A terrified single mum has revealed how she is unable to sleep at night due to worries that rising prices will leave her and her little girl unable to afford food.
Faye Dearnaley, from Leven in Fife, receives £1080 per month in the form of Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Scottish Child Payment to support her and her two-year-old daughter.
After paying for rent, council tax, shopping, utility bills, internet and running a car, the 38-year-old music student and daughter Ayla are left with just £17 at the end of the month.
With economists predicting sharp price rises in the cost of living, Faye could need to find another £200 a month, reports the Daily Record.
Faye said the thought of rising prices kept her awake at night, worried that she might no longer be able to afford food for her daughter.
“I have sleepless nights worrying about what would happen if I didn’t keep enough money for food and I ended up in a position where social services wanted to take Ayla away," she explained.
“It is a terrifying thought. I could never let it happen but it is the sort of thing that preys on your mind when you are so close to the edge.”
Faye said she had cut costs back but was terrified rising prices would lave her unable to make ends meet.
She added: “At the moment I am only just managing to keep my head above water and it is a constant stress that I won’t make it through the month.
“I don’t go out, I just pay the bills and shop as basically as I can.
“My daughter has asthma, so I need to heat the house.”
Faye, who plans to become a teacher, has already seen prices shooting up.
She said: “Things like a three-pack of tights used to be £4 but now they cost £7. Vegetables are going up – a bag of potatoes is about £40p more than it was.
“It doesn’t seem like a lot for one thing but it is a lot when it is across the board.
“I am terrified of what will happen when my fixed-cost gas and electricity deal comes to an end in the summer.
“I pay £150 and if that was to double, as people say it could, it would wipe me out.
“It is obvious that inflation is way above five per cent for people on low incomes and the effects are going to be devastating for millions of people.”
