Oh goody another ST journalist whinging about not being able to afford Waitrose anymore

[emkana]

this type of article always brings me out in a rash even though she is slightly more self=aware than others

See, ready, there is no public transport out here.

So if we couldn't afford to run the car, we would have to move.

As for being in the red, it's a reality for many.

You stop getting so upset about it after a while and just go with it. There's not much you can do about it, anyhow.

There seems to be not a lot of middle ground anymore, you are either struggling to get by and rolling in it.

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sorry that should be "or" rolling in it

on the other hand, we moved to this area because we were unable to afford the rent and council tax and bills in the city without going even more into the red.

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the bus has a cover over it, oops! that's no bad thing.

I know what she means but i'm afraid the "I know many children who have become the first in their families to go to a state secondary" ambience is not exciting to read..

like i said, i never let myself get complacent!

the other day, we were down about things, so we went for a drive.

we wound up in this 'town' that made our village look like Glasgow.

oh man!

one's definition of hell can always be worse1

haahaa. my dad and his siblings were the first to go to secondary school at all in his family!

Quite. And for most of us public transport is so bloody expensive. Not practical for us as most haulage shifts begin/end at daft o'clock, and are 14hrs long on average, more if there's a pile up. most of the yards round here would require either 2 buses, or a loooong 2mile + walk, by that point the day is reaching 20 hours, and dh would be shattered.

Have been homeless and through the system. We'd be in the s**t now if it wasn't for hb. are still alsmot in it as jobcentre have decided not to pay us anything after dh lost his job (there's a right and wrong way to get sacked apparantly

We've reached a point where we don't want to see what bad news the post brings. Credit crunch seems to be bring about a job crunch too. Has been 3 months now, and the haulage industry still isn't really hiring, but letting go. dh drinking what we can't afford through worry then being vile.

Have reached a point where I almost don't want to know, I'll just stagger from day to day.

waitrose do a really nice own brand pesto, it's same price as tescos one, and about the only item i buy in waitrose!

Lots of the our child is the 1st to go to state schools round here in parts. these bloody toffs lowering the tone of the state schools.

The muggers round here will be talking in a plummy accent next

That's the other thing this 'green' hoopla doesn't really address.

I care about the environment, but I think green taxes are a con because there's never the corresponding investment in making public transport a viable, cost-effective alternative for so many.

Also I laugh when I hear people say, 'Well, I don't own a car so it won't affect me'.

And they forget how the cost of their food will go up everytime the tax on fuel does, and everything they buy that's brought in by lorry or plane.

Also, fuel poverty doesn't just affect the elderly.

It affects tens of thousands of children of the poor.

southern electric offer a means tested tarriff if you are on benefits or spending a certain %age of your income on fuel. Have spent the last couple of months trying to get them to process my details so I can go on it. Meanwhile I am still getting letters threatening to cut me off. Computer generated bastard things.

I wish there were such a thing in Scotland, ready!

it's cold tonight.

i have some tatties and tomatoes to sow in a growbag, but i need to wait till there's no danger of frost.

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Ask them. my housing officer from the HA didn't know it existed, nor did my HV.

Have plenty of seeds to sow in the garden, but need to get out there first, bit difficult as dd2 is still full of cold and struggling to feed. Also need to keep dc's off the garden once planted but that is another problem. Could you not start the toms off in yogurt pots on a windowsill?

Had snow yest, and some on the ground first thing today, and it's cold now. Have enormous vents in the walls for the antique boiler, cannot wait to have it upgraded 'in the next 3-4 years' the HA cheerfully said when I asked about it.

I wouldn't mind, but everytime i go into the council offices in town inside is swealtering. It might be freezing outside, but inside the staff are in shirt sleeves. And my coucil tax has increased by HOW MUCH???

I suppose one tiny positive thing about the finance crunch is there will at least be fewer articles about how luvverly it is to 'downsize' and stop working so hard (when it's only really an option to downsize when you have a paid-for home and plenty of spare income...)

and not being able to afford a £70. bed, at the drop of a hat.
get real.

Oh boo hoo @ Pizza Express the wrong side of £50...

Loving, loving, loving Dracula quoting Lenin (or was that plagiarising the comments on the site ) Time to rejoin the class-war, girls!

If it were a bit more tongue in cheek self-mockery, I'd have some sympathy. As it is, she just needs a slap.

'With boarding school costing more than £20,000 a year out of taxed income and day schools about £12,000, I know many children who have become the first in their families to go to a state secondary.'

FFS.

I am a middle-class journalist, ffs - I obviously know rather different people from Eleanor's mob, though.