Baby Benefits

quintwins

dianeio wrote: »

One question on benefits - if you say your a single mum, surely the CSA will take child maintenance payments of the dad/boyfriend so would you really be much better? I'm not sure how much a single parent gets but I don't think its worth the hassle of getting caught, or keeping it secret.

as far as i know (from what i've read my hubby lives with me ) the csa take 20% of fathers income, which for op is acually only £4000 a year however the csa only get involved if the mother reqests it, a verbal agreement is fine aslong as she tells tax credits/income support/housing benefit how much he is giving her theres no need to get the csa involved

if she did this (which she's not) she would most likely get her rent paid, some child tax credits and then depending if she went back to work she might get it topped up with either working tax creits or income support, aswell as child benefit like the rest of us

(wow single mums get alot)

quintwins

caz2703 wrote: »

Glad to see someone else using Hipp jars. We buy ours in bulk when there are offers on so if anyone cares Sainsburys have a baby event starting today so I'll be stocking up. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but the Hipp foods mean that my bubba has cottage pie, Lancashire hotpot, risotto, pasta, noodles etc that we wouldn't eat so to me he's getting a better variety than I could provide. If I was cooking for him myself he'd just be getting fairly plain mushed foods like potato, veg and fruit and with no teeth at 8 months it makes it harder for him to chew. Besides, if I gave him my risotto he'd be pished on the amount of white wine I put in it and I don't need social services calling at my door :rotfl:

like i said nothing against jars but alot have colour, salt. sugar and preservatives in them, my baby has a very varried diet, he has pasta, roast dinner(both chicken and beef) sheperds pie, stew, toast, banana, apple, pear ect( both mashed and whole) he has had risotto aswell but he didn't like the rice, will try him again later, also like i said i don't puree his food and he has no teeth but he's only just turned 8months and he can chew fine, whic i do beleive is because he hasn't had food that he can just swallow it's always involved some work

metalgal

When i found out i was pregnant i cried and cried, there was no way i could ever afford to have a baby. we had a massive mortgage and crap jobs. I started to plan to save and buy this one week this the next so i could do it throughout my pregnancy so it wasn't a massive expensive dash 2 weeks before it was due. My fantastic sisters were helping out, first baby of the family, and we got a load of stuff too from my SIL. Everything was going well until the redundancy letter landed on my desk. I was extremely lucky that i was due to go on maternity anyway in about 2 months and i was allowed to keep working until then. Again another meltdown, but what could i do?

My DD was born last August and the amount we got in presents. If people asked me what i wanted i asked for Tesco vouchers. I said the wee outfits are lovely but i can't afford to but a nappy underneath it!. I had considered briefly, (about 30 secs) about using the reusable nappies, but i could not do that. Even if they paid me i would not spend a hour of my day cleaning up !!!!!. \Plus are they really cheaper, having to use your washing machine all day? My DD was breastfeed only for the first few days. I couldn't breastfeed due to medication. I couldn't take it when i was pregnant and my health deteriorated badly, so although i new that breastfeeding would benefit the baby it was out weighed but the fact that i couldn't walk if i don't take my tablets. SO for the first few days i was bed bound anyway so gave her the colostrum. Formula feeding costed us about £10 a week. (PS Don't let the breastfeeding Nazis get you. If you don't want to breastfeed then its no ones business but yours)

In the past lot of months, thanks mostly to this site, we have been able to cope having a £113,000 mortgage and my husbands income of £15500. We get help in tax credits but having a baby costs us about £30 a week, we manage fine on that figure. Second hand clothes, (weecycle, charity shops) own brand nappies and wipes ( i think they are better anyway) second hand toys. Babies barely use their toys and clothes they are pretty much brand new, i have got so many clothes in charity shops with tags still attached. If i do say so my self my DD is always looking lovely, people have no idea we buy the stuff in charity shops. Some people I know are snobby about it but my baby is in Next and Benneton for 10% of what they spend.

Have look on this site and forums you could probably have a baby for £10 a week!

curly07

metalgal thanks very much for that post!

I really don't see why we couldn't afford a baby with our earnings, if you managed with 1 wage, and our mortgage is about the same as yours!

I was past weecycle on the bus the other day, was wonderin what i was, just googled it, what a fab idea! would def be calling in there, so thanks for that!

Thats true about nappies.. i guess it all sort of balances out then either way?? its hard to know what to do! :think:

Hearing that quite alot of people actually do use jars of baby food im not that put off by it now! i think the baby would get a better selection through them, as im not the best cook in the world!! :rotfl:

quintwins

nappies aren't no where near that much work, i've had twins in reusable and it is as simple as throwing them in a bucket(you put disposable liner in a just throw it and any mess down the toilet) and washing them ever 2-3 days, theres no washing all day or lots of mess ect, i completely get it's not for some people, but it's not at all like it used to be

infact nowadays you can get nappys that are the same as disposables (these are called all in ones/Aio or pockets-you add boasters to these and are great for night time use) i would definatly recommend you look into it properly, as a 2/3 washs aweek aren't that dear, and you can use eco balls or soap nuts on your nappies which is ever cheaper

dianeio

metalgal wrote: »

I said the wee outfits are lovely but i can't afford to but a nappy underneath it!. I had considered briefly, (about 30 secs) about using the reusable nappies, but i could not do that. Even if they paid me i would not spend a hour of my day cleaning up !!!!!. \Plus are they really cheaper, having to use your washing machine all day?

You are right about the cost as you are handing over the money in one go rather than spreading the cost out throughout the year as you would on disposables. I have spent around £250 on cloth nappies. I wash them them everynight sometimes every other night. All I do is take them off as you would with a disposable (sometimes a trip to bathroom to shake a dirty nappy) - place in dry bucket, when baby goes to bed, put them in the washing machine 40degree wash (2hrs long) and then hang them to dry overnite and go to bed myself. Really simple. Don't understand what you mean by cleaning up? or using your washing machine all day?:rotfl:Your funny.

quintwins

my nappies cost me £12 and that was enough abys, i'd def recommend you look out for secondhand ones also tkmax do offers on them i'm currently selling mine for £80 and thats enough for 2 babys and include alot of high end branded nappies (thes are sold tho just trying to find a cheap enough courier)

dianeio

quintwins wrote: »

my nappies cost me £12 and that was enough abys, i'd def recommend you look out for secondhand ones also tkmax do offers on them i'm currently selling mine for £80 and thats enough for 2 babys and include alot of high end branded nappies (thes are sold tho just trying to find a cheap enough courier)

I went for the AIO's as boyfriend liked that systems. You must have saved a fortune especially as you have twins. I've never seen any at TKmax - which branch? Re-sale option will also give you an added bonus saving. :T def moneysaving

quintwins

opps that shud say £120 lol, tk-maxx do tots bots fluffies day packs for about £20 (instead of £50) they include 5nappies and 1 wrap rushmere and lisburn do them i've seen them a few times but it depends when u go(i phoned to ask once and they said no we don't but then had to nip out anyway and they did so thats a useless service)

aio are brilliant and man proof, i do have some 2 parts tho (both shaped and prefolds) but i always went for my aio first, at one point i had about 30 of them lol

the person i'm selling 2 has also got a brilliant bargin

Snoozle

I'm adding my voice to the cloth nappies enthusiasts. I thought they were fantastic, and I only used the pre-fold ones, not even the fancy all in one things.

I remember reading loads of comments on this site (not the NI board, the more argumentative boards elsewhere!) by people saying that anyone using cloth nappies should be getting a separate washing machine for them :rotfl:, as it was disgusting to wash them in the same machine as your clothes, but its not like you're washing them together!. Personally I find them far more hygienic than disposable ones - remove nappy, shake anything solid into toilet, flush toilet, put nappy in net bag suspended in bucket, put lid on bucket. When they needed washed, I didn't even have to touch them again - just hauled out the net bag and shoved it in the washing machine. In contrast, I know loads of otherwise clean and houseproud people who think nothing of taking off a disposable nappy, poo and all, and putting it into a scented nappy bag then throwing it at the back door 'to take out to the bin later', or just throwing it into the bin beneath their sink in the kitchen. Eurghh !