Victoria S

Even simple illnesses can set your budget back months when on such low incomes. Over Easter weekend I developed a nasty kidney infection and while I'm getting better now, at its peak it was either taxis at bank holiday prices or waiting up to 6-8 hours for an ambulance. Only to get to the hospital and be told off by the nurse for not coming in sooner cos I was apparently lucky I didn't go septic. With my disabilities and chronic pain issues, it's hard to differentiate an infection from a normal flare up, I'm in pain constantly. Wasn't till the fever and confusion set in that I realised the pain wasn't normal pains. And it's not like I could talk to a GP about the pains, they don't care about people like me and don't have the time to waste on someone which chronic pain issues. They'd not have flagged kidney infection either, they'd have just chalked it up to my chronic issues like I did, even if I had known to seek help before the bank holiday weekend.

As I was too unwell to wait for an ambulance, I had to use taxis. And that money had to come from somewhere, meaning that money came out of bill money meaning I'm now charged for a missed bill cos of this.

Before covid I'd have spare pennies for rainy day emergencies like this. But these days there are no spare pennies to save for emergencies anymore. There's barely enough to cover essentials as is. So this month is extra tight, but so is next month due to the missed payment fees. It feels so unfair. By circumstance we have to pay more for basics when we have less to spend.