‘The cost of things go round in my head all the time... There is a constant fear’

A Kells mother who has admitted to going hungry to ensure her teenage son doesn't, says rising costs have left her in a constant state of fear.

“The cost of things go round in my head all the time. There is a constant fear.

“I dread the letter box. I have a massive phobia because of bills.

“To be honest, I have gone hungry to make sure my son is OK. Now the price of everything has gone mad and food shopping is way more expensive.”

The woman, who does not want to be named to protect her 14-year-old son, relies on the one parent allowance to get by.

She receives €259 a week, but her rent of €46 is deducted at source from that, leaving her with just €203 a week.

She had been getting a fuel allowance of €33 a week, but that has now stopped.

“It is very difficult when you are living on buttons.

“I'm afraid to put the heating on. My electricity bill has shot through the roof recently. My last electricity bill was €173.

“I'm afraid I wont be able to provide for my son. I always worry that he will be cold or hungry and I hate not being able to allow him little treats.

“He seldom asks for anything, but sometimes he might ask to go to the cinema and often I have to say no.

“He has a lot of friend who have both parents working and they go to the cinema, go on holidays, have parties.

“It upsets me that I cannot provide any of that, but I can only do my best.

“I treated to him to a meal out once for a special occasion, but I nearly fainted at the bill.”

“The price of everything has gone up. “I do everything to cut down on costs like doing the washing at night.

“I'm always looking at the cheapest items in the shops. I add up the price of everything as I am shopping in case I haven't enough at the checkout. I shop in Aldi a lot, but in recent week, the price of everything has gone up.

“I ran out of toilet roll this week. I went down to the shop with €2, it was all I had. I couldn't get toilet roll for that, so I had to get kitchen roll.”

She explains her son is a tall lad so he's now in adult shoes and clothes, which are much more expensive than children's and he is eating a lot more,

“I stress a lot about it. I get the back to school allowance but find that since he went to secondary school, the uniform is very expensive.

“The book rental scheme is very expensive and you have to pay for the locker as well.”

“I never go out. I don't when I was last out, I just cannot remember.

“We used to occasionally get a curry chip of something as a takeaway but that has gone up now too.

“I never treat myself to anything. All my clothes are from second hand shops, a euro or two here and there.

“It is so difficult and very frightening. I know I'm not in the worst situation. My heart goes out to single mothers with a few children.”

She has been unwell for some time, had surgery last year and is on the waiting list for further investigations and surgery so has been unable to work and the stress is affecting her mental health.

“I'm just not able to work at the moment. I'm in a lot of pain and I need help even to go food shopping as I cannot carry the bags.

“I'm on medication and I often worry about having the €4 I need for my prescription.”

One piece of good news she recently experienced was moving into social housing.

“We were privately renting and had to move a few times.

“When I was with my sons father, we were renting a house together and we were both working.

“My partner ended up in a bad place. Things got bad and then he disappeared, He left us with nothing.

“When he left, I couldn't afford the place on my own and had to move out.

“We had to move a few times because of landlords selling up and it was terribly stressful.”

While social housing has been good news for her, the dread of rising bills continues to cause her huge stress, sadness and worry.

“I worry about my son being warm enough and having enough to eat.

“The poor lad never asks for anything. I'd love to be able to treat him and not always be worrying.

“I'd just love to be able to give him some money and tell him to go off and enjoy himself with his friends.”