but do people really cut back providing decent food to supply consoles ?

Sharing also doesn't work when a lot of games only let you have one save, so if another wants to play it would overwrite the first. It was why we had two consoles as a gaming couple.

Anyway, it is up to people what they do and she is avoiding debt. I don't see yellow stickers as a big deal tbh.

There is huge pressure on parents to provide the "perfect" christmas.

This is not new. If it's not the PS5 it's the PS4, or the N64, or a megadrive or even going back to the early 80s with the speccy.

These things have to be paid for out of squeezed household budgets.

I think OP is getting a hard time here. Removing the PlayStations from the equation, I would typically feed my children something like a bolognaise which could cost a tenner with cheese, salad, garlic bread etc....Towards the end of the month if I'm stretched, for a few days I replace those sorts of meals with cheap pasta/pizza. I would not choose to feed them like this all the time to afford games consoles, that is imo a fairly poor parenting decision.

OP's not getting nearly the hard time that she deserves and cutting back on food costs to service Christmas isn't unique. I don't know what OP serves her children and I don't care but neither is it relevant to critique another parent's shop. They're not here, they're not asking for advice, they've made the decision to cut back on food costs to take care of Playstations purchase.

What else is there to say? The rest of the year might look different entirely but if it doesn't, what is it that needs to be done about it? Other than pat the OP on the back for her entirely goady post. I'm not going to.

One thing I’ve learnt over the years is that we all make differenct choices with our money. Some people even burn it (cigarettes) or p it up a wall…

What grates on me is people who plead absolute poverty and then spend a fortune (thousands) on something like a holiday or new car.

She's buying her kids cancer causing junk food so she can on buying them addictive mind junk for Christmas. Yeah judging hard, shit lazy foolish parenting.

Well you have a lovely time doing just that SuperGreens, that's exactly what OP wanted, a fellow frother.

Where you get off on calling supermarket brands cancer-causing I don't know, many people buy them, but I expect the OP's story has piqued your outrage what with pizza and nuggets.

I recognise goady when I see it.

FFS leave this 'friend' alone. If she was getting into enormous debt to buy her children their ideal Christmas gifts, it might be a different matter, but she's evidently saving on food money to afford these presents. You sound snobby and judgmental and I'm glad you're not a friend of mine.

Food is obviously really important and a priority. It’s a shame because a lot of the healthiest food can be the cheapest - but only if you have time to prepare it.

She is at least showing her kids that if you want some thing, you may have to make sacrifices elsewhere.

The link between ultra processed food and ill health is well established. Do the children understand their health is being sacrificed. Are they even old enough to comprehend what some adults dont seem to.
www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/28/ultra-processed-food-32-harmful-effects-health-review

What a dickhead comment.

No sharing consoles in my house. If you don't game then you won't get it.

Not sure why she's going to Smyths for them like if she's paying cash. There are cheaper options, especially if she wants 3. It's a bit weird

So she's cutting down on food costs to buy GIFTS FOR HER CHILDREN. Not splurging on herself. What's the problem ?