Lost £400 per month

McKneff

Red_Shoes_No_Knickers wrote: »

I might be wrong, but should she have been claiming JSA in the first place, if she was not available for work?

I just love, love, love your username:j

My mum used to say 'fur coat and no knickers' but red shoes does it for me.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Macro_3

McKneff wrote: »

I just love, love, love your username:j

My mum used to say 'fur coat and no knickers' but red shoes does it for me.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I've thanked on the basis of the username alone :rotfl:

OP you'd be surprised at how much you'd get towards childcare - you should have a play with entitledto.co.uk using some dummy childcare figures to see. I think you'd get a fair percentage.

mummytofour

There are other ways to make ends meet. I worked weekends for years and years while dh worked the rest of the week, it kept us afloat just but it was hard work. At the time all my children were young too. Working round each other is part of family life and part of the partnership of relationships with children. It wont be forever the children will be at school soon enough and then grown up.

flea72

the OP is in the wage bracket whereby they would loose as much tax credits as they could earn, so it wouldnt make financial sense for the wife to go out to work

i know ive been round the figures numbers of times with my family, and for families with a joint income of between £20k-£30k you are no better off trying to increase income, because the tax credits drops away so quickly once you hit £25k - its more or less what you earn youve lost, once you take into consideration a drop in ctc, childcare fees, and other costs involved with going to work

Plus add onto that, your kids dont get to see you as much, you run youself ragged, doing the work/home thing, and for little or no financial reward

notlongnow_2

Is there any reason why your wife cannot get a job? I have to work nights. It was terrible when they were not at school as I could only cat-nap during the day as I had no-one to have them for a couple of hours. I have never used a childcare provider and juggled my nights around when ex-dh was working so he cared for them. It was hard, but it had to be done. If it meant work and have money or dont work and dont have money, then I have worked.

In an ideal world I would love to have not had to work and lead a lavish lifestyle...but I dont, so I work and am proud to have never had to bundle them off to a nursery/childminder (my own preferences only...not having a go at anyone else)
If you are struggling then I think your wife working is the only option, she can still be there for the children and work. There are jobs around, I have seen ad's in my local shops constantly, nursing homes are always crying out for good staff. Bar work, paper round (my sis arranges these and the paper deliverers get minimum wage, IDEAL with children and theres always a shortage so you can do many rounds, plus good exercise) My two local macdonalds are now 24hrs opening and always trying to employ new staff on flexi hours......a job is a job.

Good luck.

MrsTinks

I agree - is there any reason your wife can't work part time? McDs is just one example
We get no help other than Child Benefit of what? £20 a week? Something like that...
OK so we have good salaries but I did a LOT (and I mean A LOT) of maths before trying to get pregnant to make sure we could afford it. OK some unknowns have still reared their heads (it never occured to me that I had to be so close to her day care which puts a huge stumbling block in the way of my job - but that's a different matter) but I knew that I had to return to work - I'll have managed 8 months at home with any luck... But I'm looking at some SE work if allowed to supplement my SMP to make ends meet easier over that period - that means evenings and possible weekends of working (If I can do so without loosing my SMP)
Needs must.

applecharlotte

Perhaps having the second child wasn't such a good idea if the "stupid system" isn't keeping you in the manner that you would like!

vaporate

The_Plush_Doormat wrote: »

Child Benefit for 2 children is £33.20 per week. Not what I would call hardly anything !

I would that's peanuts lol

thorsoak

At least now your wife will get NI credit for bringing up your children and will thus increase her pension in future years .......I brought our 4 children up, working part time as and when until I could work as near full-time as possible (with no child-care vouchers) - and my state pension is still less because I did not have a full NI record!

flea72

notlongnow wrote: »

Is there any reason why your wife cannot get a job? I have to work nights. It was terrible when they were not at school as I could only cat-nap during the day as I had no-one to have them for a couple of hours. I have never used a childcare provider and juggled my nights around when ex-dh was working so he cared for them. It was hard, but it had to be done. If it meant work and have money or dont work and dont have money, then I have worked.

In an ideal world I would love to have not had to work and lead a lavish lifestyle...but I dont, so I work and am proud to have never had to bundle them off to a nursery/childminder (my own preferences only...not having a go at anyone else)
If you are struggling then I think your wife working is the only option, she can still be there for the children and work. There are jobs around, I have seen ad's in my local shops constantly, nursing homes are always crying out for good staff. Bar work, paper round (my sis arranges these and the paper deliverers get minimum wage, IDEAL with children and theres always a shortage so you can do many rounds, plus good exercise) My two local macdonalds are now 24hrs opening and always trying to employ new staff on flexi hours......a job is a job.

Good luck.

its not a case of the wife not being able to work, its a case of whether that would be of financial benefit

no-one would go out to work, if it meant they had less money coming in, than when they stayed at home

as i said in my case, i currently work p/t, as this brings in a little bit of money, plus some tax credits. we have considered me returning to work f/t, which would result in us going onto basic tax credits, but having way greater overheads, like childcare, carparking, uniform, etc. - based on that, our income would prob be very similar to what we bring home now (roughly £60/m better off), but would it be worth all that extra running around, and not seeing the kids?

yes i know £60 would pay some bills, and give us a little breathing space, but quality of life has to be a factor too, and for such a small financial reward, i wouldnt say the extra stress was worth it

as for there being lots of weekend/evenings jobs around. i dont know of any homes near me that take unqualified nursing staff (other than daytime cleaners/kitchen staff). Bar jobs, newspaper rounds, etc. all go to people on lower level min wage, and Mcds laugh you out the door, as soon as they find out you are over 22 (again unless its daytime hours, when they dont have access to the numerous schoolkids they usually employ). The only time you get a lookin on theses type of jobs as an adult, is either through association, or employers who for one reason or another, havent managed to find a 16-20yr old willing to do the job

F