Marie

Names and ages: Marie – early forties, Son – aged 4, Daughter - aged 6

Occupations: Marie works full time as an accountant

Household Income: £30,000 – including tax credits

Location: Oldham, near Manchester

Housing: Buying on a mortgage

Current situation:

• Marie is relatively newly single and is readjusting to life with less household income. She has cut back on her spending and she paid for Christmas by selling the children’s old toys on eBay, in order to buy new ones. She has also just moved to an interest only mortgage but she is relying on the equity in her house for her future pension.

• She works full time which means her children go to a breakfast club and an afterschool club and she spends around £500 a month on childcare arrangements. Her employer is flexible so she is able to occasionally work from home if she needs to look after the children.

• Her income is about equal to her current outgoings and she does not have any credit card debt - but she does not have any savings and is unable to make any at the moment.

Challenges:

• The cost of childcare

• The responsibility and affordability of looking after all the bills on her own

• How to make her finances add up over the longer term

Aspirations:

• For prospects to improve at her work

• To find the time to improve her health

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