Profiles

Daniel and Andrea

Names and ages: Daniel – 38, Andrea – 39, Oliver – 6, Daisy – 4, Lucy – 17 months

Occupation: Daniel works full-time as Sales Director for a print firm

Household Income: £48,000

Location: • Guildford, Surrey

Housing: • Homeowner

Current situation:

• Daniel has received two 5% pay cuts over the last three years, resulting in the family parting with the company car, cutting back on hobbies, as well as high-end groceries.

• As the children grow, Andrea intends to go back to work, but she does not want to return to her former role in a recruitment consultancy. She would like to retrain in reflexology instead and work out of the home.

• Andrea is on a debt management plan with the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, but the family has reduced the monthly payment in reaction to Daniel’s pay cuts. Her current debt stands at around £15,000.

Challenges:

• Having to deal with very obvious drop in living standard.

• Fixtures and fittings around the house – such as the oven – are starting to fail and they can’t afford to replace or repair them.

• Rarely buy clothes for themselves and frequently struggle to buy groceries at the end of the month.

Aspirations:

• Andrea plans to set up a reflexology service from the home when Lucy starts school. This would require £800 to train alongside an extension on their house.

• Would like to be able to take foreign holidays again.