Paying for school trips.

bestpud

arlybarly wrote: »

Well we arnt entitled to anything as we both work and are over the threshold which is my POINT exactly, the more you work and do overtime the more my son has been penalised !!!!!!!!!!!!
And would i really as a parent let my son be the only one not to attend the prom???????

EMA is tiered so you were obviously close to the edge of the upper tier if overtime has tipped you over the edge. If you were on a low income, then the overtime will not have prevented him receiving EMA - it didn't my dd when both of us were doing overtime.

It is about income, no more no less.

And, if money is that tight, then, yes, I would say no to the prom, or I'd do it on the cheap. If he didn't go, I very much doubt he would be the only one, but that fear often sees us parents parting with our cash!

Sorry, but spending a fortune on a prom when you are struggling is ridiculous! This has been discussed recently and it seems many parents are being sucked into spending lots but many others find a way of doing it much cheaper. Everyone wins that way!

You are clearly cheesed off about the EMA and I can kind of see your point if it is only overtime that has tipped you over the limit, but then you've had that extra income and your son would only have received £10 a week anyway so you have to weigh up the benefit of having all the extra income last year against him receiving that this year iyswim.

I think you can apply to have it reassessed if your income has dropped by 15% or more... Have you checked that out?

bestpud

woodbine wrote: »

I`m sorry but that sounds abit like the benefit police, it can be incredibly hard to find £x at very short notice when "surviving" on benefits.
Just to add from my experience of being a school governor that payment for these trips is on a voluntary footing,and usually a % is built into the costing to allow for those who cant/wont pay,if those able/willing to pay dont cover the total cost, then the "trip" will be cancelled

The main point being made here is we all know these trips are going to crop up, so it is sensible to budget for them.

I have been inundated with requests from dd's school (and Brownies to be fair, plus it is renewal time for her swimming lessons) this month, to the point where I dread opening her bag and seeing a new letter, but I will not approach the school unless I literally face a week without food in the house.

In my case, I haven't been in this situation for long and I'm trying to pay off debts so it's a struggle, but I manage it as best I can. Most people do, and what annoys me (and this thread confirms it), is it is clearly not parents like myself (who genuinely are 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' every week) who are refusing to pay!

Oldernotwiser

woodbine wrote: »

I`m a little surprised at the above from the above,isn`t that being just a tad judgemental?Its sometimes post like that,that can put people off posting on here afraid that something they said "3 months" ago will be thrown back in their faces,and possibly out of context as well.

You've chosen the wrong person to be surprised about! I don't believe that being "judgemental" is a cardinal sin and see no reason why one shouldn't exercise this capacity.

As for looking back over people's previous posts; this is done all the time and frequently throws quite an interesting slant, as in this case, on what people are saying.

Oldernotwiser

arlybarly wrote: »

I think i must be going barmy here but what are you on about

The school unifrom thing related to another thread and probably shouldn't be brought into this one. However, the fact remains that you've chosen to spend (a lot?) money on a social event (the prom) and then begrudge spending on educational visits. This seems to be to indicate a flawed sense of priority.

teagan1966

some people have not been in ur position and have no idea how hard it is on is, its hard enough to live sometimes never mind save for extras, i have gone back to work and i wonder why sometimes !
teagan

Oldernotwiser

teagan1966 wrote: »

some people have not been in ur position and have no idea how hard it is on is, its hard enough to live sometimes never mind save for extras, i have gone back to work and i wonder why sometimes !
teagan

That's frquently true for people who are working as well. Many parents on benefits are actually better off than those in poorly paid work.

OrkneyStar

woodbine wrote: »

I`m sorry but that sounds abit like the benefit police, it can be incredibly hard to find £x at very short notice when "surviving" on benefits.
Just to add from my experience of being a school governor that payment for these trips is on a voluntary footing,and usually a % is built into the costing to allow for those who cant/wont pay,if those able/willing to pay dont cover the total cost, then the "trip" will be cancelled

Woodbine, all I am doing is stating what CTC is meant to be for.
Believe me we don't have a high income (far from it) so I know what it is like to have very little spare cash. We budget and anyone can put a small amount aside if they are motivated enough. To be fair on the OP she did say she tried to do that, so it is not something that she found absurd!

Oldernotwiser

woodbine wrote: »

I`m sorry but that sounds abit like the benefit police,

Why is it like the benefit police to advise someone that they should spend public money on what it's intended for?

arlybarly

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

The school unifrom thing related to another thread and probably shouldn't be brought into this one. However, the fact remains that you've chosen to spend (a lot?) money on a social event (the prom) and then begrudge spending on educational visits. This seems to be to indicate a flawed sense of priority.

No i think you and others may have misunderstood what i was going on about, and im not to good at explaining myself. I am not struggling at all and i have no problem whatsoever in paying for school trips and proms BUT i do object to others not paying for their childrens trips and i do object to ds losing out on a large ammount of EMA when other kids get it and i think it should NOT be based on my income and it should just be for the child to get 30 pounds a week whether parents work or not. It also doesnt take into account how many other kids you have at home either which is very unfair cause someone with 2 children would be better off financially than someone with 5 children on the same income. I will always pay for my children and i do not expect other people to fund them.

OrkneyStar

arlybarly wrote: »

No i think you and others may have misunderstood what i was going on about, and im not to good at explaining myself. I am not struggling at all and i have no problem whatsoever in paying for school trips and proms BUT i do object to others not paying for their childrens trips and i do object to ds losing out on a large ammount of EMA when other kids get it and i think it should NOT be based on my income and it should just be for the child to get 30 pounds a week whether parents work or not. It also doesnt take into account how many other kids you have at home either which is very unfair cause someone with 2 children would be better off financially than someone with 5 children on the same income. I will always pay for my children and i do not expect other people to fund them.

You contradict yourself though arlybarly, wanting EMA yet saying you will always pay for your children ? TBH I don't know much about EMA but there surely has to be a cut-off point somewhere, and as your income takes you above that point be thankful for that income.
I understand that it must be frustrating just missing out on something. Beleive me it is frustrating to see people on benefits who are better off than those who work their bums off (eg my DH). Thing is this board is not really for discussion/rants on benefit policy, simply for advice on the benefits systems as they currently stand. Any longer discussion/rant should be taken to discussion time in The Money Savers Arms.
Sorry OP if we seem to have gone way off topic!