To wonder how poor I am??

[Imustbemad00]

I know there will be varied responses from really well off, or ridiculously poor. I sort of class myself as low paid but not in poverty but would like opinions.

I have around 1000pcm after paying rent. 2 children. Out of this 1000 by the time I pay bills (council tax, car insurance, broadband, tv, car tax, parking permit, gas and electric) I probably have around 600 left.

That 600 is then for food, after school clubs, day to day stuff, clothes, shoes, and anything else that might come up such as school trips. Also obviously the odd luxury, cinema trips, days out, treats for the kids, birthdays, Xmas, maybe a holiday.

Do I sound really poor? I get by, pay the bills ect. But I really struggle with clothes and stuff, obviously prioritise kids, struggle to get all their bits and then end up never getting anything for myself. Going for a meal or a day out always has to be planned and saved for and obviously I have no savings.

I guess a lot of people are in the same boat.

Please speak to your cub group uniquack. We have a fund to pay subs for families that fall on hard times.

Op - think you've had a hard time on here. You sound like a JAM. And I agree you should be able to buy a coffee now and then.

Do you have any friends with older kids that can help you with hand me downs? We are comfortable financially but get hand me down from a friend which is really helpful. And I pass stuff on myself to anyone who needs it.

I used to live off a little bit more than £150 years ago and I had 3 kids to support, a mortgage to pay and a car to run. It was hard but I found what helped was putting a little bit aside every week for something in particular eg - car insurance, childs birthday. I would give the money to a trusted colleague and she was under strict instructions not to give it back to me until the event had arrived , that way it wasn’t at home and couldn’t be dipped in to!

But if you were really struggling you would watch every penny- there would be no sandwiches grabbed from Tesco etc.

I think its very difficult to draw comparisons because of the difference in cost of living. I looked at those two calculators and laughed at how much they thought our family needed - what they suggested for our entire income wouldn't even cover the rent on a 2 bed flat in this part of the country!
OP, I think you've had a hard time. I'd say you are JAM (Just About Managing) ie not poor on a day to day basis but having to be careful and falling into debt with normal "extra" expenses like boilers, school uniforms come along. And I say this as someone who has survived on nothing but disability benefits for several months when I was very ill. I don't think you could be called "well off" just not "destitute" but that isn't what you asked!
When I was struggling I found planning all our meals for the week to make sure nothing was wasted and I could buy some things in bulk really helped. My sister has a chalkboard in her kitchen for this that she swears by (you could ask a friend for one for Christmas!)

@AnneElliott - Thanks, I'll look into that :-). I did tell the Scout leader I can't afford it at the moment, and he just shrugged. But taking them to cubs when we don't have anywhere to live will be a bit difficult lol.

It's possible to meet friends at free or very cheap places and take a picnic/packed lunch rather than buy food out.

I do think you should try to budget for saving a small amount and definitely not touching it. £50 or even £25 a month to begin with, until you're used to just ignoring it.

I would consider that pretty poor and I think you are doing really well managing to make sure your children have after school activities.
I just did a benefits calculation and if I were a single parent not working, with two children, then I would receive £900 every four weeks in benefits not including housing. That sounds pretty similar to what the OP has. Plenty of the families who use food banks have similar incomes to the OP.

Please do uniquack. Speak to the GSL as they'll be able to advise re hardship payments.

600 a month to cover all it takes to manage a household, raise children run a car is not loads. - it is loads if you don't have it @Maybe83.

OP remember MN is hardly representative of real life. People on here seem to have huge salaries, spend £5k a year on their summer holidays, and pay for things such as cleaners. I have only met a few people in real life like this, and of course next to that lifestyle you are going to feel and look poor.

For the vasy majority of people, your situation is very normal so don't feel bad or helpless.

What’s the alternative then? Higher pay? Even more benefits than you already get? Not being goady, I genuinely don’t understand who’s responsibility it is to ensure the OP can buy take away coffee whenever she likes!

Well, you have more than us.

It is loads if you don't have it

Well an unemployed single parent with 2 children receives a similar income to OP, there is a minimum the government deems necessary to live hence the need for benefits/tax credits, so most people in similar circumstances will have it. The only way you would be worse off is if you're paying off loads of debt, have very high rent or your circumstances are different, eg you don't have children to support.

@TheCatWhisperer yes but there are many singles mums who have to pay rent in private accomodation (not council houses), and that's considerably more expensive.

I've found it tough when living on similar.

I didn't feel poor though and I didn't worry about feeding everyone or furling the car.

I wasn't at the point of selling things to make ends meet.

Things have been worse and it's felt much harder and I would take any donations of toilet roll or beans where I could.

Strangely I now have a lot more left after bulls and I don't feel any better off and don't save much and don't go out much more than I did before.

I just tend to adapt to what's available at the time

TheCatWhisperer yes but there are many singles mums who have to pay rent in private accomodation (not council houses), and that's considerably more expensive.

Yes I'm aware of that, I'm one of them which is why I mentioned it.

My dream is to be able to buy something, anything....a coffee or a sandwich, without worrying about the cost. To just pick up a sarnie and be able to buy it without a thought would be wonderful!

I hope things get better Pyong and OP!

OP, have you spoken to the school if they can help with uniform as you receive UC?

Can you do any extra hours to help a bit or find something more than minimum wage? I know its not that easy.

I’m going to have a quick look at my bank statement but I’m 100% going to track ALL spending for a month.

That's a very good place to start, imo. You can't make sensible economies until you know where the money's going.

I may have got you muddled with another poster, but I think you said you have card/key meters for energy. That usually prevents you from getting access to the cheapest tariffs, so it may be worth getting your prepayment meters taken out and having credit meters installed instead. Then you can check out USwitch and find the cheapest deals.

You can often find cheaper insurance by using the comparison sites, I just helped a client save £120 a year by changing her car insurer and getting a really good deal that included breakdown cover. A PP was paying £76 a month in insurances, we pay less than £600 a year for insurance for 2 cars, buildings and contents. The savings don't sound huge, but when you're operating on such narrow margins, small savings can make a big difference.

The cost of school uniforms and the obsession with logos on everything gives me the rage, as does the tendency for every new headteacher to change the bloody uniform within a year or two of taking up a new post (this has happened at 3 schools in this area in the last 2 years). I think school uniforms should have a basic colour and any logos should be on a badge that can be sewn on a garment from Asda or wherever. When parents have to go to an approved supplier the quality always seems to be crap, too, they're being ripped off imo.

Hopefully, the children will all be swimming well soon and you'll be able to knock the swimming lessons on the head, OP. That'll make a bit of a difference.

I do think this is a very low income OP. Sure, there are people worse off but that doesn't mean things aren't hard for you. Trying to run a car must be particularly challenging when you add up insurance, repairs, eventual replacement, MOT, tax and fuel. I hope things improve for you, and everyone else on this thread who is struggling.

Remember, also, that being poor is expensive. You're usually on pay-as-you-go gas/electricity, because your credit rating is too fucked for anything else. You've usually got some debts at a much higher interest rate than people with a good credit rating (no, not because you are a feckless idiot, but because you needed to borrow some money at some point because DS lost or outgrew their winter coats, or a household appliance broke, or the payments due to you got fucked up by some computer error and all your direct debits bounced that week...)
Meanwhile large corporations are busy buying up smaller businesses and making them more profitable by, basically, cutting the wages they pay to staff, housing costs are taking bigger and bigger chunks out of everyone's income (since the demise of social housing, the 'taxpayers' money' that morons whine about being given out in housing benefit is going straight into the pockets of private landlords rather than back into the council's funds) and vast amounts of money are being hoarded ie taken out of the economy.
But, yeah, how dare poor people think they should be able to have a meal out, or buy a pair of new shoes, or go on holiday?

Poor is poor op, you sound like your actually very well off.

Don't be so ridiculous. Of course the OP is not "very well off".

OP - how old are your DC? I’m about to do a wardrobe sort out of my DCs, planning on sending bits to the charity shop. More than happy to send in the post if they are suitable?

There a lot of competitive poverty on this thread. Of course the OP isn't very well off, that's ridiculous. It should not be the case that someone who is working full time should be struggling to buy a Tesco's sandwich, or go to the cinema now and again, and I am amazed that some people on here think of these things are being 'entitled'! Honestly, if that's the standard of living in the UK at the minute I'm glad I don't live there any more! I doubt it is that bad though for most of the populace, although after Brexit who knows?