Single mum surviving on toast, cereal and tea faced with 'impossible choice'

A single mum has maxed out her credit card and is forgoing healthy meals to afford back-to-school essentials for her daughter.

Jenny* has already spent $700 so far on her teenage daughter’s school costs, including school supplies and textbooks. But she hasn’t been able to afford everything.

“I’ve made her make do with her uniform,” the Victorian mum told Yahoo Finance. “I learnt how to sew and I adjusted it for her this year because there is no money for that.

“I bought what I could buy but I couldn't buy everything. Fortunately, they are lenient in the public school system so I don’t have to pay the school fees immediately and can wait for that.”

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Jenny said back-to-school costs had left her financially “wiped out”, adding further pressure to her finances, which were already drained after Christmas. She said her credit card was maxed out and everyday bills were piling up.

“It’s always maxed. I’m always juggling things and relying on having that credit card so that I can try to cover stuff. But, at the moment, I can’t cover anything,” she said.

“For the last week, I’ve had to prioritise [my daughter] to ensure she had adequate food and making sure she had what little veggies were available. I’ve basically been living on toast and cereal.”

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The mum is currently living on $39,000 per year, after an accident a few years ago left her physically unable to work. She’s been visiting her local food pantry for the past five years, which sources food that would otherwise be thrown away.

“I’ve got plenty of tea bags. So long as I’ve got a cup of tea, I’m happy. Thank god I don’t smoke or drink,” she said.

Along with sacrificing nutritious food for herself, Jenny said she’d been unable to fill up her car with petrol and had been putting off going to the dentist.

“I have been struggling for a long time as a single mother, but it is getting worse for everybody,” she said.

Pressures having ‘knock-on impacts’

The Smith Family CEO Doug Taylor said families were having to make “impossible choices” when it came to stretching their limited funds.

The charity found nearly nine out of 10 of the 2,220 low-income families it supported were worried about being able to afford back-to-school essentials for their kids. Around half thought they were likely to miss out on technology like laptops, while more than 40 per cent were worried their kids would miss out on uniforms, school shoes and out-of-school activities.

Separate research by Finder found school supplies alone - including textbooks, stationery and a uniform - were setting parents back $648, on average, for primary school children and $1,132 for secondary students.

“That’s a lot of money when you’re already struggling,” Taylor told Yahoo Finance. “These kinds of pressures have these knock-on impacts.

“All parents want the best for their children and have to make very, very difficult decisions as to what they can spend their limited funds on.”

He said housing costs were a major source of pressure for many families right now, due to higher rents and mortgage repayments.

“It does lead some families to really acute situations,” he said. “Often that can mean increased housing instability, with having to move to a place where there is lower rent, moving in with another family or your own family. That’s a big upheaval, particularly for children and their education.”.

Taylor noted he had been hearing from other charities and schools that different types of families were struggling right now - not just those on lower incomes - due to rising costs.

He recommended families visit the website Ask Izzy for help connecting with welfare support, as well as checking what state government support was available.

Non-profit WorkVentures also offers refurbished laptops for a much lower price for families.

* Name has been changed for privacy reasons