The jobless are no shirking scroungers – you try living on £65.45 a week

lostinrates

ILW wrote: »

Big bags of frozen veg are about a pound in Iceland.
A bag of spuds is again around a quid.
Sausages whilst not great, but with the above are OK.
All about half the price of a McD and better for you.
About 30 mins to cook.
There really is no excuse for feeding your kids expensive rubbish.

TBF, doing a shop for a family on a bus can be really, really difficult, especially when shopping MSE-style..big bags, heavy frozen items. I agree with you, but its a situation I'm very glad I'm not in.

PasturesNew

As carolt pointed out, it's harder to benefit from bulk buying and cooking for a single. Also, many single people live in studio flats, no room for a freezer and it's often rented. Also, in a studio flat, your whole home stinks of whatever you cook, so you either smell of cabbage all the time, or limit your cooking to when you can have the windows wide open.

I used to "batch cook", then eat the same meal for four days in a row, but I was still limited to when I could open the windows to let the steam/smell out.

ceridwen

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I agree that it is possible but it isn't easy, especially if no-one has ever taught you to cook from scratch. I doubt that most of the people I know under the age of about 40 have much of a clue. Luckily, for once, I am older and had a thrifty and skilled cook for a stay-at-home mother and a grandmother to learn from. It appears that an awful lot did not

Well...actually...I've had very little of being taught how to cook. I remember a couple of very basic ideas indeed from cookery lessons at school many years ago. For the rest - I've taught myself. I've "picked the brains" of anyone halfway decent at cooking that I got within range of/I've tried out recipes galore from various sources and I've just plain bunged a few things in together that I thought might work and I have taught myself to cook - and am still doing so. So - I think the fact that one doesnt have anyone close to hand to teach cookery skills is far from insurmountable. So - I wasnt able to learn from relatives - but I've learnt how to be a pretty good cook regardless.

Having said that - with the best will in the world and buying the cheapest reasonable ingredients going - benefit money simply isnt enough to live on.

ceridwen

dave4545454 wrote: »

very true, it's very easy to live cheaply, i spend £3 a week on food

As my eyebrows have just descended after being raised to my hairline - you just have to explain how....:cool:

dopester

Blacklight wrote: »

People receiving benefits should be put to good use for their handout. Cleaning graffiti or something.

I can't see any reason that someone should sit around doing nothing at working people's expense.

There are already people with businesses who earn their livings doing professional graffiti removal. EG: http://www.graffitiremovalltd.co.uk/

For public places I'd rather some young entrepreneur tender to the council for specific jobs themselves - rather than requiring benefit claimants do it for their benefit payment. Shawshank Redemption (corruption).

Same if you expect them to work for their benefits doing home-help/carer.... it's impacting on what could and should be done by people in the private sector; undermining it with under-market-rate services on the cheap.

PasturesNew

ceridwen wrote: »

As my eyebrows have just descended after being raised to my hairline - you just have to explain how....:cool:

Maybe it's like this:
7 days, 3 meals = 21 meals
£3/21 meals = about 15p/meal.

15p meals:
========
Breakfast: Beans on toast (2 slices of cheap bread, 4p; 1/3rd tin of cheap beans, 5p)
Lunch: One round of egg sandwiches (2 slices of cheap bread, 4p, 1 boiled egg 10p)
Tea: Baked potato with beans (spud 10p, beans 5p)

Repeat until you get a job (and, with that diet, repeating won't be difficult!)

Shakethedisease

People receiving benefits should be put to good use for their handout. Cleaning graffiti or something.

I can't see any reason that someone should sit around doing nothing at working people's expense.

Think they tried that sort of thing in Victorian/Workhouse days.. only to find that they put loads MORE out of work by undercutting/taking over/being cheaper to hire/or free.... than those that previously made a living doing the same jobs.

Loads of local workmen/women would be straight on the dole too if they won't be needed to pick up litter/remove graffitii/clean toilets/cut grass/paint old folks homes/sorting out crud at the local tip etc etc

Lets face it, all the really crap jobs are already covered by paid workers somehow or another. Making a few million unemployed do them instead for their benefits is a complete recipe for disaster ! Do think...:idea:

nightwatchman

Not really……
Just the eastern Europeans will find it harder to get employment in these jobs, and possibly will go back.


2 Thessalonians 3:10
He who is able to work, and unwilling, should not be fed

Nosht

"Give a man a fish & feed him for a day, teach him to fish & feed him for life."


N.

N1AK

Blacklight wrote: »

People receiving benefits should be put to good use for their handout. Cleaning graffiti or something.

I can't see any reason that someone should sit around doing nothing at working people's expense.

I'll happily pay back the £500 I received in JSA last year when I was made redundant when I get a refund for all the £5,000 I paid in tax in that same year that went on other peoples medical care, education for their children, pensions for the elderly, tax breaks for other peoples children, and paying for other peoples disabilities...

Except I wouldn't be happy. Most people on JSA are looking for work, and although some of them may be more selective than they can really afford to be sometimes this will lead them to better careers (and more tax paying) than jumping on the first bandwagon. I detest few things more than abusers of the benefit system exactly because they're parasites feeding on the goodwill and finances that should be going to those who actually need it.