Please help, so confused

Oldernotwiser

merlin68 wrote: »

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

The Debt Free Wannabe Board would be the place for that rather than here, although I do agree that the process would be useful.

clb776

during the first year of the childs life, you get an extra payment of £540 i believe, so once your daughter turns one it will go down too.

Have you disregarded MA as income for tax credits? It doesnt count at all, so make sure you havent added that (i did at first).

It may be time to get a job, it will give you a break and make you feel more comfortable, if you hold out for a decent job at a few hours, you can work less but earn the same.

welshmoneylover

DAVESDON wrote: »

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.

You ask if there is anything else that can help you?

Yes, you can try working for some extra money [STRIKE]just like the rest of us[/STRIKE] and stop living beyond your means

hth

Fire_Fox

Either go back to work part-time to fit around your husband or consider taking in a lodger for some tax-free income, or read the 'Up Your Income' and 'Gambling Loopholes' boards. Definitely post a Statement of Affairs on the Debt-free Wannabe board
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
You could also your lender to go interest only on the mortgage, use price comparison and cashback sites for utilities and insurances. Read the 'Live on £4K for a year' thread plus Weezl74's 'Feed a Family of Four on £100 a month' and the baby 'Money Neutral' threads. Do you really NEED to run a car? That can usually save hundreds or even thousands of pounds a month if you use public transport.

TheBottomLine_2

One way of quickly reducing your outgoings is to get rid of the car and you can also use the money from selling it.

magicdogsbrain

Your mortgage is expensive - Do you three rattle around in a big house - or have you got a bad mortgage (or perhaps live in London).

Mrs magicdogsbrain talks about doing this but its just not going to happen. She gets the best of both worlds by working three days a week. We have three kids and they all go to sports, drama clubs that cost a fortune.

You could do an SOA and let everyone on here pick at each item!