if someone resigns can dwp make them sell house?

RACHIE77

Yeah I get some help towards childcare but if I could keep that money myself and stay at home and look after my kids they would be better off! I dont think the system is encouraging enough to help mothers to look after their own kids but encourages going back to work instead... I know we have a mortgage to pay so would happily work to top things up but at the moment I am just working to survive and to pay someone else to have my kids

Spendless

RACHIE- Have you put your figures into www.entitledto.com and had a play around with figures to see if you could afford to reduce hours/not work.

Have you followed the advice on the boards about cutting bills, are there any debts that need paying off. Have you looked at the oldstyle board for ways of cutting your shopping bills?

RACHIE77

Hi Spendless, thanks for the tips, I think pulling our belts in is gonna be a necessity if we gonna make this work, I am just so hopeless with money that i find it a real struggle, my OH isnt much better either, to be honest he is probably worse!

I do read throught the other boards and take some bits and bobs, we got rid of sky tv as it was a luxury we couldn't afford and generally have taken lots of the hints on board! I have a big pile of clothes and bits n bobs ready to ebay to make a few pennies and have been getting bits and bobs from charity shops (mostly decent labelled clothes too!) when the kids need stuff! We are pretty thrifty on most things but probably could do better at times...

We do have debts to pay off and we are moving in the right direction but its really hard for both of us to do... I know I need to seriously look at spending and income etc but it is something that scares me and I am completely rubbish at!

I put my figures into entitledto earlier to see what the calculations would be and basically if i did not work then we would only be entitled to £38 a week more than we get now! I can't live off that unfortunately so looks like I am going to have to keep searching for work and stay where I am for now!

Spendless

RACHIE77 wrote:

Hi Spendless, thanks for the tips, I think pulling our belts in is gonna be a necessity if we gonna make this work, I am just so hopeless with money that i find it a real struggle, my OH isnt much better either, to be honest he is probably worse!

I do read throught the other boards and take some bits and bobs, we got rid of sky tv as it was a luxury we couldn't afford and generally have taken lots of the hints on board! I have a big pile of clothes and bits n bobs ready to ebay to make a few pennies and have been getting bits and bobs from charity shops (mostly decent labelled clothes too!) when the kids need stuff! We are pretty thrifty on most things but probably could do better at times...

We do have debts to pay off and we are moving in the right direction but its really hard for both of us to do... I know I need to seriously look at spending and income etc but it is something that scares me and I am completely rubbish at!

I put my figures into entitledto earlier to see what the calculations would be and basically if i did not work then we would only be entitled to £38 a week more than we get now! I can't live off that unfortunately so looks like I am going to have to keep searching for work and stay where I am for now!

So you need to work out how much it is costing you to go to work (travel, lunches, clothes etc)and anything above £38 a weeks what you're better off by with you working. If you can cut your bills by this amount you're over, then you should be able to manage.

ETA- Do you post on the debtfreewannabe board. You would get some helpful advise on there.

RACHIE77

Spendless wrote:

ETA- Do you post on the debtfreewannabe board. You would get some helpful advise on there.

I think I did once or twice but for some reason I didn't go back, I can't quite remember why to be honest but am thinking it may be worth a visit to get myself in to shape!! I just feel like I dont know where to begin ATM....

I only work a couple of miles away from home, wear clothes that I can also wear outside work, and USUALLY bring in my own lunch or eat at home as I only work mornings so costs here are minimal! Mind you, if I could find somewhere that I could walk to work then I would save the minimal petrol that I spend, probably about £10 to £20 a week depending on where I have to take/pick up the kids from...

This morning was horrible, me rushing around so I can get to the office for 9am and the kids crying and playing up cos I am trying to get them both ready.. I had bad dreams last night that one of the kids died cos I was a bad mother and kept leaving him... I am stressed and its obviously affecting the kids as they are snappy too and not sleeping well - hence the nightmares! hey ho! :rolleyes:

Spendless

RACHIE77 wrote:

I think I did once or twice but for some reason I didn't go back, I can't quite remember why to be honest but am thinking it may be worth a visit to get myself in to shape!! I just feel like I dont know where to begin ATM....

I only work a couple of miles away from home, wear clothes that I can also wear outside work, and USUALLY bring in my own lunch or eat at home as I only work mornings so costs here are minimal! Mind you, if I could find somewhere that I could walk to work then I would save the minimal petrol that I spend, probably about £10 to £20 a week depending on where I have to take/pick up the kids from...

This morning was horrible, me rushing around so I can get to the office for 9am and the kids crying and playing up cos I am trying to get them both ready.. I had bad dreams last night that one of the kids died cos I was a bad mother and kept leaving him... I am stressed and its obviously affecting the kids as they are snappy too and not sleeping well - hence the nightmares! hey ho! :rolleyes:

aahh have a hug:grouphug: . If it makes you feel better I'm at home at all day with my 2 -eldest schools closed due to strike and it's not a college day for me so youngest isn't at nursery and they are falling out. The thought of an office sounds nice .
I packed in work to have my eldest (6) and technology has advanced so much since then, that I need now to go to college to gain some skills to return to the type of work I once did (admin) when the youngest gets to full-time school in another 18 months time.

ETA- Did you also remember to deduct childcare costs from your sums, even if you get 80% paid, you are still paying 20% x 2.

Good Luck- I hope you work something out.

RACHIE77

Spendless wrote:

aahh have a hug:grouphug: . If it makes you feel better I'm at home at all day with my 2 -eldest schools closed due to strike and it's not a college day for me so youngest isn't at nursery and they are falling out. The thought of an office sounds nice .
I packed in work to have my eldest (6) and technology has advanced so much since then, that I need now to go to college to gain some skills to return to the type of work I once did (admin) when the youngest gets to full-time school in another 18 months time.

ETA- Did you also remember to deduct childcare costs from your sums, even if you get 80% paid, you are still paying 20% x 2.

Good Luck- I hope you work something out.

I keep thinking all these costs are too insignificant to count but I guess I should work things out properly like I keep promising... Childcare is only for 4.5 hours a week each so that is 9 hours a week, I am lucky as family and friends do most of the work!! i do get 80% of that paid so that only makes it £20 a month that I pay - still, it all adds up!

Have fun today with your kids! :rolleyes:

donnalove

could you also perhaps put your mortgage on interest only for a few years then catch up when the kids are older?
just a thought

RACHIE77

donnalove wrote:

could you also perhaps put your mortgage on interest only for a few years then catch up when the kids are older?
just a thought

We are actually on a mortgage holiday for the rest of the year, it is just the fact we have gotten behind on bills and things after having 2 periods of Mat leave in a short space of time that we are still living on the edge and paying off overdrafts, consolodation loans, outstanding bills and credit cards etc! In theory we should be much better off but we have this rope round our neck still tho!

My OH says that we should bite the bullet and I can leave if I like and do something else just to help out with the money, he says this is a good opportunity while we are on a mortgage break and has been really supporitive, I just worry as we not in a good financial place at the moment really....

gibson123

My secret formula is: Happiness = success

Go for what makes you happy, everything else will fall into place, the secret is deciding what does make you happy and making a positive choice to pursue happiness. If you choose to be happy first, you will be stronger, guilt free and positive, debt, money worries, mortgages and material goods become much easier to deal with when put into context.