The Income-Expenditure Gap

robertbruce

I was helping a relative with her budgets (ironic, I know when I can be as bad with money sometimes).

What struck me was her lack of grasp that the income was so far below the expenditure for her family and also that she was unaware of this until the credit card limit was reached and the so-called "safety umbrella" was gone.

I also noticed that her figure of around £2,000 per month was similar to mine and other people I know, and wondered how that compares to a national average if such a thing exists.

Obviously, some people have to operate within far stricter budgets and I suddenly feel quite lucky that I have the scope to move things around within my budget, and was able to help others do the same.

So, to summarise, I wondered what monthly totals IN and OUT people work with and where do people on lower scale figures find the flexibility to fix things. Is there a pattern which would point to ways we can help each other better, especially on lower incomes, etc.

Hope this turns up some helpful observations. Cheers. Bob.