Le Mouse wrote:This month will be painful money-wise: I was paid on 20th December and won't be paid again until 28th January. Like jansman, my income declined last year so what I have left now Christmas is over is a lot less than this time last year.
Which got me wondering about widespread UK food poverty being likely this month.
By our very nature we preppers are somewhat protected from this situation, but the less far-sighted families are I fear going to be really suffering come the middle of January.
Add to that the distinct risk of some more truly foul weather and I think more people than ever will be wishing they were better prepped.
There are a lot of people out there who live on special offers, who are preppers in all but name really, it is a sign of the times when more go down this road, just shy of food banks, of course you can bet there are some going to food banks and still having foreign holidays, or spending a fortune on beer and fags many things that are to some essentials look like luxuries to others, internet/TV/phone packages are a fine example, having a car in the first place can be as unthinkable to some as not having one is to others, now that we've globalised and gone everything online, being skint is a whole different story, we're over dependent now on things we should be able to manage without.
I have a strategy, it's not written in stone, nor can it be, this scenario has too many variables, everything about it depends on those variables, being specific is not possible.
I agree with you there. Getting back to basics is something that a lot of folks are having to learn the hard way and I'm sure it must be so demoralizing to feel that you can't keep up with the crowd you think you should be a part of. How do we tell them that this is not a new situation and thousands of people are in it with them? It always feels new and hard to the folks going through it.
I look at bright and cheerful magazines and would love to buy them but I know that I can't really afford them. There are so many bright and almost 'bling' things that we are constantly being told we should have...even worse is having to tell children that they can't have them. Too many peer group forces at work here and controlled by avaricious salesmanship. Maybe we should be stronger but a huge wall of consumerism is a hard fight to win for most people.
Having said that...food is not a wish but a necessity. I know the country has an obesity problem but starvation is no way to deal with it.
Education might work better and be fairer. I feel that perhaps schools could fit a new subject into their curriculum..."Basics".
For me it has just hit three years of very low paid work and not being able to work full time due to health My mothers pension and my income just doe's not cover cost as my mother has health problems as well and feels the cold so cutting down on heating is not really a choice. I have done a 5 day meat shop to tide me over(mother will only eat fresh meat not tins) and fainted at the price. So have decided to go semi vegetarian only trouble is that I have no idea how to prepare vegetarian food having been a meat person all my life and I really don't want to buy prepared veggie food. Have looked at some recipes but they seem very complicated so expect loads of question on the recipe area folks
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junmist wrote:For me it has just hit three years of very low paid work and not being able to work full time due to health My mothers pension and my income just doe's not cover cost as my mother has health problems as well and feels the cold so cutting down on heating is not really a choice. I have done a 5 day meat shop to tide me over(mother will only eat fresh meat not tins) and fainted at the price. So have decided to go semi vegetarian only trouble is that I have no idea how to prepare vegetarian food having been a meat person all my life and I really don't want to buy prepared veggie food. Have looked at some recipes but they seem very complicated so expect loads of question on the recipe area folks
I'll start a thread in the recipe section for easy veggie recipes.
It's actually not terribly easy to get food from a food bank. They're usually referral only, from people who can see what a person's income actually is. Also many people are limited in the number of food parcels they can get, so they might only get a few a year amounting to maybe a one or two's food.
Many people are in food and fuel poverty already. The numbers needing food banks have increased drastically since April. Benefits and wages aren't keeping pace with inflation. Those paid by central government have only seen a 1% pay rise in the last year, despite food going up by 4% I believe I heard on BBC news a while back. And just today I heard a rep from a train company saying that the price of train season tickets are fixed by govenment, after people had been complaining that prices were increasing by more than wages.
There is a scheme to help get a renewable set up for your home, with the costs coming out of future bills (ie as your bill drops as you're not using power from the grid the difference is used to pay back for the set up). I did some research but much of it has fallen out of my head. I know you can find information on gov.uk.
Meat is the most expensive part of the diet but as an ex-vegetarian I know my health is better from eating meat daily. I tend to make sure that I buy for the best prices I can and make best use of what I buy. For example we regularly have chicken thighs. I save all the bones until I have enough to half fill my slow cooker. I then make stock. Stock from scratch like this supplies a certain amount of protein and protein sparing amino acids. I also sometimes get marrow bones from the butcher. I can often make three rounds of beef stock with one bone, which again provides protein into the diet.
steviesun wrote:
And just today I heard a rep from a train company saying that the price of train season tickets are fixed by govenment, after people had been complaining that prices were increasing by more than wages.
To be exact, .Gov set the maximum average increase.
This means that the train companies can put up some fares by an even higher percentage as long as they reduce or hold others...... The main problem with that is the ones they drop are the ones nobody really uses.
My 7 day season has risen from £15.20 to £15.80, which means I'm now only saving 20p compared to buying five day returns.
jennyjj01 wrote:"I'm not in the least bit worried because I'm prepared: Are you?"
Londonpreppy wrote: At its core all prepping is, is making sure you're not down to your last sheet of loo roll when you really need a poo.
Food and fuel poverty is real, and here.I read that the Trussell trust (the food bank people) fed 60,000 folks in the 2 weeks up to Christmas.
My neighbour, a newly qualified teacher, told me he is struggling. Icommented on the smoke from his chimney. He told me he finds it cheaper to heat the room with the fire, and central heating an hour before bed and before getting up.this is a fella who earns relatively ( to me anyway) good money. I get a lot of wood the yanks call "uglies", stuff that won't split for the stove. But it goes on an open fire. So I shall let him have them. You can never have too many friends.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.
Robert Frost.
Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.
many things that are to some essentials look like luxuries to others, internet/TV/phone packages are a fine example, having a car in the first place can be as unthinkable to some as not having one is to others, now that we've globalised and gone everything online, being skint is a whole different story, we're over dependent now on things we should be able to manage without.
so expect loads of question on the recipe area folks
