Hannah Clarke
Wednesday's Budget will reveal how much tax each of us will pay and how much the Government will choose to spend on services like the NHS, schools and transport.
BBC News spoke to people of varying incomes to find out what they expected from the Budget and, in some cases, how they feared it would be affected.
If there are any issues you would like to see addressed, you can contact us via Your Voice, Your BBC News.
Mum-of-two Hannah Clarke, from Rutland in the East Midlands, was juggling two part-time jobs but recently started studying full-time for a midwifery qualification. She also works six to eight hours a week as a cosmetic technician.
She earns around £1,800 a month, mainly from a student loan on which she does not pay tax. She says that just about covers her mortgage payments – which increased by a third earlier this year – her bills and her fuel.
“I'm close to making ends meet, but it's not easy and sometimes I have to ask for help,” she says.
She would like free school meals not to be means tested, but failing that, she believes the eligibility threshold should be lowered. She also adds that if fuel taxes increase, the additional cost per liter of petrol or diesel “should absolutely not be passed on to drivers”.
'I can't move on £1,500 a month'
Luken Coleman works as a level 3 business administration apprentice for a recruitment agency, earning around £1,500 a month. Previously, he worked in shops and manual labor.
He works full time Monday through Friday and goes to college one day a month.
Luken lives in Newbury with his parents and pays them rent of £200 a month. Even though he pays all his bills, he can't afford to move and says he wishes apprentices were paid more.
“The average rent where I live is between £700 and £900 a month. If I moved, I would have to move further away, so I would need a car.”
Being in his late twenties, he says it can feel like you're not doing much when you're still living at home.
“It's a mental health issue. Financially, apprentices are paid less because you learn on the job, but it can make you feel less about yourself when you're not fully independent.”
'I earn £7,600 a month but £2,600 goes towards childcare'
Yasmin Taylor from Kent is a technology consultant and single mother of two young children.
Her biggest expense is £2,600 a month for childcare. The father of the children also contributes to the costs.
“I studied and worked hard to get a well-paying job, but I feel like I'm being punished for having children,” she says.
Due to her £150,000 salary, Yasmin is not entitled to child benefit, nor is she entitled to support through tax-free childcare or 30 hours of free childcare.
She acknowledges that her income puts her among the high earners, but says: “You still have to pay for gas and electricity and that has gone up a lot. »
One of his biggest concerns is energy bills this winter.
She is also interested in what the Chancellor could do on capital gains tax (CGT). Although she is no longer subject to CGT at the moment, the next step in her career would be to become a partner in her firm, which would involve her purchasing shares in the company, which could later be subject to CGT. the CGT if it sold them.
'I can only afford a caravan on £1,590 a month'
Kirsty Brett works part-time as a cleaner in a care home, earning the minimum wage of £11.44 an hour.
She recently moved in with her sister in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk while she looks for a new home, after leaving her previous job as a carer in Essex.
Kirsty suffers from osteoporosis, which makes her job difficult, and also finds living in Essex too expensive. She receives £550 a month in independent personal payments.
She would like to see an increase in the national living wage.
“People should be paid at least £15 an hour. Because the cost of living has gone up. It would help a lot of people.
“The salary they classify as minimum wage – I don’t see how that makes a living for anyone.”
She is now studying “the cheapest options” for housing. She says she discovered that renting a one-bedroom apartment costs around £1,300 a month, so Kirsty is instead considering renting a caravan for around £800 a month.
'I get £2,750 in benefits and I'm panicking about the cuts'
Nicole Healing rents a one-bedroom flat in Brighton for £1,250 a month.
Nicole previously worked as a civil servant and in digital marketing, but has been unable to work in recent years due to several disabilities, including a connective tissue disorder that causes joints to dislocate.
Nicole, who uses them and their pronouns, said they received employment and support allowance of £1,042, self-employed personal payments of £798 and housing benefit of £917 a month.
Although they currently feel in a “happy position”, Nicole says: “I feel at the mercy of the DWP”.
Nicole is “completely freaked out” about possible benefit cuts in the budget and what that could mean for them.
“I fear the negative rhetoric in the media about disabled people on benefits.”
They say their energy bill has increased significantly in recent years and they fear their rent will increase as well.
“I cannot use my PIP for the purposes it was intended to be used for. Half of the payment goes towards my rent. »
Nicole wants the budget to specify what assistance is provided for people with disabilities and hopes for a capping of energy bills this winter.
'I'm trying to save as much as possible from my £1,920 a month'
Blogger and web developer Andrew Cunningham lives with his husband in Glasgow. He describes the couple as “middle earners but keen savers” who invested in their individual savings accounts (ISAs) and pensions to fund their retirement.
He is concerned by rumors that there could be a cap on the amount of money you can hold tax-free in an ISA in the Budget. “That would hit us and significantly deter saving.”
He also fears that any flat-rate tax relief on pensions will hit average incomes.
As he is self-employed, Andrew has set up a self-invested personal pension. A flat rate tax break would mean less money for his pension.
“We live our lives assuming that we won't get a state pension when we reach retirement age, at least not in the current form,” he says, pointing out that spending on state pensions state have increased over the years. a percentage of the government budget.
He thinks that in the coming years the government may have to raise the retirement age again or reduce the amount of benefits you get.
'We make £100,000 and expect to be worse off'
Ben Howard and his wife Sarah from Bristol are expecting their first child in February. They have a joint income of £100,000. In September their mortgage repayments increased by 60% to £1,400.
Ben says they are “comfortable” but thinks the government should do more to reduce the cost of childcare because in some cases “it's more efficient for (parents) not to to work”.
“But that brings us back to our career aspirations.”
Ben is not entirely convinced Labor will keep its promise not to raise taxes on workers. “Am I going to see a tax on my pension contributions, some sort of stealth tax?”
He expects the situation to be worse after Budget Day. “They're going into really big deals and growing the economy, and I understand that, but nothing resonates with me and my salary.”
'My pension of £1,200 a month doesn't cover my expenses'
Allana Lamb is an Army and Navy veteran and retired social worker. She is a few pounds over the pension credit threshold and therefore does not receive the winter heating allowance.
“I’m very concerned about the government stopping this,” she says. “Yes, (the state pension) is triple locked but it doesn’t cover the cost of living.”
She believes that “the rich will get even richer” thanks to this budget and that “those at the bottom of the ladder or on the edge of the bottom” will be hit with more taxes.
Allana receives both the full state pension and a small military pension, totaling £1,200 per month. She says her income doesn't cover all her expenses and expects her mortgage to “virtually double” over the next few years. “This will put me in negative monthly expenses.”
Allana also thinks the threshold for getting some help from the council to pay for social care costs should be raised. Currently, people with assets of up to £23,250 are eligible. Labor has already abandoned plans to increase this amount.
