To have frugality fatigue. (Cost of living.)

[KnopkaPixie]

Just that really. To do so well with finances for nearly a month then get an unexpected expense out of left field, pretending that lentil dahl is absolutely delicious, to have signed up to do surveys on YouGov and the rest and have made sod all, can't work any more hours, can't cut costs any more, can't claim anything off the state and to be kicking myself for not saving more when I had the chance. Just a moan really.

I never wanted to be that kind of miserable gît that resents every penny or knows, "The cost of everything but the value of nothing" But that's the way the value brand cookie is not crumbling right now.

Perhaps a bit woo but sometimes I wonder whether a real poverty mindset becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and perhaps a more speculate to accumulate mentality might do me better? Not any manifesting flapdoodle but just an idle thought.

It was suggested to improve the lentil recipe. But of course resulted in a total over reaction.... typical of MN.

The thread isn't about lentils.

Give it a break. It’s an open chat forum, stop being a police and being rude to people who just wants to help a bit. It’s unnecessary.

How about aim that at the countless other posters who have said the same thing. It's not cooking tips people are after here.

Yes freezing everything has been a bit of a revelation to me. Things I never thought of freezing like cheese (grated), fresh veg (now chopped/sliced, bagged, in the freezer) and it’s greatly reduced slimy bits stuck in the back of the fridge. There’s minimal waste in my house, I just can’t afford to throw away food.

I do need to get labels though lol.

I’m so sorry to hear that in 2024 in a first world country people are struggling to have enough food to eat.

The only advice I can offer is to sign up to a brilliant survey website called Prolific Academic. The surveys are interesting and well paid, nothing like YouGov. You can make a tidy amount of cash, I made £100 last month.

I used to work extra as a secret shopper. I got to buy things in shops or go out to restaurants and eat.

Labels and to write down on a piece of paper everything you have in the freezer. That way it’s easy to have a quick look and see if you can put together a meal of what you have and not forget anything.

The trouble is OP speculating to accumulate is a luxury only people with plenty of spare money can really do (imho). I know some people just seem to have a knack of turning a tenner into a grand and onwards and upwards from there, born entrepreneurs I suppose (or born privileged). Unfortunately I don’t have that entrepreneurial flair.

Sorry , the ice on my lap top prevented me from spelling correctly.

Well guess what neurodiversity, I am a medical doctor too. And I thought my coconut milk suggestion was quite good. What speciality are you in?

Context here is everything, over several pages similar unhelpful suggestions eg: adding fresh corriander, cumin and mushrooms to the dahl had been made and the OP had explained that she was an experienced cook but had parred everything down as far as possible and was left with just the very basic ingredients. Other posters then continued to talk about spices, going to Asian supermarkets etc, other posters explained that the money for spices might be needed elsewhere, that cooking it for a longtime is expensive etc.

Then after maybe 6 pages of this the poster suggests coconut milk. IRL if somene had repeatedly explained it was not the skills or knowledge that they lacked but the basic resources and some one had then suggested that there difficulties were due to lack of knowledge. I would have been pretty fed up and annoyed with them.

As I said I have worked with families close to the poverty line for 25 years, it infuriates me when mostly people who have never had to or only have brief experience of living on very limited resources have the audacity to tell poor people they are somehow " doing poverty wrong". People who have lived experience of entrenched poverty know how to spend their money to get the most bang for their buck having had to do it for years and years. It reminds me of these useless Tory polictians living for a week on the minimum wage.

That or the Pulp song. Clueless.

Is that what you tell your patients when they come to youasking for a foodbank refferal ?

Do you also ask patients struggling to lose weight whether they have considered having carrot sticks as a snack ?

Given the rest of the thread it was tone deaf.

There is an ‘eat for £1 a day’ group on Facebook, loads of cheap meal ideas shared there x

I work in acute medicine in hospital so don’t deal with foodbank referrals.
Using coconut milk in dhal is not a silly suggestion when it can be bought for 79p as per pp and adds calories/taste.

I think we chalk this one up to healthy professional difference.

Maybe no suggestions only empathy is best in this forum.

Taxing landlords and assets isn't the solution - 2% would raise £150 a year on a house on LHA in our area. So someone who is already struggling will see a rent rise of £3 a week because LLs won't be absorbing it. Yet more unintended consequences.

It would help if the government could define working people before saying they won't be hit by rises. If 90% of your income comes from PAYE and you own one rental, are you a working person? If you're a small business owner who employs 6 people and takes dividends, are you a working person?

I don't think OP had Dhal issues.

Well done for the worst post of the day. So early too.

I do this the first Sunday of the month
Write down what we have and meal plan around the freezer that week.

As we go through I cross out what we have used. Stops the finding things a year later problem and encouraging me to use what we have. This is especially a good idea if like me you are a yellow sticker shopper and have all sorts of random bits in there

Oh give over. They're exactly right.

This is really well researched. If you are brought up in very poor conditions and hungry as a child the 'fear' never leaves you. Even self made millionaires who were poor worry about being poor again.
If you were brought up affluent and become poor you always believe you can turn it around and will not stay poor. It basically not something you worry about if you were not poor as a child.

The post is about how having to make continual decisions around affording food and not having any choices grinds you down. It's not about a comparison with absolute poverty in other societies. We don't define poverty in terms of 6 dollars a day in the west. We use measures around being able to participate in society and have some discretion in how we live. To respond 'there's people worse off' misses the point and is a shit thing to say. It perpetuates the normalising of these situations too.

OP - apologies, not read the whole thread but have you got a community fridge near you? Ours has an amazing variety of food which is fairly shared in the twice weekly sessions. No need to sign up, not means tested, totally anonymous. It's all about saving food waste.
It won't get you out of your situation but food choices may bring a little more joy to your world. I do wish you all the best