Just not earning enough

Pobby

There have been threads before on how people get into debt.My wife and I wondered if at times at is about folks who are in work but not earning enough.With ever rising utility and fuel costs,interest rates and of course the annual round of council tax increases surely it may well come to the point when this happens.

Barcode

It is happening already. This year, the following has happened to me:

- Npower rise by 9%
- BG rise by 22%
- Water rose by about 8% (I think, can't recall the exact figure).
- LL has attempted to rise the rent by 14% (!) - I'm negotiating this and will simply move if she doesn't want to lower it as there are cheaper properties in the area.

It's reaching the point where I am going to have to choose between heating, food or paying the rent. I realise that costs are rising, but for ordinary people like me, things are becoming more and more difficult. I can probably cope without the heating (or having it on low) for most of the winter, but what about an elderly person?

And yes, I'm in debt. None of which has been spent on luxuries, I'd say at least 95% of it has been spent on bills and living costs. It is all very well for some to say I should manage my money better, but short of not eating and having a roof over my head, I can't do much else.

BlondeHeadOn

It's even worse when you are self-employed and your income fluctuates. I find it very hard to budget during the 'quiet' periods when not much work is coming in, and then start hitting the credits cards for everyday living etc....

When fuel bills, interest rates, council tax etc. go up as well it all gets a bit scary.....

:eek:

elantan

unless i get a wage rise atleast at the rate of inflation(never ever happened yet i always get 1 or1.5%) then i'm worse off every year...and every year my debt rises

lynzpower

rememberwhat it was like Pobby before min wage. I remember being paid 1.70-odd an hour when I finished uni in 2000.

At least these days theres working tax credit and older people and those with disabilities get winter fuel payments.

Im not saying things are great now, but they are significantly better than they were when cos could get away with paying people absolutely sod all.

*zippy*

Hi Pobby

The recent rises are worrying me too, Gas and electric especially, Oh has had no annual pay rise for the last couple of years so the money has to come from somewhere. in our last house I paid £30 amonth for both utilities and always had money over. I am now paying £125 a month and keeping an eye to make sure even that covers it.

I think it was Alvin Hall who said, it doesn't matter how much you earn, it always seems like if you earnt £200 more you would be fine. OH and I used to be on a very low wage, paid our mortgage during the 80's when rates were sky high, had no debt and always had money over at the end of the month. As our finances increased more and more things became "essential" and we treated ourselves more, and ended up in debt

Pobby

I came out of debt and started a small business.Had a couple of cracking years but still lived like I was on £200 a week.Trouble is now I can afford things,I hate spending!My other half doesn`t understand this but saving money is like a drug to me.Rest of my family have debts but great holidays,flash cars and all sorts.It came up some how about how,when I am getting good money it goes in savings I think they thought that perverse.

I have been in the situation of scrabling around just to scrape up money to eat.God gave me a second crack of the whip and I am not going back to my bad old ways.

debbycatz

I have to say that it worries me how little some people are paying for their gas and electric. I understand that switching seems to be the answer for some, but I'm not convinced that it won't 'catch up' with customers eventually.

I came to the conclusion when I did my budget in August that I needed to put away £45 EACH for my gas and electric a month to cover my winter bills. I worry that people who are only allowing £25 to £30 are going to be in arrears. As much as we hate it, I think we need to accept that utilities have risen so much that we need to put a lot more away towards them than ever before.

I'm not even in debt (fortunately) but I have to keep a very careful watch on my money to avoid going back into debt. Most of my previous debt was simply the cost of living

headcase

I agree, we have a family of five and our food bill goes up and up - even though we make our own meals etc... As with everyone with other bills, water, gas, electric, poll tax etc goes higher and higher. PS do not forget petrol costs. I'm in the process of revising over bills to cut down the costs. BUT there comes a point that you can not keep doing it again.....
The only way I can see - in addition to cut down is to earn more money... We are heavy in debt - due to illness and to cover the cost of living. The only way out for us is to earn more money.. Thats the easy part. The hard part is how ????

lady_fuschia

I was in the position where me and my OH were just not earning enough about a year ago, and we were both working full time
After bills, rent etc- we had about £60 left over a month, which we had a choice of spending either to do the minimum payment on a debt, or buy food. Things like going out, running a car,new clothes, haircuts, luxury items etc didn't even enter the equation- the discussion was whether we could really afford to have three meals a day.
I imagine that there must be a fair few people living like that in Britain, and probably for a far longer period than we did. But I also don't think its a new new thing. My Mum was telling me the other day how just after my sister was born (1984) she had to develop the skill of feeding four people on virtually nothing becaus eall the money had already gone on the bills.

ZTD

Having such a small gap between incomings and outgoings is not all that unusual. What is most peculiar about it happening now is:

• It's happening to so many people - bankruptcies are at an all time high
• It's happening in the middle of a "boom" - unemployment is low
• It is happening when interest rates are still at a generational low

I pity those people who are on fixed incomes. If you believe "cost-of-living" increases cover the increase in the cost-of-living - I have a bridge to sell you.