How is everyone coping financially?

[Gin96]

My husband won’t be furloughed because he started on the 2nd March, we are only entitled to £200 a month from UC, you don’t get any help with your mortgage ( I am going to ask for a mortgage holiday) How is everyone else coping?

I was already wfh before this started so luckily I haven’t been hit so far. However this job was going to potentially be ending in April before all this started so my answer may be completely different next month! Not been given any real answer yet as to what is happening.

I would have to claim UC if that happens. I have some small savings but not enough to not have to rely on benefits if I have no work at all. Luckily I rent from a housing association so I don’t need to worry about housing.

If you are on UC then if you have kids you get a higher work allowance so the first £512 of earnings is completely disregarded before wages reduce your Uc amount. I assume if you are getting so little Uc it is because you are still working ?

Sorry meant to say - you get this higher work allowance because you have a mortgage rather than claiming the rent element. So you do get help in that respect as long as you have kids. Not so good for people without kids as they don't get the work allowance.

I had been looking for a new job and narrowly missed out on an offer in February.... gutted at the time but glad now as I'd have started in mid March, if I'd have started at all (heard of people having the offer pulled)and I wouldn't be eligible for furlough and even if they still wanted me it would be a shite time to start a new job not being able to meet anybody.

Finances are ok for now, my job is not furlough or redundancy proof but I don't think they will do it just yet.

Not been effected financially...YET. We are both home (our jobs can't be done from home) on full pay for now. But that's not to say things won't change at some point.

Company have asked us all to accept a 20% pay cut for 3 months to help prevent the need for redundancy. So as of end of April, 20% short and still working full time from home ☹️

One of us full pay still and the other 80% so lost 20% so far,however I work for a very small business and I'm very concerned it won't be abled to come back from this so who knows in weeks to come

I manage my rental properties and live off the rents and one has moved out (his lease was up for renewal and he's a uni student so no point as it's closed) and one has said she can't pay until she gets sone government support in June and not all of it then. I anticipate another tenant also not being able to pay. Nothing I can do about them other than hope when they do get some financial help they will pay what they can. So far my income is down 40% but may go down significantly more. I'm a single mother (widow) with two dependants. I can survive on savings, and rest of my income for the time being.

Ask me in 6 months. We reduced all our utilities in. Dec/jan & are always looking at ways to make savings, it really depends what happens with work but that’s out of our hands.
All I know is we’ve no loans or debt and are frugal but if laid off in a few weeks ? Who knows?

I'm OK right now. I was furloughed last week but my employer paid me full pay for March even though I only worked 3 weeks. I will get 80% of my wages at the end of April. But as I am a single parent living in rented accommodation I get tax credits anyway and I will get housing benefit to replace some of wages that I've lost. I'm expecting to be around £100 worse off every month from now on, but I'm spending less as I'm not going out so it will probably even out.

Nothing has changed for us financially apart from the dc are here all the time, eating more and using more toilet roll etc. We were broke before this started though.

I'm furlough, DH 20% pay cut still working full-time at home. Shit but not awful.

@Gin96 same here, DH started with a new agency on 2nd March so is n't eligible, how ridiculous is it that they missed out by literally the weekend? We are fucked if I' m honest, we rent so no mortgage holiday here and I earn too much to qualify for UC but nowhere near enough to cover all of our outgoings....

Has your DH looked at whether his previous employer will take him back to furlough him? Martin Lewis has confirmed this is perfectly legal. DH's previous agency has refused to take them back....

Everything fine for us but DH is still working FT as a keyworker and would be on full pay if he went off sick. He earns enough for us to live comfortably.

Ok so far. Dh still working (keyworker) and I’m working at home on full pay.

Completely up shit creek without a paddle .
Started as self employed last April & could have probably got £250 a week under the grant - I can literally do my 19/20 SA return tonight.
So I’m still working.
I’m 50 & having to do gardening.
My back is killing
Under UC I could get £23.44 pw
So I will just have to put one foot in front on the other,
I’ve been employed all my life until last year
Bitter - very

I have been furloughed and my husband has to take a month of unpaid leave and possibly more after that. Things are going to be tight.

My DP and his adult DS are fucked, tbh. (Building trades.)

My DD has lost her job.

They are in a queue of about half a million for UC.

Maybe they should work cash in hand - but they won't be insured. Meanwhile, rents are not being paid so that's landlords freaking out at them as well.

The stress is high.

I work part time and luckily been furloughed and company contributing 20% so that’s why we are only entitled to £200 from UC, my husband was made redundant in June and had only just returned to work so no previous employer 😫

Much better off (sorry not gloating and we are donating to local food schemes as we feel bad about it). Both WFH so saving on petrol and child care. Spending much less than usual on everything as no boredom shopping in town and cafe lattes. Even sons’ £120 per month school dinner money was a saving I hadn’t really thought about.

Also not throwing ANY food away these days as it’s so hard to get - and we were bad for food wastage.

A few days ago , I would have said nothing has changed. But I was furloughed from today. My boss is being generous and topping up to 100% but I'm still worried.

If the slowdown is just for a few months, I expect I'll be going back. Any longer, then I think I will be made redundant. Unfortunately, we have very little savings and we rent privately.

Both of us WFH on full pay so very lucky so far financially ( although things can always change), I am grateful to not be hit financially atm but am struggling with the lack of structure/ outside social contact which I am used to.

No real change for us. We are now both working from home. Hopefully, what we aren't spending on petrol and car park charges will offset the extra we are spending on gas and electricity.

I can work from home for now so saving on travel costs and ‘fripperies’. This situation has made me think hard about having some savings behind me for the future, although I guess some people claiming UC aren’t entitled to full benefits if they have savings. I never in my life envisaged so many people losing their income at the same time, it’s absolutely frightening. Makes me think of the Great Depression in America back in the 1920’s. It really has hit home that it can happen to anyone.

I lost my job 8 March. I won't be furloughs as my company is probably going to go bust. They don't want to do it they just want rid. My final pay slip was rather sorry looking yesterday.
Luckily military pension just about covers the bills. Very fortunate. Not much to spare but we're getting by.