Poverty ?

[Observer II]

If we listen to Labour MPs folk are now dying of hunger and hypothermia;  this contrasts with the comment of a Tory MP, who claims folk are struggling because they can't cook or budget.   Whilst I agree there's a lack of basic cooking skills around, and folk don't shop for cheaper cuts of meat like offal, and veg still appears relatively cheap;  there's  now one draw back - you need gas or electric to actually cook it.  As for "food banks", I would imagine they supply canned or packaged food, rather than fresh meat and veg;  so not necessarily healthy nutrition.  However, I'll keep an open mind and will listen to comments.      

[Evil Sid]

What is the current definition of poverty in this country?

hyperthermia is when the body over heats such as in the summer on the beach in whatever holiday destination you may choose. It is a simple one to treat and avoid , turn the heating down or off and open a few windows to let a cool breeze in and drink plenty of fluids.

I suspect you meant or they meant hypothermia which is the opposite and is when the body cannot produce enough energy to keep the core temperature up. layers of thin clothing will help to do this as well as enough food of a high calorific value.

surprised that people can't cook given the number of online tutorials that will show how to cook anything from a boiled egg to a medieval banquet.

the budgeting side of things is most probably down to the fact that cash is no longer the preferred payment method. If you had cash money it was areal thing and you know exactly how much you had to spend. With electronic payment you have a vague idea of how much you can spend but unless you check your bank balance exactly how much is often just an estimate. Add to that credit card and short term loan payments and what you have in the bank is anything from  plus or minus £100.00

It does not help either that people today seem to belong to the "see it buy it and worry about paying for it later" frame of mind.

[Bill]

There are people that are genuinely finding it difficult to make ends meet and not through any inability to budget or cook. I’ve been there in the past and it’s not a good place to be. In my case it was during the time if the three-day week, power cuts and pay restrictions. My wife worked out that just five of our main outgoings came to more than I was bringing home at the time. The only reason we were managing was that we were using all our limited savings, so I had to take some drastic action. I managed to change my job so I could work closer to home and started doing some part time evening work just before our bank balance reached zero, so it was a lucky escape for us.

I think as Sid said, the use of credit cards has made the situation worse for the poorer sections of the population with significant lumps of their income often going to into paying interest. It’s easy to point a finger at this and claim it’s all their own fault but what do you do when there’s no food in the cupboard and no money in the purse. I’ve known several good people who through absolutely no fault of their own have managed to get into this sort of desperate financial situation and are just too proud to ask for help.

 

Bill 😊

[Observer II]

I don't use them, so I wouldn't know; but are the various forms of ready meal delivery to homes more or less expensive ?   

[Evil Sid]

Than cooking your own more expensive, even with the gas/electric used for cooking. the only saving is in time. Bung them in the microwave and nuke them for whatever time it says and you have a meal of sorts, some are better than others.

the average cost of a portion/ meal is around £5.00 per person per meal.

a kilo of mince costs between £3.00 and £5.00 depending on where you shop and what the fat content is. divided into four will provide meals for two people for four days, more if you make a casserole or stew. the bother is the preparation time for the vegs and the cooking times of the various dishes.

[Bill]

Well of course they are Obs, but I don’t think people genuinely living on the breadline are going to be ordering that sort of stuff.

It’s all too easy to brand anyone who’s struggling to make ends meet as feckless without knowing the full facts. Sure, there are a lot who moan about being hard up who drink, smoke and believe broadband and takeaways are part of life’s essentials and their actions aren’t doing anything to help those in genuine need.

As I said earlier, I’ve had two periods in my life when times got hard and I had to watch every penny but I always remember what my old mum told me as young lad. She said, “Whenever you feel hard done by and the world isn’t treating you right, always remember there are always others far worse off than yourself.” Those words obviously had a profound impact on me, and I’d like to think possibly helped make me into the person I am today.

 

Bill 😊

[Confused52]

If you listen to Moneybox on Radio 4 you will hear many stories about unrealistic expectations and the failure to budget. They often involve credit card debts and instant gratification. Buying coffees rather than going home and making one are a surprising common item, it seems the affected people buy them on credit card and lose track of how much they have spent!

We treat credit cards as if they were just a substitute for cash and pay the account off in full every month, we treat what we put on cards as money that has left our bank account and keep track of it by keeping the paper receipts. It is getting harder as time goes on.

[Observer II]

Well, now we're on this topic, I checked my weekly shop print out for the first time ever.  The only items above £5 were a bottle of extra virgin olive oil; a pack of Harry's blades;  and my weekly bottle of red. All the veg was below £2,  all of which will last the full week.   

[Bill]

I got my credit card statement today and there was just one item on it from Uber eats for £13.

I did try to use the card with Uber eats while I was in Florida in February, but it was declined, and that’s the only time the cards been out of my wallet this year. 🤬

Nat West were quick to cancel the card and refund my account.

 

Bill 😊

[Observer II]

Listening to Labour MPs, you'd think half the Country is living in poverty and will be dying in the streets due to the rising cost of living.  But aside from such moans at PMQs, these MPs, who've just granted themselves a £2K pay rise, were complaining about delays at the passport office for thousands of people.  So I guess, they must be concerned about the other half of the population who aren't facing abject poverty !       

[Observer II]

Again, with millions threatened with starvation or hypothermia this Winter, while hotel rooms are steadily booked up for illegal immigrants at £5mill per day; thousands are having their holiday flights cancelled due to overbooking !   Crazy or what ?   Seems we now live in a world of chaos.       

[ninearches]

Perhaps these illegal immigrant hotel dwellers could make up the shortfall in the farming industry & pick fruit & vegetables. 

No doubt that would infringe their human rights .

[Observer II]

I'll predict they'll eventually fill the employment deficit as cheap labour and be given an amnesty by the next Lib/Lab Gov; then they'll all want proper housing etc.  

[Ian]

21 hours ago, ninearches said:

Perhaps these illegal immigrant hotel dwellers could make up the shortfall in the farming industry & pick fruit & vegetables. 

No doubt that would infringe their human rights .

Already happening Obs.
Daresbury Hotel is hosting numerous migrants and if you pass that way around 7 in the morning you’ll find them crossing the motorway junction down to Preston Brook with lunch packs in hand

[ninearches]

I think the main problem of a deficit of workforce is the policy that started in the nineties of hiring foreign cheap labour while putting our workforce out to grass & saddling the tax payer with a burgeoning welfare bill. Our exit from the EU has highlighted this problem.

[ninearches]

1 hour ago, Ian said:

Already happening Obs.
Daresbury Hotel is hosting numerous migrants and if you pass that way around 7 in the morning you’ll find them crossing the motorway junction down to Preston Brook with lunch packs in hand

10 to 15 years ago people were being displaced from jobs in Preston Brook only to be replaced by cheap foreign labour the following Monday & the process was erroneously called redundancy.

[Observer II]

Watching History Debunked on Youtube;  where he (Webb) points out the huge increase in foreign Doctors and Nurses in the NHS - why?   Politicians have a shelf life of less than five years, it can take seven years, plus a lot of money to train indigenous staff; so by the time you've recruited and trained sufficient indigenous staff, your out of office without any kudos for the increase in staff.   What's happened is the poaching of "trained" medics from third world countries , which is quicker and cheaper, the fact that we are robbing trained medics from much more needy countries is ignored by the liberal left.   The woke brigade are even criticising the fact that most farmers are white, well aside from the fact that most British nationals (over 75%) are white;  there is nothing stopping ethnics from becoming farmers.   Meanwhile, with hotel rooms for "illegal" migrants costing £5million per day, with the knock on demand for a lot more (subsidised) housing, which hasn't even been built;  we've got our own indigenous drop outs, either self inflicted or just bad luck; sleeping in doorways in our Town Centres - crazy.   😠