What’s the most anxious you’ve ever felt about money?

That money anxiety stays with you. I'm comfortable now but come from a relatively impoverished background. I supported myself through uni and often had no money to live off. 30 years later I still have to take a deep breath when i check my bank balance or withdraw money.

When the mortgage interest rates went up to 16% when I was pregnant, about to go on maternity leave. I remember sitting at my desk at work and crying when I heard. We were paying over 1k a month on the mortgage over 30 years ago, had no option but to cut short maternity leave, take in a lodger and cross fingers! We had no new anything for the baby, and I returned some of the baby presents to the shop to get cash refunds. I didn't realise quite how skint we would remain for the next decade, despite both me and DH having good jobs.

I'll check in my washing machine, it could be in there 🤔

Oh that really made me cry. I hope you’re very happy now and have a good life 💕

Why has the laugh emoji gone? 😂

Jesus mate that is shite. We were poor but the old man could always make a bit of money and prioritised correctly. Not saying your folks didn't but I've still got the old man's books from the greengroucery business and the credit he gave where I know definitely the husband was earning very good money.

When I was in a lot of debt and had to face that mountain! Or when I experienced periods of unemployment.

The forums on moneysavingexpert are great if you’re looking for tips or to chat to others in the same position. They were a lifeline when I was in debt.

Same

Actually now. Dh has been made redundant and I work in a school (non teaching staff) and therefore on a pretty crappy wage. Dh has been applying for so many jobs and just doesn't hear anything back. We've signed up to universal credit but that and my wage won't give us enough to live on. We have a mortgage so therefore not eligible for any rent assistance. I don't think there's anything I can do to make myself less anxious really as its a very shit situation.

I was about 9. Really hungry and there was no food or money in the house. I took the empty ketchup bottle out of the bin, filled it with water, and drank the liquid.

3 children in temp accommodation working 60
hours a week and had £7 to male
meals for a week will never forget that fear going into supermarket knowing I had to make a weeks meals on it

When I was 21 & buying my first flat on my own in a low paid job. Could I afford it etc. I felt a bit coerced (not in a bad way, just worried). Best decision ever & I have some of my happiest memories in life from that flat!

Having to stop work due to incurable cancer was pretty anxiety-inducing! I made a claim for PIP and was awarded full rate but that's nowhere near my previous earnings so we were having to dip into savings on a regular basis and worried about running out completely.

But I recently found out I could claim ESA as well. PIP + ESA is still a fair bit below my old earnings but together with DH's salary we are making ends meet again now.

I'm still a little anxious though that any further cuts to disability benefits could affect us.

When my pension pot dropped 10% at the beginning of April with the Trumpy Tariffs ! But it’s ok within a month it was back to where it was!

After taking redundancy from a corporate job and setting up as a gardener. I had half a week of work every week but knew that I would be very hard the jump back into the corporate world (I was male, 40s, went to a shit school,grew up in a rough area, have a local accent which is really frowned upon but I refuse to lose)

From 2000 - 2003 when I was in my first graduate jobs in an expensive city and had just escaped a violent partner who left me with debts, I was painfully anxious about money the entire time and frequently couldn't afford to eat properly and was horrendously in debt with a rock-bottom credit rating. It was unbelievably stressful. Even now, in 2025 when I'm in my late 40s, have a decent enough job and own a home, I still feel incredibly anxious whenever I get a letter or statement by post from my bank. I still frequently can't actually bring myself to open my bank statements, even though my money situation has been OK for about 18 years now.

The day the £ came under attack before John Major took us out of the ERM, and interest rates rose 5% in one day.

I'd owned my first flat for 11 days and I knew I couldn't make the increased payments. I'd saved for years to scrape together the deposit and I thought I'd lost everything. I had no savings left.

A couple of hours later John Major took us out of the ERM and interest rates reverted to normal.

But those hours were awful, I thought I would be homeless within a month, and someone working for my employer (a bank) committed suicide.

When I had almost completely run out of it and had been living in my car for six months (heading into winter). Got a new job in the nick of time.

I was made homeless at 18 with a newborn. That was the most anxious time for me.

When I moved to my new house that is a big upgrade from my previous houses, I was so anxious over how much it would all cost, what the monthly bills would be etc.

It all worked out perfectly, my bills are way cheaper as it’s a more cost effective house and I’ve been able to add more than ever to my savings account.

Ride it out as it always works out ok in the end.

That was a good outcome then.

Right now! Having enough money for a food shop one week then hardly any the next, no money to fix the car if anything goes wrong. I work part time, my partner works full time, we have 3 kids and I'm studying towards a diploma which should get me a better job in a couple of years. It's just so tough to make ends meet.