A mum-of-five with a £62k household income has resorted to using Klarna to afford her food shop - due to the cost-of-living crisis.<br /><br />Laura Caine, 40, struggles to cover her family's monthly outgoings using her £1k-a-month universal credit payment and her husband Martin's £50k games programmer salary.<br /><br />The couple have five children - aged 18 to nine - and say feeding the brood three meals a day gets expensive so they have had to use the buy-now-pay-later service.<br /><br />In recent months Laura says she had to use Klarna to afford groceries as she "can't afford" to pay for a big shop upfront.<br /><br />Laura claims both she and Martin have both maxed out their credit cards after their energy bill shot up to £450-a-month from £200. <br /><br />Some people find paying debt off interest-free over a short period is helpful, lots of the schemes charge a fee if payments are missed.<br /><br />Laura, originally from Fife, Scotland, but living in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, said: "I’ve seen the struggles of so many families - I've been to food banks with mums and dads with their kids, waiting and wondering what they will be getting, it’s awful.<br /><br />"The way I shop now, if I have £35 to spend for the week, I could get a £105 shop using Klarna and that's £105 worth of food in your cupboards and pay £35 per month back for three months.<br /><br />"If I do it this way it means I can take my kids to places once a month like museums or a train ride somewhere."<br /><br />Laura says she has been left with no choice but to use Klarna for her food shop due to her circumstances - but wouldn't encourage others to do the same.<br /><br />She said: “The last shop I did I spent £1,050 and am paying £350 back each month.<br /><br />“The same shop used to be £500 pre-covid which just shows how much costs have gone up – but it will last me a month and a half, which is not bad for a family of seven." <br /><br />The food shop she does is usually comprised of fresh fruit and veg. <br /><br />"I'll get 10 packets of carrots at 65p a bag and prep them and put in the freezer," Laura said.<br /><br />"Potatoes I'll get 10 bags and keep them in our cellar. <br /><br />"I buy fresh meat and freeze it as well as flour and butter as I make giant tray bake cakes in the big tray for the oven, I also get crisps and squash."<br /><br />Prior to using Klarna, Laura also had to rely on food banks while she also frequents wholesalers to buy bulk essentials like toilet rolls and flour to make bread. <br /><br />Laura said: "Last year my benefits switched to universal credit - whereas before I was on tax credits and it has given me a cash flow problem.<br /><br />“Instead of getting paid once per week I got paid once per month, which made things even more challenging, which is why I've had to start using Klarna.<br /><br />"It just means if an emergency pops up like having to pay for an MOT or gas bill - even though it is more money, in the long run it allows me to make ends meet." <br /><br />Laura was desperate to avoid frequent visits to food banks.
