How are you doing financially? (COVID19)

[DreamChaser23]

Is your job at risk? If you have lost your job how has job hunting been?

I'm on furlough on 80% but breaking even by going out less/spending less.

My boss assures me that I will have a job to go back to but I'm not naive enough to think it's a given, business has been bad since lockdown started and there's still not enough work for me to go back yet. I'm a single parent so we rely on me working.

I'm alright at the moment. I'm running a limited company but took a salary rather than dividend so I'm on furlough. I'm going back to work in ten days and have work booked in. Some of my work is seasonal so I'm doing that until September. After that I don't know what will happen.
I have savings but obviously would like to try and avoid using them.

Saving - no eating out, no gym fees, no holidays, no weekends away, no coffees, no popping to the supermarket, much lower petrol.

It’s incredibly boring.

Money wise we are better off, both still working, no fuel costs for me as I'm working from home and no nursery fees either. Emotionally/physically, I'm exhausted due to getting zero down time from young DS.

Have NC for this.

I work for a national funeral company so we’re obviously doing quite a bit of business at the minute. I’ve had a bonus and a pay rise in the last month, plus not having to pay nursery fees so we‘be finally managed to get out of our overdraft and put a bit away for a rainy day.

We are fine thank God
In fact we are better off because of spending less. Plus I’ve just started a new job at the same time as a couple of payments for freelance jobs have come in . Also 2 loans we had ended this month and last so that’s £400 per month less going out.
We have put any plans to spend money on hold though like new car, new kitchen because DH is SE and while we are pretty sure he will be ok we want to just build up savings in case

Slightly better off overall - DH has been working 80% of hours for the last 3 months but we've had a few refunds for things that have been cancelled and have saved on things like dancing, swimming, drama, not going out etc so on balance a bit better off.

DH works in a very affected industry though, so we're trying to be as careful as we can in case the shit hits the fan, and spending very mindfully (eg having a takeaway once a month, but choosing very local etc.).

Our jobs and income haven’t changed at all but I have gone a bit overboard with online shopping and have hammered the credit card, due to boredom and trying to cheer myself up with new dresses/ makeup/ stuff.
It has been lovely but I’ve told myself that the party’s over now, the next few months wages will have to go straight onto the credit card so that my partner doesn’t find out.
He only looks at it just before Christmas every year 😁

Better off here too. Both of us are WFH so apart from some lost OT for my DH (minimal really) we aren’t really spending anything outside of food and the odd bit here and there. Food costs have gone up about £50/60 a week but we aren’t frugal and it could be less if we tried.

I’ve also started a little side hustle since lockdown which takes relatively minimal time (a day a week split over the whole week) which is making me a couple/few hundred quid extra a week.

I do realise how fortunate we are though and have kept up all the services we had before lockdown (where they were still running) and made a conscious effort to shop locally to keep businesses afloat.

Better off as a household because DD22 started her first full time job since graduation the week before lockdown. We're both working from home - I work for a global insurance company. Her father never paid maintenance so this is the first time in 22 years that we have income over and above my salary (aside from child benefit). And should be saving a lot ... guilty of a few random purchases.

We are better off as no private nursery fees. We work long hours around a toddler but I'm part time so do-able.

I have a Ltd company but my work is unchanged so earning the same.

For those not able to work in Ltd companies do you only get what you usually get in PAYE? I know we usually do this as a low rate to avoid high income tax

About 1k a month better off here, at least.

I don't think Mumsnet is a particularly representative sample though. Or perhaps things are all yet to go to shit economically...

The same. DH got notice that he’d lose half his hours and pay at the end of June. We would have been fucked. This week we got the news a project will be signed and he has a position on it. He’s moaning a bit as it’s a level down from now but he’s given his head a wobble and we are grateful that it’s worked out. Still will be living month to month and have to be careful but at least we won’t be in the red.

Made redundant. Company refused to furlough. New job is impossible to find in current climate, everywhere is either shut or on a recruitment freeze. It's all really stressful. No idea how I'll be able to cope with zero income and no job prospects for months on end.

More skint than usual, although not all down to covid.

I was on SSP and UC. My SSP ran out just before lockdown started so I'm down money. No commute or childcare to save on and food prices seem to have gone up. Plus a lot of the offers I usually use haven't been available. Using more electric too as every one is at home all the time.

We are very lucky to be better off.

Hubby as a key worker has still been going out to work.

I have been working from home throughout. No travel costs, less money being spent on days out, coffees, fuel etc.

About to be made redundant so our household income has halved...we can't live in one salary long term.

But I will get a decent payoff, savings, mortgage ppi and job seekers so we will survive. I have a crazy plan to sell our house (in London) and move a few hundred miles to be near family and buy a tiny house there with our equity. If we were careful it could work but I'm very scared to take he risk. No jobs around so it's now or never and I'm worried my partner will lose his job too and then the house would be lost.

Not much change here. I am on maternity leave and OH still in same job but working from home so saving on rail ticket. Spending a lot on home extension which started before lockdown and continuing at snails pace so not saving much.

Better off because for some reason I decided not to buy stock for the coming season during February so I’ve sold off left over stock from last year and no paid out on new stock. I’ve had a self employment grant and sold more things online as well as being stuck at home not spending.

Were managing ok.

DP is self employed and works on filmsets which have obviously all been shut down since March. Thankfully because he gets paid 30 days after invoice we still had a normal income month up to mid april and had some savings that covered us until the self employment grant came in. Hopefully filming will start again in July or things will start to get difficult as we will run out of savings.

We are saving a fortune though on fuel bills because he usually travels all over the country on a daily basis so thats really helped.

On balance, slightly better. DP is furloughed on 80% and I’m now getting paid as a band 3 while I’m on placement (allied health course) whereas normally I would get nothing.

At first a bit worried as DP couldn’t work at all. Then the self-employed grant was announced plus the governing body for his industry announced a small grant for all members and then he was able to go back to work but because of restrictions had much more time to do his much better paid role so he’s actually done very well out of it.

We’re very fortunate but the worst thing for me has been losing my bonus this year which is around £20k. It’s not the end of the world as I’m a high earner anyway but we want to buy next year and as I’ve consistently earnt that bonus for the last 4 years we wanted to use it towards our affordability which we now won’t be able to do.

Lots better, I know how fortunate we are. No commute, petrol costs way down, no gym, no going out, cleaners not coming. We are wfh just wearing the same scruffy clothes every day. It's enforced saving which I plan to recycle into the economy very soon by buying a new front door.

Not really very good financially. Renting, only took the place on before lockdown, haven't been able to get to know the area or settle properly.

Started a part-time job, few hours very low pay, but furloughed almost immediately so even less pay. Still on furlough but wonder if my job will go entirely as I'm not really needed at the moment and, since I only just started, can't really do the job properly yet. Have looked at other jobs (eg. supermarket) but they don't want me, I'm too old. there isn't much else.

Took a bank loan holiday and credit cards, which has helped but it will mount up and I'll have to face it soon. Have a small amount of savings squirrelled away but now think I'm going to have to use them up, in a few months I won't have anything left to pay the rent and then I will be stuck. Have considered going bankrupt, I wonder how many other people will be doing this before too long? I suspect it's going to become common.....

As a family, worse off. I’m now working from home, private sector, full pay. But the industry is in trouble due to lockdown. DH is freelance and has had virtually no work since March. Only started freelancing recently and doesn’t qualify for the government grant. One adult DD lost her job and is now living with us, dependent on us, and isn’t eligible for UC, apparently. Student child lost her job too and now lives at home with us too.