THURSDAY is bill-paying day for 38-year-old mother-of-two Julie Potten, of Pembury.

It's the day the £150 to £200 wages from husband Ian's job in a warehouse go in the bank and Julie works out how much she can pay back the various companies on her long list.

That evening Julie uses some of what is left on food – during bad weeks she says she has £5 to £10 to spend, but every other week she tries to set aside £25 because son Daniel, 15, comes to stay for the weekend.

She does not have custody of either child and has not seen her eight-year-old son for many years.

"I go to Asda at Kings Hill on a bad week because usually I can get a packet of sausages for 48p which will last my husband two days and I get cheese on special offer and a loaf of bread, the cheapest I can, and enough milk. I don't eat during the day, I wait until the evenings and then I might have soup, sometimes packet, sometimes canned. The bread only lasts about three days," said Mrs Potten, of Henwoods Crescent, who has been incapable of work and has received incapacity benefit since June 2007.

She said she suffered postnatal depression, a breakdown after losing custody of her son and her mother's death and said more recently she was diagnosed with a personality disorder. Incapacity benefit brings in £200 each fortnight.

But she volunteers at the Hospice in the Weald shop in the village and also co-runs the weekly Pembury Village Market.

Julie said the food invariably ran out before the following Thursday but she was helped by girlfriends at the market, who let her have food items on credit.

On a week where she has £25 she buys diced beef and mince "to make shepherd's pie" and sausages for a casserole. She recently took advantage of a 30p deal on all vegetables at a nearby supermarket, explaining she "craves them".

The couple are being helped by Tunbridge Wells Community Debt Advice which has negotiated with creditors manageable amounts the pair can repay.

But the Town and Country Housing Group tenant admitted their income had to stretch further than bills and food.

Ian, 53, smokes and she estimated he could get through 100gms a week of rolling tobacco and this could cost as much as £20, if he opted for a better quality brand.

She said luxuries were rare, apart from the weekly five packets of biscuits and the monthly special offer DVD.

"In the past where we went wrong was we both gambled. I got very depressed indoors. We went through a stage two to three years ago when we'd play his wages in the arcade. It's still a problem but I am limiting the time so I only go on Thursday nights and only put £5 or £10. My husband's downfall is the lottery," said Julie. She said lottery and scratch cards could swallow up about £15 each week. She said the only help they could get for gambling was in Brighton and the pair could not make the 8pm meetings and finding petrol money was hard.

She said a compensation payout of £10,000 two years ago for a hand injury she suffered in a car accident paid bills but they "did the wrong thing by going back in the arcade". But Julie felt there should be more outside help as they struggled under a mountain of bills.

"I think it is more the state – yes, ok, we have done wrong in the past. I know certain people and I don't want to name names and there are some people who claim benefits and also work. It doesn't help when you read the councillors are going to get a 45 per cent pay rise but we don't get anything. We have tried housing benefit, council tax benefit, and we get nothing. They keep coming back and saying no."

She said she would like to work and had applied for 10 jobs with no luck but admitted she only wanted 10 hours a week because of her panic attacks and "stress levels". She also said she would have to earn less than £92 a week so she could keep her incapacity benefit.