Please help, so confused

DAVESDON

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if someone can help me work out what benefits I can claim? As entitledto.co.uk seems to think I'm only entitled to child benefit of 80 per month?

I am 23, married to a 24 year old man, we own our own house (mortgage) and have one child who is 6 months old.

I do not work as I am a full-time mum and hubby earns 19,000. We are struggling to cover our bills and mortgage now that we have a baby and are living beyond our means, getting into more and more debt per month.

Each month we have to pay just under 700 on the mortgage, 200 to pay back a loan from my dad, then theres council tax,gas,elec,water,home ins,car ins,car tax,fuel,food bill,tv licence,phone,babies supplies, etc all add up to a crazy amount!

We currently get the standard child benefit and 33 pounds tax credits a week. Is there anything else that can help us? I do not want to return to work until my baby is a bit older and I dont want to put her into fulltime child care and my maternity allowance stops next week.

Thanks in advance.

dmg24

You are not only entitled to CB, you receive CTC also.

You are making the choice not to work. Can you not take a part time job?

kingfisherblue

Your husband earns too much for working tax credits and I can't think of anything else you might be entitled to. You're probably above the cut off point for help with council tax, but it might be worth checking. If you are eligible for CTC, it would only be a small amount.

karenx

there is no other help for you with earning 19k. If you are struggling that much maybe its time to realise you will have to go back to work sooner than you want to

DAVESDON

I take your point, however if I return to work I will then have to pay back my student loans, and also pay for travel and childcare (no relatives available to help). I wouldn't be able to afford to do this. I went through hell and back to have my baby, I'm not planning on having any more, so I want to spend as much time as I can with her.

Caz3121

can you look for a job that fits around your husbands hours, maybe a few evenings, will your dad agree to reduced payments to help you?

McKneff

So your choice then really, lots of people would be extremely happy to be able to make that choice, but they havent got that luxury.

Ask dad if he will accept half the payment.
That should help a bit.

dmg24

DAVESDON wrote: »

I take your point, however if I return to work I will then have to pay back my student loans, and also pay for travel and childcare (no relatives available to help). I wouldn't be able to afford to do this. I went through hell and back to have my baby, I'm not planning on having any more, so I want to spend as much time as I can with her.

You did know that you would have to pay back student loans at some point - the clue is in the name.

If working part time you should be able to work your hours around your husbands hours. Even if you just worked a Saturday in a shop that would cover your repayments to your Dad.

kaylzbob

You don't have to pay your student loans back til you earn over £15000 per year (apologies if the figure has changed but thats it as I last knew it) so if you were to get a part-time job then it's unlikely you would earn that amount. Maybe check places like your local supermarket for evening shifts, usually 5-9 or 6-10, that way you still get to spend all day with your daughter and your husband can put her to bed!!

Get a few quotes from Childcare Providers in your area and call the tax credit helpline to see if you are entitled to any help with the costs, on your OH income you probably will get some help.

I totally understand that you want to spend as much time with your baby as possible, hey, it's only natural but I assume you want to give her the best start in life also? Apologies if that comes across cheeky, don't mean it like that at all!!

The only other option would be to speak to your dad and your mortgage company about trying to reduce the repayments, maybe you could change your mortgage payments to interest only? Don't know how long you are tied into your current payment plan but all you can do is ask!!

Good luck with everything!!

merlin68

Why don't you post how much all your outgoings are, to see if we can cut your budget down to more manageable amounts.

Oldernotwiser

DAVESDON wrote: »

I take your point, however if I return to work I will then have to pay back my student loans, and also pay for travel and childcare (no relatives available to help). I wouldn't be able to afford to do this. I went through hell and back to have my baby, I'm not planning on having any more, so I want to spend as much time as I can with her.

You are unlikely to be earning over 15,000 pa if you're working part time, so forget about your student loans. Why not take an evening job for a couple of evenings a week so that your husband can look after the baby while you work?

Edit: Sorry Kaylzbob, hadn't read your answer when I posted.