If I am reading this right, about 43% of families had either no money or less than £100 spare cash at the end of each month

[cakeorwine]

Nationwide Reaffirms Cost-Of-Living Support As Poll Shows Cumulative Impact Of Rising Bills On Typical British Family (nationwidemediacentre.co.uk)

I can't find the data tables to get the definitions - but families with children living at home were questioned.

The research found that more than one in five (22%) families had no more than £100 spare a month by the end of last year – almost double the percentage in 2021 (13%).

The percentage of families with no money left at all by the end of each month also increased nearly twofold, from 11 per cent in 2022 to 21 per cent in 2023.

Continued high costs have led to more than two thirds (69%) of family households feeling more worried about their finances in 2024 compared to a year ago, the poll shows. The average amount of discretionary money available to families each month has dropped from £328 in 2021 to £295 in 2022 and £237 at the end of 2023.

Almost 16 per cent say they will have to work more hours to earn more money, 16 per cent say they will need to use their credit card and 15 per cent will need to borrow money from family and friends to cover their bills. Almost half (46%) are reducing other outgoings to help cover energy bills this winter.

It would be better with the data tables and definitions - but 43% of families with £100 or less, of which many have £0 is not a good picture. It also ties in with other measures from Asda and their disposable income tracker.

I don't fully understand that report, as it talks about spare money each month, but I'm not clear what they mean by that.

So are they talking about monthly income versus monthly outgoings (which is what it sounds like) and excluding access to savings? And are they talking about all outgoings, or is there an element of discretionary spending they're excluding?

Or are they talking about the cash available to a household at the end of the month, which might build up, or deplete? In which case, they're really just talking about households with £100 or less saved.

Or is it something else?

I'm not denying things are tough for lots of people - they definitely are. But I'd just like to be clear what's being measured here.

Back when my children were little and I paid more out than came in, we didnt go on holiday. My children were 12 and 13 before they got a holiday.

By that time I owed 5k on credit cards which took a long time to pay off.

We have nothing left and not all bills are paid. Plus credit, loans, overdrafts etc it's awful. I can't work. DH is military but pays his wages on life insurance, food, kit, board, travel etc

Yes but once you’ve paid out £7.99 for Netflix and £8.99 for amazon, maybe another £7.99 for disney plus, £40 on a takeaway you’ve easily spent 50/60/£100 on things you want rather than things you need.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. If people want those things and can afford them then that’s their business.

But there’s a difference between someone who has nothing left purely after having paid the necessary bills, and having nothing left after they’ve paid the bills, and had a couple of takeaways and paid all their subscriptions. They could choose to save some of that money, they have nothing left because that’s what they’ve chosen to do.

Personally we have a household income of just over £50k, which I think is a good income and we are definitely comfortable.
We have a small mortgage (less than £500 a month) 3 cars ( all new or nearly new DS's fully paid for) and take 2 holidays in England a year. We have a take away every Friday. Make random purchases as and when.
We don't drink, smoke or tend to go to expensive events, we enjoy a nice ramble in the countryside.
As a rule we have somewhere between £35 and £75 left in my current account and about £25 to £40 left in the joint account (DH doesn't have an individual account he closed it and opened a joint account when I went on maternity years ago but insisted I keep mine open.) So we fall in the less that £100 measure in that way but we treat savings as a bill and put away £200 a month, we currently have just under 10k in savings.
We have less than the headline figure left at the end of the month if the measure is how much is in your current account the day before payday but that is not a reflection of what we have.

You spend what you earn to a certain extent, plenty of higher earners are overdrawn! Money management isn't the same as poverty

On the face of it you would imagine I was wealthy. But every month I am 3,500 overdrawn. This month I hit this 10 days before payday with absolutely no way of getting any money. Luckily I had some food in the freezer and cupboards. Did some surveys - returned some unused Amazon things - walked when there was no petrol. I'm not complaining at all - but I wonder how many people are like me. My friends and people I work with would be shocked if they knew.

The majority of my income goes on gas, electric and council tax which totals to £300 per month. After April it will probably go up to £400 per month but I don't have the extra £100 to cover that.

I am self employed and a very modest earner. I just work three days a week. Some weeks two days if I am not well. I live week to week and barely have £100 spare at any stage.'ll

I have been unwell recently and also had a roof repair and all my savings has gone. Not good.

@Haruka

To a certain extent but clothing is cheaper than even 30 years ago relatively. My unlimited full fibre internet is £26. My phone is £10 a month (handset is 4 years old).

A friend eats at her boyfriend as she can scarcely afford food. She only uses three radiators in her home and has not bought yesterday clothes for over a year.

I was quite surprised because as a rule she lives well.

@Menomeno

Grabbing food and drinks out these days is seen almost as normal, a right by many though - when a friend was moaning about money she then revealed they got coffee/hot chocolate on the way home from school each day and said "all the kids" went and she didn't want to "deprive" her children £10 a day!

January is always a crippling month for me. There's the fallout from Christmas, DS's birthday and fuel bills. Ended up £300 overdrawn this time.

I agree, people usually live to their means. My salary usually stretches to payday but I'm generally down to my last 30-40 quid by then.

Agree that convenience and “treats” have been normalised - plenty of people could cycle more but can’t be arsed, and far fewer people drive bangers than new PCP cars. But there has been huge increases in cost of living - groceries alone could take an extra £100 a month for a family, let alone mortgage hikes.

And herein lies a huge part of the issue. She’s thinking £10 which in the scheme of things isn’t a great deal. However she’s thinking £10 as opposed to £10 a day which amounts to £300 a month.

If someone suggested she have a one off hot chocolate party for £300 would she do it? And if not then she shouldn’t be spending it piecemeal either.

Great post @Haruka

Wages do not keep up with inflation and WiFi plus laptops and phones are essential for everyone.

@MayThe4th depends on your council. We pay an equal amount over 12 months here. Dreading the inevitable rise in April though!

I'm not sure people are quite this clueless. The daily treats get people through the daily grind. We're not all good at delayed gratification (often glorified by wealthy people who don't have to do it themselves). Much easier to delay pleasures when you feel confident about your future.

Wages do not keep up with inflation and WiFi plus laptops and phones are essential for everyone. they are, but at what cost?

Nobody needs a new phone every year to the tune of a grand or so because it has to be the latest and best model.

I’ve had my iPhone SE now for four years and haven’t replaced it because A, I haven’t needed to, and B, have been hanging on to my apple home button and Touch ID.

But the battery life has started to deteriorate, not because of the battery, I’ve already had that replaced,but because the latest software causes the battery to go down much more quickly. So I had a look at getting a new phone. And the latest iPhone 15 pro, would have cost me £1000. There is absolutely no way I would be able to afford to pay that, and even if I could, I resent spending that kind of money. There’s rumour that there’ll be a new SE out in April, although without a home button, but I’ll bide my time at this point and see what cost that comes out at.

My DP on the other hand buys a new phone every year and it’s a source of massive friction between us because he goes into debt to do it. Madness.

Anyway, a lot of people here in the debt trap for relatively small amounts of money would really benefit from joining a credit union. They won't gouge you for interest of that £100 you need to make it to payday like credit cards and doorstep lenders do.

This affects single people too as ds pays his way now and my friend's children have all left home.

It's the start of the month for me and I don't have £100 spare even now.
I've paid most things, got the rest like car insurance and petrol for the month to come out to one side and have about £60 - but that will go on top up food and probably gas/electric because we ran out towards the end of last month and had to top that up as well £80 on each in total. And heating on 4 hours a day, lowest setting, cook 2 meals at a time to cut down, turn everything off, sit in the dark.

I had to pass my test and get a car because my job was starting to be at risk due to the piss poor public transport, it is a 20 minute journey in a car, I was leaving 2 hours time, more if I could and was still quite often late. Too far to walk and the roads aren't suitable, never mind in winter where I'm likely to get soaked or need to be at work for 7am or until 10pm, walking on unlit roads with no pavements.

Most of what I'm paying can't be cut back on because they're fixed, water, rent, council tax, car payment and insurance. And stuff that can be cut back is already at the bare minimum. I've nowhere to go from here without having no heating or less food.

When people say it's down to bad choice, to a certain extent I agree, but for some we don't have the money to make those bad choices in the first place.

But if you’re spending £300 a month on hot chocolate that is obscene. If you don’t have the money then you find another way.

Buy a tub of cadburys and some marshmallows and do it at home for a fraction of the price.

If you don’t have £300 to spend then you don’t have £300 worth of hot chocolate a month.

Come on that’s not having a necessary daily treat to get you through the grind, that is an absolutely obscene amount of money, even if you have it to spend.

It’s cleverly presented data - it looks shocking but doesn’t say what is taken into account before arriving at the figure. If you have £100 or less left after funding your ISA, paying into holiday and Christmas savings, buying a handbag, paying HP or lease on two cars plus all running costs, two sets of nursery fees, paying off credit cards - you’re in a luxury position. There’s another poster on here saying that with a household income of £250k, they don’t have savings - by which she means no cash left in the current account at the end of the month. These figures would cover people like that. There are a lot of people who spend up to their income and this statement of having £100 or less left covers them. It’s misleading.

@MayThe4th

No one is suggesting a new phone at a grand a year. However I'm happy you know it's an essential.

You seem to not acknowledge peer pressure which isn't just confined to teenage years.