It wasn't the suffocating panic a broken fridge could bring, or the choking heartache that came with explaining to her sons why they couldn't enjoy the same things as their mates.

It wasn't shopping at charity stores, or the constant robbing of Peter to pay Paul to make sure food made it to the table.

It wasn't just that.

It was all of it.

There was also a desperate hope that politicians in Canberra would understand what life for some could really be like, as senators debated a string of cuts to the welfare system - including freezing the Family Tax Benefit payment - to help fund a new childcare package.

"I can personally identify with them and I know how tough it is," Senator Lambie told Fairfax Media on Thursday.

"Saying 'we're not taking money off them, we are just going to freeze it' - well, are you going to freeze bread and milk, are you going to freeze fuel, are you going to freeze groceries? Are you going to freeze their rent?"

Her voice breaks and emotion stains her face. That same feeling poured into her words to the Parliament late on Wednesday night.

"For you to take more money off those people, you have no idea how bloody tough it is. What you are doing is shameful," she told the Senate through tears.

"It is not a choice for many of us to be on welfare. It is shameful and it is embarrassing, and it is bloody tough."

The speech resonated with thousands of people and her office has been inundated with calls. She just wanted them to know they weren't alone - even on Capital Hill.

Lambie says she knows that panic parents feel when they are forced to rely on welfare to make ends meet. It's what drove her to try to negotiate with the government to seek other budget cuts.

"I haven't just walked in there and said 'please don't take this money off them', I have actually put options on the table," she said.

"But when you continue to go after the poor, when you could be going after the money of the top 1 per cent of Australian earners ??? it just makes me feel sick to the gut."

Lambie says she suggested a financial transactions tax, a death tax on the rich which would see estates over $5 million taxed at 15 per cent, and capping capital gains tax concessions. They government wouldn't play ball and will secure support for the welfare cuts through other Senate crossbenchers.

Lambie is angry but not ashamed of her story. And she won't stop talking.

"I want to share my story and let people know they are not alone. And there is hope," she said.

"If there is anything you can keep it is your faith and your hope ??? I think that is what I wanted to get out there. I understand. There are a lot of people in Parliament that don't understand.

"But I do."