@cremeeggthief - I think a lot of people, especially those under 40 who generally don’t yet have the life experience of long term sickness/disability either in themselves or even their parents as yet, tend to think these things are rather abstract and happen to “other people”
I’ll admit, even as a nurse/ex nurse I was a bit like that myself in my 20’s.
My parents and parents in law, siblings and siblings in law and my ex and I were all in pretty good health at that stage (when I was 29) - and that was even with dad being an alcoholic! He was lucky it hadn’t started to make him ill at that point.
By 10 years later all 4 parents/in laws, my sister, ex’s sister and 1 of his brothers and me ALL had long term debilitating illnesses and/or disabilities.
And to be blunt, being sick is actually more expensive than dying!
It came as a huge shock to my in-laws who are lovely people but very naive and sheltered as until they became sick they’d been pretty well off! So when ex fil had to retire early due to ill health, ex mil was still well at that point but hadn’t worked for over 40 years. She tried to get a job and she wasn’t fussy about what she was applying for but she was genuinely shocked that NOBODY would even give her an interview let alone employ her! Her children and I HAD tried to explain over the years when we’d been job hunting that job hunting had changed MASSIVELY since the 60’s. She had no clue!
They kept how bad things were even from their own kids, it was only when mil fainted from anaemia that it came to light they’d REALLY been struggling and that had included missing meals! Their children were both heartbroken and annoyed they’d not told them! Pride and shame were huge factors.
This was something of a crisis point and they finally admitted they needed help. The “kids” were all more than happy to sub them if necessary but it turned out not to be - it transpired they’d been:
Not claiming benefits they were entitled to - they saw this as akin to begging! A lot of talking was needed to get them to understand this is just how it works now
Paying over the odds for a lot of their bills - their ds2 overhauled this for them and reduced their outgoings by over £1K JUST By doing that they were amazed! They were still with BT For phone, British Gas for energy etc as that’s what they were used to - but they’d been customers since those organisations were state owned! They’d no idea how the private market worked
Still buying their expensive favourite brands of EVERYTHING grocery wise - their daughter was able to explain to and persuade them that supermarket brands were now very palatable. Some brands they did retain as they didn’t like the cheaper versions but mostly they switched at least one brand level down.
Once everything had been sorted out they were much better off and very relieved that they could not only manage on their new budget but even have little luxuries.
Mil became a bargain demon and very adept at finding voucher codes online. Fil being a mechanical sort, researched ways to reduce water and energy use and made adaptations that suited them.
We had similar issues with both my grans and again once they were receiving the income they were entitled to and bills had been reviewed they were doing much better. Though one gran bless her still didn’t trust banks and stored away the “extra” cash in her knitting bag which we discovered after she died! It was ALMOST thrown out! 😱 it only wasn’t as an aunt said to check there weren’t any precious family photos or jewellery in it as we already knew she tended to stow those in odd places! Over £5k in cash!!
@pittapitta er...I think you’re rather missing the point! The £90 isn’t AFTER bills it’s FOR bills it’s not fun money! That’s all someone on Unemployment based UC has to live on!!
@newpapaguinea - savings are a luxury for many too.
@DoveofPiss I’m shocked your uni considers you ineligible for hardship fund. Do they have a single parents grant? Books and equipment grant? There are also charitable grants which are not provided by the uni but generally come from people leaving money in their wills for such things or various charities provide them. It may be worth asking your student support office?
When I was at uni with dd little they were available to me but I’m aware a lot has changed since then (around 15 years ago)