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.

The basics have just shot up in price. A weekly top up of groceries used to cost £5-10 now it’s £10-20

My energy bill is double what it used to be.

I have to shop around to get the best deals and it’s just getting harder. My thoughts revolve around the cost of things because my wages just aren’t keeping up.
Council tax is due to go up and I’m dreading it. I get the single person discount but as I live in Brum we’re looking at a 10% increase!
If I get a pay rise, I’ll only benefit from half of the amount as UC will reduce. It’s a catch 22.

Yes - but that might be their only treat
I get a coffee or McDonald's once a month because that's all I have left, a fiver

I don't drink, can't afford a holiday, don't go out... being able to go to Starbucks once a month and get a coffee makes me feel more normal and it's the one thing I can afford after I've paid my bills
Or sometimes I buy a bundle of books off eBay cheaply

I’d be happy with hundred left over per month, normally in negative, it’s exhausting. Currently doing some free courses that I hope will get me into better paying work.

I remember my dad bringing home a wage packet and he and my mum portioned out the money into jars for food, electricity and gas, insurance, a holiday fund and a bit for savings.

We didn’t have a car and obviously there was no mobile, Netflix or Amazon. There was never anything left when it has been doled out. They saved for years to buy some new furniture. My dad would never have anything on credit.

In some ways, it’s not that different now, except that more things are essentials and not luxuries.

Agree, slightly off topic but I'm a landlord and meet lot's of potential tenants coming to view properties. I'm absolutely shocked to see their bank statements (i'm speaking the majority I see not just the odd one) and they're spending ridiculous money every month on absolute none necessities. Take aways, fast food, coffee, cinema, clothes shops, subscriptions for x, y, z and driving a fancy car they're paying hundreds of pounds for every month! They're pleading poverty and making me feel like I must of been born with a silver spoon in my mouth to be able to have properties, however the reality is instead of wasting my money on those sorts of things I've been very frugal and saved hard from a young age, I've never had a massively well paid job. I put off having children until later to ensure I was financially stable, I've never had a new car, I very very rarely buy clothes or anything like that. That is my life choice but I feel in a lot of cases it's also their life choices that put them in the position they're in but they can't seem to see that, it's like they feel they have a right to have this fancy lifestyle and think it's not fair when they don't have the money to cover it.

It'll be very interesting to see what happens in April when minimum wage goes up a lot how will companies deal with that? Reduce people's hours? put prices up? In theory it sounds good but by the time you've taken the extra tax/national insurance/pension out, your not left with an awful lot and if prices go up or people loss their jobs, then what?

Exactly, for all the extra people will actually be left with, all it's really doing is putting pressure on businesses, especially smaller businesses who are already under a lot of financial pressure.

rate from 1 April 2024 Increase in pence Percentage increase
National Living Wage (21 and over) £ 11.44 £ 1.02 9.8%
18-20 Year Old Rate £ 8.60 £ 1.11 14.8%
16-17 Year Old Rate £ 6.40 £ 1.12 21.2%
Apprentice Rate £ 6.40 £ 1.12 21.2%
Accommodation Offset £ 9.99 £ 0.89 9.8%

This is what's happening with the NMG, National Minimum Wage from April.

Not going up a lot at all @CeeJay81

It's not 'obscene' for mums to go to a caff with their kids no. It’s not obscene to have an occasional treat.

But it is obscene to pay £3600 a year on hot chocolate.

If you can afford to do that, then you’re not struggling financially. And if you’re struggling to pay the bills after spending £3.6k a year on hot chocolate, then it’s because your money management is off, not because you don’t have the money.

And frankly it’s an insult to people who are genuinely struggling to suggest that someone with enough money to spend nearly 4 grand a year on coffee/hot chocolate whatever it is is in a similar position. Because if you can afford to throw around that kind of money then you have no idea.

A treat is just that. An occasional thing which you give yourself as a treat. Like a poster upthread said, the one coffee she buys herself once a month. £300 a month isn’t a treat, it’s something you’ve persuaded yourself and are trying to convince others that you need to have.

Do you really believe that your parents didn’t pay for insurance? Netflix and Amazon are optional, so in most cases are two cars. These are choices you make.

Yep. Managing your money means keeping track of credit card spending. KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS and check them.

In some ways, it’s not that different now, except that more things are essentials and not luxuries

I totally agree with that. There is no doubt that some families live in genuine poverty and struggle still. Many of these families will do so due to accumulated debts and high monthly repayments.

I do agree though that what nowadays falls under 'essentials' is very different to what it used to be yet essential needs have not changed.

I would have fallen under this category 15 years ago. I didn't have any savings and lived paychecks after paychecks but my children and I had a very decent life style. Nothing luxurious but quite typical of middle class families. It was my choice to value comfortable lifestyle over savings.

Perhaps the buying stuff from Amazon that you don't use contributes to the problem.

One thing that has really helped my spending is writing down my personal spends each month in a separate notebook. It soon mounts up.

I got paid today, and yesterday I had £1.16 in my current account.

But that’s because I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of my outgoings and forecast everything, so I (and DH) transfer a set amount to our bills account each month which we know will cover mortgage, bills, food etc and I also transfer into my savings on day 1 based on how much other stuff is going on that month. Then everything that’s left is my money to do what I want with, some months it’s enough for a nice meal or days out and other months much less so I will say no to things a lot more.

But I guess we are lucky that we’ve built up a decent savings pot that we have access to if we need.

In my experience delayed gratification tends to be practiced by lower income people who want to improve their situation.

There’s a couple of million households in the position. So maybe 8-10%?

this is what 15 years of Tory austerity has done to the U.K.

But 65% percent of households own their own house/have a mortgage. So at least 20% of the 43% have no money figure have assets they could sell and suddenly have a lot more than £100.

I think the article is trying to shock people more than necessary about the wrong thing.

But if your interest rates go up then you'd suddenly have to sell or lose your house?

Well it’s an unpopular view I’m sure but honestly, I think in a lot of cases people have an entitlement approach or don’t care about saving. When my kids were in primary, we weren’t in a particularly affluent area and actually, I think the LA was one of the most deprived in the country yet pretty much every boy turned up to mufti days in new football tops usually personalised and expensive trainers. They all seem to have PS whatever number it is now or Xboxes with the latest games. People eating out loads whether that’s McD’s or at the local pub. All talking about holidays they’ve been on. FB full of pics of families at theme parks, cinema, ice skating. Most families had 2 cars.

I’m in my 40’s and all these things were only ever once or twice a year treats for birthdays or Christmas. Even things like books, we went to the library, new ones were only ever gifts. Didn’t go on a plane until I was 16- by reception age, most of DD’s friends had been on a plane. This is just my experience by the way, not saying it’s always the case but I am actually quite shocked at the attitude of some of my friends to money and also how expectation is passed down to their kids.

I can believe it. I lived that way for years. For me it was earning 1100p/m (this was from 2014-2019 or thereabouts), renting a room in a house share for £600 plus bills (not a posh area but v expensive city), so had about £250 left after that for food, commuting expenses (£70 a month ish), and everything else. I lived in my overdraft and usually only ate toast for the final few days each month.

I’m very lucky in that my situation improved, I remember the sick feeling of wondering how I would scrimp £3 for the next day’s bus, and did I leave £1 in my coat pocket the other day? It was awful.

The issue we’re facing now is that as it becomes less profitable to work many people choose to reduce hours and top up with UC. But as more people do this, the tax revenue decreases, the welfare bill goes up, and the country gets poorer. It’s a vicious cycle. We need to make it profitable to work again - free universal childcare for households where both parents work would be a good start.

There’s definitely been an increase in spending on leisure. And just throwaway items - new personalised pyjamas every Christmas, Christmas Eve boxes, balloon arches, massive birthday parties, weekend zoo/cinema/soft play trips, McDonalds. I agree when I was small the zoo was something you did once or twice a year as a big treat, and we didn’t really get anything new unless birthday or Christmas. We were just expected to entertain ourselves and play with our existing toys a lot more.

I think there's very little difference in the bills we pay compared with our parents. The only additional bills we have are mobile phones (£8 and £10 each per month), broadband (£20 per month), and pet insurance. My parents always had buildings, contents, and car insurance, a mortgage, and paid rates rather than council tax. They also had life insurance, which we don't have.

There’s a bit of a tribal problem going on right now where you blame either the Tories or the public, for EVERYTHING. I think the Tories are a shower of shit who have mismanaged the country for years, but I also think in a way this has emboldened the public in feeling more entitled to a free life because they’re told they’re essentially controlled by an evil government who could give them everything they want but choose not to.

We need to face up to the fact that as well as Tory mismanagement we are making the country poorer by not working. 3.5 million people claim UC and do not work at all. A quarter of working age people are not working - the reasons are immaterial, the fact is they’re not contributing anything yet still using healthcare, schools, roads, emergency services and so on.

For an individual I can see how working full time hours for not much more money doesn’t appeal, but this is what has to happen if we are to restart the engine and get ourselves to a position where we raise the tax needed to transform our public services.

Ending non doms, private school VAT, recouping Tory wastage, ending MP expenses and so on would be pissing into the wind. I don’t think people realise how big the national debt is and the sums required to put all this right, they just see a big number and assume it’s enough.

How were the questions asked?

Do I ever use a credit card? Yes, daily, but I also pay it off in full each month.
Do I have money left in the current account at the end of the month? Nope, but I shift a healthy amount into a savings account shortly after pay day (today!), and so if I need more money, I can access it.

Nominally, we could meet the headlines. But it's far from the truth. We are comfortable.