The Winter of Discontent #2 Food, energy, transport, jobs, housing etc

[marjan]

The first gas & electrics company here in the Netherlands has been declared bankrupt today because of the absurd price increases

 

[smellsofbiscuits]

[/QUOTE]

potentially controversial here but I find the mentality in regards to the war in this country really bizarre. Everyone's always like "we were okay in the war/everyone these days is too soft/the people today would never have lived through the war/our war hero ancestors would be laughing at us, they all just got on with it". But that's subjective. If you were a kid evacuee who ended up with an abusive family, if someone you loved went off to fight and died or just never came back you would be suffering. I'm sure there were plenty of people during the war years who struggled, and whinged. In the same vain, that Germans under the Nazi's actually faired quite well, in particular, women, they got paid a decent amount of money providing they had lots of kids and followed the 3 C's (now fully aware that this isn't okay but if you consider it in 1930s context, that's what women were expected to do anyway.) Jews, on the other hand, would have a very different story about how world war Germany was for them.

Completely agree. Also, burglaries and sexual assaults rose during the Blackout. Hardly Blitz spirit, eh?

On a lighter note, I do wonder if my gran was the inspiration for Wee Betty from Chewing the Fat as I believe she had quite a grand time

 

[Littleelf]

Cost of living is making me so nervous. My husband and I are employed (I am a social worker, he is a civil servant) and thankfully both jobs are secure, Bht no chances of any pay rises for us in the near future (and hasn’t been anything notable for years!). I work horrific hours and the pandemic has been really really hard, we are short staffed and fatigued. I work on adult mental health which you can imagine is just getting busier and busier and harder and harder.

we are maxed out monthly bill wise. We don’t gk out, we don’t really order takeaways, just on sim onlyphone contracts…butalways overdrawn. Tons of debt on various credit cards etc (0% interest but largebalances so large monthly payments and a large Loan for the card and to repair subsidence we had that wasn’t covered by insurance). The loan is low interest but payments still high.
Just feel like bills are insane and they can’t be reduced further, and cost of the shop is riding and rising.

i am due our second child in March…and am frightened of how we will manage on maternity pay. But the idea of leaving my baby in childcare earlier than the 9 monthsi did with my first is really upsetting…and to go back to a job which is just hammering me and exhausting me.

life just feels like a slog!! Work work work and still tears and worry all the time about money and feel so sad that I cant ‘spoil’ us and go out for lunch or buy the toy my son wants in Tesco. We have a small house which feels like we are bursting out of now we are prepping for number 2…rhe Future is frightening!!

I feel you!!!

I'm worried about the cost of living and the future. My partner is being made redundant in May, at least he has been told and we have time to prepare but its still a huge worry. He has a lot of debt which has high monthly payments, bills are only rising each month it seems. Food is getting worse and worse. His car didn't pass its mot this week and it'll cost more to repair than its worth so its been scrapped, so now we have no car. Thankfully his dad is going to get us a cheap run around for the time being but its awful to have to rely on eldery parents to help us out when we are adults ourselves! Our garden fence has blown down yesterday so thats another expense that we just don't need.

I'm on maternity leave now baby no2 due in 2 weeks time. Thankfully my maternity pay is pretty good, full pay for 6 months.

We live in a tiny two bed which we own, but no way we will able to move for a least another year. Realistically we won't be able to until I go back to work in 2023 so we are stuck here really. This house is bursting at the seams already and needs so much doing to its its in a bad state!

We are so lucky in many ways, and I know we have many things that some people wish that they had. But we are really only one or two bad months away from loosing it all honestly and it scares the hell out of me! Im trying my best to put money aside and prepare for the future because I really think we are in for a rough ride

 

[Reverend]

Oh yeah it has definitely always been around. All the hymns back then were about the poor being poor because God chose it. I was more talking about the modern reality TV side of it - endless programmes and people watching out of some weird curiously. We had a chance for attitudes to change but sadly it has steadily got worse.

Mother Theresa thought that the poor being poor was 'beautiful'.

 

[Warpaint]

How come there's a shortage of Chef's at the moment? Is it because it's a stressful job and since the pandemic people thought fuck it?

 

[IngressUK]

Diesel prices have gone up loads, 144 in tesco

Petrol prices in my local area.

Prices pre panic buying were:

Unleaded: 129.7p
Diesel: 132.7p

Prices pre panic buying were:

Unleaded: 131.8p
Diesel: 134.8p

All people have manage to succeed in unnecessarily doing is to push prices artificially higher. For which we ALL lose out.

 

[avisina78]

I agree. We are so wasteful and consumer driven as a society it is actually sickening. (I fully include myself in this.)

Yep, we put want over need. I'm trying to live by need atm, 2nd week in and I'm already a little better off (this includes cutting out junk food during the week and allowing myself and the kids 2 treats on the weekends, not only is it healthier, it's kinder on my wallet). We cut off Sky and don't need a TV licence anymore. So are £36 better off there too.

 

[IngressUK]

I remember it being 99p, would of been around 20 years ago

It was last year too.

Caused by the then rising covid pandemic, pre vaccination. Most people weren't going anywhere and so demand for petrol and diesel fell through the floor. Fuel companies were sitting on massive reserves they couldn't shift fast enough, thus the price dropped.

Fuel is a price volatile product, with prices highly dictated by supply and demand. This is why I have been somewhat angry with people panic buying it. Their actions have just caused a price spike, for which we are still suffering from, even now - not to mention causing unnecessary shortages for those that genuinely did need to fill up.

 

[IngressUK]

I went to fill up on Tuesday and was really shocked at the prices. I believe diesel was 145.9 and unleaded 142.9

If people hadnt of panic bought fuel, we would now be seeing prices in the 131-137p range for standard (not premium) fuel. Whilst not brilliant, it would have still been an improvement on the 141p+ we are seeing now.

Last year when the pandemic was in full flow and people weren't going anywhere, I managed to fill up on Diesel at ASDA for 99p a litre!

 

[Lindylou]

So either there’s a crisp shortage I know nothing about or my Asda is having its latest staff crisis and didn’t get the stock out last night. Pom bears and hula hoops for this over 50’s household!,

 

[Saddlesoap]

Wouldnt the pump for the boiler be electric? I've noticed new builds don't have gas and gas cookers seem to be on the decline.

My new build estate has gas. Our house is 4yo, but even the ones he is still building have gas hobs.

Can someone please tell me the facts? As I’ve already stated, I’m very anxious about what is going on currently.

I am panicking badly. The articles about lack of food, industry potentially having to shut down. What can I do?

I want to be prepared now. Is there anything I should buy to be prepared? Matches, more candles, blankets, batteries, torches, tinned food, camping gas stove? Please help?


Please can you post the link to this? I’d like to read so I know exactly how bad things could potentially get.

Ignore the newspapers. They do nothing but incite panic and perpetuate fear. I genuinely do not think blackouts are going to happen.

Buy a couple of extra bags of pasta or noodles next time you are at the supermarket. Maybe some tins of soup. Pop them at the back of your cupboard and forget about them.

 

[under the ivy]

The idea with DD (in my usage anyway) is to build up my amount over Summer when the heating is off so you get a surplus in Winter to ‘use’. This has never been the case though. It’s not like I could say ‘I don’t owe you anything this month as I’m enough in credit to cover it’ - it just doesn’t work like that. The credit thing seems mythical!

 

[Purrrrrrr]

Are people seriously buying candles?

Living in the countryside the candles are a must. if the power went out at night how will you get through it? I have torches, candles, battery lights, I have the candles already where they need to be and lighters near them.

 

[hollowcrown]

You may not agree.

However there are an awful lot of hypocrites out there.

They'll take to Facebook and Twitter on their Apple products (all active tax avoiders) to protest about tax avoidance.

They'll also do their shopping on Amazon (another tax avoider), be seen drink pricey coffees from Starbucks and Caffè Nero (both tax avoiders).

This is where the hypocrisy lies. You can't bang on about tax avoidance, if you willingly purchase products and services from the companies guilty of it.

 

[CatCafe234]

Posted this two days go in another thread.Amazon moving into housing.

Amazon’s New ‘Factory Towns’ Will Lift the Working Class

Plentiful new jobs at higher wages in places with cheaper housing sounds like a solution to inequality.

www.bloomberg.com

I can’t read the article (it’s paywalled) but to me that feels like Amazon doing the same thing to housing that they’ve done with everything else - trying to control a market to get to a point where they can name their price. I live near a town that’s potentially getting a big Amazon warehouse and there’s a lot of genuine concern about what will happen to wages since the town has lost some major employers recently. It doesn’t look like Amazon are offering ‘good’ employment or objectively ’good’ wages, it has the feel of vulture capitalism and Amazon taking advantage of what is already a slightly depressed area.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Just popped into our local bakery & they’ve got a half page word document detailing the reasons for their upcoming price increases and shortages, I feel so sorry for them as it’s largely staffed by young girls (daughters of the owners & their mates by looks of it!) and they do get a lot of abuse. Imagine the 500 word think piece is in anticipation of that

 

[rainbowlemon]

Second time I've seen someone trying to steal something from Aldi in less then 3 weeks.

Also on a side note inflation in Pakistan is also at a 70 year high running at 9%.

Pakistan's inflation rate is the fourth highest in the world: report (geo.tv)

Argentina at 51%

 

[Jc456]

Anyone watching dispatches? It’s about how kids growing up in poverty and how they will be effected by the £20 cut

I'm watching. We are a "disadvantaged" family. My kids are behind at school, struggle socially

 

[hollowcrown]

With prices increasing, inflation coming in, and landlords and property prices refusing to drop, the economy is bound to crash soon.

 

[Doctor_Wibble]

Agree we need to consume less, buy more second hand etc but as someone with a low income all our clothes are fast fashion but worn for a long time. I spend less than £200 on clothes a year

A needle and thread have made a huge difference to my clothing budget over the years. Enough of a difference that I now have more than one needle and more than one colour of thread