Soaring bills have blown my budget and I worry we’re on the verge of disaster unless the cost of living crisis is sorted out
- This article is part of the heat or eat diaries: a series from the frontline of Britain’s cost of living emergency
I haven’t been in debt for a long time, but as soon as prices rocketed, especially energy bills, I fell behind. I had to choose between paying my gas and electric bill each month or feeding my kids. Each month, with only those two choices to make, I slowly fell deeper and deeper into debt.
Working as a carer on minimum wage, in addition to being a single parent, I simply wouldn’t be able to survive without universal credit. Not everyone has the luxury of family to help them with childcare or spare money lying around to pay for it. With looking after my disabled son and being limited in my hours at work, I worry every single day about money.
As told to Daniel Lavelle. Charlie is in her 30s and lives in the north-west of England. Names have been changed
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