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

Auti

Sort of cutting out food items rather than all food. Am GF and veggie and cannot justify the cost of GF bread so don‘t get it any more and GF flour is getting expensive too. Treats (biscuits/cakes etc) have gone except for child - the world‘s craziness is not of his making - and money not spent can go on other things or keep us out of debt. There is no food apps where we are and magic bags not near or suitable so would be a waste for us. I am trying to make a buffer for when life gets harder in the winter but struggling with not knowing how hard winter will be and how much I must cut down now to have money for heating. Looking at all the people who want to strike/fight I am also worried about supply of everything let alone the many warnings of illness. I think I would like it if we were back in lockdown over winter because at least I knew what was happening (I know that will not happen and should not but at least I would know where I was - routines etc).

Wednesday2000

Gluten free products are expensive. I thought I might have an intolerance and had to cut out wheat for a while a few years ago and the products are extortionate sometimes, and quite horrible as well!

I walked past the tree that was planted for the late David Amess in the park today and there was a group of people who had gathered near the spot. I'm not sure if it was something to do with it as I thought the planting was yesterday so they might have just been a social group meeting up. I was struck by the way they were talking about energy bills when I overheard their conversation. It was the same when I went out socially the last three times, including last night. People really have been mentioning how much they have been charged by their energy companies and how worried they are about their bills going up.

freyasmum

YorksLass said:

I'm the same and, since I like baking, it's no hardship.  Tbh, I think homemade tastes better too plus you know what's gone in it.  You've just reminded me that I have a small bar of dark chocolate in the cupboard to use up - the next time I have the oven on I think I'll do a batch of chocolate chip cookies with it.

Me too, and most definitely me too (and my kids!). Although, funnily enough, I made pain au chocolat recently and they actually preferred the aldi ones as they're less rich and more bready than mine, which were made with croissant dough.

I tend to make things which are better/cheaper but I usually buy a pack of 40p cookies for the kids - though mine would be much better, there's no way I could make them as cheaply as that with the price of butter being as it is right now.

Which segues nicely into my next point... I'm sure I saw a "if you have a makro/booker card" post a little while ago. They have muller butter for £1.75 per block and president for £1.99 (which is the same price as aldi). I got a couple of blocks of president for Christmas and a box (20 blocks) of muller butter for the freezer. 

CKhalvashi

How to use your passport up in a day while attempting to save money.....

Currently have stamps for out, in/out, in. Out will be joining that in about 5 hours, so 5 stamps (10 total) for a one way trip. The ones last week were over 2 days though.

4 are extra as it was more than £200 cheaper to book flights to a neighboring country than to the closest realistic option.

arnoldy

YoungBlueEyes said:

The answer is no because some of these people now are professional beggars, and do very well out of it.

I remember watching a prog a wee while ago about exactly this - some beggars were making a very good living doing it. It was mainly in London and other major cities tho IIRC.

Just to emphasise - some people, not all, and not everywhere.

Absolutely right. If you notice they hang out next to cashpoints (to make you guilty). Also, they tend to beg outside Waitrose and Co-op, never Asda or Iceland - easier pickings presumably. 

And many (most?) are not homeless. A homeless person sleeping on the streets will stink to high heaven and have grimy dirty skin and matted hair. 

Once when I was in a City, I walked to get an early morning train through all the centre at 4am - I expected to find many hundreds in doorways and porticos but didn't come accross anyone.

arnoldy

Rosa_Damascena said

Yet in looking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food

 :

 Yet in lo

Yet in looking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food

oking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food.

Yes, many of us could also really do with shedding some of the poundage to save the £s, for the benefit of oneself and society who has to pick up the pieces through ill health - diabetes, heart disease etc and benefits payments. 

I would add that as well as cutting down it's the type of food. The slimness or otherwise of the clientele around the fresh leafy greens and ingredients compared to the aisles with sweets, choccies and fizzy drinks does seem to be a reason to get a grip and take responsibility.  

Pollycat

arnoldy said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

 Yet in looking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food.

Yes, many of us could also really do with shedding some of the poundage to save the £s, for the benefit of oneself and society who has to pick up the pieces through ill health - diabetes, heart disease etc and benefits payments. 

I would add that as well as cutting down it's the type of food. The slimness or otherwise of the clientele around the fresh leafy greens and ingredients compared to the aisles with sweets, choccies and fizzy drinks does seem to be a reason to get a grip and take responsibility.  

Moderation in everything - including moderation.
Nothing wrong with sweets, chocolates, fizzy drinks once in a while if that's what you fancy.
I eat Green & Black's dark chocolate and just have one piece so a 100gm bar lasts me ages.

EssexHebridean

arnoldy said:

Rosa_Damascena said

Yet in looking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food

 :

 Yet in lo

Yet in looking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food

oking to save money the easiest and most prominent change I can make is cutting down on food.

Yes, many of us could also really do with shedding some of the poundage to save the £s, for the benefit of oneself and society who has to pick up the pieces through ill health - diabetes, heart disease etc and benefits payments. 

I would add that as well as cutting down it's the type of food. The slimness or otherwise of the clientele around the fresh leafy greens and ingredients compared to the aisles with sweets, choccies and fizzy drinks does seem to be a reason to get a grip and take responsibility.  

Taking a post where someone is implying that they NEED to save money and their only way of doing so is to eat less, and turning that into a pro-diet-culture broadcast really is quite extreme. Doing so where previous posts from an individual could suggest "red flags" for a disordered relationship with food/eating* really could be quite incredibly damaging.  There can be many reasons for body sizes - in either direction - and many of those reasons are zero to do with a person "not taking responsibility". Your post simply screams fat-phobia - and I don't personally believe this forum - or indeed most others - is the place for that. 

*this is even referred to shortly after the post you have quoted, for the avoidance of doubt.

Note: edited to make small alteration in context. No alteration to the overall message. 

OrkneyStar

arnoldy said:

Absolutely right. If you notice they hang out next to cashpoints (to make you guilty). Also, they tend to beg outside Waitrose and Co-op, never Asda or Iceland - easier pickings presumably. 

And many (most?) are not homeless. A homeless person sleeping on the streets will stink to high heaven and have grimy dirty skin and matted hair. 

Once when I was in a City, I walked to get an early morning train through all the centre at 4am - I expected to find many hundreds in doorways and porticos but didn't come accross anyone.

While I agree that there are professional beggars around, it is a myth that all homeless people look the way you describe. Some homeless people look as 'clean and tidy' as the next person, hold down jobs, and do 'normal things', but also have no place which they can call home - many are 'sofa surfing' moving from friend to friend, sleeping in their cars, sleeping in hostels and so on. Don't assume that because someone looks presentable that they are not homeless!

EssexHebridean

OrkneyStar said:

arnoldy said:

Absolutely right. If you notice they hang out next to cashpoints (to make you guilty). Also, they tend to beg outside Waitrose and Co-op, never Asda or Iceland - easier pickings presumably. 

And many (most?) are not homeless. A homeless person sleeping on the streets will stink to high heaven and have grimy dirty skin and matted hair. 

Once when I was in a City, I walked to get an early morning train through all the centre at 4am - I expected to find many hundreds in doorways and porticos but didn't come accross anyone.

While I agree that there are professional beggars around, it is a myth that all homeless people look the way you describe. Some homeless people look as 'clean and tidy' as the next person, hold down jobs, and do 'normal things', but also have no place which they can call home - many are 'sofa surfing' moving from friend to friend, sleeping in their cars, sleeping in hostels and so on. Don't assume that because someone looks presentable that they are not homeless!

Flip side I suspect is also to not assume that someone who does look as you might "expect" a homeless person to look, necessarily is. Someone once said to me that a good way of establishing whether someone genuinely is homeless is to look at their shoes - and not least whether that footwear is actually on their feet, or has been taken off. Certainly in many area of London those sleeping rough won't remove their shoes at all as they are very conscious that they are - in their own community - very nickable! I strongly suspect this applies in a lot of other areas too. Like so many things though - generalisations are often unhelpful and misleading.