A dad-of-three says he's been left "broken" by his kids' reply after breaking the news that Santa couldn't come this year.
Ryan Croft has "no money" and has been technically homeless over recent months as he searches for jobs while sofa-surfing and trying to keep up with soaring costs.
Christmas for the 36-year-old this year has been non-existent after he had to liquidate his scaffolding company, with no home of his own to decorate or put a tree up in, and no cash to buy his children presents.
Ryan, from Leeds, is one of thousands - if not millions - of parents this year unable to give their children a magical Christmas as they struggle to make ends meet.
“It’s going to be the worst Christmas ever," he told Leeds Live. "I couldn’t afford to buy my kids Christmas presents this year."
But after sitting them down to tell them, Ryan told how their reaction almost made him break down in tears.
The youngsters, aged 10, 15 and 16, told their dad, "it doesn’t matter, as long as we have each other this Christmas".
His children live with Ryan's ex-partner, who he maintains a good relationship with.
After the soaring cost of raw materials forced the scaffolder to close his business earlier this year, Ryan has been living on his brother's couch and even at one point in his van - admitting he nearly "froze to death" when temperatures hit -3C this month.
He added that he even had to buy his winter clothes, a warm Adidas hoody, from a charity shop in a bid to keep warm.
The 36-year-old said he knows a lot of people “struggling” this year and he even knows people who’ve had to shoplift just to put food on the table.
“Everyone’s struggling, financially, to pay gas and electricity bills – the money they’re giving out for it is just not enough to support and is just not coming close – the price of living has just gone through the roof.
"A bag of pasta in the supermarket was 35p three months ago, the cheapest bag of pasta you can buy now has gone up to 79p a bag!
“I’ve got no money, two days ago I was promised it would be in the bank. I’ve come to the Jobcentre chase it up because I’ve not got the money.
“No one’s going to see each other this Christmas and no one can afford to get anywhere.
"Everyone is staying at home, normally Christmas is a family time. Turkey is £118 in the supermarket, it’s not Christmas anymore!
“It’s a depressing time, it’s supposed to be a time for celebration and family and this time it’s not. It just feels totally different, we haven’t got a tree up, we couldn’t afford to buy a tree.
"There’s no tree up in the house and no decorations. We can’t afford the electricity bills to warm the house, it’s put a lot of pressure on everybody."
