Another family dreading Christmas

Christmas should be one of the best days of the year for families.  Instead, while children are getting excited, their parents are desperately wondering what the December Budget will do to their fragile finances, and where they will find the money to make Christmas special this year.  


Another mother tells her story:

We are one of those middle income families with 'irresponsible consumer debt' as they're now calling it. We're struggling to pay a car loan that we took out before the recession as a necessary part of rural living with no public transport. The car was needed as my husband drives a three hour round trip to work to an area that has no bus or rail service. The cuts and levies that have already been imposed are already leaving us struggling. The child benefit is used in our home for grocery shopping. The children already wear hand me down clothes and we rarely go out, either as a couple or as a family. Neither my husband or myself smoke and we've cut back on pretty much everything we can at this stage. The only things left to give up are our bin collection and the TV. We have no savings and the thought of Christmas leaves me with a feeling of dread.

I know we're lucky in that my husband is still employed but the constant worry is for how long. We have no family here and my husband works irregular shifts so even if part time work for me was an option, there aren't any jobs out there for me to do.

I wonder if the government truly knows how bad it is for many of us?