READING over her daughter’s birthday wish list, Mercedes Smithson’s heart sinks.
Among other things her girl, soon to turn 8, has included a gymnastics bar coming in at £125 and a £25 hairdressing doll, with the mum-of-two having no idea how she’ll afford either.
But it is what her daughter Miah says next that truly breaks her heart.
“Don’t worry mummy, I know we don’t have a lot of money,” she says.
“It breaks my heart,” Mercedes tells Fabulous in this exclusive interview.
“I really try to keep our money worries away from our children but they do pick up on things.”
But Mercedes, who is also mum to Mason, 12, isn’t surviving off state benefits or living in a single-income home, in fact there are currently three incomes in her home in Norfolk.
The hardworking mum works 10 hour shifts as a assistant practictioner for the NHS and often pics up additional four hour evening shifts working at a local photobooth.
Her husband Joel, 34, works full time as a carpenter with the couple bringing in an estimated joint income of around £3,750 a month.
But the mum, 31, says that thanks to rising inflation and the growing cost of living she and her family struggle to make ends meet.
She says: “There doesn’t seem to be a correlation between how hard you work and the amount you earn in the UK.
“I’ve worked for the NHS for 11 years and I do a good job but I don’t think my pay reflects that.
“It’s ridiculous that you can work decent jobs and be paid a decent amount and you can’t afford to live comfortably.
“Either wages need to go up or the cost of living needs to come down.”
Mercedes and Joel currently contribute £1,275 towards the mortgage on their three-bedroom home in Norfolk.
After forking out around £500 in utility bills and council tax, £520 on food and paying off credit cards and loans, the family of four is left with just £80.
“I spend around £130 a week on food which is more than we have left,” Mercedes says.
“I shop at Aldi because that is the cheapest supermarket I have found, but I can never afford what I want to feed my family on.
“I am just buying crap food that I can afford. I would love to be able to cook my husband a steak or buy a recipe book and experiment but it’s just not within our budget.
“I struggle enough just trying to fill the children’s lunchboxes as they don’t qualify for free school meals.”
Mercedes says that while she and her husband struggle to make ends meet, they don’t qualify for any government help aside from Child benefit.
She says: “I’m one of those people that falls into that middle category.
“We’re told we earn too much to receive any benefits or anything like that but actually we don’t earn enough to live anywhere near comfortably.
“It can feel like we’re being penalised for earning a living.”
While they were both working full time, Mercedes was forced to take on a second job at the photobooth in a bid to help out with finances.
But even with her additional income, the mum says they are still unable to afford luxuries and are more exhausted than ever.
“I could finish my day job at 6pm then be working again an hour later and not finishing until midnight only to get up again at 6:30am the next morning and start again,” she says.
At the moment we have nothing in savings, not one penny
Mercedes Smithson
“Joel works long hours outdoors where he’s on his feet all day and he just feels absolutely exhausted.
“We do all this and we can’t even afford to have a meal out once in a while, or anything nice for ourselves we have no luxuries.
“I initially took on the extra work in the hope to afford our first family holiday. Joel has never been abroad and we’ve never even had a UK holiday but now that seems like a pipe dream.”
Mercedes also hoped the extra money she brought in, around £125 per shift, might help to clear her building debt that had been accumulating since she was a teenager.
“We’ve always struggled with money,” she admits.
“When we first got together we lived in a council flat, I was a mum at 18, we have worked our way up since then but our money troubles started early.
What are tax credits and how much can I get?
THERE are two types of tax credit - working tax credit and child tax credit - and almost 3million people currently get them, according to HMRC.
While most new claimants can no longer get the benefit – unless they get or qualify for the severe disability premium – as it’s been replaced by Universal Credit, it’s important those who do get them renew their claim.
Working tax credit is a benefit given to those in work, while child tax credit is for families with kids – whether they’re working or not.
Whether you qualify and how much money you receive depends on your income and situation.
The rates vary depending on your personal situation, but you can get up to £3,240 for working tax credit or up to £3,435 per child for child tax credit.
With working tax credit, you need to work a certain number of hours every week, and your income has to fall below a certain level.
The number of hours you’re required to work depends on your age, whether you’re single or not and whether you have children.
The government has a handy calculator to help work out how much you should receive.
“We first started getting into debt when I was on maternity leave after I had my second baby.
“It was around then that I first got myself a credit card because there was just no other option as we had to pay rent and my maternity pay was running out.
“We were lucky enough to be given the deposit for our house by our family but we took out a £10,000 loan to help with renovation costs as we didn’t even have working heating.
“Joel also has a credit card that he took out when my car stopped working so we have a total of £17,000 in debt to pay off too.”
Mercedes shared her financial struggles in an emotional TikTok video where she revealed plans to ‘better her children’s lives’ by learning how to make money online.
I know there are so many people worse off than us, it just seems like Britain is a very difficult place to be a mum
Mercedes Smithson
“I looked into digital marketing courses but they’re really expensive,” she admits.
“I did purchase one on my Klarna which might not help with the debt situation but I am hoping to help use what I have learned to help other mums in my position.”
Mercedes admits that while she is doing all that she can to improve her family’s financial situation she worries endlessly about her children’s future.
“I worry about them all the time,” she admits.
“I’d love to be the mum who puts money aside for their children to have when they grow up but at the moment we have nothing in savings, not one penny.
“Life is short, my son is already 12. I’d like there to be something for him just to start him off when he’s 18.
“In the same breath I do know my children are not deprived in any way but life could be so much nicer for them if we had more money.
“But I know there are so many people worse off than us, it just seems like Britain is a very difficult place to be a mum.”
Follow Mercedes’ journey on TikTok
