Why is my friend only entitled to £16 a week tax cred??

missk_ensington

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

It may help your friend if you show her the old style board on here - it explains how to start eeeking what you have. Also Martin has a page that helps you work out your ingoings/outgoings. Sometimes very simple things can make a world of difference - packing sarnies for lunch rather than buying them etc etc over a year.Can you help your friend by going through finances etc - (credit cards)?? I know it sounds trite and I honestly don't mean it too, but people are living on a lot less (honest).

Yeah I agree, I dont know her finances well enough to know where all the monies going. I know she buys a lot from Next storecard but other than that I have no idea if they have debts etc. I'll tell her about this site, I dont think she even knows it exists! I used to be critical of people who didnt make the most of their money, but as I get older I realise some people are just not good with money. I manage on less that her I think and have afforded a couple of holidays this year and have bought my own house etc etc, but she could only afford a week camping.

But I'm good friends with her and if she was eating out all the time or always going out, I'd know about it. She used to smoke but not since being pregnant, and Hubby doesnt smoke or drink. They individually have a night out about once a month, so I dont think they have an extravagent lifestyle from what I can see, so God knows where the money goes!

Husband has 3 days annual leave left til Jan, so he can use those but that wouldnt even cover one week. Im trying to help her as best I can but Im finding it hard work having an extra kid every day

msmicawber

missk_ensington wrote: »

If she was a single parent she probably be better off, yet again, no incentive to be married and bring children up as a traditional family

Why do these threads so often descend into snide ill-informed comments like this? Where did that come from?

SuziQ

missk_ensington wrote: »

If she was a single parent she probably be better off, yet again, no incentive to be married and bring children up as a traditional family

I am that single mum on benefit with 3 children-so more benefit than she wold recieve-and believe me,no she would NOT be better off!

I am also a qualified nurse/midwife health visitor with 30 years experience and have been unable to get employment due to cutbacks since april-I hope she will be luckier when she qualifies!

Oldernotwiser

missk_ensington wrote: »

No she's doing nursing so get a bursary of £500 a month (not included in tax cred calculations) but has to work 35-37 hours a week on placement for that. I dont know her finances well enough to know why they cant cope, but I've been out with her more than once where her card has been declined and she's been unable to buy food, so paying for nursery for 5-6 weeks at £150 a week just isn't an option

So her £6,000 (tax free) bursary isn't included in the figures you mentioned at the start? She's really not on a bad income you know and nobody forced her to have another baby as well.

mouseymousey99

I think a lot of it is people are just not educated with money, and as a generation we have never known 'want'. Its always been buy now pay later blah blah and the credit crunch is hitting people hard. Also no one is taught very basic cooking at school, or to eat things up rather than throw it all away. Hit me hard when I hard to start budgeting!! But I think your friend needs some help to budget - yeah I agree with MsM re partner doing his bit - but most times (waiting for flying bricks here) its the woman!!
Barnesymom - if your husband is disabled why aren't you getting DLA?? Its not means tested.

bestpud

As she is entitled to more than the basic element of tax credits (because she is entitled - it is just being sawllowed up with the overpayment), she should be able to get the maternity grant of £500. She needs to get the form from her midwife if she hasn't already.

£22k is not a low income so I wouldn't expect her to get wtc and the ctc sounds about right for one child. They will get a rise when the new baby arrives - even if it just means the overpayment is being paid off quicker!

I'm not sure it is right they won't help with childcare because of the overpayment though? Has she checked that out? Is the overpayment massive or was it claimed fraudulently rather than in error?

Really though, do they come on here as £28k a year, plus chb is not bad! There must be ways they can shave their outgoings. If the don't have the internet, you could buy them Martin's book as a pressie?

missk_ensington

Well as a single parent myself, I get £800 a month tax credits, £300 CSA, £240 DLA and child benefit, (on an assumed income of £0 workign 40 hours a week starting a new business) but if I had a partner/husband here earning I would lose all that £800, equivalent to nearly £10,000 a year so he would have to be on £20,000+ for it to be worthwhile, and then I would have to go to him cap in hand asking for money.

Obviously once my business goes into profit I wont get that, but I still think as a single parent, depending on what you do it is more profitable.

Yes I know she has chosen to have a baby, but why should she have to give up her dream of having 2 kids because of her finances, when asylum seekers and young single parents can have 3-4 kids and live easy comfortable lives. I know that might not sound very PC, but I know loads of people who work a fraction of what she does but have more luxuries, nights out, cigarettes...

SuziQ

msmicawber wrote: »

Why do these threads so often descend into snide ill-informed comments like this? Where did that come from?

I think this is comes from a basic false assumption,perpetuated from some newspapers and also from some members on this board,that single mums get loads of benefits.
Don't get me wrong,if I didn't have debt left from my ex and a mortgage (but then if I didn't have mortgage I would have rent,so swings and roundabouts unless you get housing benefit) then I think my benefit would be ok to manage short term without any major disasters to fund. I am very grateful to get any support tbh-after working for almost 30 years (have had a total of about 18 months away from that in all that time for short breaks for maternity and 6 months off with youngest who is autistic)I am in the mindset of work not claiming benefit,it feels quite alien to me although I havent had much choice in current circumstances.
There is a certain 'enititled to' mentality around now which wasn't around when I was growing up in the 70's- I never felt 'entitled' to anything, I expected to work hard and din't think I had a 'right' to have kids,a house or anything else. Just society is different now-and on the whole I think most benefits are generous ie my son now gets dla which helps enormously with the extra costs such as SALT and different toys and things.

missk_ensington

Bestpud, yes I agree they seem to have a decent salary I have absolutely no idea what she does with it. Obviously for me to get a better picture and try to help her she'd have to show me every penny coming in and out and Im not sure if she'd be comfortable doing that, I know she doesnt cook much, partly because by her own admission she's rubbish and partly cos she's so exhausted from working 55 hours a week. She's only 10 weeks pregnant, so cant get anything yet, but thanks I'll make sure she claims that grant when the time comes.

I think her overpayment is about £1,500 but not sure why, I think her hours at work fluctuate weekly so its hard to accurately say what her annual income will be, hence the overpayment.

bestpud

missk_ensington wrote: »

Well as a single parent myself, I get £800 a month tax credits, £300 CSA, £240 DLA and child benefit, (on an assumed income of £0 workign 40 hours a week starting a new business) but if I had a partner/husband here earning I would lose all that £800, equivalent to nearly £10,000 a year so he would have to be on £20,000+ for it to be worthwhile, and then I would have to go to him cap in hand asking for money.

Obviously once my business goes into profit I wont get that, but I still think as a single parent, depending on what you do it is more profitable.

Yes I know she has chosen to have a baby, but why should she have to give up her dream of having 2 kids because of her finances, when asylum seekers and young single parents can have 3-4 kids and live easy comfortable lives. I know that might not sound very PC, but I know loads of people who work a fraction of what she does but have more luxuries, nights out, cigarettes...

And there is a lot of families with an income £10k less (and worse) than your friend and who don't do those things either! They are not hard up by any stretch of the imagination!

Comments like that just make you look ignorant! And by the look of it, you aren't doing so bad yourself - perhaps you could help her out a bit with childcare?