How skint are you ?

[Jbrown76]

Inspired by this thread on Reddit:

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

Can't you say no to the meal out? I would.

E-on next do have quite a good trust fund you can apply to to get arrears reduced. I just managed to get £2500 arrears wiped off for a client. Might be worth a try ?

Skint but not skint. £250 ish into our overdraft but have some savings (not accessible). So we're going to live in our free overdraft until payday on Friday.

This month we paid the tax man, the credit card will be gone and we cleared the kitchen loan 5 months early!

So all that's left is a bed loan (on 0%) and the mortgage.

February is a nice short month. We'll get back on track then.

We had a horrendously expensive 2023 with MOT bills and washing machine bills to name a few. It's been a constant battle all year.

This year our mortgage fix finishes 😱 and a teen goes to Uni, when that teen finishes Uni the younger teen will go so life is going to be skint for the next 8 years! (4 year degrees in Scotland).

Probably won't be able to afford to replace the car and looking increasingly likely no holiday this year 🙁

-£261 in overdraft. Getting paid on Thursday.

Have another £88 I can take from OD but have mobile bill of £48 (for 2 phones) coming out on Monday.
So £40 left for transport (London) and food and whatever pops up unexpectedly for the next 3 days.
A tiny debt of about £150 for rent. No other debts. No savings.

We have food and all the things we need, but living totally paycheck to paycheck. I have 2 kids- one of which is a teenager.

I used to live much more comfortable but since I got divorced - have to manage work and school runs, so working part time. I know I could go full time but then my kids would suffer - so I think I've found a happy medium for the next few years until little one finishes primary.

To be honest, I live in the heart of one of the most expensive cities in the world. I can afford to live on my own with my kids, work part time, see my children, we are fed and clothed and have an odd meal out. Yes, money is very tight but just about manageable. I think I'm very lucky.

That's awful- they should pay you interest on that money too. I know it wouldn't be much probably but all the same. It has had a real impact on your life.

I think you are doing amazing considering your circumstances.

Are those phones bought on contract? Are the contracts still running or could you possibly reduce those bills?

My contract is about £13 and my son's- I'm still paying off his phone for another 3 months.

£36.62 in my account to last 10 days, owe £22 on a store card, £132 on my credit card and have £607 savings.

Also have a lot of expenditure this week due to two 'big' birthdays so either my savings will be used or my credit card increased. Bah!

Not long then on your son's. If your phone is paid off, £13 seems like a lot. I think I pay 8£ for mine and that's 10gb of data which I never manage to use. I'm guessing there might be even better deals out there.

@LuluBlakey1 I’m owed £1300 (take home) not to even include the pension contributions/NI etc. This is nhs payroll so no excuse.

Im the queen of poor.
I have to save up to be poor thats how skint i am.
Ive not had money for so long i cant even count it when i do get it.
Thank god i dont have kids or pets because they would starve to death.

After initial slight rolling of eyes, I decided to have a look if I can reduce my very reasonable bill of £13.
To my alarm I found that my bill was not £13 but £16 a month! After a quick look around the website, I was able to upgrade my contract to £9/month and more data!
Thank you stranger :)

It is absolutely a privilege to go to uni. Life is not a level playing field.

I've made no assumptions about you other than you are naive which lots of people must have concluded judging from the number of thanks notifications I've received.

Would you care to explain how looking after a disabled child 24/7 is putting a limit on yourself?.

Check your privilege.

Have you checked to see if you can do the overnight train or go by coach - it may reduce the cost a little

@Mumof2NDers might be worth buying him a railcard as that knocks a far amount off the travel.

It’s not a privilege for everyone to go to uni.

I went to uni and I was in no way privileged - my parents earned £200/YEAR too much for me to get bursaries - but also couldn’t afford to contribute to my living expenses.

The only place that did the course I wanted was 40 miles away, which meant my commute was 2 trains and two buses per day each way. I managed to scrape enough together for one year in student accommodation; but had to leave after a year for financial reasons.

I was on a degree that required placements so between placements, my two jobs, and my studies, I was easily working 6am-12am every single day during term time. I had £20/week after living expenses and transport costs, to buy all my food etc.

I also got a lot of debt that I’m still paying off 10 years later.

I think it’s worth nothing that a lot of the posters here who have a lot of money in savings might have not been in that position 6 months ago; and might not be in that position 6 months from now either.

Similarly those living month to month have very probably not always been like that and also may have the chance to turn things round.

Ive been in both positions (not mega wealth, but comfortably able to pay bills and have some treats)

So so skint it is absolutely making us miserable. Got in debt through covid and ex not paying maintenance and now we are in a big fat mess. Husband does a job that is so physically demanding he can't do any more hours than he does and my mental health is fucked. Oh and my child tried to kill himself this week.

Would just like to be able to pay stuff on time, maybe book a small holiday, and be able to go out to eat once a month? Seems like an impossible dream.

This, we don't have a lot left in the spending account this month as we last got paid before Christmas. However we have put hundreds into savings and can transfer some for essentials if needed. We've recently cleared a lot of debit from house moves/renovations looking back I wish we had let it run for longer so we had more to enjoy life over the last two years.

Yep as I said up thread, my dh,unexpectedly inherited £15,000 from his estranged father a couple of months ago ,its nott a life changing amount but its a huge amount to us ,as we have always lived month to month,hoping to be able save some ,But at the moment we have bought some nice furniture ,paid some outstanding billls, hoping to go away on holiday as we haven't Been away in five years.

Oh gosh @DungareesAndTrombones Im so sorry to read that about your son. My heart goes out to you. My DS went through a very bad period with his MH and sent me several “goodbye” texts but never actually attempted.
We’re in a similar position financially and I feel like I’m wading through mud most of the time.
All we can do is keep plodding on.
Sending you a hug

A redundancy for either of us would wipe out our savings in no time. And as our savings decrease, our offset mortgage payment would increase. And we'd lose the offset that is intended to for the final payment in a few years time. However, all of that would happen very quickly.

We'd go into our retirement having to sell our house to pay for it (after years of paying a mortgage). We have negligible equity and we've not been able to afford to maintain it as well as we'd like. (We haven't painted in 20 yrs, I keep washing the walls and woodwork and patching them.) We'd have no savings at all. I'd think we'd probably be in debt because that would be my DH's response to yet another dive in his mental health.

I know it's not the meaning but reading so many testimonies and understandable anxieties here, it does feel like: 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

You have made an assumption that I have some type of privilege.

I am a full time carer to a disabled person.

I also happen to be incredibly focused and made a choice that my life was going to be better than I was born into.

I was merely trying to demonstrate that it’s possible, you don’t always have to be skint. Life’s paths are not set at birth.

I'm curious why you haven't had a holiday in years?

Is it because you just don't like holidays/are saving for something specific? Because life can be unexpectedly short and I just don't see the virtue in prioritising cash in the bank completely over living life now.

I'm curious why you haven't had a holiday in years?

I'm not the person you asked but fear of losing a roof over our heads.

DH made redundant multiple times since 2000 (our last holiday). He's earning less than he did in 2000 and we're grateful he's employed and on an edge of worry that he's at risk again.

We lent money to family who've never repaid us.

Family members with addictions are very costly.

A few illnesses along the way that are quite expensive to manage as long-term conditions. It's costly being a carer for several people (but not sufficient hours for any one of them to be eligible to claim carers' allowance).