I’m a middle-class mother struggling with £60,000. We’ve cut out Waitrose avocados

A middle-class mother has revealed she is struggling to provide for her family on a household income of £60,000.

Victoria Lindsay, 53, works 50 hours a week and her partner, 54, is a civil servant, but she claims they still have to “count every penny”.

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They switch off the electricity and use candles to save money, can only holiday in Britain and can no longer afford to go to the theater or “buy avocados at Waitrose”.

The Bedfordshire family are now “counting down the days” until they can move north, away from their “forever home” in the south, to save money.

They had to get rid of one of their cars and haven’t been abroad since 2017. She thinks she would be better off if she had learned a trade instead of going to college.

The mother of three, who runs her own childcare business, says she feels like those in the middle are ‘stuck’ – neither wealthy nor able to access benefits

She earns £22,000 and her partner earns £40,000, meaning they have a combined income of more than £60,000.

It comes after a report, Caught in the Middle, this week revealed that it is becoming difficult to maintain a decent standard of living with a household income of as much as £60,000 a year.

The Financial Fairness Trust report blames Britain’s insecure labor market and high housing costs.

People may say ‘don’t buy your avocados in Waitrose’, but why on earth wouldn’t I if I work really, really hard?

Victoria Lindsay

Victoria and the children have exchanged their foreign trips for walks and bike rides in parks.

But even trips to the local gardens put a financial strain on the family.

“There is no luxury,” she said.

‘We don’t take our children to the cinema.

‘We go on a lot of bike rides and walk a lot.

“There’s a beautiful garden near us and they want £25 per visit for my family,” Victoria added.

“We haven’t been there in years, and my kids were there all the time when they were little.

“We can’t afford it.”

Victoria and her partner have three children: a 24-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old.

The couple plans to leave their forever home once their children leave home for college.

According to Victoria, keeping the family afloat financially in the south of England proves virtually impossible.

“We live in a nice four-bedroom house that we pay a mortgage on,” she said.

“When we bought the house, we could afford it.

“We didn’t buy a house we couldn’t afford.

“We can’t afford to replace doors, windows, carpet or anything like that.

‘We have to be able to do those things.

“It’s terrifying and I want to run away from it.”

The mother of three said she struggled to sleep due to their financial situation.

The family’s monetary position has “created friction, which leads to arguments,” she said.

She added: ‘By September, if interest rates haven’t fallen and our mortgage goes back up, there’s nothing.

There is not enough support for middle-class people who do not have access to certain benefits, Victoria claims.

We are not entitled to anything. We’re in the middle of it and stuck.

Victoria Lindsay

Victoria says she feels trapped by her lack of marketable skills and claims her university degree will not help improve their financial position.

Lindsay’s biggest concern is that she is depriving her children of precious experiences.

“We really want to give our kids positive experiences,” she said.

‘They’re growing up.

“Our children are asking for things like school housing, but we can’t afford for them to do those things.

“Our kids are great, they absolutely understand, so they don’t ask for it.”

She said the experience has left her feeling like she’s “being punched in the gut by the government.”

“We don’t have to be here, it’s policy that led to us being here,” she said.

“We’re a bit stuck, but we don’t blame anyone but the government.”