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.

@ThroughThickAndThin01 my glass half full moment was when I realised that if it had all happened 1 month later, we would have been living in a building site with no kitchen, holes in the wall and no way of being able to pay for both the work being finished AND mortgage/bills for next however months!! I maybe less optimistic in 6mths time if dh is still not working!

"DH was withholding all funds so now being on benefits actually makes me feel flush"

Wow piratelife, I hope you realise that is abusive and completely out of line.

"On the upside, things are going to have to change with DH, and if they dont, Its not a hard move to be on my own."

Good for you OP! I hope things work out. You deserve to have money, be treated well and be happy

I don't know. Both my husband and I are furloughed. Both of us felt like our jobs were at risk long before the crisis. There are not many jobs in our area. It is worrying but we just don't know. For now we are doing fine on the furlough wages as we are not spending.

We'll be knackered.

Currently have around 12k in savings and no mortgage so I'm aware I'm in a better position than a lot of people. But let's face it this isn't going to go away over night. It's going to be kicking us around for years.

Atm we're significantly better off and we know we're are lucky. DP is wfh on his normal salary and very busy. I've been furloughed, I'm currently on 100% pay but I don't think that's sustainable. However, I work part time and ordinarily we only really see around 15% of my pay due to childcare and commuting costs but I now have no commuting costs and none of my childcare providers are currently charging so I have all of my salary so even 80% furlough pay is a huge saving for me.

However, neither of our employers are 'safe'. I think my employer will furlough me until the end of the scheme and there's a real risk I will then be made redundant (small employer whom, I don't think the owners, qualifies for much or any assistance beyond furlough).

We were also hoping to buy this year. It's already very tight for us to buy in our preferred area but we could have done that if we both received small pay rises (which seemed likely) and got a 95% mortgage but the latter will probably vanish now, lenders will probably lend less money and as we're in the south East even the effectively high increase in income I am now making isn't going to help a huge amount in finding another 5/10% for a deposit.

Both still,working, DH from home and me doing normal hours + overtime so financially in a good position.

Absolutely wrecked from working 50 and 60 hour weeks and grumpy as fuck but financially secure.

We are lucky in many ways.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses my dh did well to hang on last time UK oil & has tanked - he’s been working away for the past 8 years but all projects have been cancelled or postponed that he’s been involved in just as things were starting to look up.

He’s looking at alternative industries now as he doesn’t think it will recover this time .

I'm wfh and dp is going out to work so still getting full salaries. We usually socialise a lot plus mortgage payments have decreased so we're saving lots of money right now.

Dh is down to 80% pay. Due to savings like not eating out etc we are not much worse off each month, however dh is in an industry that is going to suffer hugely from this and take a long time to recover. So while we’re ok for now, it’s entirely possible he’ll be out of a job in another few months.
I only work as a school lunchtime supervisor so I still have my job (and am going in to help look after key worker children presently) but that doesn’t even cover our council tax bill.

In addition we just spent most of our savings having an extension done. We have some left that would tide us over for maybe 6 months at a push. So we’re not in immediate dire straits but the longer term future doesn’t look great.

Fine currently as both still on full pay. Could actually end up saving around £1500 a month for as long as this lasts, especially with no holidays.

Long term, one of us is at risk of a pay cut I would say. Perhaps 20%.

I am not one to overpay on mortgage though when rates are so low, preferring to keep funds accessible just in case with a view to using them to pay this down, once I pass 55 and can access pensions. If the worst came to the worst and one of us lost our job we could probably get by for 3 years or so. If both lost jobs around 18m so in a strong position. We are fortunate that is for sure.

To the OP, if I were you I would perhaps apply for the 3m payment holiday now just in case they remove this option. You can always pay the money you save back if you don’t need it but if you do need it, it may come in handy.

If any of you are unfortunate enough to lose your jobs then remember that there are some things you can do.

Transfer any unused personal allowance to spouse (if they are a basic rate tax payer) up to £1250 per year which saves £250 a year in tax.

Reclaim tax if you lose your job in say August and can’t work until the following April or longer - you still get your full £12500 allowance and can claim back any tax paid to date if under that.

If past the age of 55 - pensions are accessible.

DH is in a relatively secure job, me not so much, so we're using the savings we're making now on childcare to reduce debt and monthly outgoings and will hope for the best.

Income had remained same and nothing to spend it on so saving significant amounts.

Well we are both self employed. So far we are about 2 and a half grand a month down. I still have some money coming in because some of my clients are still paying. DP has so far had 1 UC payment. I'm pretty sure his job will be fine after this, hopefully. I'm a bit concerned Ed about mine. If any of my clients lose their jobs, which has been hinted at, I may be up shit creek, but will hopefully recover quickly.

It will improve as I’m a supply teacher and currently earning nothing, nor am I entitled to claim anything, be furloughed or whatnot. So for the first time in my adult life, I’m a kept woman.

I've been furloughed. My job is PT, so not such a difference to the family finances but I'm concerned I'll be made redundant if this continues much longer (I work in conveyancing).

DH is a contractor. We've got an off-set mortgage because of that, so plenty of savings.

No commuting costs now or gym. We didn't have any childcare costs anyway.

Both still working our normal hours (25 for me and 28 for DH) and saving a lot through not spending much other than food. I feel ridiculously guilty about the delivery drivers so that’s managed to curb the temptation to order stuff, and not going out for food/activities saves a lot too. DH locums so we worried at the start about him getting ill meaning no money coming in for him, but think we had corona and he was the mildest and just wfh for that 2 weeks. We’re really lucky and I see a lot in my work the pressure people are under financially and otherwise.

We're doing okay. Both work FT and in fact DH has been doing overtime so actually we're seeing an increase in money coming in.

In terms of outgoings, we're using less petrol, no parking fees, no coffees, obviously no going out, cooking more food from scratch, no gym fees, no nursery fees so we've managed to save £2k extra so far.

We are very very lucky that we've not been affected financially.

I have lost my income due to lockdown (whole industry is on standstill). My husband works from home now and gets 100% pay.
We do not qualify for mortgage and personal loan payment deferrals (both under 1 year), hence the bills are the same. Food bills went up, but we do not use our cars, so no petrol expenses. Sunny days meant no need for heating. One thing balanced the others.
His income can't cover everything, hence we are using our savings to make up the difference (meant to fix things in the house, but will have to wait until next summer).
At first I felt upset and angry that I fell through he government policy cracks and was not able to get financial support. In the end managed to get JSA, which is £74 a week (I have applied for jobs in stores, but got declined due to increased volume of applications).
Now I realise that we are actually lucky to have at least one income and savings. My parents also offered financial help if worse comes to worse (would feel like a failure to accept it ).
I believe there are households that struggle financially and have no one to turn to. There are many stuck in low wage jobs (we were too before both changing our careers) and live hand to mouth under normal circumstances, I can't imagine how they are surviving now.
I also have reviewed our household savings ''policy'' :) I think we both have to save more for times like this by reducing expenses (like Prime Video purchases) and putting away more.

We'll probably be about the same afterwards. Both public sector jobs which are highly unlikely to change. We may save slightly on travel in th future as my employers have realised that it is possible to do our jobs at home to a reasonable level, so may implement a long term WFH rota.

One secure FT job and one low paid job likely to be lost all together by July. Have saved cash by not frittering much during lockdown, plus will not be going on holiday now, so money saved there.

We’ve been living month to month for the last 6 years and mid March I finally got back into work after a 4 year hunt. We thought life was going to get a bit better and we’d be able to have some weekends away, get a bigger car, replace the knackered couch and maybe have an annual holiday. Well that all went to shit. DH still has his job and thankfully got assigned to a project that has funding for 12 mths. His small payrise this year has been put on hold. We’re lucky though as the company have laid off 40%+ of the local staff (oil and gas) and haven’t finished yet.

Financial impact has been positive for me (and I acknowledge how lucky this is!). I wfh anyway, but no travel at the mo (usually 1 a weekish, with sometimes costs work doesn’t cover). Havent put fuel in since middle of march, although i probably use about £25 a month normally.

Food shop is more expensive as I am only using Tescos to save time spent in multiple shops and buying what’s available rather than having a choice for some things, but its offset by not ‘top up’ shopping and of course no meals out, minimal takeaways/coffees out etc.

Lots of nonessential spend is down so some savings there.

Also had a pay increase (around 11%) that had been scheduled anyway and i work in a safe role in an essential industry.

I’d been hoping to move in a year or so - it might not happen so soon now, depending on housing market, but not the end of the world.

about the same for us. less commute, and slightly less childcare, but i want my childminder to still be in business when this ends, so i pay them. we also had to buy a computer for our oldest, and shopping has become more expensive

Hopefully we’ll be the same after. DH is working from home and will fingers crossed be able to work back in his office when all this is over. I’m a full time carer. At the moment we’re better off as not spending on eating out, commuting, days out, clothes, gym memberships, my very frequent visits to the hairdressers, nights out etc. Like most people our food bill is really high at the moment. We’re still paying £900 per month for our 2DC university houses even though they aren’t living in them. We’ve cancelled two holidays which would have cost 14-15k. I guess we’ll probably book another one in the Autumn for a few thousand.

We were never big spenders. Walk to work and take a packed lunch. Buy things when something needs replacing. So I am surprised that we have saved £600 last month. I have no idea where all that saving has come from.