It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

EssexHebridean

Rosa_Damascena said:

I have no idea how the denizens of the Hebrides or Orkney manage their energy bills. So exposed, so cold...

The Western Isles is one of the areas in the UK of the highest fuel poverty. It's shocking. Friends of ours are in an all-electric house - it's teeny - literally a 2 up 2 down - their electricity was costing them over £250 a month before the current round of increases. And that's just to keep the place "warm enough" - it's by no means hot in their place. 

TheAble said:
 Could be up to £3000 pa by the end of this year if things continue in this vein, according to one analyst:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60584798

@EssexHebridean - regarding the situation you describe, would not a click and collect be the solution? I swung by Tesco after work the other day to pick my own up and the fee was a mere 25p.

I suppose now you're going to throw "Oh but she doesn't have a car" into the scenario. But I can't give an exhaustive solution to every situation.

 
 Of course she hasn't - she literally *just* makes ends meet, not a chance she could afford to run a car!   And THIS is why "oh just make time" is a simplification, and being able to make time IS a privilege - "my" single Mum - or others in a similar position - is really not particularly unusual. Also - C&C slots do have a cost - even a small one as you've rightly pointed out, plus a minimum order value which may well not fit in with a tight weekly budget.  I think we tend to forget what it's like to literally have to budget down to the last penny - to not be looking at the energy price hikes from a perspective of thinking "what can I adjust to cover that" but quite literally "there is nothing I can change to cover that".  

-taff

TheAble said:

 But I can't give an exhaustive solution to every situation.

I think you've missed that there ISN'T a solution ot every problem. We wouldn't have food banks otherwise.
You can only do what you can do. And sometimes that is not enough no matter which way you swing it.

euronorris

Not every store has a click and collect option either. Only one in our town had the option pre pandemic. That has now increased, but they still aren't everywhere.

The situations are so vast and varied. We just have to accept that for some people there isn't a solution, that their challenges are vastly different to ours and going to multiple different stores to bag the best bargain just is not a viable option.

Suffolksue

well said EH I wish I could thank that many times !

Early on in the pandemic ( remember the days when the’only ‘ concern was wearing masks or not ,I upset another poster who was pontificating about everybody not staying indoors all the time or just exercising in their gardens ,by pointing out she might have a different view if she was a single mum with three children living in a two bedroom high rise flat .
she was most miffed as apparently should have been thinking of her in her beautiful Cotswold house .
I still bear the scars !,

Floss

TheAble said:

@EssexHebridean - regarding the situation you describe, would not a click and collect be the solution? I swung by Tesco after work the other day to pick my own up and the fee was a mere 25p.

I suppose now you're going to throw "Oh but she doesn't have a car" into the scenario. But I can't give an exhaustive solution to every situation.

Nobody is expecting you to.

I wasn't aware Tesco are doing C&C - certainly not near me and my local Asda charge 50p a collection. And as to running a car - if one is just making ends meet its likely that childcare is more important than car costs.

@EssexHebridean - nail on head. Nuff said.

TheAble

EssexHebridean said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

I have no idea how the denizens of the Hebrides or Orkney manage their energy bills. So exposed, so cold...

The Western Isles is one of the areas in the UK of the highest fuel poverty. It's shocking. Friends of ours are in an all-electric house - it's teeny - literally a 2 up 2 down - their electricity was costing them over £250 a month before the current round of increases. And that's just to keep the place "warm enough" - it's by no means hot in their place. 

TheAble said:
 Could be up to £3000 pa by the end of this year if things continue in this vein, according to one analyst:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60584798

@EssexHebridean - regarding the situation you describe, would not a click and collect be the solution? I swung by Tesco after work the other day to pick my own up and the fee was a mere 25p.

I suppose now you're going to throw "Oh but she doesn't have a car" into the scenario. But I can't give an exhaustive solution to every situation.

 
 Of course she hasn't - she literally *just* makes ends meet, not a chance she could afford to run a car!   And THIS is why "oh just make time" is a simplification, and being able to make time IS a privilege - "my" single Mum - or others in a similar position - is really not particularly unusual. Also - C&C slots do have a cost - even a small one as you've rightly pointed out, plus a minimum order value which may well not fit in with a tight weekly budget.  I think we tend to forget what it's like to literally have to budget down to the last penny - to not be looking at the energy price hikes from a perspective of thinking "what can I adjust to cover that" but quite literally "there is nothing I can change to cover that".  

Fair enough. She's time poor and doesn't have a car. Home delivery then? And no before you say it I don't mean do it every week which would make it uneconomical; rather, save a bit each week and then do a bigger shop once in a while to make it economical. Over time, and it may take a while initially, you will build up a good supply of better priced goods, even if you don't shop around, and that will mean you don't have to keep making the dashed trips to the expensive local. So you end up saving money and time. But I've made this point before.

Or have it your way and just accept your lot and that there's nothing you can do to improve your situation.

Florenceem

34 food parcels given out in 2 hours at last week's foodbank. Wonder how many it will be this Friday. I dealt with a chap sent from a local agency for a food parcel today while I was serving out lunches.
Just back from Ash Meditation where a local homeless chap came in to the SA. So much need out there.

Floss

TheAble said:

Fair enough. She's time poor and doesn't have a car. Home delivery then? And no before you say it I don't mean do it every week which would make it uneconomical; rather, save a bit each week and then do a bigger shop once in a while to make it economical. Over time, and it may take a while initially, you will build up a good supply of better priced goods, even if you don't shop around, and that will mean you don't have to keep making the dashed trips to the expensive local. So you end up saving money and time. But I've made this point before.

Or have it your way and just accept your lot and that there's nothing you can do to improve your situation.

The hypothetical single mum is not just time-poor, she is poor. To be able to put some money by each week to enable a larger delivery shop potentially is not possible, as almost all of the income will be needed to cover budgeting for bills & feeding children.

It seems to be a challenge to think of someone in this situation in 2022, but it is real. Those in straitened circumstances do not have the fiscal ability to build up a store cupboard, and to make a flippant comment suggesting "accept your lot and that there's nothing you can do to improve your situation" doesn't really help anyone.

weenancyinAmerica

Essex Hebridean - Even if you can't use your freezer for actual freezing, you can keep it full of things like rice, beans, flour as it will keep the bugs away. We have a freezer that is unplugged that we use for storage of non-perishables because we have moth problems.

EssexHebridean

Floss said:

TheAble said:

Fair enough. She's time poor and doesn't have a car. Home delivery then? And no before you say it I don't mean do it every week which would make it uneconomical; rather, save a bit each week and then do a bigger shop once in a while to make it economical. Over time, and it may take a while initially, you will build up a good supply of better priced goods, even if you don't shop around, and that will mean you don't have to keep making the dashed trips to the expensive local. So you end up saving money and time. But I've made this point before.

Or have it your way and just accept your lot and that there's nothing you can do to improve your situation.

The hypothetical single mum is not just time-poor, she is poor. To be able to put some money by each week to enable a larger delivery shop potentially is not possible, as almost all of the income will be needed to cover budgeting for bills & feeding children.

It seems to be a challenge to think of someone in this situation in 2022, but it is real. Those in straitened circumstances do not have the fiscal ability to build up a store cupboard, and to make a flippant comment suggesting "accept your lot and that there's nothing you can do to improve your situation" doesn't really help anyone.

You’ve said it. The food from an online shop isn’t going to be any cheaper, but it WILL cost a delivery charge. That’s something that can’t be bought, because the money that would have been spent on it has been spent getting the shopping delivered. 

There’s a limit to how much you can do to try to get the message across. Some folk (and this is general, not aimed at anyone specific, but comes from conversations I’ve had over the years both here and on other social media) will simply never acknowledge privilege exists because they simply see “privilege” as something you’re born with, rather than the reality, that it can be arrived at because of your own hard work, because of luck, or simply down to circumstance. We worked hard some years ago, and did a fair bit of going without things, and careful management of money, to pay off our mortgage early. Now we have no mortgage or rent to pay - and we’re privileged to be in that position - regardless of the fact that we worked to earn that privilege.