This chapter probes the everyday reality of lives marked by the background facts presented in the last chapter. Family as a unit of expenditure and consumption will be examined in detail. In many ways, money is the leading actor in this chapter and it is treated in both an existential and factual manner. The chapter opens by first outlining how money and spending are viewed and organised and where the priorities lie in these regards. This leads to a discussion of how people organise their essential spending, especially that on utilities and food. The chapter then moves on to consider more existential elements, detailing how money is part of individual psyche and family frames of reference. Having set out how large money looms in individual and family life, the remainder of the chapter enquires into the organisation of finances, the distribution of resources and the general patterning and practices of family life in these regards. These are important in their own right, but they are especially interesting for what they reveal about the tasks and rituals associated with the maintenance and governance of family life. We learn about the main priorities of the family budget and see what the major pressure points are in terms of competing pulls on financial resources. In essence, the chapter investigates not just budgeting practices but the extent to which these are affected by relational considerations. The chapter is therefore (like all the others) a mixture of fact and orientation.

Money and need

Respondents spoke at length – and with great fluency – about how they try to make ends meet. Words such as ‘stretching’, ‘balancing’ and ‘minimising’ peppered their conversations. The evidence makes clear that money management in a situation of low income is very intense. Here is a quote from Sheila, a married mother of one child aged 14 years and another aged 20, that conveys a sense of the constant mindfulness involved:

The following quote, from Lizzie, a lone mother with four children all aged under 17 years, gives a good sense of the mind play and resolve required.