How will you make savings to pay for energy bills.

My mother was a shocking housekeeper, tea was always beans
on toast or a boiled egg and toast and I can't stand the smell of tomato soup even today. My parents were hardworking class
but liked the bingo and mother had her hair done once a week.
They mismanaged money. My sister and I have memories of
always waiting for bits of school uniform. It seems life never
changes. However we both pulled ourselves out , learnt to cook and had good careers. Poverty can be overcome.

volver

GagaJo

It's also possible to make porridge more nutritious by grating in veg. I do it with carrots for my DGS.

As a good Scot the thought of porridge with carrots is making me feel ill...

Yes, at first porridge with carrots does sound a bit odd, but then I remembered that I've actually had carrot cake overnight oats and they were absolutely delicious!

Oldnproud

|Quote

DickensSat 02-Apr-22 20:03:17

Franbern

Still, all these many decades later (and in a different economic condition), I still worry if I think I hear a noise of a machine starting to break down. Will stay with me for the rest of my life!!!

I know that feeling too well.

Oh, and me too.!

My biggest reaction is with cars. Over the years, they have been by far the most worrisome thing.

I only have to hear (or imagine I might have heard) an irregular sound from any part of the car and I quite literally start shaking like a leaf and feeling sick.

I’m like that when the phone rings ( I still have a landline). My first reaction is that something awful has happened.

Someone on here said about grating carrot into mince dishes eg chilli so I’ve been doing that for ages. I now use a small amount of mince and add green lentils.

Still, all these many decades later (and in a different economic condition), I still worry if I think I hear a noise of a machine starting to break down. Will stay with me for the rest of my life!!!

Franbern we had a joke in this family that if ever we had to replace something that broke, the washing machine would then break down!!

It wasn't really a very funny joke though

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MissAdventure

Have you heard of the olio app?
You advertise food which will be wasted or needs using quickly, and interested people can come and pick it up, or you can leave it out.

Strictly no money must change hands, and the person who wants it has to come and collect it.

People come up with all sorts of lovely recipes to use their haul, and post pics of the cooked article.



I gave away 12 jars of beetroot (long story)

No I hadn’t MissAdventure, that sounds a really good idea. I’ve already got enough rhubarb to feed 10 families, so I’ll have a look. There aren’t any community gardens where I am, and the allotments are small plots of land with about 12 allotments on each, so those don’t seem to be options here.

Oh yes, it's definitely worth a look.
It's such a good idea, this sharing lark.
Some shops are part of it, too, and sometimes people will say they have a lot of Tesco products.

I think possibly they pick them up from the shop to give out.

It's entirely up to the giver to decide how they hand stuff out - all at once or a couple of bits each asker.

I put my jars out on my back doorstep and my collector came early next day and took them all.

I would do more if I felt up to it.

Any time wasters are reported, and there are little goals you can reach which show how you're helping the planet.

... And if you cant afford to feed children dont have any.

Unfortunately, sometimes people have a child when they can afford to have one, but as they don't have a crystal ball which will tell them what the future might have in store in the next 14 or so years, they sometimes find it difficult to manage, what with things like Austerity, huge hikes in the cost of living and ridiculous rents, ya know?

Perhaps we should only allow the wealthy to breed - that would sort it. Although their offspring might not be too keen on doing some of the more menial jobs that would normally be done by the impoverished peasants...

So for those who help their grown children out by childminding or shopping, or whatever.
Should your grandchildren never have been born if your children can't manage without regular handouts?
You must remember to apply your high ideals to them, too.
Not nice, is it, when the same rules apply to you?
We can all give unwelcome advice, and be rude about it.

It isn't clever.

Perhaps we should only allow the wealthy to breed - that would sort it. Although their offspring might not be too keen on doing some of the more menial jobs that would normally be done by the impoverished peasants...

They could always increase immigration. But then, we're talking about the wealthy ruling class aka Tories. And they're anti immigration. What a conundrum!

Well, I could do the menial jobs, because they fit in with the fact that I have absolutely no support with my boy.
Of course, they don't pay much, so I may need a little bit of help (you know, less than a lot of grown up parents are given by their families)

Then you can all complain about what a useless, lazy, grasping woman I am.

Hang on.......

DaisyAnne

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Just to be clear, DaisyAnne, I am not 'against people who are living in poverty' nor am I attacking them. What ridiculous things to say. Honestly, the level of overreaction on these threads is something to behold. People get themselves wound up over perceived injustices where none exist. Then accuse others of winding them up.

Some of us are trying to make the point there are various levels of poverty from the genuinely needy through to those who are unable to budget due to their own bad money management. Most people agree it is bad management to spend £30 on acrylic nails when you can't give your children something to eat before they go to school. Well, maybe that's not their fault, they just don't know how to work out their finances, but the schools should be teaching teenagers how to run a household budget. It should be an absolute essential along with reading, writing and arithmetic.

Yes it should.
No more bank of mum and dad, as it's come to be known.
We'll all be living within our means.

I’ve been thinking about the OP’s question.
At first I thought of the little things that I am doing to cut energy bills. Then I realised that whatever extra I do will, actually, not make a lot of difference to anything because I’m not a wasteful person to start with.
So I will put my head over the parapet and say that I won’t be doing anything and I won’t be worrying about paying bills because I can pay them even if I don’t want to.
I’ve done my days of making leek and potato soup towards the end of the month, going out to work in the evenings when my DH got home to look after the children.
I even had a visit from the TV licence man after we moved to Devon. The previous owners had a TV , we couldn’t afford one so didn’t have the licence. I invited him in and told him that if he could find a set we would happily pay?. He was very nice, believed me and left.
So, I think that I have paid my dues and am just glad that after a long working life ( still working part time and paying a bit of tax now) I am sure that I/we will be fine.
I am, however concerned for those who have not been able to provide a comfortable retirement or those young people who are finding it really hard.
The young have so much more to do without than we did and so many more stresses I think. We may not have had much but most people didn’t , we weren’t bombarded with advertising and media that kept telling us that we deserve it!

I am a volunteer at a food bank, and am concerned that donations will fall as people try to pay higher bills for so much. In my experience, the donors are not the wealthy.

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Chestnut

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I agree a lot more practical skills need to be taught in schools. I hadn't a clue how to budget when I was younger and had to learn the hard way.
So many people can't cook simple meals anymore either which is fine when times are good but when you need to tighten your belt a bit of meal planning can be a good way of saving a bit.

Chocolatelovinggran

I am a volunteer at a food bank, and am concerned that donations will fall as people try to pay higher bills for so much. In my experience, the donors are not the wealthy.

I think those who donate to food banks will still do it, in spite of the huge hikes in the cost of living. The ethos behind 'the widow's mite' is a strong characteristic. I hope so anyway.

What, in your opinion as a volunteer, are the most needed foodstuffs?

Dickens, I think that you are right - most donors will carry on, perhaps donating a little less often. Food of every sort is always welcome, but most of our clients are looking for toiletries, too- deodorant, razors, and shower gel are important for self esteem, and for job interviews!

My worry is that more and more people will be forced to depend on food banks, and even if donations continue at the same rate as now there just won’t be enough donated to go round.

Skydancer

I was once given the advice When you are short of money dont find a way to cut back but find a way to make more. I followed this advice ever since by taking on part-time jobs as well as my main job and by buying and selling things. There is so much work around. Some people put no effort in to improve their situations. Also Freecyle offers lots of good stuff so you dont need to buy new. And if you cant afford to feed children dont have any.

That final sentence is one of the most monumental stupid ones I have read for sometime,.

When hubbie and me planned our family, he was progressing in an excellent career, high qualifications. We were just a normally hard-up of any middle class family living on one salary.

We had a lovely house and ran a car, and our six children were all born into those circumstances.

When hubbie got diagnosed with MS - and found it impossible to get any employment - despite his work being totally desk bound (no disabled access or employment protection back then), that is when the hard times began and continued.

So, what were we supposed to do about our children, Skydancer?

After months of saving, I managed to put down a deposit for a new composite door to replace our very old, draughty single glazed front door. I noticed that the window in our master bedroom has been letting in cold air so has seal it properly.

I hope by doing this, our house will be able to retain more heat.

Seriously thinking about buying a small tv for the spare bedroom. Nowadays, I usually turn off the heating at about 8pm, it is just too cold to be sitting on my own to watch the telly in the living room at night.

Will continue donating to the Foodbank whenever I went shopping at Morrison.

Franbern That final sentence is one of the most monumental stupid ones I have read for sometime
You may not agree with Skydancer's comment but do you have to be so rude and unpleasant? No wonder people leave these boards and don't come back.

Honestly, how many times over the last 24 hours have we had "rude" "unpleasant" and "nasty", always directed at people standing up for themselves and telling the really rude, unpleasant and nasty people that they are wrong?

Just as well I'm not a suspicious person seeing plots everywhere, isn't it?