Chicken skin jelly: poor residents of Russian regions described survival

Pskov: jelly from chicken skin

Valentina Alekseeva from Pskov is 85 years old and receives a pension of 26,000 rubles. Previously, according to her, she had enough money to buy food and put it aside “for the funeral.” Now we need to get out.

A woman lives in a three-room apartment, she pays 8.5 thousand rubles for housing and communal services (earlier – 7 thousand rubles), for medicines – about 2,000, about 1,200 rubles more goes to pay for home telephone, cable television and mobile communications, about 2,500 – to feed your beloved dog.

These are only the main expenses, but there are all sorts of little things – like buying household chemicals, clothes, travel by public transport. Recently, ten days before receiving her pension, Valentina realized that she, as they say, “can’t hold out.”

“I have children, grandchildren, but I didn’t want to contact them, I’m somehow ashamed. I am friends with a younger neighbor, and she suggested that you can sell my blanks on the Internet. I have a lot of them: jam, lecho, cucumbers with tomatoes, canned salads, compotes. I also knit socks, I also decided to try to sell them. Blanks – 150 rubles each, socks – 300 rubles each.

The songwriter wrote an ad. “There was silence for a few days, but then people started calling, they managed to sell something and collect about 2,400 rubles,” she told the MK in Pskov correspondent.

Valentina said that she would no longer sell canned food so that the children would have something left for the winter, but she would continue to knit socks. She also invented a recipe for cheap jelly, which can be eaten with bread, potatoes or pasta. True, not everyone will like this dish. Instead of meat, the pensioner uses chicken skin, which she buys by weight for 56 rubles per kilogram. Such jelly, she says, saves those days when there is no money left for meat.

Due to the high price, the Pskovite has stopped buying cucumbers and tomatoes since the summer, replacing them with carrots and stewed cabbage.

Serpukhov: I had to forget about the gym

There are fitness clubs and swimming pools in Serpukhov, but Alexey now prefers to work out on the street. A man works at a small enterprise as an operator technician, earns about 50 thousand rubles. I used to be a regular at the gyms, but 2022 made adjustments to my life.

“I have two children,” Alexei tells MK in Serpukhov. – I love sports myself and instill in them a love of movement. Previously, my salary was enough: my daughter is engaged in swimming and pankration, my son is rock climbing and karate. All sections are paid, each – about 3,000. Not counting the equipment. Previously, he set an example himself: he went to the gym, swam in the pool. Now all the best is for the children.”

Aleksey himself moved to street simulators. Workout areas with horizontal bars and bars are in the public domain, although there is no such comfort and drive as in the gym. “Now I dress in winter clothes and go out to the horizontal bars, I take a column with me, I create the atmosphere that I’m used to in the hall. It’s a pity that it gets dark early, but I’ve already begun to get used to it. Of course, there are not enough “weights”. Barbells, dumbbells – everything is left in a past life. Well, and companies of like-minded people. On the street – one warrior in the field.

Angelina is a student. Studying in college in the 3rd year. Education is paid, parents had to tighten their belts. Classes in the Pilates studio no longer fit into the family budget. “In principle, I got the basics with the coach, now I can turn on YouTube and force myself to do something at home. Yes, to force, because the studio motivated. Beautiful girls, an instructor who knows you and inspires you. This is sorely lacking. Getting ready for training was a ritual, and now my gym bag is gathering dust in the corner.

According to Angelina, most likely, at home, she will not be enough for a long time. The gym was exactly that motivator, acted like a “carrot”. “And sometimes a whip,” the girl laughs. – A strict coach did not let me relax, and at home I am my own director. Now you have to learn how to give yourself a magical kick, but this is the hardest thing.

Vasily, unlike the others, has long understood that all he needs for sports is a pair of sneakers. “As it turned out, buying sports equipment for running has become a profitable investment,” says our interlocutor. – Last year, tights, sneakers, T-shirts and long sleeves were 3 times cheaper than now. For example, I bought a pair of good sneakers for 4 thousand, now similar ones cost from 12. It’s good that I got hooked on this “needle” of sports fashion when I was just starting to get a taste. Now the running gear would hit the pocket.”

Vasily does not expect good weather: “Running is a kind of mediation, and nothing can stop an athlete. Except laziness. Yes, it’s great when you rely on a coach to get in shape, but it’s not forever. All the same, in the end you are left face to face with excess weight, desire / unwillingness, and you must initially be able to find motivation. Moreover, there are always like-minded people, and it’s free.”

In Serpukhov, the Five Versts movement, the former Parkrun, operates. Because of the sanctions, the English running movement stopped its activities in Russia. The Russians came to replace them – the same rules, only now everything is our way.

“I run in the park every Saturday with the guys. I know that there is such a movement in many cities. It energizes and unifies. It doesn’t hit the budget – even tea is poured here for free, because everyone is like one family. ”

Orenburg: cats were transferred to soups

Residents of the Orenburg region are learning to save on products and services.

“I regularly went for a manicure, I have a permanent master who made a solid discount. But recently she announced that the freebie was over. Consumables have risen in price due to sanctions, and the cost will have to be increased in order to at least break even. It is going to increase significantly – by 500 rubles. Most likely, I will return to the good old varnish and a nail file, ”complains Natalya, a resident of Orenburg.

Refused to go to the nail specialist and Victoria. “For some reason, I didn’t have enough money for this. Utilities, food, expenses for children and loans “eat up” the entire salary. Moreover, both mine and my husband. I have been doing my own manicure for two months now.”

Lyudmila, a resident of Orsk, also reviewed the family budget: “A colleague served as an example for me. She always buys everything on sale. I downloaded some application on my phone and keeps track of which store this or that product is cheaper. All networks are within walking distance, no need to go. And she goes where there are promotional goods.

At first, I laughed at her. But my husband started having problems at work, our income decreased. And I followed in the footsteps of my colleague – I live from action to action. Either cheap ribs, or sausage – two loaves for the price of one.

Olga, a coffee lover, had to give up good varieties of an invigorating drink: “In the morning without coffee, I’m not a person. Of course, I don’t have a coffee machine, but I do have a cezve. Once every two months I bought expensive grains in a special store. However, now they have become simply “golden”. We have to be content with what they sell in the networks.

Unlike Lyudmila, Olga does not take her favorite drink for the promotion. She says she tried it, but after the elite varieties you won’t take it in your mouth. Continuing the coffee theme: in some offices there is a tradition to chip in a can of coffee from the salary. If earlier 50 rubles were enough for four people, now it is 150 rubles each. And then they look at how to buy cheaper, for a promotion.

After the rise in price of animal feed, a resident of Buzuluk Konstantin Petrovich switched his pets to economical food: “I have two cats. One grandchildren gave, very small. And they were punished: to feed them with special “wet bags”. I picked up the second one myself – it froze, small. He did not change the diet of the presented cat and fed two of them equally. My purrs ate a certain brand of food. And the price didn’t bite. True, they got used to it and began to refuse. I began to take others, more expensive.

But suddenly the food to which the living creatures are accustomed has completely disappeared. And the rest are outrageous. Now I feed cats with skins from sausages, buy offal and cook soup. I pour milk. In general, my cats switched to a human diet.

In general, nothing has changed in the life of Orenburg. There are a lot of customers in the shops. And even in cosmetic boutiques, queues line up at the checkout. But that’s for now… Until the first utility bills for December arrived. The first month of winter in the region turned out to be very cold and resource companies do not even hide it – the numbers will double.

Ivanovo: four life hacks for a mother of many children

In the Ivanovo region, one of the lowest salaries in the country: the average official is 37 thousand rubles. But one of the highest rates of inflation. You have to live economically, and each family has its own life hacks.

“In a large family, we eat up most of the money,” says Elena. Together with her husband, she is raising three children – 19, 8 and 4 years old. There are no relatives who could help.

The woman is sure that the main problem of those who complain about poverty is laziness. With a total family monthly income of 70,000 rubles, she knows how to feed her family deliciously, buy clothes, pay for additional courses / circles and take the children to the cinema, theater and circus.

“Firstly, never refuse benefits and allowances that are offered to different categories of families. While the eldest son was not yet 18, and we had the status of a large family in the Ivanovo region, we issued all subsidies and benefits: free travel for children, a discount on garbage collection, on utility bills, a number of free medicines in a children’s clinic and infant formula for babies , free admission to theaters, the opportunity to receive a food package, benefits for paying transport tax. she says.

“Unfortunately, I found out late that we have charities that work with families. Babies can be given diapers there – in the last six months they have doubled in price, cereals in boxes, stationery, not new but in good condition books, toys, clothes, shoes, ”the woman continues.

The school uniform for the middle daughter was partially picked up in such an organization. The youngest son was fully dressed here. Moreover, outerwear, hats, mittens are brand new. The savings are several thousand per month. They offer free tickets to some concerts, even to the circus, and arrange activities for children with gifts, as well as master classes. And some educational centers provide discounts for additional classes for children. You just have to ask and ask.

“Secondly, don’t be lazy. I get up at 5 am to cook. And I cook soup, a side dish at the same time, put a pie with cabbage / potatoes or homemade pizza in the oven. From a chicken weighing 1 kg, I cook cabbage soup, a head of cabbage goes into the first, the rest is carcass. Raw mashed potatoes can be added to the pie. Greens – dill, basil and onions – I grow at home on the windowsill. Cherry tomatoes are growing next to the greens this year.”

If the soup is minced meat, then some will go in addition to rice. If this is a fish for baking, then the head and tail will go to the ear. Citrus peels, half-eaten apples, a handful of frozen berries from the garden are ideal ingredients for compote. Tea at home in the family is herbal: from currant leaves, raspberries, yarrow flowers and willow-tea.

Many products were bought on promotions, some vegetables were grown in the garden: zucchini, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers. Elena preserves or freezes all this. The family buys potatoes at once in a large batch. In October, cabbage is fermented at home: a 12-liter bucket lasts until the New Year.

“Thirdly, feel free to ask people for help and ask if they have the things you need – for children, for example. We are talking about strollers, walkers, chairs, toys. We have owners of a chain of butcher shops, as I recently found out, who help families with food packages. Just. And they don’t need to provide any information. Once I went there. Minced meat, cutlets, cabbage rolls, milk, cereals, vegetables and fresh bread were put in the food set. Cooked food for a few days.

“Fourthly, every year I draw up a social tax deduction: for teaching children in circles, for buying medicines. This is also about 12 thousand rubles,” the woman says.

Elena’s friend is raising her son with cerebral palsy alone. He is already 19. Marina is retired and also lives modestly. Due to the growth of the communal apartment, I decided to install a gas meter and replace the electric stove with an induction one. She has a two-tariff electricity meter. Most laundry, cooking and cleaning falls at night.

A woman also prepares vegetables for the winter. “I am not shy, I write in chats: I will accept the surplus of the harvest. And people give, why not? I pick mushrooms myself, freeze them, and use them all winter for soup and frying,” says the mother of a disabled boy.

The only things that mothers have not yet learned to save on are medicines, household chemicals and gasoline. Although the car is not driven every day. “I have accumulated business in the city, I am thinking over the route and food. It is more profitable there in terms of saving gasoline and time, ”says Marina.