He has been able to get a good deal on data and broadband using his experience working for a phone company. However, the high cost of getting enough data means he has very little left for other bills.

"I've lived on my own for almost two years now. Being 19, all my mates are like, ‘It’s sick that you can live on your own’. But they don't realise that you've got bills, you've got to go food shopping, and you've got to pay for your Wi-Fi because, as sad as it sounds, it is essential, especially if you live alone.

I get about £340 a month in Universal Credit. I spend almost £100 on my phone and Wi-Fi, £37 on my water bill and around £27 for my gas and electric. So I’m left with about £43 a week for food and everything else.

I used to work for EE, so I'm fortunate to have a mobile data contract at a discounted price. It’s rare to see an 18 or 19-year-old pass the credit check to get an unlimited plan for data; it’s just that I was an employee. I had Wi-Fi before, but I had to sign a new contract when I moved house, so it's another 18-month contract with a £150 cancellation fee. It’s their way of tying me in.

My phone bill comes to £65 a month and my Wi-Fi with Talk Talk is £25. It's a substantial amount of money, but it’s kept me sane, especially during the pandemic. It’s simple things like being able to eat with people that you miss when you live alone. Obviously, I can't have face-to-face interaction right now, but I can video call people. If I didn't have W-iFi coming or couldn't afford it, I don't know what I’d do. I don't think I could maintain my studies. In the past three weeks, I've used 250 gigabytes of data just streaming my online classes.

This hotspot is temporary, so it's easier to manage, but I used to run out of data a lot. I moved out of my foster parents’ house when I started sixth form and because I was only 17, I couldn’t take out a Wi-Fi contract or a phone contract. There was a pay-as-you-go phone, but it didn't have much data, so I'd hotspot it to my laptop as needed. I found myself going into libraries for hours so I could use the W-iFi. I was finding every opportunity to turn off my data. On pay-as-you-go, it cost about £20 a month. It was significantly cheaper, but it's a huge sacrifice to make. There was nothing I could do if I ran out of data; I just had to wait.

Arguably, electricity, water and food are more important than W-iFi, but it comes down to priorities. If I didn't have enough money one week, I would pick Wi-Fi over food. That's the sad reality of it. I definitely would choose Wi-Fi because it means I'm still in contact with the world and my mates."