Is anybody here living entirely on benefits?

[Ethel]

Is it as bad as this young couple claim? Are you going to bed hungry and eating rotting vegetables?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlan ds/7643652.stm

I am trying to understand how this can be so.

[Ethel]

Lottie - I do wear fingerless gloves, and I have some fabby usb heated ones which are real godsend as I have Reynauds.

Does anyone else have knitted polo necks that aren't attached to a jumper, just have flaps back and front?

[Ethel]

Love the idea of everyone wearing their AB knitted bobble hats.

[Bathsheba]

Tee hee.
Don't think that girl in the video was a stranger to the crisp aisle in Tesco either :-)

[donella]

haha, im not the only one with my hat on then Ethel!!!!

my flat had cavity wall insulation done last year but i honestly cant tell the difference, but then i dont think the windows have been put in properly, and i noticed the other day i can see daylight through a rather large hole between the floor and skirting board, will have to fill it with something!!
my most treasured possessions at this time are year are definitely my hot water bottles :)

[puddicat]

Used to have one great things when its freezing,gone missing!!!

[Ethel]

You need a sausage dog draught excluder thing.

[theonlyone]

I have had a slow cooker for years ..so
cheap to use ..any cheap meat will be tender
when it's cooked in one . I think people
are lazy ..it's easier to put some thing
from the supermarket in the microwave
rather than peel and chop veg ...

[Bathsheba]

I remember those Ethel!!
In fact, i think i've still gor a knitting pattern for one. You can pull it up over your head like a cowl if desired! x

[B00]

Has anyone done the trick of putting a spare duvet underneath your sheet on your bed? It's amazing how warm your bed becomes with that there.

[Bathsheba]

The polo neck thing i mean, not the sausage dog, although i imagine it would be quite easy to knit one of those :-)

[LoftyLottie]

I remember those polo neck things Ethel. We all wore them in the 60s/70s.

Trouble is hats make my head itch and I really can't stand it. Perhaps a hoody would be best for me.

[Bathsheba]

I'm sure Boo, but laydees of a certain age are quite warm enough in bed :-( xxx

[puddicat]

I have a really old slow cooker, its just medium or high, buts its brilliant with stews, used to have a pressure cooker years ago, frightened me to death when it started hissing, new models dont do that these days, love my steamer keeps the colour of the veg and so tender, put water used from the steamer into gravy or the soup pot!!!

[LoftyLottie]

Boo, that duvet under as well as on top is an excellent idea and perhaps should be promited well. I can remember my dear Mum always telling me that in cold weather it is better to put extra blankets under you rather than above.

[lil75]

God that made me so angry to watch! I have been a single parent of 2 at one point living on benefits, and I can tell you that it is hard, BUT and its a big but, we didnt live off chips and sausages, I used to buy a sack of spuds for about �4.00, and meat from the butchers which is a really cheap butchers but lovely meat, it didnt cost very much and we ate wholesome meals.....the thing that angered me about the video is that, they are both sitting there looking so sorry for themselves, if he cant work for whatever reason, why cant she get a job, go to college, as I did and get on with it, instead of sitting there moping....nothing will come to you, you have to go and get it!!!! and trust me, ive worked my a*se off to provide a better life for my children, and my house is clean and tidy, no paint of wallpaper hanging off the walls!!! and I havent got a tv system like theres!!! What a pair of jokers, I dont know how they had the front to do iT!!!

[LoftyLottie]

I have a sausage sheep draught excluder!

[Ethel]

There's a posh polo neck thing at the bottom of this link:

http://www.orkneyangora.co.uk/thermal.html

They are great for that bit of extra warmth, although I don't think I'd pay that for one. I'd expect it to be attached to a jumper for that!

[LoftyLottie]

promited? should be 'promoted'

[Ethel]

lil75 - glad you've popped on as you have experience of the system.

What I can't grasp is are they paying rent out of their �650 per month?

[wonkon-wonk]

the lazy slob could get an allotment and grow some veggies
I ain't hard up the father-in-law is finding it a bit hard to run his allotment nowadays so next year i am going to take it over if the building industry has not picked up!