To think I will always have financial stress now others have pointed this out?

But plenty of single parents commenting and saying you are in a great position..

Sorry, just realised you said your age.

That's awful that you go without meals. Is it your mortgage which is crippling you? As you have $360K in equity why not downsize and buy something outright or with a really small mortgage. This is no way to live, missing meals.

Anxious is fine but anxious to the point you refuse to eat for several days every month isn’t normal. You need help.

It's not all up to you - as an adult it will be her future - don't take ownership of her, you sound in danger of suffocating her. She's 6 - she needs you to love her and spend time with her and be interested in what she does. - try living in the moment a bit more.

Get therapy for anxiety and never go hungry when you have money in the bank!
You’re really doing well and it’s a shame you can’t enjoy life - no need to worry about stuff that may never happen.

This was my first thought too.

Which part of the country do you
love in OP? Also, how old are you?

But you are doing just fine now. You can keep going as you are and downsize once she had left home, then you release the equity for your retirement, university or whatever you want it for

Exactly, plus kid is only six! Why presume dc will even want to go?
Not to mention a salary more than double minimum wage.

Are you on your own op? I recognise the fear and insecurity when you’re the only one responsible for keeping the household afloat and the kids fed.

maybe this is the issue rather than the actual figures. Which, as others have said, stack up pretty well.

I’d suggest that, for the moment, you halve the savings for DD (recognising that emotionally, you need to keep putting something aside for her) and spend it on food for you. your Dd will be much better off for having a well-fed mum and herself. More Uni savings can come in time.

By the time she goes to uni, your mortgage will be paid down loads, and you’ll be in a better position financially. Then you can help her out more, if you want. You can downsize then, if you want (moving house is very expensive so best to stay put for the moment,if you’re happy).

I know it’s hard, but please try to separate the emotional from the facts. You are safe and secure financially. And so is dd.

I think you are doing just fine, you need to breathe. You don't need to deposit £200 a month into your dd's savings - you don't have enough to make it till the end of the month. Save less so you can buy food for the last 2-3 days of the month. Saving for your dd is great (ish) if you can afford it but otherwise, she'll be fine - she'll be able to work and support herself it will teach her to be independent and resilient and not to expect her mother to bail her out. The whole Student loan thing will probably look very different in 14 years - she may not even want to go.

Also why focus on university there’s plenty of other opportunities for well paid jobs through working or apprenticeships where your employer might pay for a degree further down the line.

personally I’d be focusing your attention on this so you can advise your daughter of the best industries to look at where her degree might be paid for whilst getting a wage at the same time with scope for a decent salary (construction is a obvious one)

You are being ridiculous. Get some perspective.

Absolutely this. Earning 54k, 360 equity and 20k savings, and adding to them every month, daughter set to get inheritance from grandparent and then, presumably, from mother OP is STILL not happy? This is a mindset annd personality issue not a financial issue.

You’ve posted about this before. Your replies will be the same as then. Do you have anxiety? This is otherwise ridiculous.

You have a net worth of 380,000.
You're (only) almost 40.
You have a pension.
You have a good paying job.
You will likely inherit.

I call this post either a stealth brag or a windup.

At the moment you have £360k equity in your house. If you downsize you could be mortgage free or take a smaller mortgage and save some equity. If money makes you anxious that may be a good idea because you would worry less with a bigger cushion. Your DD may go to uni, she may not. I didn't have any savings for them but once they went I had a better job and more disposable income so they took out max loans and I gave them the equivalent of their accommodation money monthly. Admittedly so they didn't spend it all in one go on beer. It worked well. I also divided by twelve months so they had some money in the holidays. You need to eat everyday. If you don't your health will be impacted, you will feel more anxious and you will fall into a vicious cycle of worry. Oh, and sorry for preachy post, the minute your car may be entering it's death cycle, one repair, then another repair get rid of it. Don't chuck money at it. First time the bloke in the garage slowly starts to shake his head look for a new to you car. If you downsize and need to drive more you need reliability. And good luck. You sound like a great mum, but very worried. Think how nice it would be to worry less.

In the nicest possibly way @Baept15 you don't know what the future will hold. As awful as it can sometimes be, tomorrow isn't guaranteed. I would really suggest you start living now, in the moment, with your child. Embrace the now.

In our family, we've realised this very recently and have just had a holiday we wouldn't usually have had, because life is short. The future will be what it is. You have equity in your home, so you have options if you want to support your child financially in the future.

You do sound very anxious compared to your financial position, I'd speak to your GP about some help with that.

To be able to live in a £550k house on a salary of £54k is a remarkable achievement. I'd count myself very lucky.
Reframe your thinking, start enjoying your life and stop worrying.

Also university really is the biggest rip off ever.
I've 3 DC, they all have degrees. One went to uni and saddled themself with debts, the others did degree apprenticeships and earned whilst they learned.
Except for straight subject degrees (like French) and some career qualifying courses like medicine, veterinary science and dentistry, you can do an apprenticeship that leads to most other careers.

Why would you pay for uni? Aren’t most student loans designed so the repayments are pretty minimal, and always tweaked based on earnings? Whereas a house deposit/help with grandchild care fees/wedding etc all need much more money upfront.

Paying outright for uni would be the last thing I’d ever do for my child with my savings, to be honest.

Take a look at the mortgage overpayment calculator. You may be surprised how much difference it makes both in interest saved and time ot tales to pay it off Mortgage overpayment calculator