tightening our belts

Oh my goodness, I remember the tiny Hovis loaves! They were so cute. Perfect for a dolls tea party (and you could help them eat it). Thanks for the memory.

On the news the other night they did a feature on child poverty and how children and parent having to skip meals very hand wringing stuff. Followed by an article statement that Britain have the most number of obese children in Europe followed by a fat mother saying she can't afford to cook from scratch so she is forced to buy takeaways I have no words

I was born just after the war and things were tough. A lot of food was on ration and I remember the ration books everyone took shopping with them. I was sometimes bought a tiny Hovis loaf that cost a penny, but was more often refused because even a penny could not be spared. I liked to have a dolls tea party in the garden and these were the ideal size to pretend with. I'm glad I have known what it was to be so poor, because now I feel I can still cope however bad things become.

geekesse.
There are other ways than smoking to deal with stress and anxiety and 10.00 ( the cost of a packet of cigarettes ) will go a long way to feed children with a balanced meal.

If you do not have/cannot afford a fridge, stand milk cartons etc in a large bowl of coldwater and put a cloth over it with the ends in the water. It is amazing how cool this basic evaporation method can keep the food so covered.

Back in the 1960s I lived in a bedsitter where I depended on a small camping fridge. A small metal box encased in about 4 inches of porous plaster with a small dish shaped indent in the top. I filled the indent with water every morning and even in the height of summer I could leave milk and/or meat there safely for three or four days or more. A bowl, a cloth and some water is all that is needed.

I was born during the war - nearly 2 when it ended and I can remember some of the things my mother and grandmother did in the years up to 1950. To begin with they used the cooling method I mention durther up my post.

Milk was unhomogenised and if it went off , it was put in a butter muslin bag and hung in the pantry to drain and it became cottage cheese. My mother and grandmother kept half a dozen chickens at the bottom of a south London suburban garden and grew as much fruit and veg as they could.

Older generations may be able to help younger ones, yes, however

Society needs have changed

Growing up decades ago is very different to schooling needs now, technology needs, etc

Some things are common sense for every generation - do not waste food, eat at home only, rice and beans go a long way, bars of soap are more economical than gel, etc

This is a time we can really help the younger ones because we’ve either had to do it before , have lived with parents who had to do it or remember times when our grandparents were doing it from habit. It doesn’t matter how you are tightening your belt just that you have to in some way be it food, heating or clothes.

This post reminds me of a couple of current ones that are going round on Facebook. The rose-coloured glasses sort that seem to claim everything was better way back in the 50s/60s without mobile phones, when (apparently) children were sent out to play at daybreak and only came in for meals and bedtime. Were they safer times though? I remember a few highly reported child murders. Were they such great times when few people even had fridges, let alone automatic washing machines etc, and when women like my mother, who had been gloriously independent as a WAAF in wartime, was suddenly confined to housework and childcare. I think current times are so much better but right now we're heading for a poverty disaster. Some are already in it.

Chestnut

geekesse

Smoking takes the edge off hunger, and is easier to access than prescription medications for stress and anxiety. I’m not condoning a nicotine habit, but I understand why those in poverty may choose to smoke.

The cost of smoking:
10 a day costs over £38 per week / £165 per month.
20 a day costs over £76 a week / £330 per month.
No-one in poverty could possibly afford this.

I don’t know anyone who buys cigarettes. They roll their own with tobacco which is much cheaper.

It wasn’t just through the war that we did without, the austerity period lasted a long time after the war finished. My parents always lived in council property or similar, they never ever thought of owning a house. When I passed for the grammar school there was a major fight between then over should I be allowed to go and how could they afford it. All the while my father kept every penny of his naval pension to himself, so that he could smoke and frequently drink himself insensible. Had that amount of money been added to the household budget we would have fared a lot better than we did. But it was a case of I am master in my house, and my needs/ pleasures come first. My grandson has just bought his second house, he is not 30 yet, it’s 4 bedroom detached brand new. When the mortgages started to go up I asked if he could manage ok. Yes he said, we just won’t eat out every night! Times have certainly changed, and not all for the better.

Gabrielle56

inishowen

I think there are elderly people who would happily pass on frugal tips to the young. I'm not talking about my generation of baby boomers. I mean those that lived through the war.

Blimey how many left at age 90++?!

Not nice Gabrielle56

There must be a number of Gransnetters who were children during WW2 and I know of at least two who were adults then and perfectly compos mentis. Many of us remember rationing which went on to 1953 and our parents told us tales of what they ate, how they survived then.

Saggi, I wonder what proportion of your customers are losers like you describe. My question is not judgemental. I simply agree with Saggi 's "just their addictions".

I haven`t read all the posts. but I am elderly, and like the person who started this thread, my parents grew up, indeed got married in the Depression. and yes, times have changed, that is life,, life on this planet continually changes.. not always for the better.

but I recall my childhood, during and after the war, with happiness, we had little, there was little, and therefore we had little to "want" to strive for , to go into debt for..

I think it is a good thing to look back and see how life has changed, and hopefully pick out some good points,, like getting into credit! I started life , as I said, having little to want, therefore credit was not needed... then as I grew up, I got into debt. and worked out for myself what a fool I was to keep paying interest only and never reducing what I had initially borrowed..
of course, there are lots of differences,, many people don`t have gardens to grow produce etc.. but I am not sure the divide between rich and poor has widened , more that there are more rich people, and even more poorer people..

Will equality ever be? just wondering...
and why do mothers HAVE to go out to work,, there`s a thought some of you can shoot me down on! just asking... wasn`t it Thatcher who really started that one? to go to work because one wants to,, but to HAVE to.... there`s the rub.

Not only smokers but also self-directed and intelligent people are having to use food banks.

I worked for the biggest supermarket ….I’ve had abuse from parents who wanted to use their milk/veg tokens for cigarettes or lager !! Went ape-shit when you tell them it’s not possible. These tokens are fir their kids ….they didn’t give a damn about them!! Just their addictions ….and no this isn’t/wasn’t an isolated case …it was daily!

Sago uht milk is exactly the same once opened. The sealed packs can be stored for months but once unsealed and exposed to bacteria etc it's the same. Anyway kids drink milk at apace so doubt it would be hanging around for a week do you?

Chestnut

Here in the UK we haven't had serious issues with strikes, water shortages, power cuts etc. since the 1970s. So anyone 40 years or younger has lived in a land of milk and honey with plenty of food, water, energy, petrol. Also holidays abroad and virtually no interest rates on their mortgages. It will be a huge shock to them realising these things are not a god given right and they may have to pay through the nose for them or do without them.

Yes! And what's the common denominator? Idiot conservatives who couldn't run a bath trying to run the country! Into the ground more like!

inishowen

I think there are elderly people who would happily pass on frugal tips to the young. I'm not talking about my generation of baby boomers. I mean those that lived through the war.

Blimey how many left at age 90++?!

Mamardoit

I don't remember governments giving support in the past.

If you couldn't keep up your mortgage repayments you lost your home.

And no we are not in normal times and UK is certainly not the only country in a mess.

Harsh. In days gone by not so many sub prime ortgages were granted! There's 100s thousands who should never be anywhere near a mortgage but we're connec into believing it was aspirational, but it was only so for a government who wanted to stop the practice of building affordable well built council houses! MyDH Fam lived all their lives since 1920sin council homes, now all 3 siblings have own homes and are extremely well off ! One lives millionaires lifestyle in Austria! She got top science degree only tha is to the Grammar schools that helped them break out my DH was senior cop and baby bro. Is security expert ( can't say for whom, have to kill you!!) and secure living was key in 'getting on' in life for those not loaded! Success stories like theirs were very common throughout 50/60/70s until THAT WOMAN got her social climbing claws I. Our national assets rant over... Sorry laydeez!

Gabrielle56 Cravendale needs to be refrigerated.
Many people accessing food banks cannot afford to run a fridge.

Sago

We do a weekly food bank shop, the list we are given and asked to adhere to is tinned and dried food, UHT milk etc.
People can no longer afford to put money in the meter to refrigerate food.

We use filtered milk craven dale it stays fresh an incredible 7 das after opening!! I've experimented and got it to 10 days in winter! T also has a really long use by date bef ok re opening so can be bulk bought for lots of little guzzlers!!

I think there are elderly people who would happily pass on frugal tips to the young. I'm not talking about my generation of baby boomers. I mean those that lived through the war.

I have just got rid of my landline because it was pointless expenditure. It wont be smart phones people get rid of.

jane1956

how many who "are struggling to feed the family" have smart phones, get nails done order from deliveroo etc???

Those people aren’t in the majority of the poor.
Plus, you need a smart phone if your claiming unemployment benefit.
You can get a basic smart phone for under £20.

Here in the UK we haven't had serious issues with strikes, water shortages, power cuts etc. since the 1970s. So anyone 40 years or younger has lived in a land of milk and honey with plenty of food, water, energy, petrol. Also holidays abroad and virtually no interest rates on their mortgages. It will be a huge shock to them realising these things are not a god given right and they may have to pay through the nose for them or do without them.