The Recession and You

[Jack Shaftoe]

People who are learning to cook: I highly recommend Nigel Slater's little white paperback called Real Fast Food. Tonnes of cheap, easy recipes with basic ingredients, which gave me a massive leg-up in moving past Pot Noodles. I shared a flat with my best mate for a while, and she was an amazing cook, which meant she did quite badly in our house duties rota. The first time she looked at my 'turkey mince boiled in its own fat with a tin of tomatoes dumped in it' special, she heaved a deep sigh, and started teaching me to cook properly.

You can also justify spending a bit more on a nice free range organic chicken when, as previous posters have said, you're making sure you get at least three meals out of it. And a little hand blender thing means you become a soup obsessive, carefully saving extra roast veg and the like to get a free meal out of the next day.

I'm loving all those articles about people having to lay off their servants, and only having one horse for the child and so on. What the fuck are they going to do when the shit really hits the fan? (although maybe that's what we're supposed to think)

[greencalx]

My wife works for a company that does a lot of work for housing developers, so they're looking a bit nervous at the moment. We're hoping that because she's on the energy side, and as it's looking ever more economic to burn our own resources, she should still have work coming in.

I had understood that a lot of the supermarket own-brand stuff was manufactured by one of the brands, relabeled and perhaps watered down.

[The Widow of Brid]

I had a fantastic stroke of financial luck a year or so back which means I might actually come out of this recession quite well (well, solvent at least). Which is good, as I've spent most of my life at a 'not entirely sure where the next meal is coming from' level of poverty.
I've still got the watery bowels of a freelance worker though. I've no debt, generally live quite thriftily due to poverty ingrained habits, and I've put the bulk of my earnings since I've been debt free into savings. So whatever happens I'll survive, but on balance I would prefer it if businesses continued to pay me to do my incredibly boring but not terribly onerous thing.

[rudi]

On This Morning there was a family who were pre chopped lettuce for 95p

Blimey, could they not get a proper job?

Mince can always be re-heated and cooked chicken and stock can make lots of meals too

Fahkin mince.

[Garfield And Friends]

I find this idea of the media talking us into a recession absolutely hilarious. I don't remember the VIs complaining when for 10 years you couldn't switch a TV program on or read a newspaper without seeing something encouraging or talking up House price inflation.

Sssssssssh! Stop 'talking down' the market, you doommonger.

[Braintree]

Blimey, could they not get a proper job?

Fahkin mince.

Haha! Dumb Sotonian strikes again. I, of course, meant buying chopped lettuce and re-heating fahkin mince.

[Captain Crunch]

I just go straight for the bins.

That's Freeganism isn't it?

Has anyone tried that?  I'd imagine most big shops are quite wise to that these days and lock up the bins pretty well.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

There really is no excuse for this kind of behaviour. It should be punishable by death.

SPC's list of things that should be punishable by death:

1. Not buying supermarket own brand products when they're essentially exactly the same as the brand equivalent.
2. Phimosis.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I asked my Dad the other day what the winter of discontent and the three day week were like and he said he barely noticed because he was a student. Of course, those were the days of grants and stuff.

Now, I have to subsist on £3,300 a year (loan!), whatever my parents can throw my way and anything I can make doing part-time work. Now I'm not sure part time work will be that easy to find given the situation, my parents aren't exactly rolling in it and bills are going up so I'm a bit worried in all honesty.

Any sympathy?

What do you mean no?

[Braintree]

I asked my Dad the other day what the winter of discontent and the three day week were like and he said he barely noticed because he was a student. Of course, those were the days of grants and stuff.

Now, I have to subsist on £3,300 a year (loan!), whatever my parents can throw my way and anything I can make doing part-time work. Now I'm not sure part time work will be that easy to find given the situation, my parents aren't exactly rolling in it and bills are going up so I'm a bit worried in all honesty.

Any sympathy?

What do you mean no?

I'm assuming ,on paper anyway, your parents earn a significant amount. The system is a bit ridiculous. I get(when the Government aren't being cunts) the absolute maximum because of my mum's income but I feel sorry for anyone who's parent earn a average wage because the government assume the parents can hand over thousands of pounds(ignoring any siblings)

[Still Not George]

I'm fully expecting the company I work for to go tits up either sometime later this year or early next year. I have a backup plan, but I'm also expecting that to fail. I'll be clamouring for a shelfstacking job in about 18 months' time, I reckon.

[biggytitbo]

I get nothing from anyone. My parents, who have worked all their life yet live on the breadline and are often quite ill get absolutely fucking nothing from the state. I just missed out on the university grants era and although i was unemployed for 6 months in 1999 that amounted to about £1000 quid. I've never been in hospital, never used the NHS, used the police once who were completely fucking useless, I have never got anything from the bastard government but they've taken taken taken from me all my life the shitters. Of course that's not how our wonderful state works, is really a wonderful example of sharing and mutual interest in which the less well of in the world are supported by those better off. Who could possibly object to that? Especially when you have no fucking choice and you will end up in prison if you object and insist on not having half your stuff stolen of you once a year!!

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I'm assuming ,on paper anyway, your parents earn a significant amount. The system is a bit ridiculous. I get(when the Government aren't being cunts) the absolute maximum because of my mum's income but I feel sorry for anyone who's parent earn a average wage because the government assume the parents can hand over thousands of pounds(ignoring any siblings)

Yeah, my parents both work full time and earn...I don't know actually but it's above £30,000 a year or whatever the cut-off point is. But they're really in no position to throw more than a few hundred quid a term at me, I have two brothers one of whom is starting this year so...

It feels a bit Daily Mail sitting in my parents nice house in a nice area moaning that the government isn't doing enough to help me, but for a lot of people it's a genuine struggle to put their kids through University. For people from low income families there's lots of help (as there should be), for people who's parents are rich it barely makes a dent (university's often cheaper than private school) but for the people in the middle it's probably harder than it's ever been in the post war era to send someone to a university. Cheers Tony.

[Ronnie the Raincoat]

Is that £30,000 combined income?  Because that's not all that, is it?  No offence, but with rent or a mortgage, children...

[Backstage With Slowdive]

I've been watching a lot of telly this week, and it strikes me that about half of all TV advertising now is for price comparison websites.

Incidentally, is anyone else really annoyed by that completely shit advert they have on music channels, for ringtones, in which it has a grid of songtitles and the corresponding identifier to txt in, and some cunt reads it all out in full?

[biggytitbo]

Why do Tesco have a price comparison site which include sectors that they have an interest in? They have a car insurance price comparison website and also do car insurance, so guess which car insurance firm they recommend!

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I've been watching a lot of telly this week, and it strikes me that about half of all TV advertising now is for price comparison websites.

I've got an idea for a sketch in my head that's an advert for a price comparison website price comparison website. Hilarious I'm sure you'll agree. Now, does anyone know Rory Bremner's address?

[Santa's Boyfriend]

Why do Tesco have a price comparison site which include sectors that they have an interest in?

Do you seriously need an answer to that?

Also, I'm not sure where you were coming from about paying taxes.  Do you really object to paying taxes for the NHS, the welfare state and the like?  They're there as a safety net in case you ever need them (even if they don't always work properly), and if you've never needed them you're one lucky son of a bitch.

[greencalx]

A very good way to gain some perspective about the relative merits and demerits of how a system operates in ones own culture and country is to spend some time engaging with its counterpart elsewhere.

[rudi]

Apparently biggy goes through his town clearing away all the rubbish, fixing the lights and the police do NOTHING until he gets burgled. True story.

[Waking Life]

It's affected me slightly in the job market.  I came back from travelling about 7 weeks ago with a bit of debt, thinking I would be able to get something straight away.  Although I've now got something secured to start soon (eventually had to take a significant pay cut), I've felt pretty shitty having to get constant hand-outs from my parents to get to interviews and make minimum payments.

It's financial services work that I've been trying to get, so I suppose with the lack of lending it makes sense.  In the two interviews I had though, I asked what kind of effect the downturn had had on their particular area of business.  Both (two major UK banks) said it had actually been positive, with one giving a semi-valid reason and the other mumbling some bullshit about how it's not just stock market-linked products they offered.

I'm just a bit concerned about problems getting settled again, ie finding a flat, paying deposit and rent up front, waiting until end of month for first paycheck, possibility of having to get flat on my own.  I would have had those concerns with or without a recession though.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

What beans someone buys is their business not yours! Whilst I have a lot of sympathy for the way the economic system treats ordinary people I have no sympathy for people who just accept the situation and don't protect themselves. My family has always been poor and I've never had any money until recent years but I'll be fine in this recession because I refuse to be a victim and I've taken steps to make sure I'll not only be fine but will probably benefit from a downturn. Choosing to be a victim, ie taking out stupid loans you can't afford, spending too much on crap, having big debts, financial illiteracy is unforgivable in my view and those are the people that are going to suffer.

I dunno dude, i think it kind of forgivable to an extent. Since (quite shockingly imo) noone is actually taught how to manage their financial affairs at school, if anything im constantly suprised by how many people seem to cope with it all reasonably well. Quite how noone seems to think this is an issue still continues to baffle me tbh, its not as if finance is the kind of subject you can easily get away with learning via trial and error is it really.

[micanio]

I get nothing from anyone. My parents, who have worked all their life yet live on the breadline and are often quite ill get absolutely fucking nothing from the state. I just missed out on the university grants era and although i was unemployed for 6 months in 1999 that amounted to about £1000 quid. I've never been in hospital, never used the NHS, used the police once who were completely fucking useless, I have never got anything from the bastard government but they've taken taken taken from me all my life the shitters. Of course that's not how our wonderful state works, is really a wonderful example of sharing and mutual interest in which the less well of in the world are supported by those better off. Who could possibly object to that? Especially when you have no fucking choice and you will end up in prison if you object and insist on not having half your stuff stolen of you once a year!!

So you've never been to the doctors in your entire life? Do your parents go to the hospital/ doctors when they are poorly? Do you pay for your own waste disposal? Do you tarmac your own roads? Do you keep your own streets clean? Did you go to a comprehensive? When you were unemployed who gave you that £1000?

I await your sarcastic reply....

[Sherringford Hovis]

That's Freeganism isn't it?

Has anyone tried that?  I'd imagine most big shops are quite wise to that these days and lock up the bins pretty well.

Used to be known as 'bin diving' back when I did it.

For our little tribe of proto-crusties, it started off as just a casual way of getting some gratis munchies after spending our food money on booze and drugs, but over only a matter of weeks we had evolved into a sophisticated operation when we realised the shocking volume of grub that was going to waste. Sending a couple of spotters over the wall/wire first to find out what food had been disposed of where, between six and ten of us could then easily fill a Transit and four or five cars with the choicest pickings in 10 minutes or so, without making much impression on the flabberghasting cornucopia we left behind.

What happened to the food? As there was never a regular supply of any particular commodity, we had to redistribute our booty in lots of different ways... Here are some:

• Veg: had to be sorted quickly and carefully, as there was often a bit of foulness mixed in with the otherwise perfectly toothsome; for larger boxed amounts, we grabbed the lot and trimmed off the odd manky bits later. A favourite way of using veg up was making it into vegan stews/curries etc for motley collections of bands and hangers-on, free party people, tree-dwelling protesters, church soup kitchens etc.
• Meat and dairy: mostly eaten by collectors and given away to friends and family, but in times of plenty was also sold door-to-door and exchanged for beer with landlords for menu or meat raffle in pubs/working men's clubs; chicken mainly sold to kebabberys.
• Bread, pastries and cakes: depackaged/rebagged and sold on individually in small family-run convenience stores, grocers/bakers etc; large amounts (plus fruit and veg) exchanged for diesel with farmers (animal feed).
• Fruit: fuck me, the fruit. Most of the time we had sooo much fruit that we even got bored with throwing it at each other. Seriously, make a ridiculous over-estimation of how much fruit a supermarket could possibly waste, then triple it. It's probably even worse these days, what with a pickier population and a much wider range available.

We never really got a look-in with frozen, tins, bottles and cans: there was nearly always already an official system in place at most supermarkets where short-dated stuff was sold to staff at 10p each, and also a lot of stuff supplied to local council-run residential places – both loonies and wrinklies.

On occasion, when we had our act together and weren't smoking too much, several people would toddle off to different supermarkets to see whether any large amounts of any stock were nearing 'best before' dates so we could plan a collection schedule; most of the time though, it was all pretty ad hoc. Sometimes there'd be a lot of fetching and carrying to be done, with lots of odd items of many different sorts making for the most rewarding expedition; other times, there'd be unbelievable amounts of a particular item, sometimes edible, but often not. Sights like six wheelie bins full of mouldering pineapples, around eight hundred litres of melted vanilla ice cream or pallet after pallet of rainbow-patina-d bacon soured the heart as badly as it did the nostrils...

We were living in a very touristy seaside town, so a rainy weekend in the summer could have the knock-on effect that on a Monday morning there could be something like as much as £20K-worth of past-dated but otherwise edible food sat by the back door of some of these places. In some cases, after a few visits, at a few particular supermarkets, we courted the complicity of staff and/or security guards in our ventures. The management of one branch was particularly grateful, as it meant that they could save money on waste disposal – they insisted on removing the packaging from their perishables before black-bagging so their waste couldn't be traced back to them, but we were grateful that the staff did it fairly carefully so most of the food wasn't too bashed up. It seemed random at all the other places whether food was chucked away in its packaging or not.

Some weeks we ended up throwing away as much as we managed to consume ourselves or get rid of by other means, simply because we had carried off far too much. Often, we were able to get rid of more by selling it than by giving it away, offering folks "take as much as you like for a quid" from a van or car. It's amazing how difficult it can be to get rid of free food – particularly meat. Imagine if someone you only knew vaguely from the pub or knocked about with occasionally in the Student Union rang on your doorbell this evening out of the blue and offered you a free chicken, a couple of pounds of rump steak and twelve slightly squashed Danish pastries. Would you accept them?

This was all in the heady pre-CJA days of the early Nineties. After a couple of years away from the area, on moving back to my old haunts I found that 24-hour opening, CCTV, razor wire, more sophisticated computerisation of ordering systems and 'Just in time' delivery had more-or-less killed off bin-diving. Some formal arrangements by homeless hostels and church groups to carry off surplus produce continue, but these days, the adventures of the free-range freegan are fraught with danger – not least, the Sainsbury's policy of prosecution for trespass or Tesco deliberately despoiling bins by tipping bleach over surplus food to prevent its appropriation by the brave but needy.

Oh, and this recession?
I'm fucked. I for one welcome my future wielding my pickaxe in some PFI-initiative salt mine.

[Ramses VIII]

There are some great deals on at Morrisons at the moment-about 1.50 for a 3kg box of own brand washing powder. that`ll last me about a year-Ive bought one every time ive been in over the last couple of weeks. 

They had 20 Youngs Fish Fingers for a quid but that deal has finished now-I think it might have moved to Sainsbury`s-I`m going to check it out later on.

I think the `credit crunch` may have more of an effect on people who have learned how to and got used to regularly eating sunday supplement food. 

[Jack Shaftoe]

Quite how noone seems to think this is an issue still continues to baffle me tbh, its not as if finance is the kind of subject you can easily get away with learning via trial and error is it really.

Yes, it's mental. Kids should at least get a full lesson in just how vampiric and evil credit card companies and their interest rates are. There must be a little Flash game or something that shows a) how easy it is to get into debt, and b) how incredibly hard it is to get out of it.

When I worked at a bookshop, some ghastly publishing company brought out a 'fairy shopping' book for young kids, that came with a little magic credit card on a ribbon. We used to regularly hide these in the military history section, under copies of the now-famous 'Knitting With Dog Hair' book.

Mind you, if they did start doing this sort of education, I bet the big banks would be 'sponsoring' them within seconds, and the second lesson would consist of a nice man from the local Natwest explaining how he could get all of year 4 loans for new mobiles, if they just signed this clipboard here....

[Eight Taiwanese Teenagers]

I'm pretty sure I won't lose my job, I earn far more than I deserve and probably less than I could if I did end up having to find another job, so my main concern is that I won't be able to find a good new housemate in six weeks because any prospective takers will be feeling the pinch. PM me for details! ;¬)

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

That was a really interesting story Sherringford, enjoyed reading that.

I'm fairly lucky as I have a well paid City job which is very secure, i.e. not dependent at all on the state of the economy.  I'll post in a bit about the people within the organisation who haven't been so lucky.

[Jemble Fred]

When I worked at a bookshop, some ghastly publishing company brought out a 'fairy shopping' book for young kids, that came with a little magic credit card on a ribbon.

Hehe, that's wonderfully evil. Did they have a section where you go to pay off your pink glittery credit card bill, only to find that the fairy bank has magically doubled the amount that you have to pay back? And if you don't pay, they send the trolls round with magic wands to make all your furniture disappear?

[Backstage With Slowdive]

I'm fairly lucky as I have a well paid City job which is very secure, i.e. not dependent at all on the state of the economy.

Is that IT-related? I've heard that IT recruitment in the City hasn't been hit by the crunch, regardless of how the other departments are doing.