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.

@Naptrappedmummy omg, yes Christmas Eve boxes and balloon arches! It’s really hard to match up the narrative of how people can’t afford to heat their homes but then mumsnet threads are full of ‘what the elf on the shelf’ is up to or what’s in the Christmas Eve box. Small things maybe but they all add up.

A pp was saying something about how grim life is so why not have a takeaway coffee but seriously, I think we’ve lost sight of what ‘grim’ actually means. My dad had an outdoor toilet for some of his childhood wiping his bum on newspaper and his gran spent hours a day washing clothes with a mangle.

I cannot agree with this enough. Let's not ever ever normalise poverty. We owe it to ourselves and everyone else who's struggling.

This is why I'm against those 'feed yourself for £1 a day' type articles, yes they have good ideas sometimes, but it can feed into a very harmful narrative that poor people should budget better, see '30p Lee' Anderson and others like him. We need real conversations about the real and rising cost of living. We need a government that takes note and acts responsibly.

Love your sarcasm. Brilliant 👍

Most people I know are living pay cheque to pay cheque, with no savings, using their credit cards to buy food and petrol at the end of the month while waiting for pay day.

@WithACatLikeTread said ‘Netflix only costs £7.99 or even £4.99 for the most basic package.’

True, and it doesn’t seem much put like that, but £7.99/month is close to £100 over a year. I don’t have subscriptions for anything, but understand why some would if their children’s friends kept talking about Netflix programmes at school and theirs were left out from that.

I kept having to delete apps to update my tablet because it was old and didn’t have enough storage. Apple kept offering me extra cloud storage for 99p a month and I eventually gave in. A couple of months ago my tablet became unusable so I bought a new one with more storage - but Apple keeps on at me to continue with the 99p.

I calculated that if I had paid 99p a month over the 9 years I’d had my tablet that would have cost me almost £100. The new tablet cost under £300. It’s how I access MN so worth that to me, but I understand it will be too much for some.

To be fair I only have netflix as I am practically a SAHM and I need something other than BBC iPlayer etc to watch during naps! However I refuse to pay for Amazon or other things. I see where you are coming from though. It is a bit depressing if you are already paring back to the bare bones to not have a small thing so I think for me anyway it is worth it. I very rarely buy clothes etc for myself though!

According to the survey 4 in 5 families have MORE than £100 at the end of the month.

What is the expenditure? Is it only basics or does it include other things eg savings for holidays, TV packages?

Also, the survey is based on self-reporting. Which may not be accurate.

Why was the survey commissioned, and who paid for it?

Obviously there is poverty but these surveys aren’t especially enlightening.

I have no money at the end of the month and no savings.
I'm just hanging on until the mortgage is paid off and hoping that we can bung a load a way until we retire. I marvel at all of you who have managed to live a life and save for retirement too. I'm not saving I've travelled the world and pissed away a fortune because I certainly haven't! Just have never had any money!

about 43% of population can't cover an unexpected £500 bill this also means that 57% can,
gross income before tax and pensions and national insurance
net pay after tax, NI and pension contributions

disposable income ( after you have paid council tax) is essential spending that you have control over the amount depending on choices
ie rent/ mortgage/ food / heating/ transport/ water/ broadband/ childcare some people can't manage this out of income and so are going deeper into debt each month, some people are managing this but no more
discretionary spending includes clothes holidays savings entertainment including tv, gym sports clubs according to article discretionary on average is about £237 per household and 43% have either 0 (21%)or less than £100 (22%) in this category, therefore 57% have more than £100

That doesn't surprise me at all. I think young families that have anything at all left at the end of the month are in the minority. And it's nit because they are buying take aways , going out etc it's because they are eating, buying clothes for their children and paying rent or mortgage

@JamAtEleven see above but discretionary includes clothes toys savings holidays eating out TV netflix house maintenance decor presents etc ie anything not basic need to survive and it is 57% that have over £100 as 21% have £0 and 22% have £100 or less

Sounds correct although I would have thought higher. £100 is a lot to have left. I would have been pleased to have £10 ten years ago.

@WithACatLikeTread ’It is a bit depressing if you are already paring back to the bare bones to not have a small thing so I think for me anyway it is worth it.’

Exactly.

I'm so glad this post came up! I have been really down in the dumps about things financially, there are a few little tweaks I will be trying to make, but that aside after paying rent, utilities, phone which is just a sim only plan. I have very little.
I am also using my overdraft month to month and never catching up.

Currently not working due to a few reasons, one being health issues, due another work capability assessment.
Also wondering what work could I possibly take on from home to do??!
Anyone who got a job starting from home I'd be interested to hear from, as opposed to those who due to Covid or other reasons ended up at home most or all of the time.

I have googled part time jobs working from home, but it seems some are more aimed at a 'side' job etc. Not your main job.

Just stare at a wall after a hard days work

Or borrow a book from the library and read it
Your brain will thank you.

I have library books. Sometimes the eyes are too tired for reading. That’s where watching comes in!

I think it’s a little unreasonable to expect hard working people to only read books for entertainment.

Especially with children running around!

Or watch FreeView, or catchup, or listen to music or do any one of a hundred other things.

You see, this is the difference between what is essential and people's lifestyle choices.

😁

It’s cheaper to watch the cheapest Netflix membership then it is to get the licence to watch freeview. Also easier to pick up and drop.

Still have to pay for a TV licence if we want to do that.

I get Netflix mainly to appease my 18 yr old. Not sure if I wd bother once he moves out when he is older.

Our local library is very small and not a very good selection of books. I do buy the odd £3 book on Ebay instead.

Exactly! That’s exactly why I got Netflix years ago, we quit paying the licence! There’s shit all of substance on television.

And now it’s a luxury item, apparently!