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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the poor families on Rich House Poor House cannot be that poor?

55 replies

Sickmama · 25/08/2021 09:44

I'm not well and have spent the last 2 weeks watching a lot of Rich House Poor House for no other reason than I've discovered that when streamed onto Chrome, the adverts don't play on Chanel 5 for some reason!!! So I'm exhausting anything I can on Chanel 5.

Anyway.... Most of the poor families have somewhere between £100 and £200 after bills to spend on food, fuel, clothes etc.
We make £42k a year and after all our bills, childcare etc I have worked out that we have exactly £192 a week to spend and I'm sorry, but that's not poor! It's not rich of course, but it's not poor! I've recently paid off a load of old debts too which were taking up a large chunk of this so easily I was on less than £120 a week to live on. And to be clear, the total amount the families have is clearly defined as disposable income after their debt payments too if they have them.
Am I missing something? Why is an average of £150 a week disposable income considered poor? In London perhaps but most of these families are not in London and many are in cheaper parts of the country than I live in.

OP posts:
DogFoodPie · 25/08/2021 10:56

I agree it's not not what I would think of as poor, it's an average income where you have to be sensible but you can afford everything you need and a few luxuries. It's really more like normal house, rich house and the majority of viewers will identify with the average people. Here's a normal home, it's not bad and fairly comfortable and here's a fabulous home, it's amazing with all these super deluxe features. The comparison between someone in true poverty and someone extremely wealthy would be uncomfortable watching.

Anordinarymum · 25/08/2021 11:00

It's all staged isn't it ?

It attracts the rich people who are anonymous so they can have a platform to shout 'look at how rich I am'

Just direct them to platform 9 and 3/4 I say

Can't stand it

Burgerqueenbee · 25/08/2021 11:06

@sickmama people who have far less probably don't want to be on a TV show to tell the whole world about it. Those living with extreme hardship may also have other difficulties which would make it exploitative of TV companies to use them to make money.

Megan2018 · 25/08/2021 11:08

After all bills, childcare and food we have -£200 a month. Literally not £1 left. And that’s with a combined income of over £70k
We feel broke, but we are not poor as we have considerable assets and access to cheap credit to get us through.
It will be very different when we only have a few weeks of holiday childcare to pay for.

DishingOutDone · 25/08/2021 11:32

I’m really confused - I watched last weeks episode the family had £57 a week for food etc?

Pinkbonbon · 25/08/2021 11:38

When I lived in the city and worked full time, youd be lucky if I had 150pcm left after Bill's. 100+ a week is loads. Even if you do live somewhere like London. That's 400+ per month that could be saved.

That being said, when I've watched rich house poor house, they haven't tended to have that much...

Also, they probably have kids that need things...

Comefromaway · 25/08/2021 11:39

How old are your children? If you have a couple of pre-schoolers they don't eat very much. If you have a couple of growing teen/pre-teens who needs expensive branded school uniform and is growing like a weed and is expected to have access to a device for school then that is not lot to feed a family on. Add travel to work on (£40 per week for me petrol & £65 per week train fayre for my husband to give an example of potential costs) then there is a shortfall.

isthisareverse · 25/08/2021 11:41

It's all staged isn't it ?

it's a tv show.. you can't even trust documentaries!

LolaButt · 25/08/2021 11:44

Oh come on.

Family 1: Has a mortgage. Pays into pension, life insurance, gym. Has a nice car on finance. Pays into savings. Temporary childcare costs. After paying for the bills including the above they have £200 disposable.

Family 2: Renting. Zero or small pension contribution. May not have a car/cheapest car. No or little savings. £200 disposable income.

In this scenario they may have the same disposable income but the context is very different. One has assets which can be sold if essential and longer term savings. Two may have costs of finding new tenancies, may have increased finance borrowing costs if renting and faces an increased risk of instability.

Comparison based on pure £££ figure is delusional.

Comefromaway · 25/08/2021 11:53

Exactly.

If you can't afford to buy a nice car for example (or like my dh cannot drive) then your costs go up considerably if you have to use public transport. Or you get a really cheap car but things keep going wrong with it.

50ShadesOfCatholic · 25/08/2021 12:14

The ones I've seen have around £45-£60 and that's to cover EVERYTHING -food, electricity, clothes...

lynsey91 · 25/08/2021 12:26

In the few I have seen the poor family always have 3 or more children. Last one I watched they rented a 2 bed flat and had 3 children with another on the way!

Not hard to see why they have little money

Moraxella · 25/08/2021 14:30

Got flyer through letterbox to be on this, glad I didn’t 😱

DeflatedGinDrinker · 25/08/2021 15:16

Yanbu I think the same. They need budgeting advice.

DeflatedGinDrinker · 25/08/2021 15:16

Can't afford food but can afford a baby

ZednotZee · 25/08/2021 15:24

We have £1500 pm disposable income, not including food,fuel etc and we still struggle some months.

Of course £192 per week is poor when having to buy food,fuel, clothes etc.

Its in the breadline and I'd be surprised if it wasn't a joyless existence.

I have sympathy for those in such a predicament.

HollowTalk · 25/08/2021 15:31

OP, if you want a show that you can binge watch, have a look at Married at First Sight Australia - it's addictive, particularly series 6. There's a mixed age range so it's more interesting than if they were all early 20s.

Sandinmyknickers · 25/08/2021 15:57

I know not wholly the point, but just to pedantically pick up on a point in the OP, I don't think living in London makes a difference here. Living in London makes a difference on the amounts excluded, I.e. rent, service charge, council tax etc, but in terms of day to day living, you can live very cheaply in London. We have boroughs and areas with very high levels of deprivation sadly, and as such the local amenities and shops cater to that. The cost of living if just doing the basics doesn't have to be high. The stuff that costs more are luxuries like going out to eat, getting a pint, entertainment etc, not daily life. I'm guessing if you are 'poor' you are not doing these things regardless of where you live.
We also have a very expansive and cheap bus network. £1.50 can get you miles in London on the busses.
Just wanted to myth bust

crosstalk · 25/08/2021 16:19

OP why don't you contact the show's producers?

AfternoonToffee · 25/08/2021 16:22

It is just a sham. There was one (poor house) in an area I know very well. They were shown doing the weekly shop at Spar, there is not a Spar anywhere near, they would have to have been driven there. The nearest shop is a Sainsbury's local, which whilst expensive would still offer more than Spar or less than a mile away is two supermarkets. No way on earth would they be shopping at Spar three miles away. (Significant part on unlit country roads)

2andahalfpints · 25/08/2021 17:06

Your disposable income would include what you put into savings though and the impact having a safety net of savings is massive and will help you think about and manage money more effectively. I watched the documentary Kathy burke did and it was really interesting.

Also, debts aren't included your right but what the debt was for in the first place - nice car/mortgage/house renovation or debt to pay off debt/fridge freezer/runaround car isn't comparable either but will give the family a very different outlook.

You are definitely right, there are poorer out there, I've been there myself - having a set amount to do your shop knowing that's all you've got till next payday is a different feeling to having a set amount to do your shop knowing you've got a healthy savings account and can really get whatever you want. I think this is the thing the show focuses on.

Neverrains · 25/08/2021 17:37

@DeflatedGinDrinker

Can't afford food but can afford a baby
Who?
PlanDeRaccordement · 25/08/2021 17:42

@Lockheart

If it has to include essentials such as food and fuel, it's not disposable income.
That’s what I thought too. Disposable income is supposed to be for things like holidays, alcohol, treats, etc.

Truth is that spending(bills) seem to grow with your income, so a poor family may rent and have no car and still have same “left over” after bills for food and other necessities as a richer family that pays a high mortgage on a mansion, owns five cars, ten pets and sends their children to £20k/yr schools.

Newnormal99 · 25/08/2021 17:43

We went in a farm shop Sunday for the first time - daughter said she felt like we were on the show!

DGFB · 25/08/2021 17:53

I cannot feed my family of five on £70 a week and neither do I want to.