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.

We are ok for now. I am still working but don't earn a huge amount. Have just had a tiny pay rise. DH is furloughed with a small topup. We are saving on fuel, trains, bus fares and children's activities, but we are spending lots on food. DH job at risk of redundancy though, so this may not last.

We are incredibly lucky to be better off at the moment. Both our jobs are stable and we're both wfh with full pay (DH is a civil servant heavily involved in CV response, I work in HE).

Over the past 2 months we've managed to pay off £1K in credit card debt (which means it's now paid off in full as that was our final bit to clear), and put £1,300 in savings. The savings has been a massive boost as we're trying to get a cushion together for when I go on maternity leave i August.

While it's not the best time to be pregnant, it also means I've got some protection from any post-covid redundancies (while my job is stable at the moment, if the dept takes a hit on recruiting students for Sept we're all at risk i think - as it is I don't think they'll be getting any mat cover for me as the Uni is on a hiring freeze).

Also feeling very thankful that we are 2 yrs in to a 10 year fixed rate mortgage, and we had just taken out a further small mortgage loan a few weeks before the crisis hit to pay for a new bathroom, which is fixed rate for 5 years. So we should be protected from the worst of the interest rate volatility.

My husband was just about to start a new job before the lockdown and it was retracted. No income coming in at all now. We have a mortgage but thankfully we have savings that we are now having to eat into. Gym membership frozen, I've cancelled some subscriptions, switched energy supplier for cheaper fuel. Haven't used our car, no takeaways/eating out, not wasting food. Obviously pissed that our savings is getting eaten but on the flip side thankful we have savings.

There's been no change for us really. I work in academia, so I'm still working (though not nearly as efficiently as normal with two dc at home). My research and teaching and admin responsibilities have changed, because we've all had to adjust, but I'm still working as normal from home and still being paid my normal salary (which is very good).

Dh is self-employed. His business clients are largely in the restaurant and catering industries, but he's been able to adjust how he's marketing and has picked up plenty of extra private clients (there are seemingly plenty of people out there with money to burn who are sitting at home online shopping). I think it would have an effect if this lasted 6 months to a year. But at the moment, income is still fine, and the business is successful enough that there is a cushion.

So we are very fortunate that it's not really affecting us at all at this point, except for the minor hassles everyone has to deal with. We're saving money on nursery and I'm saving money on commuting. We're able to pay everything as normal though, and are in the process of buying a house (hoping to complete by July when things settle down). We realise we are in a very lucky position, so trying to buy from other local small businesses who aren't having as easy a time.

We have found we're spending less than usual in lockdown: not able to go anywhere, DH no commuting costs, dont expect to be going on holiday in a few weeks as previously planned. But obviously feeling uncertainty for the future.

We are better off, probably. Business income has gone up since the pandemic, less outgoings on travel, therapy and outings. But childcare costs have gone up to support our SEN child at home.

Dh is on 80% pay and I’m still on full pay. Seeing the missing money from Dh‘a pay is was rather shocking really, with a bit of tweaking we should be ok! Just about, and I do have some savings which we can use if it all goes pear shaped.

What we have been saving on fuel we are spending on food, my shopping bills gone up from £70-80 a week to £150-160. So no massive savings.

I haven’t really been spending much, no clothes/shoes etc I have spent some money on some paint for the house and craft stuff for the kids.

Dh is a SAHD so no change there.

I’m working full time from home with no salary drop. I work in financial services and our workload has gone through the roof so I think my job is pretty secure.

We’re far better off now as my company are offering unlimited overtime at more than double time as they’re desperate.

I’ve made the most of this and have done a few full weekends (which sucks from a work-home balance POV short term) but which has pretty much doubled my income the last two months.

When everything’s back to normal we’ll be worse off as the overtime will go - but thankfully we’re likely to be in the same position as before the lockdown and will carry on with a few k in savings we didn’t have before.

You're going to hate me. DH makes 100k+ as a contractor IT specialist in a niche area. He is planning to get more certificates this summer to be even more specialized and up his income to about 200k+. He is very much in demand and we have no reason to believe the future economy to be an impact on us. I'm a housewife and make nothing (but have a nice nest egg tucked away).

It's okay, there's a sharp rise in graduates and those following computer science, cyber security etc so I would grow that nest egg before the bubble bursts and demand is no longer outstripping demand.

Not sure why everyone would hate you Chucky, high earners with SAHWs are not unusual on here.

@walkingchuckydoll my DH does the same thing as yours. We still think the economy could cause issues. Contractors are taken on as project work due to the nature of their contracts (IR35 etc) it stands to reason that less projects may be taking place in the future if the economy dive bombs.
Your certainty is encouraging to me though.

We are fucked.

I run my one one-person company but only been going just over a year, so not had time to build up much in reserve.

DP also has ltd Co - very low paid so hasn't ever had money for reserves.

We qualify for the furlough if we furlough ourselves but we both have a tiny amount of work going on.

I expect things to get worse before they get better - my last piece of work ends in August.

We are not destitute but if things don't look up pretty quickly we'll have gone from no debts (but no savings) to Mortgage arrears.

Not expecting any sympathy because the received wisdom from propaganda sewn by HMRC is I am a tax-dodging disguised employee.

Our income hasn't changed and we're very grateful for that. However, one of the companies I work for have been struggling. It's still in operation as essential, but not much to do and not much money coming in - I think this'll be the final spoke on the wheel and can't imagine I'll have this job this time next year. We can cope without it, but my money is literally our treat/holiday money.

@nauseaandnipples

I have to add that we don't live in the UK but on the continent, so DH can easily work in the countries around us as well. And we don't have a brexit to deal with. But we're not worried no and I also wouldn't be worried in your position. DH had the luxury until now to only take on the projects that he really liked and were close to home, and in future he might have to choose more sensibly but other than that we really don't think that there will be much less work to do for him. Businesses still need to invest in IT to be able to be competitive. So I think that working in IT still brings a lot of job security.

I used to work in a hospital and this pandemic taught me that I don't want to risk working in health care again in the future.

@walkingchuckydoll that's good, maybe we're too cautious then.

@walkingchuckydoll I hope you are right, I work in the sector and that optimism isn't shared elsewhere.

As @nauseaandnipples, less projects and businesses folding globally is going to have an effect. There will be work, but there is likely to be less demand, and large contractor salaries are due to the competitiveness; but less people using IT personnel means less projects for people to choose from and less money because it shifts to become a bit more of a buyer's market. I hope it doesn't, I have left contracting for a stable job, a lot less money but honestly, bunkering down hoping to ride it out.

I feel for young families who’s incomes have been impacted. When this first happened, we were up shit street, I was furloughed on 100% but only work part time but husband had just started a new job so no furlough, luckily the company decided to pay 80% of his wages so we are ok plus we have a small mortgage. My heart goes out to all those poor families struggling, how on earth could anyone prepare for this. If this had happened in our 30’s or 40’s we would’ve really struggled. I wish I could wave a magic wond and help everyone

Husband is furloughed on 80% , I’m working on normal pay and my temp promotion has been extended. We are spending a lot less , I’ve not spent anything on petrol in 8 weeks so in a pretty good situation. Just got to hope husbands job is safe for longer term

No change. DH and I have never been so busy with work, and that looks set to continue.

I haven’t earned a farthing since early December when the company I worked for went into administration. Fortunately the government/tax-payer covered my redundancy/back-pay/holiday-pay/notice so I have enough to get by until I qualify for the State pension later on this month. I’m sure I’ll manage OK on the pension if I’m frugal/sensible. God knows, it could be a whole lot worse, and is for some

We are currently better off as DH is working from home on full pay - we are saving on fuel costs as we are hardly using the car, a lot of the kids' activities have stopped, gym membership fees have been suspended, I'm cooking more and we are using up leftovers. Money allocated for holidays will not be spent this year either.
Afterwards, things will be the same for us. DH works for the NHS in an IT role, I will continue to be a SAHM and carer for our disabled ds.

I live on less than £800 pcm

I’m wfh full time and in a secure job, my dp is self employed and has no work or prospect of work in the foreseeable future, he’s not entitled to furlough as he only became self employed within the last 6 months. I also have rental income on a mortgaged property and have agreed to accept half rent as one of my tenants (a young couple) is now not earning. So there’s less money coming in but we are spending a lot less on everything except food so we are managing so far. If necessary I’ll take a mortgage holiday.