How skint are you ?

[Jbrown76]

Inspired by this thread on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/iR5TPqfSR7

Off you pop then

Why is it 'nice'? You're glad that other people are broke? Why did it make you feel better?

You need to work on your self esteem if other people doing well financially makes you feel crap.

Less than £10 in my bank and don’t get paid until 5th Feb. No access to credit due to very poor past decisions and no savings. It’s scary and shit and I’m trying not to think about the next few weeks because then it’s really real!
was my birthday on Thursday. I got £30 cash which I really wanted to spend getting my nails and brows done ( only shellac and then a wax and tint) and it was booked for Saturday buy I had to spend it on gas so couldn’t go. Felt a bit sad about that 😭

my son’s dad said that skint to him is having under 1k in his bank account which i appreciate is his opinion but made me feel a bit sick as he really doesn’t understand what skint is. Once he stopped paying his very pathetic maintenance at 18 he was thrilled!

I appreciate that there are people worse odd than me and in count my lucky stars for what we do have which is a secure roof over our heads and a warm home. The situation in Gaza has put a lot into perspective for me.

Fascinated how different peoples views on skint/not skint are. Some saying they are skint but then mention several thousand in savings, doesn’t that mean you are not broke then if you do have money to fall back on? As opposed to the posters saying they have a few or no dollars to last them to payday.

Can I ask why you felt the need to share this information with others on the thread who are so obviously struggling? Just what was the point of it? Did it make you feel better?

DD's not Dad's. Stupid autocorrect!

Yeah pretty skint.
I've been heavily into my OD and CCs this past month. It's just been a really crap few months and needed to sort out a new car, and purchase stuff for new baby. Our situation has changed massively in the past 6 or 7 months.
Ah well, first pay packet of DHs arrived on Friday, and he has another invoice due to be paid on Monday, so we can start to claw our way out.
I look forward to a few months from now, when we should be back to having £3000-£4000 in savings... if life doesn't take another bad turn or two.

The thread is literally asking how skint you are...There's many people on here, myself including who aren't struggling. Why single out this person?
If this thread upsets you, leave.

Not ‘skint’ skint but unreasonably feel it.
I spent all my savings on a house move just before Christmas - was privately renting and got to the top of the council bidding list after 6 years 🙌🏻.the house needed decorating and carpeting all the way through plus had to buy all new kitchen appliances.

it was what I was saving for but still get that little heart stopping moment when I log in to my banking app and it’s not there anymore ☹️

I don’t get paid until the 30th, but the monthly child benefit goes in on Tuesday, plus my siser gets paid on the 25th and will pay me £150 off of a £1500 loan I gave her last year, so I will be ok

Condolences on the loss of your father. It is heart breaking. Would you consider a cremation? I think it is a lot more affordable. Take care and I hope you find peace.

I think there's a massive difference between being truly poor and skint but anyone who has savings is neither skint or poor.

£350 in current account, £450 in savings.

However, for the first time in my life - at the age of 46 - I'm more or less on a clean slate. In the last year I've paid off over £12k in debt and I've just taken a loan to properly clear six eternal credit cards I'd run up to the max during a low period. I'm about to clear OH's big credit card debt over the next couple of months, so between us we should be able to save £2k/month and sort the house out this year.

Feel really quite privileged, but for the last 25 years we've been month-to-month - money has been our bane for the whole time we've been together.

@DoAWheelie Your father would not want you to incur debt for his funeral. Ask about a Public Health or Council funeral https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-health-funerals-good-practice-guidance/public-health-funerals-good-practice-guidance

For some being skint is unavoidable but better money management can mean some people dont have to be. I wouldnt consider I was skint if I spent money on getting nails done or a professional hair colour.

£20 till payday - and £45k of debt that am on a DMP, with payments to that of £1200 a month, leaving me nothing spare and everything cut to the bone. Joys of suddenly becoming single with a shit ton of essential house repairs left to just me to cover!

@Hamsternautss I can’t believe someone would be so callous when you have lost your Dad. I recently lost my Dad and no amount of money would ever make up for that. I’d give up everything to see him again. I’m very sorry you’ve experienced such a great loss

NC. We have £200 to last until payday on 31st. That needs to cover food for 4 of us, petrol for 2 cars, a meal out for a relatives birthday. We have £15k credit card debt, £3k overdraft, we owe family £4.5k and have 2 loans which finish this year which cost us £500 a month. We have zero savings.

I feel skint but then I started typing my post and deleted it because feeling skint and being skint aren’t the same and some of you are really struggling and it’s very humbling to read.

Not remotely skint. Just very fortunate and frankly, lucky - the timing of our lives is just such that we benefited from housing booms, interest rates and job markets. And a small but early inheritance on my side. We've worked hard but no harder than most and I'm under no illusion that we 'deserve' what we have by 'right'.

Approx £400k excess equity in the house over purchase (if we move that will be correspondingly eaten up by the rise in prices). Three years left on the mortgage.
Approx £800 left over from salaries each month after all spending.
£60k liquid cash in savings account.
£45k in an endowment due to pay this year.
Approx £10k in other odd accounts.

Is it the public health funerals you've looked at?

Local authorities are obliged to arrange a funeral where no arrangements are being made or have been made. Local authorities are permitted to recover the costs of such funerals from the estate of the deceased under the Act.
The Guardian reported that the average cost of a public health funeral in 2011 was £950.[2] In some circumstances where a person dies in hospital the relevant NHS trust may arrange a funeral for the deceased; however, ultimately the duty to arrange the funeral rests with the local authority.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health_funeral

You have to be prepared to have no involvement in the funeral arrangements at all as that indicates taking some responsibility. (Or at least that's how it's worked for the people I know who've needed these.)

PS: Sorry, I got distracted and didn't finish this post for a long time. I should have checked posts in the interim to see this had been posted.

Well, I have savings but no income. Retired but no pension. I don’t feel skint but others in similar position may well do so.

You make a lot of assumptions about me, I ticked several of those boxes.....I wasn’t ‘privileged’ to go to Uni, I worked incredibly hard to get there.....even before UNi I was working full time in summer holidays and about 20 hours in term time for money for the family to survive.

people put limits on themselves.....I had an enduring belief that I was going to take myself out of poverty and I did.

To add- I would have 2 months where me and DH have beans on toast type of thing every night and don't go out. Zero unnecessary spending. Only for 8 weeks. DH won't do it. It could really help us out and possibly clear 1 of the cards. But nope, he refuses

Food and petrol are essentials but is there any way you can pull out of the birthday meal? It doesn't sound like you can currently afford it and not fair for others to expect you to spend money you don't have while being in massive debt.

Let’s get this straight. The reply I quoted was the first one I saw. Does the thread upset me because people have savings etc? No. Not at all. I’m very fortunate in life. I’m also well able to understand that asking someone how skint they are is very different to asking how solvent or wealthy they are and those who’ve felt the need to take the thread in a direction that wasn’t intended may have savings etc but they don’t actually have an ounce of good breeding in them.

I empathise so much. It's impossible for one person to resolve something that needs implementation and consent from all the parties involved.

We're autonomous adults and we all have our choices. We all have our irrational moments. But it's desperate when it's something with these sorts of current and long-term consequences, not just for individuals but for others.