I get by on £292 on Universal Credit and am often in debt by the end of the month In our How I Live On series we’re finding out exactly how people in the UK spend, save and invest […]

In our How I Live On series we’re finding out exactly how people in the UK spend, save and invest their incomes to meet their costs and achieve their goals.

The aim is to build an accurate picture of financial life in Britain at a time when unemployment is at a record low but wage growth is stagnating.

This week we speak to 32 year-old Michael Botwright from Brighton, who has been scraping by on benefits for a year as a back injury has kept him from working. His student loan repayments consume almost all of his income.

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Monthly income:

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefits: £292

Total: £292

Monthly outgoings:

Career development loan: £188

Mobile phone: £15

Travel: £20 (est.)

Food: £80

Netflix: £5.99

Healthcare: £80 (avg.), paid for through sale of belongings

Total: £328.99 (minus healthcare)

Amount left each month: -£16.99 / -£3.92 per week

I moved to Brighton in 2005 to study music and film at Sussex University, and I’ve never looked back. After graduating in 2011 I worked for the university in its student housing department and was also a DJ and music producer: the city was a great place to live and work.

I’ve suffered back pain most of my adult life, but in the past I’ve managed it with Ibroprofen and exercise such as martial arts: I’ve studied kickboxing, boxing, Krav Maga and various weapons skills since I was a teen.

In May last year, however, my then-fiance and I moved to Spain for the summer and my back problems really took off. The pain I had managed easily before got progressively worse and I was bed bound for more than a month.

In October last year I was finally able to fly back to the UK and I moved in with my father. Since then I’ve been claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) while having continuous medical assessments.

I have yet to get a conclusive diagnosis and treatment recommendations consist of doctors telling me to take yoga classes or go swimming – which I couldn’t possibly afford.

I’ve had one fit for work assessment, in which I was asked if I can pick up milk and turn light switches on, though I think it’s clear how much pain I’m in.

Student loan takes up most of my money

Right now I’m surviving on just £68 per week, or £292 a month, almost all of which is paying off a career development loan I took out in 2016 to study for a diploma in audio production. I’m paying £188 every month and the interest rate is 9.58 per cent.

At the time it seemed like a great idea as I thought it would put me in a great position for future jobs. Of course, now my situation has changed it puts a lot of stress on me and I’m speaking to the Citizens Advice Bureau about what I can do.

Living with my father I don’t pay rent and he covers all the bills. He is a true-life saver and I don’t know what I’d do without him. Losing my independence has been hard, though, and my mental health has suffered.

I pay £15 a month for my phone contract with Three, which gives me £10 cash back every two months. As a handset I’m using an old iPhone 4, which I really don’t mind – at least it works.

Nothing left to sell

Since January I’ve spent around £800 on chiropractors, osteopaths, acupuncture and massage therapy. I’ve sold all of my music equipment to pay for it but I’ve not seen any results. So I’m back to square one and I have nothing left.

For food I do a fortnightly Asda home delivery shop and use the local Co-op for any extra bits. I do all my own cooking and never eat out, but I’ve noticed an increase in the price of food recently and that has put a real strain on my budget.

The rest of my money goes on bus fare when I have to go to the hospital, which is very expensive now at £5 for a return ticket. My one ‘treat’ is my £5.99 a month Netflix subscription – I don’t know what I’d do without it: it literally keeps me sane.

I have nothing left after that so going out with friends isn’t an option. Before falling ill I would go to a lot of gigs and club nights and would visit the cinema if there was something good on, but not now.

Existing on benefits or starving

I worry a lot about my long-term employment prospects. I’ve worked so hard and taken on so much debt to build my company, Rhino Audio, and now my career has been put on hold; but my back limits what I can do.

I could possibly do some freelance work. But while the old system allowed you to earn up to £80 a week on top of your benefits, the new universal credit system doesn’t. This means you have zero opportunity to get the ball rolling before you come off benefits. It’s basically benefits or work: existing or starving.

I love to learn, though: it’s what keeps me going. If I’m not learning a language I’ll be online reading about Mycelium or what’s big in the world of nutritional science. If it’s interesting I want to know about it.

My future plans are based on my health. If there is no improvement then I’ll carry on having to scrape-by each month. If I see an improvement then I’ll return to work straight away and should be able to get back on my feet and start my life again.

If I could earn a small amount on top of my benefits – like we could before – I think that would help.

And by this I don’t mean a full wage, but just enough to get a foot back in the door of work and maybe cover the cost of a few yoga classes and bus fare to the hospital.

When you’re living on nothing anything helps.