I happened to come across a video on X (Twitter as it was/is better known as) taken from a Channel 4 News report about the current cost of living crisis.

The report was dated the 24^th of this month so it is very recent.

In the clip, the reporter spoke to two guys, Paul, 57, and Gareth, 55.

Both were forced to use the local food bank in Weston-super Mare due to not being able to afford to buy food.

Paul is a qualified vehicle repair technician and mechanic but sadly had to prematurely give up work due to ill health.

He currently receives £843 per month on Universal Credit, but is due to get more because of his health issues. He has yet to receive that extra money.

He is struggling due to a recent hike in rent which now costs him £620 per month.

After paying rent, bills and insurances, Paul is left with an average of £30 per month to spend on anything else, and that included his food and drink.

He lives alone in a small flat consisting of a small kitchen, a small bathroom, and a room that is both his bedroom and sitting room.

As a way to save money, Paul keeps the lights off as much as possible.

Paul admits that he is very lucky to have a good neighbour who helps him by buying things such as milk so that he can enjoy a warm cup of tea.

He is forced to ration his money and now only eats one meal a day to preserve food.

When asked what he had eaten the day before, he told the reporter that he had eaten fish fingers and beans as his only meal.

Gareth was in a similar position to Paul. A welder fabricator by trade, he too was forced to give up work after a spinal injury affected his hands leaving him unable to hold things steady.

Gareth told the reporter that on occasions he had been forced to share a tin of tuna with the cat due to the fact he couldn’t afford to buy much food.

OK, I have to be very careful what I say here and how I say it.

There are a lot of people struggling at the moment and there are a lot of impoverished areas in Britain. I cannot deny that…

But what I do find frustrating is that there are a lot of people who simply do not know of ‘other ways’ to make much needed money.

I am not going to say that they are all easy and that they will make tens of thousands of pounds in the first month, but there are ways for people who are struggling to make money which could give them the room to breathe a little more easily.

Most of what I suggest is online and so they will require electric and access to the internet to make them work, but that isn’t such a hurdle either.

I have previously reported about a guy called Mike who was homeless and living in a tent in a park in Portland, Oregon, who went on to build several 7-figure business thanks to using the computers at the local library.

The big difference between Mike, Paul and Gareth is that Mike knew that he could make money writing articles for other people. He also knew that he could access the laptops for free at the local library to get online.

There are many ways to make money from home using the internet, but when money is tight and people are rationing their use of electricity and possibly cancelling their internet service, they could be making it harder on themselves.

But, there are many places they can go which they could use until they are in a better position.

Many coffee shops and cafes now offer free access to the internet and allow people to plug their devices in.

Libraries and other public places offer free internet access and allow you to use their lights and electric.

When using a coffee shop you will need to buy a drink and possibly some food which is not going to be easy if you really are strapped for cash, and over the long term, it doesn’t work out any cheaper than working from home…

However…

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