My man & I earn £55k – I think it’s a good salary but we’re struggling loads & have a kid, we lived on £120 for 26 days

A MUM who makes £55k/year combined with her husband has bravely opened up about the financial struggles the family faces. The rising costs have left millions of cash-strapped households frustrated, with mother-of-one Melissa living on a £120 budget for almost a month.

Melissa, who didn't treat the family to any takeaways and no extra top-up shops during her ''no-spend'' January challenge, has given the family £120 as a disposable income budget. But despite being mindful about where their joint income goes, the mum admitted the family is still struggling to survive.

Frustrated with the prices and expenses skyrocketing, Melissa said: ''It honestly feels like the aim of the game now is just to be struggling. ''Me and my partner earn a good amount together,'' said the mum-of-one who makes a little over £1,700 every month.

''We're still just about getting by,'' Melissa said in the clip, following the recent Ofgem price cap of 6.4% - the equivalent of an extra £111 a year for the average household. The average dual fuel bill for those not on a fixed deal will rise from its current level of £1,738 a year to £1,849 - and it comes into effect on April 1, 2025.

She went on: ''Whether you're renting or you have a mortgage, rates are so sky-high. Food prices just keep on going up and up. Water's increased, car tax has increased. ''I think the only bill of mine that hasn't increased recently is my car insurance,'' said Melissa, who felt sorry for those ''with a lower income'' than hers.

The mum also shared her worries about her five-year-old daughter's future and said ''it feels like we're working to survive''. At the time of uploading the clip on her TikTok page, the mother-of-one has a little over £40 left of the family's strict £120 budget for the month of February.

More than people flooded to comments of the video, which has been viewed over 36k times in less than 24 hours - and dozens admitted that they too were in the same boat. One said: ''It's just awful! Hardly anyone is living, we are just existing.''. Someone else chimed in: ''But yet there’s 100’s managing to afford £140 a month for a weight loss jab????''.

Laura Court-Jones, Small Business Editor at Bionic shared her tips. 1. Turn your heating down by one degree. You probably won't even notice this tiny temperature difference, but what you will notice is a saving on your energy bills as a result. Just taking your thermostat down a notch is a quick way to start saving fast. This one small action only takes seconds to carry out and could potentially slash your heating bills by £171.70.

2. Switch appliances and lights off. It sounds simple, but fully turning off appliances and lights that are not in use can reduce your energy bills, especially in winter. Turning off lights and appliances when they are not in use, can save you up to £20 a year on your energy bills.

3. Install a smart meter. Smart meters are a great way to keep control over your energy use, largely because they allow you to see where and when your gas and electricity is being used. 4. Consider switching energy supplier. No matter how happy you are with your current energy supplier, they may not be providing you with the best deals, especially if you've let a fixed-rate contract expire without arranging a new one. If you haven't browsed any alternative tariffs lately, then you may not be aware that there are better options out there.

Another viewer commented: ''hanging on by skin of me teeth... and we already shop at Aldi.''. A frustrated TikToker wrote: ''We used to live comfortably, and it’s even squeezing us,food double cost, heating double cost, bills increasing, wages not increasing!!.