Daughter leaves colleg & benefits dropped

Awen

Hi
I am a single parent with 2 children, my eldest (19) has just left college & I will now be £38 a week worse off plus I will have to pay council tax in full now, help, I think I can just about pay my bills but not eat or drive my car...!!!!! What do I do???:(

Tried to entitled to website & they say they cannot help as income is over £100, 000 - its not!!! I work part time as my youngest child is 13 and don't want to be in a full time job until she is older, I get a small amount of maintenence a week from her father & nothing for the eldest as she's left education.

Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved

busy_mom_2

As you eldest is 19 she is not your dependant, she needs to get herself to the jobcentre find work or claim JSA till she gets a job. She then needs to contribute to the household.

Caz3121

you should be getting child benefit and tax credits for the younger child. Try entitled to again but keep an eye out for the salary bit as sometimes it defaults to weekly and if you have put in your monthly salary against weekly then this could have accounted for the incorrect information. What is the eldest going to be doing now? whether working or not they should be contributing to the household

nannytone_2

if you have the chance for full time work, you should take it!
not 'wanting' to work full time until your youngest is older is your choice, but unless your elder child can find a job that pays sufficiently to make up the shortfaall, it's really your only option.

busy_mom_2

nannytone wrote: »

if you have the chance for full time work, you should take it!
not 'wanting' to work full time until your youngest is older is your choice, but unless your elder child can find a job that pays sufficiently to make up the shortfaall, it's really your only option.

her eldest is 19 she is an adult now so needs to start paying her way and supporting herself.

Jowo_2

What are your worries with regards to your youngest daughter as she has her elder sister there to keep an eye on her while you are at work?

Though you aren't currently in Debt, just at the risk of getting into, perhaps the Debt Free Wannabee bods could help out if you post a Statement of Accounts to identify where savings can be made on your outgoings. There is advice there on how to produce a SoA.

Also, there is a budget planner on this site (see the Tools section).

You can then show the SoA and Budget planner to your daughter so she understands why she needs to contribute to the household from her JSA. As the shortfall is going to be £38, perhaps that would be a starting point? Some parents are loathe to charge their children board but others think it teaches good household budgeting skills, too.

Have you spoke to the local council to see if there is a council tax rebate available because your daughter has no income?

Any chance that your ex can raise the CSA - what is his income and how much is he contributing?

nannytone_2

busy_mom wrote: »

her eldest is 19 she is an adult now so needs to start paying her way and supporting herself.

isn't that what i said? lol

i was talking about the amount of money the OP would n
be losing...................£35 plus 25% ct discount. if her elder child has to claim JSA she wont be able to make up that amount of money every week!

DarkFallout

Awen wrote: »

Hi
I am a single parent with 2 children, my eldest (19) has just left college & I will now be £38 a week worse off plus I will have to pay council tax in full now, help, I think I can just about pay my bills but not eat or drive my car...!!!!! What do I do???:(

Tried to entitled to website & they say they cannot help as income is over £100, 000 - its not!!! I work part time as my youngest child is 13 and don't want to be in a full time job until she is older, I get a small amount of maintenence a week from her father & nothing for the eldest as she's left education.

Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved

lol,

most of the people that I know are in full time employment ... let's say after their children are about 3 years old ... you don't want to go to full time employmnet because your daughter is 13? ... lol ... and she has a 19 year old sister not working and not going to college ... lol ...

Indie_Kid

Is the oldest going to uni in September?

blindmouse

My advice is get a fulltime job, I have thought about this and I can't think of one good reason why you can't do what a lot of parents do........ I worked full time from when my youngest was 10, my parents worked fulltime from when I was the same age, I gave up my car for several years and walked and used buses...... I paid my older one to do odd things round the house and look afer her brother while she was still studying in 6th form........

Oldernotwiser

As the eldest is either earning or claiming JSA, she should have enough income to pay her way and make up at least most of the money that's been lost.