A struggling mum who is living off just £4 a week is surviving on pancakes and is worried she might have to euthanise her dog.
Julie Harper, 52, receives just £16 per month in benefits after she was made redundant from M&S during the pandemic. She has been struggling to make ends meet ever since and now dreads being evicted from her home in Worcester, near Birmingham.
As reported by the Daily Star, she is even considering having her dog put down due to unaffordable vet fees for the pooch's medication. Julie previously received £155 month in Universal Credit payments but her carer's allowance was taken away when her daughter left home.
She has also now been lumped with a £116.18 bedroom tax after her two other children also moved out in September. This means, once the money is deducted from her benefits before payments are taken for her housing, Julie is left with just £16 per month.
Describing how she feels “forgotten”, Julie said: "It’s embarrassing, I’ve had to put shopping back at the till because I don’t have the amount to spend. You go home and don’t feel human."
Julie says she can only afford milk, eggs, flour, bread and butter, and says she sometimes goes days without food unless she has enough ingredients to make pancakes.
She has also been forced to turn to food banks due the added pressure feeding her pets.
Julie added: "When you look at them and they’ve only had a piece of toast a day it doesn’t make you feel like a good person.”
Faced with increasing veterinary costs, vets have now offered to put down her German Shepherd free of charge if she cannot afford the medication.
Julie previously told Worcester News: "My kids have moved on and left home but I have lived in my house for 22 years, I do not think I should be punished just because my children have left home.
"I simply cannot afford my bills on just £16 a month of Universal credit, I am at the end of my tether."
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