Worried mum-of-four Racheal Vango is pleading with the Government “please help us” in the budget today.
The 31-year-old says she is shocked by the massive cost of living increase and had to take on two jobs to help the family pay the bills.
She says their people carrier takes even more than £140 worth of diesel to fill and their monthly shop has increased by £100 a month.
The hard-working mum lives in Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorks., with partner, Mark Ramsay, 45, a self-employed heating and plumbing engineer, and their children, Joshua, 12, Isaac, 10, Lucas, Eight, and Koby, three.
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She has now started working as a cosmetics representative for Avon rep and a cleaner.
She said: “I have been feeling very worried about rising costs. I’ve seen our bills increase already. Our people carrier took £140 of diesel at the weekend, and that wasn’t even full.
“Mark used to have a van and a car and we’ve already downsized to a nine-seater people carrier to combine the two, and then fuel increases like this.
“We used to spend £200 a month on Asda on all our monthly essentials with an £80 per week top-up shop inbetween, so we decided to shop at Aldi to cut costs.
“At first this cut our bills in half, which we were pleased at, but we can’t buy everything there so we have to do another top up.”
Now they spend £660 a month on groceries, one hundred pounds more than before.
“It seems we’re doing our best to cut corners, but costs are rising to negate these cuts. It’s very worrying,” she explained.
“I had my children young, I was 19 when I had Joshua, but our plan had always been for me to stay at home with the kids until they were all at school and then pursue a career, but I’ve already had to take on work.”
And she says the future gas and electric bills “scare” her.
“We rent our property and we’ve just signed a contract to live here for two more years so we have to make sure we are able to pay that.
“I’ve started to feel massively guilty around spending. Even having a cup of coffee with friends and our children makes me feel guilty because I think I could be having a cup of tea at home.
“Every year we go camping to Newquay and we feel guilty at spending so much on that but that is the only time we get to spend together as a family.
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“Mark is working longer and longer hours to increase our income and he is tired. He needs this break too.
“For now, the kids don’t realise what is happening but I worry they will see it in future, when we have to say you can’t have this or that because we need the money to pay bills.
“I am just thankful now that the weather is better, and I can take the kids on free outdoor activities instead of costly play gyms.
“We are being hit particularly hard because we struggled in Covid.
“Mark’s work dried up in the first lockdown so we used up a lot of our savings to get through that.
“We are still trying to replenish our savings and pay higher bills at the same time, it’s difficult.
“I must speak for all families when I wish the Government would care more for normal families in normal situations.
“Working families should have enough disposable income to be able to live your life too, it feels so wrong to be working so hard and not getting much back from it.
“As prices increase there needs to be a realistic look at where people are going to find an extra £200 - £400 a month when you’re already pushed to the max.”
