Marguerite, single mother, 2,358 euros a month: “Sometimes I’m ashamed of not having the same standard of living as my friends”

Talking about money is still taboo in France. However, it is a fascinating subject… and feminist in some respects! In our section Settle the accounts, of the people of all kinds come to peel their budget, tell us about their relationship with money and their financial organization as a couple or alone. Today Marguerite agreed to open her accounts for us.

• Name: Margherita
• Age: 35 years old
• Profession: specialized educator within an association
• Net salary net of withholding tax: 1,550 euros per month
• Living place: A 44 m2 apartment in a small town
• Family: his 3 year old daughter and their cat

Margherita’s income

Marguerite has been a specialized educator for the same association for several years. On a daily basis, she accompanies asylum seekers and refugees. His salary is 1,550 euros per month.

“I don’t consider myself well paid given the job I have and the cost of living constantly increasing. I am a single mother and my income covers my monthly expensesI can’t really enjoy what I earn.

I don’t think I’m poor, I think there is worse. But sometimes I feel ashamed because I don’t have the same standard of living as most of my friends who are in a relationship (with two salaries) or without children (with less expenses). “

To increase his income, he intends to change his business sector:

“I don’t see possible evolutions: social is not the type of sector in which you can ask for a raise! “

His salary is integrated by approx Activity bonus € 140, € 100 alimony paid by the CAF – the father of his daughter does not contribute to the expenses – and an allowance for the care of the children of € 560 per month.

In everything, therefore, he succeeds a budget of € 2,358 per month.

Parting with a violent man

If a few years ago Marguerite had savings to rely on, her meeting with her daughter’s father had the effect of severely degrading her finances:

“Before I met him, I was alone financially. But his precariousness had a big impact on my finances when I was with him (RSA, CAF debts, auto expenses, etc.), which caused my savings to collapse.

I left him in a hurry following violence, and I had great difficulty finding accommodation. Since then, I have struggled to recover financially. Today I have rebalanced my situation, my bank overdrafts are less important than before, but I find it hard to put them aside. “

Margherita’s expenses

Marguerite has full-time custody of her daughter, her father has the right to visit and lodge every two weekends and half of the school holidays.

Each month, her highest expense is allocated to her daughter’s childcare – it is paid for by a nanny, which costs 659 euros. As such, it receives a CMG allowance of € 559leaving at his expense 100 € per month.

Then comes her accommodation, which she had great difficulty finding after separating from her ex-spouse:

“I struggled to find accommodation in the middle of COVID. Given my income and the price of the rentals, it took me 6 months for a real estate consultant to trust me. I couldn’t access anything other than a T2, on the ground floor of a recent building.

The apartment is 44 m2 and we only have one bedroom, which is for my daughter. I sleep in the living room on a sofa bed. “

For this apartment, you pay a rent of 506 € per month. But after noticing this difficulty in finding accommodation, he considered another option:

“This month (June), I will sign the authentic deed of the land I buy for my construction project, in a city where real estate was more accessible and where I work. I realized that the repayment of the mortgage would not cost me those € 70 more than my rent, much to invest! The works will start in July 2022 “.

As for shopping, his average monthly basket costs him about € 300mainly in discount supermarkets or nearby:

“I have mainly food items in my shopping cart. Long-life savory and sweet foodstuffs, frozen foods, lots of dairy products for my daughter, pet products and cleaning products, dishes prepared for lunch at work …

I try to make the necessary and useful expenditure as much as possible and would like to reduce these costs. But sometimes, when I’m not feeling well, I can make “compulsive” food purchases (cookies, sweets, chocolates, etc.).

I bought few fresh products this year, because I didn’t have much time to cook, but I plan to go back next fall. “

Tired of saying “I can’t, I don’t have the budget”

To get around, Marguerite pays € 286 per month. This includes an SNCF pass for 126 euros per month, plus 160 euros of petrol to travel by car, a budget that will decrease after the move:

“Once my accommodation is built, I will be much closer to my place of work and I intend to get there by bicycle: no more SNCF season tickets and the cost of petrol will drop significantly. “

His current bills for water, electricity and waste tax account for € 90 on their monthly budget. She spends more or less the same (€ 92) for your Internet subscriptions, your mobile plan as well as subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify, Salto and Google Drive. His insurance for his home, his car and his mortgage represent € 96 per month.

Finally, its fixed costs matter € 14 TV fee honed throughout the year, e € 16 bank charges. Also refunds € 40 for a PC purchased in installments, and for the advance on the loan for his future home.

Count on average 60 € out per month for her and her daughter, as well as any restaurants. In general, she has to deprive herself of pleasures or go out with her friends:

“When I’m offered releases, I try not to turn down, but that can quickly negatively impact my budget. Afterward, I feel guilty, telling myself that I might have made the effort to deprive myself. And when I refuse, I’m sad not to share those moments with my friends. I’m tired of being in the “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to.”I don’t have the budget

It also reserves Budget of € 30 per month for gifts or toys to his daughter.

Marguerite’s relationship with money

Through her relationship with her daughter’s father, Marguerite was able to find herself with high overdrafts that took her some time to fill:

“For several years (especially the time with my daughter’s father), I could be discovered between € 500 and € 700 per month. After parting, I gradually filled my overdraft.

Today it happens that I am negative by 100 or 200 € at the end of the month. My goal is to have no more, but it takes time. The most difficult is the post-Christmas period, where I find myself systematically exposed. In general, the next 5 or 6 months are to put it all together! “

To stick to his budget, he pays attention to all his expenses and calculate with the nearest euro :

“I have lightened my budget as much as possible. I traveled a lot, now I don’t do any more, I removed the TV from my accommodation to be able to lower the subscription to the box and no longer have to pay the next TV royalties …

For electricity, I changed my way of life to save money: I systematically disconnect all the appliances I don’t use and reconnect them only when I use them. And in winter I hardly use electric heating anymore, or at least to maintain a room temperature of 18-19 °. Otherwise, I only heat my daughter’s room in winter. These methods have allowed me to save around € 20 on each monthly electricity bill. “

“In case of a hard blow, my mother is there to help me”

In the event of a hard blow, Marguerite can count on the help of her mother, who passed on important values ​​to her on matters of money:

“My mother instilled us great values. He has always taught us to work, to be independent, to be careful with our money, to guarantee stability.

You help me a lot. For example, she can offer us (my daughter and I) to go on vacation together and she pays the most. It pains him to see us deprive myself and my daughter. It also helped me when I got big hits (eg: road accident and irreparable vehicle). You can offer to lend me some money which I will try to repay when I can. Sometimes it skips the refund, but I always hope to make it right!

All his help is hard for me to accept, because I’m 35, and I dream of being able to fend for myself. “

Savings of Margherita

Every month, Marguerite tries to save between 50 and 100 euros to have some security in case:

“In the event of an unforeseen financial situation, I may need to tap into my savings quickly. I managed to save around 2,300 euros in the case of tiles, but lately I have had to pay an invoice and a down payment for my construction project. Now I only have € 1,400 savings left. “

He also opened a bank account for his daughter to help her come of age:

“I’ve been making monthly transfers of 20 euros to an account for her since she was born. I calculated that this will allow her to reach € 4,320 at the age of 18, thus paying, for example, for her driving license. I hope I can increase the payments when I have more income. “

For the future she intends to become first of all the hostess:

“My project is to see the construction of my house complete, and living there with my daughter will allow me to tell myself that at least I have that for me. If everything collapses, we will still have a roof over our heads. “

In the long run, he also plans to change jobs when his situation has stabilized:

“I want to improve my financial situation in the next few years to ensure a future for my daughter, as she wishes. To do this, I would have to change jobs.”

I hesitated to undertake web-related training and become a self-entrepreneur; but for now, taking risks scares me too much. Surely because I fear I am living in an even more precarious period. And with everything I have pledged to the side (mortgage), I have to be responsible and prefer to wait for things to settle down to consider a change in my professional life. “

Thanks to Margherita for answering our questions!

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