when you reach breaking point

Popperwell

bluebag wrote: »

Sadly I can't even bike it , old sick body too crocked out! LOL.
Not bad enough for mobilty payment stuff, but still too duff to cycle.
I just use shank's pony and me old battered tartan shopping trolley. I get there but I'm at the opposite end of the transport spectrum to the limousine.

Onwards and upwards one and all!:)

That sounds like me;)

lostinrates

The difficulty imo with the child poverty aspect is the way its worked out.

I absolutely no it is not easy to bring up children anywhere in the lowest percentage of household earning brackets, but i would choose 'our' sort of poverty over the sort of poverty in, for dramatic example, south sudan, but perhaps alao consider the many, many more whose normal life is so much more basis, rural Asia for example. I am not arguing for one second i think that poverty here is on that basis 'acceptable' but it is a darn sight more palatable when you consider how GOOD our support system is when you see what being with out one really might mean.


Transport is our biggest cost apart from mortgage, and that includes renting a room in London which works out cheaper than a daily train rather than a weekly one. I plan my trips out to the MAXIMUM benefit (groceries on the way back from animal feeds, both on the way back from unavoidable appts), and can avoid going out apart from to collect dh from station and drop him off, sometimes for weeks on end.

The problem is, life does get in the way. This month we have had lots of extra expenses, and i have needed more petrol (four hospital trips, half a tank of petrol each time)

bluebag

Popperwell wrote: »

This will sound so political and it is but this thread is the "Real World" the "silent majority" talking, the real population of the UK...Hello media and politicians care to see how ordinary people who are unemployed(but looking for work as most are)the sick, the vulnerable...


My food store is my own version of a food bank I guess...

THIS is hitting the nail on the head. Just wish I could have thanked you more than once for this post.

My fear, but also my only hope is the silent majority may not stay silent. Up to now the ballot box has been used, but it seems that all sides of the political spectrum serve the same meal on different plates.

Bad things happen when people have nothing left to lose.

Rainy-Days

Ada_Doom wrote: »

When times are tough there is always an element of looking to place blame and our British Media are happy to fuel this with stories of immigrants who live in mansions with 10 kids. This is a tiny minority of benefit claimants but people latch onto these stories and regurgitate them as the cause of our economic woes.

We need to be angry, and we need to be angry with the right people....and it's not immigrants!

With all due respect I work in the criminal justice system and I see a very, very different side of the coin. What the press show is the tip of a whopping great iceberg. The Afghan hijackers who landed at Stansted airport - allot of them are still here claiming benefits and we cannot deport them because they hide behind the human rights. They are also housed at the expense of the tax payers. Greece and France are taking steps in their own countries to deal with issues there including deportation simply because they can no longer support them. Whilst I agree that those steps are radical, they are having to do so in order to protect their own.

This country has a good history of helping those who are genuinely in need, and by and large the population of this country supports that stance - me included. What many do not agree with is this country supporting them indefinitely. If they wish to stay here, then they need to contribute, but we cannot be in a position where this country is being bled dry financially.

The Government claim that we cannot support our own citizens particulary those with disabilites - that is shameful, questioning the morality of where money is distributed is not immigrant bashing, it is a basic fact!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Rising from th ashes... I think argos had those paper log makers a while back on sale for around £6.99.... I know for us it would be just another gadget that we would use once, and then it will be left in the shed... we dont buy newspapers, and we dont really socialise or speak to the neighbours...

If anyone is lurking, reading this... please join in and vent off.... and be honest... It does make you feel better than bottling it all up... You dont have to be at breaking point, but are worried about how the rising costs might effect you..

For me by airing my worries about price increases, and made the murky financial mist clear a bit... and made me stand back, take a deep breath... and start thinking and planning again, but looking at think slightly differently...

Went to the local sunday market to see if i could buy some cheap fruit and veg, but to be honest... it wasnt great value:o, so I popped into Lidl to have a look, and is it me but the size of cauli's, cabbages swede etc got smaller and the prices higher?

I am even addicted to swagbucks to try and get free amazon gift codes, to help with buying stuff


I agree with trying to buy a bit extra in non perishables for the future...Even if its an extra tin or two a week

prepareathome

Paper Compressor

This is what I bought last week - down to £4.99 from £24.99 our local argos. Its really good, you soak the papers and put it in, press down - you don't need much strength thankfully and you have a good paper log for the fire. You could use any paper not just newspaper.

Popperwell

bluebag wrote: »

THIS is hitting the nail on the head. Just wish I could have thanked you more than once for this post.

My fear, but also my only hope is the silent majority may not stay silent. Up to now the ballot box has been used, but it seems that all sides of the political spectrum serve the same meal on different plates.

Bad things happen when people have nothing left to lose.

It's not scientific bluebag but I know from talking to the few I do(shop assistants, check out staff, taxi drivers and yes even the bank tellers)they feel the same and have the same worries but their voices are not heard.

Many until I tell them don't know what is coming so alot of what is being passed because the public is in the dark for whatever the reason.

Who can you vote for, they are all singing from the same hymn sheet, there is barely space for a cigerette paper between any of them...all main parties shifted to the right.

GreyQueen

If you don't have newspapers and want to try burning them, you might want to snaffle a few out of a recycling bin at a supermarket, as per a certain blogger down in Cornwall......I think a lot of us on OS also follow her. I admit to having done this myself in the past, when I wanted reading materials and wasn't online.

I get SuperGran's cast off newspapers which I read and some of which I repurpose in the domestic arena; wiping out oily pans, cleaning windows (not the same ones, I hasten to add!) and lining my compost caddy which I take to the lottie every few days. Given the price of newspapers, I'm not sure this would be a sensible way of paying for heating, unless you got your papers for free or were going to keep on buying them regardless.

ETA Bluebag and Popperwell, can't remember where I read it, was years ago, but the gist was that they (the authorities) can only manage to control people if they have something left to lose. If you've lost the lot, you're going to be a very dangerous person as you won't have any stake in supporting the Powers that Be. The rich and powerful might be looking at a future when they will be investing in bodyguards, gated communities and the necessity of keeping a lower profile than at present to protect themselves from the dispossessed. I've often thought that social security payments are all that has kept the lid on the boiling pot up to the present.

gettingready

Rainy-Days wrote: »

If they wish to stay here, then they need to contribute, but we cannot be in a position where this country is being bled dry financially.

Some do not want to contribute but some would like to....only.. they are not ALLOWED to work, they are not given work permits while their applications are being processed. What nonsense is that?

Back OT - I am just terified, my salary now is half ow what it was 2 years ago but the expenses keep on going up and there is no way to catch up with them. Trying to get a better paid job but... no luck so far.

Lionel_Blair

I still lurk allot but I understand where this is going. I may be made redundant in the not so near future and possibly before Christmas. I spend nearly next to nothing on non essentials. I live on my own so I will be on my own wits to get through this. Thanks to this place I have learned allot and I have been able to reduce my spending. Sleepless nights I have had many. If I can get away with this 'cull' of redundancies I might stand a chance but the atmosphere is not very nice at work as everyone is out for themselves.

Ada_Doom wrote: »

When times are tough there is always an element of looking to place blame and our British Media are happy to fuel this with stories of immigrants who live in mansions with 10 kids. This is a tiny minority of benefit claimants but people latch onto these stories and regurgitate them as the cause of our economic woes.

I don't agree with you on this. In my area there are a few illegal immigrants and they are housed in private homes paid for by the local authority and it goes to private landlords. I pay for my home I go to work and I make my own way. Why should my council tax and income tax (from my wages) go towards those who have never contributed to the system? Something is radically wrong in society when we cannot look after our elderly and vulnerable yet have more than enough money to give to those who have never contributed to this country but at every turn expect handouts. At the last count there were 450,000 back cases being dealt with by immigration - all those are being supported through homes and welfare benefits courtesy of us tax payers. The costs runs into excess of 100 million each year. That is enough to build a new hospital and equip it every year.

One of my neighbours is a Polish couple they have two children, they are very polite and they both work. They contribute to this country. There is a difference those who come here who want to work and integrate. Those who come here for the free for all are having to be financially kept by this country. This country can no longer afford to do this.

Sorry - charity begins at home - we should look after our own first and foremost.