Eating Before Heating...

[Baby_Sham]

I've just been listening to a phone-in on Radio 2 on 'eating before heating'.
Call me naive, but I had no idea things were *so* bad, and listening to how some people have to cope through the colder, winter months, has left me feeling both saddened and sickened.

A woman having to choose between feeding her three children, or keeping them warm... how did things get so bad and why are we in this situation? Why does the government not do something about it?

I just broke my heart listening to a lady phone in and break down in tears live on air, as she explained how she was forced to get into debt, using a payday lender to have the heating on.
More and more people are having to make a choice between 'eating or heating' and I just wondered if anyone on here has to make similar choices over the winter?

Surely change HAS to happen?

[emmie]

and as i well remember having had an open fire place, using coal became just too expensive to use.

[overthetop]

ClaryS, if you regularly eat steaks and roasts, and to eat mince, sausages and pasta is your economy to make up £500 in a matter of weeks I don't think you have any understanding of the position some people find themselves in.

[Baby_Sham]

I don't think for a minute that someone would phone in to a radio station, breaking down in tears because they have got themselves into debt with a payday loan company so they could pay their heating bill, yet be eating steaks for their dinner every night.
I should imagine it is a last resort, and a desperate one.

You have all made valid points, but these were working people, on average wages. How are people on the poverty line managing?

[penelope2]

I believe the lady on the programme did have a car, although JV chose not to pursue the cost of this.

[Baby_Sham]

overthetop, put perfectly.

[vakayu]

Totally agree emmie,an awful lot of people with low incomes sausages and mince are their diet they are talking now of not even being able to afford that,not just cutting down on going out to dinner or cutting back on more expensive forms of meat.

[Baby_Sham]

But she works!! She's not some unemployed 'bum' who spends all her money on beer and fags, so why shouldn't she have a car? If the energy prices weren't so ridiculously high, then people wouldn't have to make such choices.

[Baby_Sham]

Emmie, vakayu, that is the point that people seem to be missing.
People HAVE cut back, they cannot cut back any more.... yet they're STILL having to choose between eating or staying warm. Grrrr this has really annoyed the hell out of me today.

[emmie]

you can eat reasonably well if you know firstly how to cook, not just a spag bol, but know what cuts of meats are inexpensive, for stews, casseroles, potatoes for mash, roast, or boiled doesn't cost a fortune, and veg if you look in shops like sainsburys or markets, a bag of carrots in sainsburys for a pound, that is not dear, so it is sometimes a necessity to start with the basics, you don't have to be a cordon bleu chef, but have an understanding of how to cook... and what will go far.

[emmie]

baby sham, i have cut back, there are lots of things i would like, but for now, or maybe for good i can do without, some are essential though,
and those you can't stint on whether you want to or not.

[vakayu]

Baby Sham excellent choiceof Best Answer.

[Baby_Sham]

It's just really, really sad state of affairs when people are saying they have to 'cut back' or even go without keeping warm :-(

[sherrardk]

For some people a car is an essential. We don't all live in towns and cities. I live in the sticks(ish) and there is a bus once an hour. There is no public bus to my son's school so how would I fetch him if he was injured or ill. How would I get any of the kids to the docs or hospital in an emergency? A car is an essential to me. The main problem is that unless you have experienced real financial hardship you cannot comprehend how soul destroying and desperate it is. Home cooked meals take time to prepare, if you are working crappy hours in a job (or maybe a number of jobs) you might not have the luxury of cooking from scratch everyday. Just because people are poor doesn't mean that they should have a crap life where heating becomes a luxury. For those of you struggling to grasp how tough some people have it you should just be thankful that ou have never experienced it yourself.

[pixie373]

I agree, babysham. I put on a recent post what my gas and electric was a month. Then realised it was actually higher. £162 a month. There are 4 children here, one with asthma and i use as little heating as possible, purely because it is so expensive. I have recently changed suppliers, which will save £40 a month, but of course that is direct debit, so i may end up owing.

[emmie]

some people need cars in town, first for work, volunteers who do meals on wheels, visiting elderly relatives, perhaps taking them out for a treat.
i have experienced hardships, not enough to eat, and no way to get help either, because that was the way the benefit system worked - work x amount of hours, earn just enough, and what is enough, you got no help, things have changed a bit since then

[vakayu]

I would like to think no one can fail to realise how tough a lot of people are finding it at the moment apart from the government that is,who just pile more and more hardships into place and hang the consequences.without thinking their brilliant solutions to anything through.

[Purple_Popple]

I also listened to this also...it was indeed very distressing!

[Baby_Sham]

Sher, I hate how people say "oh she has a car so she can't be struggling that much", but as you've pointed out so well, to some people a car isn't a luxury, but an essential.
I also get really annoyed at people (not on here) who say they *should* be able to manage, when someone is on benefits, and assume they waste all their money on luxuries.

Pixie, £162 a month is extortionate!! :-/
We are basically paying for the rich energy companies to go home to their nice, warm houses, whilst a large majority of us are suffering.

The cost of living just keeps rising and rising, yet wages aren't, cuts are being made left, right and centre, and we're being squeezed in every way possible. How long will/can this go on for?

[sherrardk]

Baby - have you also noticed how the cost of food is slowly rising too? The odd 50p on multi buys, two less of something in a packet, etc. Some people must be having a terrible time of it (and we are not exactly rich). x

[emmie]

my energy bills are low in comparison to some, i have cut them right back.... i might not be able to much longer though.