Miserable News

Justamum

zarazara wrote: »

the good years are over apparently.

I think the only people who ever had "the good years" we keep hearing about are well-paid people such as MPs. I've certainly not experienced it myself.

Skint_Catt

Watching Half Ton Dad at the mo. I don't think it would harm many of us to cut down on quantities anyway! Not just for health but also for this 1/3 of food we're supposed to be throwing out every week (except the hardened OS'ers ).

As someone said above, most of have health and family to see us through - I watch the TV re Myanmar and thank our stars that we're not in that sort of situation (even with the present Government )

zarazara

its on News at 10 now. a squeeze on real incomes and a downgrading of growth.

Bitsy_Beans

I think we as a culture need to re-learn the value of cooking from scratch. Given how much food is currently wasted because of ignorance of cooking or purely from "easy come easy go" attitude it wouldn't hurt a few people to adjust their wasteful spending. Having said that for those who live hand to mouth already this is really not good news for them. Still having an economy based on inflated house prices and consumer debt was never going to be sustainable. Pity Mr Brown didn't realise this before he spent all that was in the government coffers. Oh and he's proposing a savings scheme for low earners - like that's what they need. People just want more disposable income not a saving scheme for money they don't have to save in the first place

zarazara

exactly, Bitsy Beans, good post.

liz545

I'm trying to work out how I can recession-proof my finances; I'm trying hard to get rid of all my debt, and compared to a lot of my friends I'm already pretty frugal, I dread to think about cutting back further! I could cycle to work, rather than get the bus, I could get all my produce from the market rather than Riverford, I could give up the organic/free range bits of my food shop, but I really feel that I'd grow to resent it. I've always been OS because I like cooking from scratch etc, and I don't mind not spending money on clothes and gadgets, but I don't want to feel like I've cut back on all the things I like to do!

Penelope_Penguin

10past6 wrote: »

The problem is, whenever this “credit crunch” is over prices will not come back down.

I don't think it will be "over" anytime soon. The days of cheap, easy credit are gone for the forseeable future :rolleyes:

Where I think we can cut back

• reducing waste - 20% of edible food is thrown away :eek:
• better insulating our homes - windmills and solar panels are just gimics until we do the easy things to save energy
• reducing the central heating thermostat
• not putting the heating on until you have a long-sleeved shirt and a jumper on
• not getting the car out for journeys of less than 3 miles - walk or cycle instead
• buying local, seasonal produce
• and of course - cooking from scratch :T :T :T

Thought provoking post - thanks OP, Penny. x

ceridwen

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

• not getting the car out for journeys of less than 3 miles - walk or cycle instead

Such an obvious point P.P. - if only more people followed that one. Not to mention - not getting the car out at all for a journey that can be made by public transport instead. I am frequently horrified by the way people will leap in a car for what would only be a short walk.

With this - there is a silver lining to the cloud - ie fewer cars on the road than there otherwise would be (air that is a bit more breathable and reduced amount of traffic noise). It aint all bad news.

catznine

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I don't think it will be "over" anytime soon. The days of cheap, easy credit are gone for the forseeable future :rolleyes:

Where I think we can cut back

• reducing waste - 20% of edible food is thrown away :eek:
• better insulating our homes - windmills and solar panels are just gimics until we do the easy things to save energy
• reducing the central heating thermostat
• not putting the heating on until you have a long-sleeved shirt and a jumper on
• not getting the car out for journeys of less than 3 miles - walk or cycle instead
• buying local, seasonal produce
• and of course - cooking from scratch :T :T :T

Thought provoking post - thanks OP, Penny. x

Well said Penny!, most of these things I do as this was the way my parents did things (wartime generation) but will double my efforts for the future. Walking or cycling 3 miles are off the agenda for me though!:o as it will be for others with chronic illmess, I can do a mile at the most. I am trying to build up my stamina in the meantime and I reckon it would help us all to build up our fitness levels if we can.

PasturesNew

Yesterday I spent 86p
Lunch: 25 pack of noodles (8p)
Tea: Home-made cheese potato & onion pie and beans (78p)