How would I survive?

[AppleDoghnuts]

Not meant to be gloating/goady.

If I was to loose everything tomorrow and have no family or friends to help out. How would I make ends meet?

Assuming I landed a council flat/house with my DH & DC.

I've been really fortunate to have never been in this position but I'm starting to meet people who are not and have never been as fortunate.

One mentioned using their healthy start card for buying fruit and veg, what is this?

All I'm aware of is UC...what other assistance/help do people use? Obviously there are food banks and apparently you have to get vouchers for these, you can't just rock up?

When you've ran out of money before the end of the month, what do you do, have you ever resorted to stealing?

Why do you assume you would get a council property? People are stuck in emergency accommodation for years.

I have lived in poverty before in the late 2000s but I couldn't do it today. They energy price increases and inflation are too much.

@JeremyBeadlesTinyHand I guess poor choice of wording then, let's "imagine" I'm in a council property. Like I want to know how people manage with bills.

You’d struggle. UC doesn’t go far and with the increase in cost of living I’ll be getting into debt to pay for food and heat.

@Pinkandpurplehairedlady so that's it, just UC and a healthy start card?

No extras. No holidays. No children if possible. Live smaller in terms of material things but larger in terms of spending time with friends and in nature. Be determined to learn from it.

@SalsaLove it's not foreseeable going to happen to me as far as I can tell, just wondering what life like that is really like.

Ah ok. Well, I struggled. Spent lots of time calling service providers to work out payment plans so I could pay at least part of a bill but it still ads up. I also ate a lot less and walked everywhere.

The Healthy Start card gives £4 a week, although it is higher for the first year of your child's life.

Most people in the situation you describe end up in an endless spiral of debt. Once commercial debt stops being an option, then loan sharks come into the equation. It's not unheard of for women to resort to sex work to manage these debts.

It would be difficult to spend a lifetime like that, but assuming you still have the things accrued during your time in work - decent furniture, white goods that work, good quality clothes and shoes, you'd be alright for a while.

@AppleDoghnuts

Not meant to be gloating/goady.

If I was to loose everything tomorrow and have no family or friends to help out. How would I make ends meet?

Assuming I landed a council flat/house with my DH & DC.

I've been really fortunate to have never been in this position but I'm starting to meet people who are not and have never been as fortunate.

One mentioned using their healthy start card for buying fruit and veg, what is this?

All I'm aware of is UC...what other assistance/help do people use? Obviously there are food banks and apparently you have to get vouchers for these, you can't just rock up?

When you've ran out of money before the end of the month, what do you do, have you ever resorted to stealing?

I’ve been there and main issue is making the property habitable if in a bad state and kitting it out if you have no furniture etc already. Luckily had family to help cleaning place up and decorating and credit cards to buy carpets, curtains, cooker etc (given some bits by friends too) once all that was sorted surviving on benefits wasn't actually too bad and even managed to pay off the credit cards, however would of been up the stream if hadn’t had that initial support and access to credit or if had very high existing debt repayments

Hi Daily Mail reporter 👋 You can Google all about Healthy Start vouchers and, yes, you sound very gloating and goady.

Forgot to add

@LizDoingTheCanCan

The Healthy Start card gives £4 a week, although it is higher for the first year of your child's life.

Most people in the situation you describe end up in an endless spiral of debt. Once commercial debt stops being an option, then loan sharks come into the equation. It's not unheard of for women to resort to sex work to manage these debts.

Yes, I used to work with vice squad in a large police force. It was very sad to see women starting sex work. Hit me when I came into work one morning to process previous nights arrests and saw someone I had been working with a couple of years earlier.

I don't think many of us think how easy it would be to get into difficulties if we didn't have any backup.

You would survive like millions have to across the world.

Don’t assume you would get a council property.
Why do you think thousands are stuck in emergency accommodation for months on end?

Living in poverty is grim. Always has been, but people endure it and whatever to survive.

Kids on FSM meals, no car, no insurance, heating off, budget meals, no dryer, timed showers, spending hours in the library as it's heated and has free internet. That's what I can come up with off the top of my head and I've never been in poverty. Your post does sound a bit off I'm afraid.

People will also resort to crime e.g. petty theft bent benefit claims drug dealing etc.