Karen says, “We don’t have any disposable income anymore. Every single penny we earn goes on the most basic necessities. If we’re really lucky, we might have £20 left at the end of the month, but that doesn’t happen often. I try to make sure the children can have fresh fruit every day, but there are occasions when I can’t even afford that. They go without anything fresh at all maybe one week in four. Every month we sit down and think how we can tighten our belts a little bit more. We have massively reduced how often we have the heating on.”