Unexpected bills - how to deal with them?

As a family who live on a very tight budget and do not have much ‘spare’ money to play with from their low income after all bills and necessities have been covered, dealing with unexpected bills can be difficult.

Take for example when a couple of months ago our old, hardworking machine went bang! To be fair I can’t really complain as it had worked tirelessly for over 10 years without any issues, tackling mountains of washing for our family of four including at points in its life cloth nappies - but being so old meant it was out of any warranties. But with so much washing done in our household on a weekly basis it going bang and deciding to call it quits on washing our clothes was a big problem. Yes I could hand wash bits and pieces but there would be no way I could keep on top of the washing pile doing it by hand. Living away from family meant we could not pop round to a loved ones house to borrow their machine. And with no laundrette close by we were stuck and the washing was piling up.

Saving money for an emergency fund

Many people across the UK are living on low incomes and are living month to month. Incoming coming in is often already ‘spoken for’ and goes out as quick as it hits the bank to pay bills and debts. That leaves very little money to live on, with the end of the month being the hardest time as people struggle to survive until pay day.

For people, couples and families who have low incomes which leaves them with very little, if any disposable income having ‘spare’ money for treats and non-essentials can be difficult or even out of the question.