‘By the skin of our teeth’: the monthly costs of a UK foster carer

How much is your money worth? A series from the front lines of the cost of living crisis, where people who have been hit hard share their monthly expenses.

Name: Lisa Hughes*

Years: Four. Five

Occupation: Freelance writer and adoptive father

Lives with: husband Tom (49 years old); children Jamie (17), Sam (15) and Robin (12); foster kids Charlie (9) and Alex (6); mother-in-law Simone (80); and a Greyhound-Labrador mix, named Sally (10)*.

Lives in: A five bedroom Victorian house in a small rural town in Devon, UK. The town has a population of around 13,000 people, a significant agricultural industry, two medium-sized supermarkets, poor public transport links both locally and with the rest of the UK, three primary schools and one secondary school.

Monthly income: £5,808 ($7,057): £2,516 ($3,057) of income and £1,646 ($2,000) allowance per foster child.

Total family expenses for the month: £5,728 pounds ($6,960)

*All family member names are pseudonyms, to maintain their privacy.