What If The Problem Is Not Your Budget

£2.47 left after bills. Not “after treats”, not “after a big shop”, after the basics. That single number from Tracy in Warrington says more about the UK cost of living crisis than a hundred hot takes about budgeting ever could, and it sets the tone for a conversation that is both funny and painfully real.

We meet Tracy at the Latchford hub and talk about the practical reality of food insecurity: being paid fortnightly, trying to plan for an 18 day gap, and watching the price of everyday items jump week by week. She shares what she can actually spend on food, why meat has become so hard to justify, and how public transport costs change what “saving money” even means when getting to town and back is a fiver. Along the way we get the details that make life feel human, from volunteering locally for years to walking miles in summer to stay connected with family.

We also dig into the bigger question behind her story: why simple solutions do not work for everyone. It is easy for the media, influencers, and even charities to push one neat fix, but real lives are complicated, especially when mental health, bills, travel, and caring responsibilities all collide. That is why community food clubs and surplus food redistribution matter, not as a slogan, but as one practical support that fits around how people actually live.

If you care about affordable groceries, community support, and what the cost of living looks like on the ground, listen through and share it with someone who still thinks the answer is “just budget better”. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what part of Tracy’s story stayed with you.

Transcript

Welcome And What We Do

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Hello and welcome back to a slice of bread and butter with me, Mark, and Vic. We're from the Bread and Butter Thing.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

We run a network of mobile food clubs that take surplus food from supermarkets, farms and factories. We take it straight into communities where families are struggling to get by.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

On this fantastically rainy day, for less than a tenner, our members get bags packed with fruit, veg, fridge food and cupboard staples. It's a weekly shop that helps stretch the budget and take some of the pressure off.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yeah, our members are at the heart of everything that we do. They turn food into friendship and neighbours into community, and that's what makes us tick.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

It is.

Meeting Tracy In Latchford

SPEAKER_03 0:46

And today we're having a chat with Tracy from Warrington.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Hiya, I'm Tracer. I live in Warrington and I go to the Latchford bread and butter on a Friday.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

So you live local?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

You got family with you?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Er no, but my daughter's moving into Latchford as soon as she's just getting, I think she's getting the keys today.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

So what is Latchford? Is that an estate?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

It's like part of an area of Warrington. We have like Arford, Sankair, Latchford.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Yeah, and we're outside West E Community Centre. Yeah. Because we were supposed to be inside, but it's locked.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

So not so inside.

Three Dogs And Daily Routines

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Yeah, and you were telling me about your dogs. Tell me about your dogs.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

I've got three. My oldest, she's ten. Her name's Lola, we call her Lolly. She's half English Bull Masty and half. We always told a white manana, but there's no way because she's too small. So I think she's half star. Then we've got the second one, she's four. That's star, that's the Akita Cross Bull Mastiff. And then I've got the little one, who's the rat bag of a mall. She reminds me of Scrappy Doo, out of Scooby-Doo's adventures. Because she's always like, let me out, let me out. You know, it's the big one. Her mum's an American pit bull, her dad's a staff.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

So you got three decent sized dogs. Are you on your own? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Well, I'm married, but we split. But then we just stay fairly, he comes around all the time.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

He's like my spot. In fact, I stopped getting bread and butter because I didn't really like the different foods and that.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

And he was coming around my, I was giving him all the food. All the food. So in the end he said, should I just get it? So I said, yeah. So he gets it now. But I always see what he gets. Yeah. Nice. At the Easter, he got like six lamb steaks. I said, I'll mind some I'll have two then.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Right, and please tell me you kept them and you didn't give them to the dogs. No, I ate them. Good.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Dogs just have the little bone bits.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

Yeah, yeah. What's daily life like round here?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

It's pretty quiet round here, actually. I'm either out walking dogs, and then on a Sunday, Monday, and a Wednesday sometimes. I go to Bernardo's in the village. Yeah. I do volunteer working there. Doing that for ten years.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

In the Bernardo shop?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Yeah, it's a donation centre.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

So you don't work then? No. Retired or just don't work?

SPEAKER_00 3:43

No,

Benefits Budgeting And £2.47 Left

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I've got mental health problems.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

What does that look like then for you financially? How do you get by?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

What I do is I always budget my money. Most important bills come out direct debit, so I don't touch so don't you know they're not come out mainly.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

Yeah, do they tend to line up with the day of year benefits?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

I get mine fortnightly because my bills is beginning of the month and end of the month. If it were for the bread and butter when I first started, I don't think I would have managed at all. Because I'll give you a scenario. I pull out £250 on my payday.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

I end up with £2.47 left after a pay on my bills out. But that's including my dog food and my cigarettes. The rest is bills, you know, gas, electric, water, rent.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Right, so you're not leaving a lot for food, are you? No. A lot of people say that people that don't have a lot of money can't budget, and if they budget better, they'd um be better off. What what would you say to that?

SPEAKER_00 4:55

I I budget everything, I budget everything, and I still don't end up being better off. Yeah. I mean, now that my money's gone up a bit, I seem to be a bit better off. But I wouldn't go to the rooftops and shout about it.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

I can I manage.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Just for you, on your own, what do you think you spend on food every week? About five.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Between five and ten.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Ten all?

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Don't eat a lot.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

Well you you clearly can't at that sort of five or ten pounds a week? Is it because you don't eat a lot or is it because you can't afford any more?

Food Prices And Bus Fares Bite

SPEAKER_00 5:32

I think it's a bit of both because the price of food. I get shot every week I go into Wellsdot and something's gone up again. Every week.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

What's the go-to that you've seen go up the most?

SPEAKER_00 5:45

The meats. Even the frozen meat. Yeah. I go to Iceland sometimes. Now they've gone up a lot as well. They've gone up a hell of a lot. Iceland. Iceland, yeah. Liddles, they've gone up. I used to get coffee, mate, once a month.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

The powdered milk stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

That was for me. You know, if ever I run out of milk or anything like that. I always put money, spare any change I have, I throw into a tub anyway. So that usually covers me for bread or milk. Like I say, I'll have coffee mate. Now I used to get it from Liddell's because it was £4.50. It's now £6.50.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

When was it £4.50?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

It was £4.50 about February, March.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

This year?

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

So like a couple of months ago.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

And it shot up.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I was shocked. Luckily I had enough in my purse, but I couldn't get anything else then.

SPEAKER_03 6:35

You say meat's gone up the most, but that one's a shocker, isn't it? Yeah. Because that's like nearly gone up 50% in a couple of months.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah. My daughter works for farm foods, but she was telling me you could get three tubs of the same size coffee meat from there for a ten-off. You think of that, a ten hour for three of them, they're charging six pounds fifty.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

Yeah. So farm foods for you, how far is it? Town. Right. So what's that, a bus ride? Two bus?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yeah. One bus ride. That's another thing that's gone up.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

That's what your buses?

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yeah. To get to town and get back again, it's a fiver.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

When did that go up?

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Erm January. Now I get a bus to go to my daughter's. I get a day rover, which is five pound ninety. But otherwise it cost me 20 quid to get to my daughter's, because I have to get four buses. Two buses there, two buses back. When it's summer, it's a lot easier because I walk. It's only like eight miles. Four miles there, four miles back.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Okay. How long does that take you?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

About an hour.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Do you remind me asking how old you are now, Tracy?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Fifty f Hango. Yeah, 55. 56 this year.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Working it out.

unknown 7:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

56 this year.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Keeping you fit then.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Oh yeah. And I've three littleins, well, two little ones and a teenager. We don't see him much now.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

So what do you do with them when you have 'em?

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Oh, as soon as I walk in, it's nanny! I was around mate, and then it's plain nanny.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

That's sipplay. Okay, so uh tell me about the dogs then, because they can't be cheap to run either.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

I don't pay insurance for them for the simple reason It's expensive. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

And what about feeding them? What does that cost?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

That isn't too bad actually. You go through a sack a week, which is nine quid. But because I think it's a bit boring and having just complete meal, non-meat or anything.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

So you're just gonna spoil them now, aren't you?

SPEAKER_00 8:32

So I get um pouches. Supposed to be for little dogs. I get a box of farter. Well I'll get three boxes or two boxes, depending, you know.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

Depends on the deal, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Yeah, well, it depends on which fortnight it is as well. Because one fortnight I have to wait 18 days before I get paid again. So I have to get that bit extra ring. I give them a scoop and one little pouch, mix it all in. Then I have that for the breakfast.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

So you're spending 20 quid on your dog's food and a ten oh on yours? Yeah. What's that about, Tracy?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Well, uh mine doesn't come to as much as hers does. A tina beans is only 28p. You know, potatoes. A a bag last me three days, and I'll do chips.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

You make your own chips?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yeah, I'd do a homemade chip. I can't have frozen chips, too crunchy.

SPEAKER_03 9:24

So you got your own chip pan? Yeah. I'm jealous. I'm not allowed a chip pan at home. What

Luxuries Now Mean Presents

SPEAKER_03 9:31

would you say nowadays you would see as a luxury, I guess, before COVID, you just not even think about would just be an everyday thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

I think more than anything, it's like party food and presents. Because that's what I c uh I'd I'd save up for. Nowadays, that toy that we would have been £10 is now like 20, 25 quid and not even in of enough quality, say with the Easter eggs.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

If you're buying Christmas presents for the kids, etc., how long have you got to save up for that?

SPEAKER_00 10:04

I used to start saving in the June. I get my grandson's birthday out of the way, because it's my daughter's birthday, and then two weeks later, it's my grandson's birthday.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

And then I don't have no more birthdays then, till October. Yeah. Which is my granddaughter's birthday then. So I can start saving.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

But you started saving for Christmas in June.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah. I used to buy in Jan start buying in January, but my daughter's got fed off of me because I'd forget what I've got.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

That's the problem.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Back time I wrapped them, it was it took my friends three car trips one Christmas to take all the Christmas presents. And she lined them up on the wall, along the wall.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Along this the biggest wall, and she took a bolt on and she went, This is ridiculous, and this is nothing off us us yet. So I've been banned. I can only buy him four presents each.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

So

Behind The Scenes In The Car

SPEAKER_03 11:10

this all got really complicated. The recording with Tracy because the West E hub where we were supposed to meet was closed, and then it's like, where do we go? So we ended up, Tracy sat in the front of my car and I sat in the back of my car, and we set up the gear in the car. And at that point, I was kind of glad she didn't have her three dogs with her because I'm not sure where they'd have gone.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

I know, but I'm right about the pattern. Dogs are featuring more on this podcast, more and more.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

I promise you, it's not deliberate. I I I am not the one going out saying, and do you have a dog? Will you come and have a chat? Because let's face it, no, no, no. She she didn't bring them with her.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Yeah. Although they're a massive part of a life.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Definitely. Yeah. Let's face it, they have to be. If she's got three dogs and lives on her own, that's her life.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yeah. But also brilliant company.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

You know I couldn't argue with that.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Oh, yeah. I saw that you were getting ready to yellow card for feeding the lamb to the dogs.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

Well, we we've had this before, haven't we? Where previous guests have bought themselves bread and butter so they can go and buy meat for the fox that they were feeding.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Yeah, but Tracy did the right thing and she treated herself as some Easter lamb. She did, which is great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

She touched on something that we've had on the podcast before as well about partners living together. Another one that comes through as an interesting pattern.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Yeah. I mean, that was quite funny. I used to be a member of Bread and Butter, but he used to take more food. So we've swapped now, and now I have first dips on his bags. Sounds like a great arrangement.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

The I think the other thing that came really loud and clear for you, Tracy, is how many of our members are acutely aware of the prices of food going up. And they've all got like their specific item where they're like outraged about the fact that it's gone up and it's the same products and you know, and it was their little treat, and now it's like a problem. There's a lot of people around and about saying, Well, it's fine, just go and buy cheap tins and get your month's worth of shopping in one go and then your public transport costs don't mount up. But like Tracy's also saying, Well, you know, I've got paid fortnightly, and one of the fortnights is 18 days, so I've got to stretch that a bit longer.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

And the other fortnight, I only have £2.47 left.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

Exactly. Like, you're not buying yourself a month's worth of tins at any point in that month, let alone getting them home on the bus. You know, like when she's talking about going to her daughter's and there's four buses and and things like that. It's just I think that there's certain people that are just totally don't understand the challenges that our members have and how they're amazing at overcoming them.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

I couldn't agree more. One of the things that comes through from doing this podcast vacation and doing bread and butter for 10 years, right? It's clear that people do amazing things and do exactly what they can, and not everybody can do everything, right? So it's fit and proper for somebody who can to be able to go out and budget by the way you've described, and whoever's saying that and saying everybody can do that, then they aren't going out in community and actually understanding the community right. So some people can, but let's face it, we know there's no bloody magic bullet here.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

No. I mean, I was also thinking about Margaret in Hartlepool when I was thinking about that arrangement and thinking, how's it gonna be? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

She'd never get another 20 kilos up that hill, you know, on a little scooter.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

I know, but this is the brilliant thing about our members, they give us little slices of their life and builds a really rich picture, doesn't it? Of like lots of joyful stuff, but equally lots of challenges. And the fact that it's all good and well coming out with their well, this is one solution, but it it's just not fit for everybody, is it? Like you say.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

It's not, it's not.

Why Simple Fixes Fail People

SPEAKER_03 14:58

I do think there is this need for recognition of life's complicated. Yeah. Um, the cost of living is not one thing, right? It's bloody hard and it's bloody complicated, which is why you know sometimes you've got to give government a benefit of the doubt, because actually there is no money, there is no opportunism, and the only thing that's missing out of this Labour government at the moment is possibly a bit of positive charisma and leadership.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Well, didn't know we were gonna go down there I didn't know I was going there.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

Well didn't know I've not even had a coffee.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Yeah, no, I I guess the thing that kind of perplexes me is it's really easy to shout about here's this thing. You know, we should give people a load of cash, we should make people go and buy a month's worth of tins, we should do these things, and they're really easy for the media and for people to catch on to. And I think the job that we try and do, and and it makes me question whether we do the right job actually, is to go, great idea for these five people over here, but what about these ninety-five over here?

unknown 16:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

And it's not that we're trying to be prohibitive or like negative nillies about it, but it's more of a reality check to go, that's not going to work for everybody. So we need like a hundred different solutions.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Yeah. So Apple's policy, which is uh I know it's a segue, but what they try to do is achieve 90% satisfaction for 90% of the people. So 90% of their customers get 90% satisfaction sort of thing.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:32

I just wonder where we are currently.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

What with the government?

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Oh, yeah. Apple's winning for sure.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Yeah, yeah, but it's a philosophy, right? Because I'm sure they don't achieve it all the time either. But it it's one of those, it's driving everything is customer focused. Whereas at the moment, I think everything is treasury focused.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Yeah. And then I guess that pushes other people, like influencers and other charities and things, into kind of going, we can solve it in this one way, and that's when you get all the competing noise about what's the right answer. And in the meantime, Tracy's still paying far too much for a coffee mate. Also, not a lot of money to spend on food.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

No, and she was happy with the volume of food that she was taking on, for sure. Tracy was definitely somebody that looked to keep the money for other things, so she spent more on her dogs, she spent more on her grandkids, and there was all sorts that I was thinking about. And the way she wouldn't think twice when it's decent weather just walking eight miles to go and see a daughter.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Yeah. That made me think about the summer and winter budget thing again. Yeah. And I bet people need more money in winter. That's kind of definitely becoming something that I think is an absolute truth.

SPEAKER_03 17:45

Yeah. And she walks the dam site faster than me if she can walk eight miles in an hour.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

That's that's a run. Like, let's be clear. Four miles an hour is a good solid walk.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Yeah.

Chip Pans And Battered Snacks

SPEAKER_02 17:55

But do you know what? She's got a deep fryer mark.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

I know. Jealous. I know.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

She can make her own chips.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

Text me back.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

You're not allowed one.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Well, yeah, genetically got high cholesterol, so what can I do?

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Would you eat chips from other places?

SPEAKER_03 18:07

I would eat chips whenever I can, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Oh, this is the danger that if you could make them for yourself, it would be a daily thing.

SPEAKER_03 18:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So during COVID, we did actually buy a frame pan because you're doing everything you can to keep the kids occupied and all the rest of it. And we did one of those days of what can you batter?

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Right.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

You know, we started with the obvious things like vegetables and bits of meat for the kids and stuff, but then we went on to things like celebrations and jam botties, you know, like the kind of Scottish battered Mars bar and all that all that sort of stuff. We we went ridiculous with it.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

What was your favourite?

SPEAKER_03 18:40

I would say pineapple rings.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Oh, right, okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:42

Battered pineapple ring is not to be sniffed at. Have a go.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Okay. And what was the weirdest?

SPEAKER_03 18:47

Quality street.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

Did you do the toffee penny?

SPEAKER_03 18:50

No, it wasn't the toffee penny because that melted in the batter.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Well, you did do it, but it was a disaster.

SPEAKER_03 18:57

Uh no, it it was the uh coconut one. That was just weird.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Oh, not fun of that anyway. That's the one that stays in the box for me.

How To Find Us

SPEAKER_03 19:16

So if you'd like to know more about the bread and butter thing and what we get up to, you can find us at TeamTBBT on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, or LinkedIn or online at breadandbutterthing.org. I nearly forgot TikTok then.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

I saw. Uh and if you have any feedback or thoughts on the podcast or would like to come and be our guest, drop us an email at podcast at breadandbutthing.org.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

And we are always open to new members at all of our hubs, so if you or someone you know would benefit from our affordable food scheme, you can find your nearest hub on the Become a Member pages of the website.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

And as always, do the things that we'd like you to do. So like us, subscribe, leave us a review, share us with your friends, and chat about us on social.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

And we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

See you next time.