How I Manage My Money: Grandmother, 77, who grew up poor and made money hosting Ann Summers parties

Apr 26, 2023

In our How I Manage My Money series we aim to find out how people in the UK are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals.

This week we speak to grandmother Yvonne Bailey, 77, who lives in Oxfordshire with her dog, Daisy. Yvonne has struggled with money for most of her life. She describes being poor and always hungry as a child. Yvonne thinks everyone eligible for pension credit should apply for it and reckons inheritance tax should be scrapped for everyone but the ultra-wealthy.

Income: I receive £314.24 in pension credit a month. I also receive a state pension of £856 a month, or £214 a week. I receive about £500 a month in Housing Benefit, which covers my rent.

Outgoings: Rent covered by Housing Benefit, £500; groceries and personal items, £422; gas and electric, £176; BT broadband and TV, £53; Paramount Plus, £6.99; mobile phone bill, £37; water, £13; home insurance, £20.55; life insurance, £23.39; pet insurance, £14.71; charging my electric car, which I have via Motability, £30; online games, £6.90; Independent Age Lottery, £4; hairdresser, £30; cleaner once a month, £40; eating and drinking out, around £27. I try to add £50 a week to savings for emergencies. I don't pay any council tax.

Money has never come easily to me and is something I have struggled with for most of my life. My parents were very poor, and I grew up on a council estate with my siblings. I never knew my father and my mother often had multiple poorly paid jobs. We were always poor and always hungry.

After I got married and started working as a receptionist, I used to try and earn extra income by hosting Ann Summers parties at people's houses. My husband worked hard but never had a well-paid job. However, we were able to purchase our first home in Oxfordshire in 1965 for £1,450. We had to move when my husband lost his job.

In 1998 one of my two sons was killed in a car crash just after his 30th birthday. A stupid driver overtaking a lorry on a blind bend killed him outright. Ten weeks later my husband died of cancer. Later in that year, my one other son, Steven, who is 52 now, got married. It was good to have something to look forward to.

Having enough money has been a struggle most of my life. By the time I retired when I was 60 I was earning about £900 a month. I certainly wouldn't have wanted or been able to continue working after the age of 70, mainly due to my disability, fibromyalgia.

I do not have any form of work pension and the state pension sum I receive is £214 a week. I first heard about pension credit from a neighbour and signed up to it 10 years ago. Initially, it made a big difference to my life. Before going on pension credit I had to pay all my rent and only got a 25 per cent discount for my council tax. But, since the financial crisis hit, I feel as though I’m back to square one again with my finances.

While pension credit has increased recently, so has everything else. Pensioners like me are on a fixed income. I don't know where we are expected to get the money from for things like surging energy bills. Some weeks I just feel really desperate, and I don't know how people who need to be on pension credit but don't have it cope.

I volunteer for Independent Age and raise awareness of issues like pension credit. I’m really pleased that pension credit is now being advertised on TV and volunteering helps me stave off loneliness.

I think the state pension is also inadequate. Pensioners should get a decent state pension which would ensure people like me didn't have to claim pension credit. The state pension should be a minimum of £400 a week. This government has no idea how many people, particularly pensioners, live. People in the government will splash out the same sum on a meal that I have to live on for a week. Previous governments are also to blame. Both my late husband and I paid into the system all our lives, yet I’ve been left with too little to live off.

I think inheritance tax should be scrapped for everyone but the ultra-wealthy. Many ordinary people of limited means find themselves caught up with it, which isn't right. I’m also keen to see a Commissioner for Older People and Aging launched in England, who could stand up for the rights and needs of pensioners.

As the cost-of-living crisis started to get worse, I began cutting my meals down. I never eat three meals a day. I have one cooked meal and then something like a banana sandwich later on. I only use one lamp in my living room and always make sure I switch my computer off when I’m not using it. I only use the washing machine at night to help try and save money on my energy bills. I’m trying everything I can think of to save money, but I sit in my living room and the smart meter reading just goes up and up. I can't afford to give money to my grandchildren anymore and am pleased they are doing better financially than me.

I think about money every day and worry about it most days. I worry about what would happen, for instance, if my washing machine broke down. I’d probably have to buy a new one which would be a real stretch. A recliner bed I had to pay for due to my health problems cost £400 recently. I also haven't had a holiday for 23 years. I never thought I’d have been struggling financially at my age. I’m a glass half full kind of woman, but my situation can get me down.

Every young person should start thinking about saving for later life as early as possible, as it will be worth it in the long run. By the time my grandchildren retire, who knows if things like the state pension will even exist.

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