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

[dancingqueen5678]

I think these basic things like energy should be in the hand of the public. Of course there is going to be other issues, funds mismanagement, etc, but the idea that we'll all be in the hands of shareholders' interests when it comes to our basic needs scares the crap out of me.

The same with water. I understand why we need to pay for it as it needs treatment before we consume it but there’s a bit of me that thinks… water is a basic human right

 

[fireflies]

I use zero based budgeting and find meal planning really helps. I've gone off track with my meal planning at the moment and spending far too much on food

I do similar although don't always do zero i leave a small buffer in current accounts.

Things that helped me.

We have 2 bank accounts.
1 salary and bills so anything direct debit/ pay over phone or regular bank transfer like kids activities.

Write list if bills in date order and place somewhere on wall in planner or even notes on phone so for us we get paid 30th every month.

We have couple bills that go out on 30th most on 1st and a few on the 2nd.

We have 3 random odd bills

3rd, 20th and 27th to the value of £43 .

So we totally up all the bills each month.
We then take salary deduct total bills and any debt payments from salary amount.
Whats left we transfer to our variable spending account for food / clothes/ home / miscellaneous.

I have 3rd account child benefit paid into 4weekly only benefit we entitled to.
That pays any kids expenses/ bit of food/ haircuts/ pocket money.
So we budgeting our 3 older kids to manage their money.

We have 2 small credit cards we use petrol/ food and husband fags.
We pay them back off to 0 every pay day we mostly use them so we can free up money to pay more off the larger credit card that we are paying interest on.

I tried to set up emergency fund this year but spent it.
I tried to save for xmas again and failed as so many other bills came up.
Its been an expensive year.

I meal plan. I wrote strict shopping lists.
I buy mostly 2nd hand clothes.
I shop around buying offers and own brand sometimes do 5 or 6 different shops per month.

Non food so cleaning/ pets and toiletries i get from wilkos/ savers / b& m,one below and home bargains

I really like marks and Spencer cleaning sprays £1.
Method only every buy when on offer
Lilds or aldi sometimes do cleanology on special which I bulk buy.

Snacks and random food home bargains and b&m.
Mobile butchers and greengrocers is cheap locally.
Main food shop aldi or lids.
I go to the bigger chains for offers/ reductions and things I can't get on the others.

I batch cook meals and freeze.
I often plan meals around reductions ir lildls weekly meat and veg offers like 2m5k chicken fillets £10.99 padded out with veg i made 7 different meals that are in the freezer for nov.
My new thing since summer trying reduce grocery bill is batch cook month in advance so cook 12 to 20 meals for the following month .
We have 3 freezer I nearly always buy reduced bread.
We try and get reductions but its competitive its luck of draw if you there at the right time.

Had mixed experience on magic bags from the too good to go app.

 

[Purrrrrrr]

I agree there is way too much. I remember my uncle visiting from what was then communist controlled Poland in the early 80’s, and he cried when he saw all the options we had. Back then that wasn’t even half what there is now though.

While I’m glad there are more choices for vegetarians and vegans these days even that is now becoming overwhelming for me. I’d rather have a curated range of good quality produce than all the masses of stuff on the shelves now.

My cats however, the little one will hunt but my old girl happily sits next to birds in the garden and doesn’t even lift a paw … spoilt

When I was a kid we had only one type of crisp and that was plain with a twist of salt in it. We didn't have large shops then, just small shops. Tesco started up in our town and bought two shops and knocked it into one. If only we had known back then what monsters the supermarkets were going to become. I'm lucky at the moment as my local town is small with a market, butcher, bakers etc but more and more are closing.

 

[Onetwofour]

I am leaning towards the left and can't bear netflix, apple, facebook, amazon and co who are not paying their taxes. Actually I don't anyone in my circle that is ok with that. How condescending is it to think that people with different opinions are just doing what they are told? Critical thinking is not exclusive.

But I am getting used to see populist movements attacking people living in cities for all the ills of society instead of going after big corporations. Turning people against people instead of pointing the finger to those who are in charge to edictate laws to force companies to pay their fair share or highlighting the power of lobbies among the political class.

 

[Doctor_Wibble]

Sounds like we've discovered where all the crisps went!

 

[reCAPTCHA]

Are people seriously buying candles?

I am 41 and I vividly remember he excitement of a power cut in my childhood. Was fairly uncommon, but very exciting as a kid in Cornwall We would have a stash of candles as standard.

My 92 yr old MIL often tells me that she quite enjoyed the Second World War She has fond memories of running to the shelters with her little dog tucked under her arm.

 

[jackolantern]

I wonder which of us is going to hit the dreaded £1.50 first?

Been putting off ordering heating oil but we are down to our last dregs now. Price...

63.95 per litre. Nearly vomited. I'm not sure if it's ever been this high since we started buying oil 7 years ago and over the past 3 years at least definitely not.

May 19 - 50.55
Oct 19 - 48.25
Feb 20 - 46.95
Mar 20 - 35.80
May 20 - 24.95
Dec 20 - 34.95
Jan 21 - 39.99
Mar 21 - 42.49

I mentioned it in an earlier post but at the very start of the pandemic, we got 1000 litres for £249.50 (base price, not including VAT). Now it's costing us £319.75 for 500 (again base price). People tell you to budget better - budget better for what? Earning no more and paying more for half the amount you used to? How do you figure I budget better for that?

Jesus fucking wept.

 

[rainbowlemon]

Might be a conspiracy theory, but I believe Pepsico (owner of Walkers) started this shortage themselves to drive up demand like the BP whistleblower. Currently £17.99 for a box of 32 on Amazon.

I'll only get worried when the mince pies are affected.

 

[CatCafe234]

The thing with driving/car ownership that never gets properly mentioned is the issue of when you dont live in a major city or even a big town. Well it does, but only by those of us who have fuck all access to regular, frequent, useful public transport.

Where I live now there is one bus an hour to the nearest small town, once every 2 hours after 6pm. Then you change to get another bus to the towns where stuff/jobs/shops happen. Process takes at least an hour and a half, and costs minimum £12 return (if you are lucky). Not surprisingly all the teenagers learn to drive at 17, so they can drive to their zero hour jobs to pay for the cars they need to get a better job and/or see their friends.

When I used to live in London, I would barely drive, basically because I could get the tube or the the bus to where I wanted to be in less time at less cost and hassle than if I'd driven.

Very much this. I grew up in a rural area and buses were terrible - once you paid adult fares you’re looking at £12-15 for a return ticket to the nearest town and impossible timetables. The bus to the nearest town from village I grew up in would take an hour and a half to do a journey that you could do in a car in 20-25 mins, and the timetable was such that you’d arrive in the town at just past nine and either have to get back on the bus to go home right away or stay there for eight hours. That would just about work if you had a 9-5 job but if you worked shifts or odd hours then you were screwed, and the only option was to have a car. People also forget that things like supermarkets tend now to be built in out-of-town shopping areas that are really badly served by buses, so if you don’t want to have to pay a premium for groceries then you either need a car, or an internet connection so you can shop online (assuming you don’t live so rurally that places won’t even deliver …)

I went to university in London and was blown away by the frequency of buses and how easy it was to travel around - and how cheap it was! People tend to forget that there are huge parts of the country where you just don’t have the option to hop on a bus, and going even a short distance can take a huge amount of planning.

 

[Purrrrrrr]

We have power cuts fairly regularly that last hours at a time … not great if you built a smart house Even though our boiler is oil it still uses electric to ignite so no electric means no heating. Luckily we also put wood burners in our living rooms too. Growing up poor no electric was pretty common … anyone else remember putting 50p’s in the meter ? And I always knew if we’d run out of money when it was bread and jam for dinner

The only thing I’ve ever worried about running out of is pet food. I could live off the contents of my pantry for about a month but my girls are picky little felines so I confess I’ve bought an extra massive bag of their food. I buy my rabbits food by the sack anyway and they could live quite happily off the lawns alone

I think it all comes down to perspective. Yes, I’ve noticed there is less choice in the supermarkets these days, but did we really need 15 different types of pizza anyway ??

I think our supermarkets are a disgrace. do we need two isles of sweets, two for crips another two for soft drinks.. another two for bread and cakes So much goes to waste not even all the food banks and larders can use it all.

I hate trying to shop, way too much choice. it's overwhelming at times.

My cats are hunters so if my food for them runs out they won't starve.

 

[jackolantern]

Have you thought about getting an electric cycle?

Couldn't afford it, don't have the fitness, I work 45 minutes away (drive) and have multiple needs for a car (dogs, shopping, driving places with my partner etc). I also don't fancy cycling back from work at 7 at night in the pitch black pissing down rain in the throws of a Lake District winter. Not to mention hugely unsafe on 60+ roads. I could go on. Probably a very unrealistic thought for most adults I would think.

But thank you for the sentiment?

 

[veryfondoftea]

There's definitely planned obsolescence going on with products, marketing is pushing people to buy new phones every time their contract expires or upgrade ipads upon each release, and they stop doing software support for older versions but realistically some of these computers, phones, ipads could physically last much longer.

This is absolutely true. My mother in law has a laundry basket (plastic) that she has a photo of my husband, now aged 38 sat in when he was a baby. It's still going strong. I am on my third plastic laundry basket in my adult life, all I do is carry clothes in it! I swear things just aren't made to last anymore.

 

[whathastheworldcometo]

So the pig is killed, dismembered and eaten in the most gentle, most humane, most understanding way possible.

I’m sure the pig will be eternally grateful.

The pig won't be grateful to be eaten, but at least his live served a purpose compared to it being killed and discarded.

 

[Mark81]

I think to some degree shortages would do society good. We over consume so much

 

[JoeBloggs]

TfL are now mulling over a £3.50/£5.50 a day charge for driving within the M25, this is on top of the ULEZ and congestion charges. Plus a pay per mile driving charge. They are utterly greedy.

My parents live half a mile from the London border where this will apply. If they push it for the M25 I will have to pay to visit my parents. They are insane, they will basically segregated people, they won’t travel to the supermarket they will go to another one. I hope he doesn’t get this passed, I will have to pay to go to work everyday, less than 10 miles down the road.

 

[GobShyte64]

I did my food shop with Tesco on Monday, spent over £100 and used a voucher that I had to get £14 off. Shopping came, barely anything there and I'm running low on bits already. I cannot afford to spend £100 a week on food. I just cant.

 

[prozacprincess]

To be honest, and I’m probably gonna make myself sound really dumb here, but I barely understand what inflation is to begin with. Who decides whether it goes up or down? Just a silly man made concept designed to keep the paupers in their place it seems.

In simple terms it’s just the rate at which prices on goods have risen in comparison to the average wage. So if inflation rises you will need more of your wage to buy those goods.

Your not dumb for not understanding it. I did a degree in economic development and I still get confused by economic terms

 

[whathastheworldcometo]

There is one more thing I want to add:

Before the referendum it was all about: "we give money to the EU that could have gone to the NHS!"
Where is all of this money now and why doesn't it go to the NHS now?
Now it is: the NI increase is necessary to save the NHS.

 

[emmer_moans]

I am one step away from buying one of those wolf fleeces from the market to avoid putting heating on for a bit longer. In Mumsnet speak can I have a handhold

I've always said to my Mum, get help for me if I ever succumb to one of those Wolf Fleeces from the market However like you say, they are somewhat tempting now

 

[CatCafe234]

Sorry but I work in local government there is no “they” frankly no one is even that competent to even come up with that idea even if someone wanted.

I’m similar. I would bl**dy love to believe that there was some massive conspiracy about everything that’s happening at the moment because it would make the reality - that most of the leadership in local and national Government is just totally incompetent and self-interested - so much easier to swallow. Sadly it’s not the case, we are just governed by self-absorbed idiots who can’t see further than lining their own pockets.