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'm having to potentially adjust my budget so just going through it today. Sticking to essentials I'll have a grand total of £44 a week to cover the food shopping for 2 of us. Its going to be hell. No holidays, no takeaways, no coffees out. I've cut back on all subscriptions, I'm trying to cut energy usage, might have to turn the heating down to 16 (only on morning and evening) if I go lower the house will suffer due to the nature of the house. Right now I don't see any way i will be able to afford next Christmas

I think it's an awful statistic, if true, but I'm always slightly wary of who commissioned the survey and the aspect of self reporting is also a bit off.
Often people tend to report their version of reality, and can leave out personal choices.

What do we expect? We are in some ways a highly materialistic and individualistic society where consumerism is indoctrinated upon us from even before we are born, but in others we offer so much help, that you would struggle to see in less wealthy nations.

We want more things than other countries do and if we don't have certain things we commiserate ourselves, thinking that we are poor but individual priorities are often lacking, and many families prioritise material objects and entertainment before food, warmth and education.
These are some of the things that are the norm in another EU country, which obviously is far from perfect and I am not suggesting superior in any way.

•live in an apartment
•live with extended family
•not have a garden
• never move house
•never change kitchen/bathroom etc even after 50+years.
•never have take away
•children don't have double beds or necessarily their own bedrooms.
•never have gender reveal parties, baby showers, or elaborate children's parties with entertainment or expensive party bags or things like wasting birthday cakes.
•Pay for our children's school books.
•Pay to eat non processed food.
•Pay for certain medical procedures.

I love the Uk but I feel that people are made to feel dissatisfied with their lot much more than in relatively poorer countries because that's what you get conditioned to feel, and it takes effort to fight it. It feels like there are so many more things available and you are supposed to have certain things and if you don't then it's awful.

I don't think that people see the invisible wealth the Uk offers, those services that it provides for free that other countries don't have. The NHS, education system, citizen's advice, public libraries, baby groups, voluntary organisations, the list is endless.
Families where I am on the continent pay just under €5 per child per school meal. Could you imagine, people would be up in arms in the UK. Many children come home to eat and return to school, but the majority don't. They accept that it costs money and that it's something a family should provide, before anything else, alongside housing and good health.

Do things that are a given become invisible? Do we not see their worth? If childcare became "free" and accessible to all, how do you think that people would use the money they would have otherwise paid out on it? Would they suddenly have thousands more in the bank? I've a feeling that it would get swallowed up within a year and people would be back to square one, spending every penny they have, even before they have it, because that's how we've been trained!

"(from a cheap, basic laptop, which will still set you back £300 and will break after 2 years to a more reliable model at £600+) and internet access (which can easily be another £50pcm)"

In case this is helpful to anyone reading, please look into refurbished laptops which are often a bargain & better quality for a lower price.

I think the statistic is true , it is also true in USA where approx 40% can't cover a $1000 emergency and have less than $1000 in savings this doesn't include the value of a car or equity in house or pension

we are both overdrawn every single month.

Also some very interesting stats from the same study. The rises in living costs between 2021-2023. These figures show that families who were already struggling two years ago would have no chance now.

mortgages +22%
rent +26%
Food +32%
Energy bills +63%
Fuel +39%

Yet the government tries to tell us inflation peaked at 11%. I really don’t understand how they work it out.

I think it's shocking so many people do live so close to one pay day away from wipeout. If a car or washing machine breaks they will be screwed.

I am glad this thread is getting traction.

The statistics, as well as the Asda income tracker, are quite stark.
Housing costs are so much for many people.

There are those who are doing fine, thank you.

But there are a lot of people who have very few savings, who can't cover an expensive bill, who don't have much left to spend on discretionary stuff.

And - as someone pointed out - discretionary spending helps drive an economy like ours.

The stats are out there.

Income figures are a bit meaningless on themselves if not linked to costs people have. And those costs are increasing.

We only have savings because I went through a period last year where I worked as a contractor and had incredible difficulty getting paid, so when I eventually did it all came as a lump sum and we decided to put it aside and not touch it. We had been scraping by prior, while waiting for it, but by then I had more work so money coming in. We tend to have between nothing and £100 leftover each month, or budget includes putting money aside for insurance, cars, etc but not for a holiday. We do struggle to afford a holiday and when I lived alone, before I got married, I didn't have a holiday for ten years because I couldn't afford one.
It's crazy though because DH earns 60k which is a good salary! I'm very part time so don't earn much, usually I don't even earn enough to pay tax.

People telling others to live within their means should stop reading the mail. It’s been established in the last week that benefit rates do not adequately cover food, heating and other bills. This means families in receipt of UC top ups as well as who are too ill or disabled to work.
Dont see Sunak going without!

Tbh I think it's been a fair debate so far not benefit bashing at all.
Absolutely more and more people are in poverty now but there are many reasons why people are struggling.
Denying that some people simply do not have the skills or they have trauma/ MH /ND which affect their ability to manage money is unhelpful.
We need to talk about this
Compulsive,destructive spending is rife in the UK.
People in poverty will likely stay in poverty and its multifactorial often due to trauma etc

We have a culture of tiktok, Instagram etc and people are susceptible to the messages being sent.
" Get em hooked" seems to be the mantra

I'm glad disposable vapes are being banned but that's just one example
Let's not shut things down with "Daily Mail"
Talking about every aspect of money management is really important
I think it should be taught in schools for example

I can only work part time owing to health issues but not bad enough to qualify for Pip. I am self employed and income is very variable but there is no solution other than to keep watching the pennies and try to keep powering through.

We are £3k in deficit each month and have been for 6 months but that is becuase we are not currently paying ourselves a salary from a new business.

Why wouldn't it be true, the Nationwide is hardly some shadowy left wing outfit.

The UK has been hit comparatively harder since CV, we are £1000s worse off than equivalent families in the EU, our inflation rates, especially in food and energy were a lot higher than in most of europe, fortunately more equally now but overall food inflation is still higher.

Plus we have appalling public services, so spend more on these basics too.

Why are you comparing the UK, the worlds 5th wealthiest country, to places with no health services, childcare etc????

We ve shit loads of resource in this country, its just that most of it is in the hands of people like Sunak, who doesn't know how to fill up a car, never associated with the "working class" and doesn't know how contactless works.

I really disagree. I don’t think “most people” treat savings as another bill to be paid. The opposite. If there’s money left, then it might go into savings.

Why was Vaping allowed to be introduced into the UK with no regulation? it was actively encouraged by the Tories.

I spend a fair bit of time in France and cannot believe the amount of vaping in the UK compared to France, with no long term studies into its long term effects, not least on levels of addiction and hence costs.

Our borders seem to be extremely porous too, these Chinese one use illegal ones are endemic in schools now.

Of course having no effective trading standards is a huge problem too.

Yes, I'm not sure that poster has clocked that access to a good, free library is rather a privilege these days and certainly not something that can be presumed. We have a big one within walking distance, so I actually can use it for nothing, no travel costs at all. And I understand how fortunate that makes us.

We're okay but not wealthy. Definitely much more than £300 left at the end of the month. However the bragging threads on here make me sick when so many are struggling. Every so often a woman posts all supposed wide eyed innocence, asking "How will we manage wirh only £1000 left after bills?" Genuinely asking those types of questions or bragging about theur salary. Horrible. If it's evem true.

Truly no disrespect, but I'm honestly shocked at only the £100 leftover, I haven't been like that since I was in my early 20s (of course things were cheaper then). That leaves no money for anything really (or a long time to save up to buy something, let alone an unexpected large bill)

Can totally believe this. We have zero left at the end of the month, and something like a holiday would have to go on a credit card (not good I know). From the outside we probably look like we’re doing well; but with the cost of living increases over the years, in particular mortgage and utilities; we are barely covering our bills. Anything other big increase would send us under, and quickly. That is frightening and I consider us to be lucky so I feel for the many in a worse position.

Then all it takes is an unexpected bill like washing machine or car breaking down and people are in trouble.
It's housing that's really screwing people over. Our basic need for adequate shelter.
Of course we need to prioritise this but then there's no money left for much else.
It's a disgrace.

It depends on whether people have anything in savings. Both me and my adult daughters put money in savings at the beginning of the month. The current account is run down gradually over the month so not much left but we have savings accounts and pots. I counsel on an online debt forum and would have to say that when money was tight for us I took lunch to work from home and didn't do coffees out at coffee shops but many people even those in debt don't bother with cost efficient things like that and don't seem to be convinced that small cutbacks make a difference.

There are lots of people in debt so a lot of their money goes on servicing that so I am sure lots are struggling. Almost 50% seems like an accurate figure for those really struggling.

I wouldn’t be surprised but then I think it’s difficult to quantify. My dp would say we have zero if asked this question. I don’t think it’s fair to say we have zero as paying for lots of renovations atm, also have a slush fund (not for extravagance) but where a kind of flow account that holds our money and slushes between accounts as needed. I say we work on a just in time basis in this house. DP calls it imposed poverty 🤣

I'll get abuse for this but benefits are not supposed to cover food and bills. Wtf! Your life is your responsibility, the point of benefits when they were introduced was to help the poorest when they were unemployed for a temporary period. Now it's a lifestyle choice and you can claim a shit ton for years on end, while those that work hard pay for it. it's disgusting. It's also a massive reason this country is going down hill - no incentive to work hard if you're happy to live on benefits, and the annual benefit bill rivals the NHS budget, making the country poorer overall.

It needs capping at less than minimum wage to incentivise people to sort their lives out, unless your clinically signed off.

If you can't support yourself you need to sort it out, only in the U.K. are we so damn soft, it's embarrassing.

@5thCommandment

1. If benefits are not supposed to cover food and bills what are they for?
2. You obviously don’t know how the system works, it’s almost impossible to make benefits a lifestyle choice as you need to demonstrate clearly that you are job searching for 35 hours a week and attending interviews.
3. We have the lowest benefits in Europe.
4. i am in a position whereby I’m in bed by seven or eight so that the heating isn’t on. It’s not much fun, and that’s with getting a bit extra because I’m disabled.
5. Do some research, food banks increasing tenfold, fuel poverty at its highest (again higher than Europe) add in the gig economy and many people are fucked before they started.
6. Try empathy rather than blame. It’s kinder.