Preparedness for when

ivyleaf

twiglet So sorry to hear that I hope all will turn out okay and you don't have to lose your field and barn. What a worry!

I must confess to buying something on Black Friday, or rather OH did - I noticed agros had the Kenwood Prospero at half price so cheekily told him I'd really love one for Christmas, and he managed to get one to be collected "in store" (odd expression!). I bought a good hand mixer a few years ago, spending quite a bit on it as I wanted one that would last a long time, but now don't use it very much as it's heavy and it now hurts my wrist to hold the thing up. I don't know where I'm going to store the new one, but I'm determined to find somewhere

I agree it's a disgrace though that people will behave in the way we saw on TV for the sake of consumer durables :mad: though of course it wouldn't have been like that everywhere, TV would show the worst examples. I felt particularly sorry for one lady who'd been second in the queue but didn't manage to get what she'd come for because people behind just shoved her out of the way

[Deleted User]

I've just bought a £1.50 willow pattern jug from a charity shop, no one shoved me out of the way, in fact someone actually got out of the way for me to reach it on the shelf! Horses for courses eh? I guess it's what you decide is a NEED on a personal level, and how ruthless you decide to be to get what you think you need. I think life is complicated enough even on a good day without getting to fisticuffs over a mobile phone and I've found that sooner or later what you have on your 'need' list surfaces in a charity shop or at a boot fair so I bide my time and wait for it to find me, much better for the blood pressure!!!

mardatha

When you read about people being sanctioned and standing in queues at food banks, watching these greedy people makes me sick MrsL.

[Deleted User]

An awful lot of the excesses that are prevalent in society today sicken me too MAR, I find the levels of ignorance and stupidity coupled with the sense of it's my right to have everything and feeling very hard done by if you don't have the latest version of things and the many holidays abroad and the gourmet food and designer clothes, jewellery, make up, hairdoos etc so alien in concept I want to shake some sense into the whole population some days. However, if you are having to scrape by on the pitiful benefits handed out and then face being sanctioned over something you haven't done or in some cases have done because the jobcentre gave you no choice life must be totally impossible on every level. The biggest problem I can see, standing outside the situation seems to be that trying to sort out any unfairness is almost impossible as you get a different set of criteria for why from every separate department you contact, there is no joined up response and the departments often seem to contradict each other in their requirements for compliance so how can the claimant ever be right? Food banks are such a sadness in this day and age but way back when it would have been the workhouse or starvation so bad as they are and bad as the need for them is today at least society has some altruism built in and folks are able to be fed when their need is greatest due mainly to the compassion of ordinary folks making donations. For all the bad things in life there is a little redress with a few good things from Joe Public isn't there?

Doveling

I think that the fact Foodbanks are seen as acceptable and that agencies refer people to them is a total disgrace. People should be able to earn a living wage, and those that can't should be given enough to cover basic needs.
It seems to me that the minute you are classed as old, disabled or unproductive, the powers that be want you to become invisible.
I would also like to see mothers/fathers paid for a 37hour week (I know we work more, but this would seem reasonable to start with). If you had more children, this amount would not go up.Then you could either choose to live on this "wage" or pay it out in childcare while you pursue your career. I feel if this happened women would have more choice. At present many women have to go out to work as well as their partners to meet the basic bills when they would prefer to stay at home and look after their own children.
I cannot understand why parenting and childcare is so undervalued.
I need a coffee, standing on a soapbox is tiring:(

[Deleted User]

Doveling wrote: »

I think that the fact Foodbanks are seen as acceptable and that agencies refer people to them is a total disgrace.

The question is, how many are going to food banks, because they spend their money on non-essentials, like drink and cigarettes?

Doveling

How many are going that haven't spent their money on non-essentials? You will always get some who are bare-faced enough to flaunt the system.You will also always get some poor souls who are incapable of money management that have fallen through the cracks.( Think care in the community!)
If you've been sanctioned, you don't have any money to spend on anything let alone cigarettes and beer.:mad:

[Deleted User]

Doveling wrote: »

How many are going that haven't spent their money on non-essentials?

That's the problem.

We don't know who is short of cash through no fault of their own, and who is short of cash through their own choice.

Also, we don't know how many going to food banks are really skint, and how many are simply free-loading.

Doveling

I think that most people feel humiliated by having to go to a Foodbank, they would not go if they had any other choice.
How can we judge?
I would prefer that people are given the benefit of doubt otherwise we would be heading backwards to the idea of "the deserving poor".
Poor is poor and the distance between rich and poor is getting wider. And the poor make up the bigger portion of our society.

moneyistooshorttomention

Thought of people having wooden spoons out on controversial subject reminds me I must go and make some bread again. You know you're getting "older and wiser" when you think "...and the other viewpoint is in fairness....." and bite your tongue about it....:rotfl:and I might have that soapbox to make a compost container for my garden (a thought I am turning my mind to again and have now gone a long part of the way towards getting it ready to swing into maximum food production....gotta get yer "infrastructure" all set up first before you can plant up the food and swing into full-on food producing mode:D).

Will get round to doing a sourdough version of bread soon, but still on yer conventional yeasted variety. Must must must get on with experimenting with the sourdough version, if only because that will make it cheaper (with no dried yeast to be bought).

Single best breadmaking tip so far being that if there isn't time to make it/then rise it/then bake it in one session then to just make it and leave it to rise in the fridge for some hours whilst Getting On With Your Life and then come back and put it in cooker to cook at that point (after 10 minutes out in a warm room again).