A woman who has cut her meals back to mostly once a day to ensure her grandkids are properly fed has described the cost-of-living crisis as “horrible”.
Shona Douglas told STV News that “life is very hard at the moment”, with the situation the “worst” she has seen it in her 57 years.
During a visit to a food bank in Portobello, Edinburgh, she said: “I’ve not had breakfast and I’ll not bother with lunch.
“Because I’ve come to the food bank today, I’ll get a meal [from] what I’m provided with today.
“That’s normally my day.”
Ms Douglas said by the weekend, she’ll once again be forced to skip breakfast and dinner.
She added: “I’ll just have something at night, maybe beans on toast or something, to make sure the kids are getting a better meal than me.
“You’ve got to provide for your kids.
“It shouldn’t be like that, of course it shouldn’t be like that, but it is. And we’re in this situation, and what else are we meant to do?”
Ms Douglas, who cares for her two young grandchildren, is fearful the situation is about to get worse following the energy price cap rise.
With her household gas and electricity bills about to shoot up, she said: “It’s constant. Constant you’re wondering where you’re going to get money from, how you’re going to pay this bill, how you’re going to pay that bill.
“Then you’ve got the food, then you’ve got the clothes. And then the school holidays are coming up – you’ve got to entertain the kids, that costs money. It’s just constant.”
Ms Douglas described the situation as “horrible”, adding it’s a choice between heating her house or eating.
She said: “You’re in a sort of quandary here. What do we do? What can we cut back on?
“You can’t cut back on heating. I can’t cut back on not feeding the kids or dressing the kids, so I have to do without myself.”
Ms Douglas praised the food bank for its support.
She added: “I don’t want to be coming here. I’d rather be giving than taking.
“I’d rather be in a position where I could give stuff to the food bank if needed than take from the food bank, but I can’t do that.”
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