We had to borrow £1,000 from family to cover bills – we’re only scraping by

Erica Chaplin, 27, says she dreads the school holidays as it puts her under even more financial pressure than normal. The mother of two, from Norwich, said her family have had one of the worst financial years of their lives, after her partner lost his job at the start of this year due to an illness. This led Erica to search for work and she started working as a hotel receptionist in April to provide a stream of income for the family. Shorts “We have been a one pay cheque family since I started my job in April and we were already working on a tight enough budget, but it seems every single day I am getting an email saying that something is going up.” The family have seen their household bills steadily increase whilst Erica’s energy bill went up by £40 last week. They are also struggling with the sharp rise in fuel prices making it increasingly difficult to run their car. The rent and bills collectively come to about £1,000 a month, however, with the summer holidays now starting, Erica is worried about the added expenses this will bring to their already squeezed budget. She estimates her children being at home will add an extra £400 to her expenses because of needing to buy more food and trying to do activities with them so that they are not couped up at home all summer. She is not the only one concerned about the holidays. Parents are spending an estimated £10.1bn a year on school holiday costs with 20 per cent expected to dip into savings to cover the extra cost, research from Creditspring found. Erica said: “The pressure to keep everything going financially is very much on me at the moment. Last month I brought home around £1,500 from work, alongside universal credit, but it still feels like we’re constantly trying to stay on top of the bills. “I work night shifts and during the holidays I work five nights a week, which really limits the amount of sleep I get. Looking after the children during the day and trying to sleep in between takes a real toll mentally and physically.” It depends on your circumstance how much universal credit you get, but if you live with your partner and either of you are 25 or over, you will receive £666.97 for you both. Between January, when Erica’s partner lost his job, and April, when she got her job, she says the family were “scraping by” – having to borrow money from family members. “We were borrowing money from wherever we could just to get by. We had one month where Universal Credit messed up our payment entirely, and we had to borrow money for everything. It was a case of “we need a food shop, who can we ask?” The family are still currently paying back the money they owe after borrowing over £1,000 from family members during the first half of this year. Erica said: “We’re stabilising slowly. But you’ve still got all that weight over your shoulder that your money doesn’t really feel like yours yet because you know you’ve still got to pay all these people back.” She added the family have been living month to month and haven’t been able to save anything. “We’re counting right down to the last penny on the last day. “There’s also a lot of guilt. You want to give your children the same experiences as other children, but sometimes you simply can’t afford it. It makes you feel awful when they can’t have a treat or a new toy as often as other kids. “We’re already struggling with day-to-day costs, so when the holidays come around it feels like another financial hurdle to overcome. It’s constant stress,” she admitted.