To ask about your financial situation after covid?

[MrDarcysMa]

Hi all, I don't have any friends in the same situation so just wondering what other people's situation is....now and after CV? I realise many people will be worse off than me, as well as better off so this isn't meant to be inflammatory - just curious really and trying to get some perspective on my situation. Both DP and I work FT (usually) no kids and recently purchased first home after 10 years of renting and saving.

I work in a company where I do a worthwhile job but it does not bring money in directly for the company so I may not have a job after the furlough scheme ends.

-Very lucky atm to have 80% income via furlough (although it's only of my basic salary no overtime or commission)

-Joint mortgage and bills with DP who earns more than me but is wfh on 20% pay cut

• We're ok on current income - about £800 in the bank less per month but we're not spending much/ going out

• After furlough I will likely have only PT hours if so - we should be able to pay mortgage and essential bills and food if DP still has a job but no unnecessaries or fun stuff (if pubs etc re open!)

• If I lose my job we will have to do mortgage hol for a few months, give back the car we have on pcp which ends soon, and hope I can get another job after 3 month mortgage holiday or my company is in a position to have me back!

• Overall we are managing ok now financially but if we both lose jobs after CV which is a very real possibility, we're screwed.

My husband and I are still working full time, mainly from home. We don't have to pay for childcare at the moment, but said child has too much screen time. We're also not going out, no take-aways etc, so we have saved money. Our shopping bill has gone up though.

I have a small hotel with DH. Obviously, we are closed and we don’t know when we will be able to reopen and when we will feel safe to reopen. No guests equals no income. We are waiting to hear if we are eligible for any financial support from the government. We should be ok to cover the business loan etc for a couple of months. DH is looking for work and I was recently offered a few hours wfh. Our business is seasonal and we usually make our money now to put aside for the quiet times and for maintenance, decorating etc. I know this isn’t going to be possible this year and we will do what we can to keep going. When we gave up secure employment to buy the business, we knew it carried risks. We love being our own bosses and couldn’t go back to being employed. All my relatives are furloughed or wfh and yes, I feel a little envious of that security. I hope their jobs are safe and once they go back to their 9-5s, I know that feeling will go!

*Definitely agree that those who come out of this ok financially will likely be spending less after this. Combination of realising the importance of having a buffer- however small, and realising you can manage without that takeaway/ outfit/ coffee.

I read an interesting quote something like 'the economy is collapsing now that people are only buying what they NEED' ....*

it is those that have a drop in income and were only spending what they absolutely needed to and have no savings that will suffer. Even a 20% drop when you walked to work but are furloughed, combined with increased food costs could be devastating, particularly if you rent and no mortgage to take a holiday from.

We are lucky, despite being 'spend only what we need' type people - we rarely eat out or do holidays, and our income has remained the same, our costs the same other than food going up, we actually save a fair bit of our earnings as we're winding along to retirement.

We are making a conscious effort to buy from the smaller businesses that aren't earning for the shareholders, the self employed, the non-essential people, and local businesses and services that I'd like to survive. I spend more in the village shop and butchers (and encourage neighbours to spend there too by picking up their orders when I go), and less in the supermarket. I order veg box to collect from the local farm shop, even though I'd probably manage from the village shop and we've had some odd 'use up the veg meals', it's meaning less I'd buy from the supermarket. I've already bought ahead for Christmas, for birthdays etc. I also make a point to shop extra for the foodbank bin when in the supermarket. I've already provisionally booked a cut and colour at a hairdresser (normally do it all myself, but figure they'll need the money more) for June. They've discussed with the staff and worked out rotas so they're going to open more hours so their staff can social distance better on shifts but this also means lots of early morning or evening appointments and Sundays too - which should help the workforce get their hair done around work hours, which I think is a brilliant way of doing it.
I can see a big change in how and when people work, and a LOT more continuing to WFH.

I'm a nurse, so no change in income. And I've saved loads from not going to for coffee on my days off. I'm extremely grateful to still have a job to go to!

We've gone from struggling month to month to actually being able to make ends meet and build a bit of a buffer as we're paying a lot less with regards to nursery fees and travel too and from work. Both have very stable jobs, and I've just had a small incremental pay increase. DH and I are reasonably likely to have promotions this year.

I feel really guilty about it though.

I'm furloughed now so 80% of (basic only - not bonuses etc) which I can live on, but likely to be no job to go back to.

Will be ok for a few months as have some savings but not sure how the longer term will pan out.

We are a lot worse off. DH and I are both self employed and we had over £30k of work booked in for April/May which we have lost completely. No idea when we'll be able to work again either.

I have had to negotiate with DC's schools to pay this term's fees over the next 6 months (relying on the last few invoices i sent actually being paid) and have cancelled all none essential direct debits. The only thing we're spending on now is food/household bills and our mortgage.

I'm in my early 50s and my mum offered to lend me some money the other day.

Unaffected. I'm an NHS nurse and still working. Husband is retired on an NHS pension.

We're better off if anything as no mindless shopping (Amazon excepted, which I resisted at first) and no sloping off to the pub or for a meal out.

At 63 and in less than great health I wasn't quite working full time before lockdown and I got a small amount of Housing Benefit to top up my pathetic wages. And I was knackered all the time. I've given up work (taxi driver, so social distancing impossible) and claimed Universal Credit. With the increase in UC and the savings on council tax and NHS charges, I'm better off and no longer permanently knackered. I'm really hoping I can stay on UC until I get my pension in 3 years' time. I've got debts, but if I have to go bankrupt, so be it. I wouldn't be able to pay them back if I went back to work anyway. This is what happens when they raise the pension age, freeze the Local Housing Allowance for 10 years, and make it impossible to claim PIP unless you literally can't walk.

DH's job/pay will continue as normal and it's as secure as any job out there can be - key worker but very niche. He also gets a military pension from doing 22 years in the army.

I've been a SAHP/MA student for years. I started up an online shop in February selling crystals/minerals/fossils/gifts - I already have an Etsy shop selling vintage jewellery but that's very much a hobby - and luckily went to the warehouse on the Monday before all the closures started. My turnover is tiny as I'm still listing items (and have a load of things to make) but I made a small profit last month and if I do the same this month will place an online order for more stock.

I have a small house I rent out. My tenant was already a little behind as he lost his job, probably as a result of Brexit, and his temp work dried up as the COVID response happened. Luckily the mortgage and other costs are quite low and I've already told him I'm going to not charge for a couple of months - to allow for the gaps in work/uc/work/uc he's had. I've discussed with DH and we're going to extend that another month and see how that goes after. There would come a point where he wouldn't be covering our costs for the year but we're not there yet.

Nothing has changed for us really . I'm on maternity leave and my job will still be there for me to return to. DH can do his job and is unlikely to be made redundant. We are saving money on petrol, socialising etc, but have spent some extra on things to keep the kids occupied.

Our savings are sitting at a slightly lower value than we might have hoped, more that growth is down than investments having actually lost value.

WhathaveIfound

You can save money by sending your children to state school. It's MUCH cheaper than private.

We have been fortunate so far. I am a key worker so WFH, partner is still going into work and thankfully hasn't been forlough. So for us we are saving money.

We are both ok . Both key workers . Tbh we’re very careful with money and have always spent a lot less than our income . I’ve been preparing for something like this for years . And people laughed at me.
I don’t have a lot of sympathy for those with high wages who didn’t have the common sense to save some when they could .
Of course the government need us all to be spenders to keep all the cogs turning . Imagine what would happen if we actually focussed on need instead of want .

What have I found - state schools are free. Perhaps that’s the way forward for you when this is over if you’re having to ask your parents for money .

Thanks for those pointing out that state school are free like like i didn't already know

I'm not HAVING to ask my parents for money. My mum offered and I didn't accept it. It's all about cash flow for now.

One DC finishes Y13 this year but i'm not going to move the other one as he goes into Y11. He already knows that he may be moving to state sixth form and is happy with that.

Both my husband and I are self-employed and prior to Covid earned just above the cut-off point for covid support. Work has dried up because of the industries we work with and income has dropped to near zero. On top of that some of our clients are delaying payment of their outstanding invoices. I must admit I feel very forgotten about when friends talk about being furloughed. Things are looking very grim.

Very much worse off. I am still working for the NHS so at least I still have a job but DH was a self-employed taxi driver so he has earned nothing for the whole of the lockdown and we had just had January and February which are his quietist months anyway so our savings were already being dug into back then. We are now waiting on the form arriving which will allow us to claim 80% of his earnings averaged over the last three years but will they continue that after lockdown when it is unlikely people will want to get into taxi's or go out clubbing and need a taxi home?

DH is a teacher so his job is hopefully safe. I am part time and work with theatre, concerts and events so not sure my job will be there when my furlough ends. So we are worse off and could be very much worse off in a few months

Better off atm but won't be in 2 mths when the agreed 15%/20% pay cuts comes in for both DH & I. Hopeful that this will be enough to mitigate the number of redundancies and that neither of us will be casualties in the next few months.So, we'll be spending as little as possible and saving as much as possible in the meantime.

This isn't uncommon in the private sector at the moment so I don't foresee a rush to spend when surviving businesses reopen.