I am reminded of an article in the Daily Mail about a woman who survived on £1 a day. ‘Frugal Kath Kelly, 51, ate at free buffets, shopped at church jumble sales and scrounged leftovers from grocery stores and restaurants,’ ran the story.38 This woman reportedly amassed a further £117 by rooting among the cigarette butts and dog mess, picking up loose change dropped in the street. This sort of thriftiness is typically jumped on by people who have always wanted to ration the poor. It is held up as the final ‘proof’ that poverty is really not as bad as all that: as long as you have a bit of
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