Now we are even Poorer SOA

sallyx

PNPSUKNET wrote: »

BT Phone/Broadband - £45.00

CTC - £89.27 thought both had to be working to qualify for this
Car Service - £30.00 - this can be bought for £100 a year inc mot from kwikfit
Opticians - £15.00 --- if on tax credits / benefits you shouldnt be paying for this
Dentist - £10.00 --- if on tax credits / benefits you shouldnt be paying for this

Clothes/Shoes - £30.00 -- cant you make do for a few months apart from the kids

Im guessing though that I won't be eligable for free treatment though if its OH that is on JSA?
Thanks for the info on kwikfit, will check that out

sallyx

beanielou wrote: »

sally I pay the same as you to BT.
When I tried to get it reduced they just said I was tied in for however many months.
Have you notified TC's of your change in circumstances?

Yes have done Beanie..used to get £40 a month when we earnt £35k now we get £80 a month when we take home £5k plus JSA The whole system needs an overhaul

Gemmzie

Tax credits still seem on the low side, brain doesn't work that well but I'm sure you should be getting more on the Working Tax Credits side.

beanielou

I agree Gemmzie.
TC's seem really low.
Have you tried entitled to sally to see what they come up with?

Sleep well hun x

digitalphase

sallyx wrote: »

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £450.00
Partners salary (JSA) £278.63
Child Benefit - £80.00
CTC - £89.27
Housing Benefit - £624.22


Total - £1,522.12

Monthly Outgoings A: Essentials

Mortgage/Rent - £600
Gas - £30
Electric - £38.00
TV License - £11.95
Water Rates - £34.50
BT Phone/Broadband - £45.00 - Try to get this down. If you register to view your account online, you may be able to reduce your direct debit amount on there. I was paying a similar amount but have reduced it to £26.
Home Insurance - £10.93
Car Insurance - £24.00
Payment to CCCS - £188.00 - See if they will accept a lower figure, maybe offer £100?

Monthly Outgoings B: - Non essential
Food - £200.00
Petrol - £75.00
Car Tax - £15.00
Car Service - £30.00 - Seems quite expensive per month? £20 more realistic
Opticians - £15.00
Dentist - £10.00
Hairdressers - £15.00 - Try to reduce frequency of visits and/or put by £10 instead of £15
Clothes/Shoes - £30.00 - Cut this out, or down to say £10 a month for kids
Christmas/Bday - £20.00 - Try and reduce this down to £10


Total A: £982.38
Total B: £460.00


Total Outgoings £1442.38

Apologies if some of this is repeated advice, but I think if you can adjust your bills down to what I've suggested, then your outgoings will be £1295.38 per month, which should be much more reasonable.

Ames

Erm, I don't think food should be down as a non essential? Surely that's more important than the cccs payments?

JSA - you get contributions based for six months, then income based. It's £63 rather than £50 because your OH is over 25.

The formula for housing benefit is very complicated, it might be worth you nipping in to the housing benefit office and asking them how much you could earn before it's affected.

If the JSA is contributions, rather than income based, then there's no entitlement to free prescriptions etc. However you could fill in a form, I think it's a HC1, to get a certificate to get free/reduced items due to low income. I'm not sure how low the income has to be, but you might as well ask.

I think there's help available from the jobcentre for the cost of travelling to interviews, although I'm not sure this applies on contributions based. It's worth asking about anyway.

Phone and broadband seem expensive, do you have any call plans that you don't use? I saved money by getting rid of the talk anytime and just going for the evening and weekends one.

Sorry, that's not very helpful, full of ifs and maybes.

Bunnyinthelights

Sally, I agree not a lot of room for movement but remember that all a child needs and wants is lots of love and attention and I know she gets that from you tenfold.

Pooky

Not a great deal to add - some great suggestions so far.

The Tax credits do seem low but until you've had the paper work through it's hard to know. Worth a phone call to them perhaps just to double check they have the right figures.

Groceries wise, you should be able to get that down to £150 fairly easily, maybe even a bit lower with the fresh stuff from the allotment.

BT normally tie you in for 12/18 months, worth checking with them though, they may be able to reduce something.

How come your Housing benefit is higher than your rent? Is that including council tax too? If not I'd be inclined to double check it before they decide they've done it wrong and try and claw it back.

Get your CCCs review done and get the payments lowered, you can still tuck any extras away for now and use it to offer full and finals.

And I'll agree with everyone else, kids don't need to do stuff, your DD will thrive just having you around and being able to help you at the allotment, going to the beach etc.

Ames

Pooky, on local housing allowance they decide how much you need for the type of property you're allowed. If that amount is higher than your rent you can keep £15 a week of it.

Horace

I know that when I was on JSA both contributions based at first and then income based, I asked for help with bus fares to get to and from interviews - they coughed up but they won't tell you about it, you have to ask for it. My car sat on the drive and didnt move much - that was occasionally filled with petrol when my chap came to visit.

As others have said, cut down on your grocery bill - cook from scratch, shop carefully so make a list of what you need before you go out. Keep a spending diary so you know where your money is going.