advice needed please.

cherrypie556

Thanks tixi. Our total montly outgoings are £1788.63 that includes everything!

OH does get his van, deisel etc all back from tax but as this is his 1st year, we are yet to see any of this. His books are at the accountants so we will see what he can claim against once we pay her!

As for gas and electric, we are on pre payment meters as we were paying montly DD but couldn't afford the £199 a month they wanted so we 'pay as we go' which is cheaper than previously. We also have a debt of £22 a month which we pay via a payment card as not with the same company anymore.

Clothes, we don't buy new, charity shops and hand me downs are our way and have been for yonks.

Cars, DH has a transit van which he needs, he has just upsized it and its an old banger so to speak. I have a people carrier and can't get rid for a smaller car as won't be able to fit the kids in a smaller one which obviously is essential. The insurance is higher because DH has a ban which puts it up.

cherrypie556

RAS wrote: »

I assume you have to feed the au pair? have you costed this in?

No as she's not here yet! But what she eats, uses in electric etc i won't as i wont be here so she's not going to cost us much more and im hoping my student loan (if i get anything) will pay her wage.

RAS

Tixy wrote: »

Unless you are going to get significant bursarys/grants etc from Uni then you need to speal to one of the debt charities for some professional debt advice as your current situation is not sustaniable.

She will get upto £10K on a degree or £11K on a diploma course. The minimum for the diploma is about £6,500 and the rest mean-tested.

She could get child care allowance on top, but I doubt if the aupair arrangment will meet the requirements for registered care.

Unless her household residual income is over £24,200 (more than 2K per month), there is no income reduction for household income.

So she should get the whole lot plus a reduced CT bill and things like placement costs.


I suggest cherrypie use the bursary calculator on the web-site http://www.nhsstudentgrants.co.uk/

Denis_UK

Are you a named driver on your partners van insurance? Some years ago my insurance was due for renewal,my partner never drove my car but if I removed her name my premium would have increased by £60 per annum.
Seems women are considered safer drivers than men.

cherrypie556

I already am Denis lol daft isn't it! RAS i am here you can stop talking about me as in the 3rd party! The degree is means tested and i won't get anything near 10k i can assure you that. I might get about 4k, but thats a might. The childcare was a maximum of £182 a week as i have already said but that still leaves us to find £360 A WEEK for childcare and thats even if i would qualify for the full amount, hense why an au-pair at £70 a week is a better option!

RAS

Is this a degree or a diploma course?

cherrypie556

it is the degree

RAS

OK

Unfortunatelty, it is impossible to link to direct pages in the SGU website but i will try and copy the relevent bits here.

Have you enquired about your student loan as well?

cherrypie556

Yes student loan is applied for, just waitting on the decision which is taking ages!

RAS

From the Bursary web-site

The basic rates for New Scheme students for 2009/10 are shown in the following table.


Amount (£ per year)London£3,392.00Elsewhere£2,810.00Parent's Home£2,346.00
Depending on your circumstances you could also get

• Help with childcare costs
• A parent learning allowance
• Dependents allowances
• Help with practice placement expenses
• Disabled students’ allowances

Degree Students (New Scheme)
Amount £ per year Diploma Students (New Scheme)
Amount £ per year Spouse (or other adult dependant, or first child
if there are no spouse or adult dependants) £2,640.00£2,238.00Each subsequent child£539.00£539.00

Parental Learning Allowance

You can claim this allowance if you are a NEW Scheme Student who has the care of a dependent child or children. You may be able to claim up to £ 1,303.00 if you are a degree-level student and £1,104.00 if you are a Diploma-level student. However, the allowance is subject to income assessment for both sets of students and the amount you receive (if any) will be determined by the income you declare when you apply.

So

Basic bursary - £2,810.00
First dependent - £2,640.00
Children - £539.00 times 4 = £2156
Parental Learning Allowance - £ 1,303.00
Plus Student loan (I think this is about £2000)

Am assuming you cannot get child care support because you have an au pair and would strongly advise that you check with CTC whether an au pair would be considered acceptable for CTC purposes. You can only get CTC for child care or bursary support for child care, NOT both.

So somewhere round about £10,909 if your OH is considered a dependent and £539 he is not.

There is no spousal contribution if the residual household income is under £24,200 - which means you get the lot.

You do have to fill in ALL the forms, for each component. You don't just get it by applying for the basic bursary.

PLEASE get yourself down to the University and ask to talk to their student finance advisor - they will do that now rahter than wait until you start.