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Original poster

What is considered on the bread line in England?

91 replies

MrsWho · 16/06/2007 15:40

Just wondering

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Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 18:45

bump

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fireflyfairy2 · 16/06/2007 18:48

If I said I was on the breadline I would mean I had not enough to pay bills or the next instalment of the mortgage.

But I don't know what others consider the breadline to be.

charliecat · 16/06/2007 18:48

Not sure, but ive wondered this myself.

hercules1 · 16/06/2007 18:50

I think it must be not having money to buy kids shoes and struggling to buy food ie your basic bread milk etc.

LIZS · 16/06/2007 18:51

The Oxfam definition

charliecat · 16/06/2007 18:54

I never buy new clothes for me or dds, new anything really actually. But the bills are always paid and I always have a couple of quid to buy milk and bread.
Other people I know buy new clothes and toys and playstation games and then cant afford the sewerage bill/phone bill/rent.
Same sort of income, not much, different prioritys.

Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 19:28

I pay my bills , have enough for food, but have been told I am on a low income (which I never thought I was) and just wondered if anyone put numbers on it.

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charliecat · 16/06/2007 19:34

Inoticed that on another thread, does your dh earn too? As an income for full time its low isnt it?
Its similar to what dp was earning for 2 days a week.

Desiderata · 16/06/2007 19:35

Well, historically, living on the breadline meant that bread was all you could afford in the way of food (I think).

Anyhow, move on to the 21stC, and I technically live below the breadline. And yet I manage rather well.

Having children can be very cathartic. I have finally realized that it isn't about what you earn ... it's about what you don't spend.

My son has toys, books, clothes, etc, but I am happy to go without stuff. I pay my bills on time, I don't have a credit card, and I owe nothing (apart from the mortgage, which is slightly different).

I suspect that many people who live way beyond the bread line are up to their necks in debt. In which case, I'm better off.

Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 19:41

No Dh, just me, I work 3 days + OT but as its school hours its a max of 27 a week anyway.

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Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 19:42

I do owe money though about 1.5K on credit card and O/D.I do have a morgage and quite a bit of equity so its not that bad.

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musicianswidowAKAmumofmonsters · 16/06/2007 19:44

according to the oxfam site we count as living in poverty. As hard as it is for us i am cruely aware that i amk actually lucky. My roof may leak but at least i have a roof, DP and I may have to sometimes eat a small portion but at least we get to eat. We can rarely pay all of our bills because of our debt but at least we get a chance to pay something however pityful.

DP and I never buy clothes for ourselves, my socks are the same ones i was wearing when i left school. I only have make up because another MNEtter sent me some today! We do go out but as neither of us drink it cost us, at most, £5 a time! we have smaller portions to make things last and we never snack - any of us. The DCs have everything they need but from tesco and simialr cheap places, mostly hand me downs. They wil never have clarkes/startrite shoes as they are just too expensive.

ManxMum · 16/06/2007 19:52

Have you thought of applying for FIS? The DSS would then tell you if you are on the 'breadline'

he sad thing is sometimes, it just doesn't pay you to work, but the sense of self satisfaction often outweighs this.

I would ask C/C to put you on a repayment scheme, where they stop they interest accruing and lower the O/D but, say £20 per month until it's gone

We changed our mortgage to being paid weekly and will now pay it off in 16 years instead of 25.

Just a few ideas that may help!

Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 20:57

'm on 0% intrest anyway, I'm not struggling, just interested cos I didn't feel I was that poor IYSWIM

I have a house ,car,broadband, feed us all quite well,just struggle if anything surprises me, extra £20 can throw it all off balance (dds school trips for example)

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cat64 · 16/06/2007 21:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mumfor1standfinaltime · 16/06/2007 21:18

I think there are many people who are 'buying' more than they can 'afford'. ie using credit cards, having mortgages they can't really afford, driving a car that doesn't belong to them but the bank, watching a tv that is on buy now, pay never.
Yes we can 'afford' these things as we have the magical word called 'credit'
I know without this word many of use wouldn't 'afford' the things we have (including me!) Credit is too easy and leads to a lot of problems.
I really hate those adverts on tv that show someone phoning their loan company to ask for only £25k and laughing and joking about it!

When I was growing up my dad was on a very low wage and my mum would be a sahm. My parents didn't have anything at all on credit due to principles. My dad would get his wages weekly and we would have a weekly sit down at the dinner table and organise the money into different pots. This to me is 'living on the bread line'. I would never go without clothes or food, but we had the very basic things.

Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 21:39

think there are many people who are 'buying' more than they can 'afford'. ie using credit cards, having mortgages they can't really afford, driving a car that doesn't belong to them but the bank, watching a tv that is on buy now, pay never

IMD I am paying off a lot of debt my xh left me with and then I lost hours at work and ended up earning less!

Its going down and I don't buy new expensive stuff (my parents/grandparents bought my car for eg and my tv /dvd player as cast offs)its clothes and kids stuff we buy.Also nice fruit !

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Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 21:41

Those loan ads always shock me as £25K is my morgage!

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Flamesparrow · 16/06/2007 21:51

MW - I was waiting for an avon book to arrive to send you makeup too!!!

newlifenewname · 16/06/2007 21:54

Oh I hate the whole credit situation too! It is frightening. I owe quite a lot in debts to Student Loans, Council Tax that I couldn't afford to pay when exdp became very ill, etc. I have a bank loan that I can no longer repay and which was taken out to try and keep up payments on my crappy little car. I can't afford public transport as weekly, it wrks out more expensive than the car and so on and so on.

It costs to be poor!

What really annoys me about credit is that it makes even small luxuries ever more unattainable for those in poverty. Luxuries being things like one's own car or house which perhaps ought not to be luxuries at all in today's world. Credit makes it initially attainable for almost all and thus pushes prices up, a large percentage of people then struggle for the rest of their lives perhaps trying to make repayments but the price of such commodities does not then fall, it keeps on rising so that the next generation have to be richer or more deeply in debt to pay for it all.

You are then left with the gap between rich and poor bein very wide which honestly makes being poor very demoralising. Feeling guilty about having a fag because really you can't afford it is pants. I'm a non smoker but I can empathise with that because sometimes I feel like buying something unnecessary under £5 and I don't or I do and all the pleasure is sucked away with the guilt.

One really knows one's place when one is poor.

Idreamofdaleks · 16/06/2007 22:00

So Oxfam think 1 in 4 of us is in poverty! 15 million or so people in the UK!

I would describe "the breadline" as only just having enough money to buy food.

fruitgum · 16/06/2007 22:01

agree with m4faft.

we're not on the bread line or poverty line as already said, it's about what you don't spend. I think in todays world so many people have got accustomed to the 'throw away' society and the all we need is plastic etc. I was having this discussion with my MIL when watching spendaholics as she couldn't beleive the level of debt youngsters got into - but as I sid to her I think part of it now is we want what we want and go out and get it and bugger the consequences.

I don't think we ever were really on the poverty line - althou some would argue we were as children - but as I see it we always had food in our bellies and clothes on our backs, there was always money for new shoes and swimming lessons - BUT we never had a car, we never had hollidays we had days out instead. it was about prioritising and budgeting. a knack mum's taught me well, (althou still learning! lol) DH's family on the otherhand would say my family grew up below the poverty line - he had meat every day holiday's abroad and also the latest toys/gadets/clothes growing up.

DH has soon learnt to come round to my way of thinking!

Original poster
MrsWho · 16/06/2007 22:06

see holidays are things that can be done cheaply too.Sun holiday caravans, nat trust membership(tesco vouchers) beaches and parks!

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fruitgum · 16/06/2007 22:10

see they weren't about- the sdun ones when we were kids - camping was done in the back garden - and literally it was a day out with jam sandwiches and a bottle of squash! we made our own fun - lots of love and cuddles - didn't need anything else really.

SomethingIncrediblyWitty · 16/06/2007 22:11

Can i join in? I just looked at Oxfam website and i qualify as living in poverty. Yet here i am on the internet! Mind you only because we saved our asses off and the cable modem is £10 a month.
But can't afford to move out of the damp house we live in, so now have 5 people in a 2 bedroomed house.
On the other hand, have no debt, no credit cards, don't smoke, haven't been on holiday for 11 years (ok, actually took my kids to Pontins for a week but mum paid for us to go - thanks mum ). But my kids always have food, always a safe place to live, and shoes. Even if they did cost £6.