help ? investment??

stan1

hi ive recently received a divorce settlement and its not enough to buy a flat without a mortgage (40k) and Im now loosing out on my benefits so have to pay my rent £575pcm. Im a single mum and work par time earning £5600 pa with top up of wftc. my prob is I cud prob only get 50k mortgage and with this deposit its not enuf to buy a flat in my area. I cant move out of the area either. if i work full time I just earn the same as with the WFTC so im no better off. but I dont want to spend all this money on rent where cud i invest it? to give me a good income or should i just blow the lot on things weve never had ?

whambamboo

Why not spend the money on education or training so you can earn a bit more money (although with low income you might not have to pay). I'm sure your children would benefit as well.

A house is not an investment, certainly not at the moment, so best avoided.

Is your husband not paying monthly maintenance as well?

delboypass

Ye just waste the money and let some other hard working person pay your rent ...

All benefits should be scrapped if this is the mentality it breeds.

Get a job and look after youself and stop looking for handouts..!

Use the money sensibily as an investment - invest in a property to house you and your kids and dont 'Just blow it' as previously suggested although I know what most leeches in this country would do.

You can gift it to your child and pay no tax as long as you live 7 years and put it into a trust for them..so you can get your rent paid for you.

shakerbaby

If you worked full time you would be better off as you wouldn't then feel so bad about scabbing off the state and all its taxpayers.

CB1979_2

get a grip you lot, you don't know the full facts of whether she has any dependant children, so would probably rule out the point of working full time, as childcare costs are a joke!

and no before anyone starts I'm not a recently divorced wife and no i do not have any kids!

just makes me laugh at some on here with their holier than thou attitudes!

but i agree with Whambamboo, why not go into education to improve your life for the long term? here you will usually get your tuition fees paid for and childcare costs as well as other financial help.

my sister-in-law is training to be a nurse, and get's just over £15.5k in "handouts" which help towards bettering herself.

whambamboo

CB1979 wrote:

get a grip you lot, you don't know the full facts of whether she has any dependant children, so would probably rule out the point of working full time, as childcare costs are a joke!

and no before anyone starts I'm not a recently divorced wife and no i do not have any kids!

just makes me laugh at some on here with their holier than thou attitudes!

but i agree with Whambamboo, why not go into education to improve your life for the long term? here you will usually get your tuition fees paid for and childcare costs as well as other financial help.

my sister-in-law is training to be a nurse, and get's just over £15.5k in "handouts" which help towards bettering herself.

Yes nursing is good, you don't need an outstanding basic level of education, and my wife looks after a child for a woman training as a nurse, and the incentives are amazing - the childcare is nearly all paid for, and this is just while she is training, she's not even working yet.

It's difficult to really criticise the OP: the benefits system incentivises people to blow any spare cash they have on big screen TVs and expensive holidays, because if they are prudent and save, they lose their money. People respond to incentives, who's surprised? This is already well-documented, and it's why poor people convert their cash into consumer goods, rather than saving for a rainy day (which of course is every day if you are on benefits, so there isn't a real risk in the way there is if you earn £100k a year and lose your job - if you earn £10k, you will get largely the same whether you work or not, but this doesn't apply if you are rich).

RHemmings

shakerbaby wrote:

If you worked full time you would be better off as you wouldn't then feel so bad about scabbing off the state and all its taxpayers.

The people claiming benefits are playing an important role in society. They give you someone to feel superior to.

Jake'sGran

delboypass wrote:

Ye just waste the money and let some other hard working person pay your rent ...

All benefits should be scrapped if this is the mentality it breeds.

Get a job and look after youself and stop looking for handouts..!

Use the money sensibily as an investment - invest in a property to house you and your kids and dont 'Just blow it' as previously suggested although I know what most leeches in this country would do.

You can gift it to your child and pay no tax as long as you live 7 years and put it into a trust for them..so you can get your rent paid for you.

I would be surprised if a person was allowed to do this and then claim housing benefit. Were you being sarcastic?. Renting is a bad idea to me and I think the lady should use it to buy a property even though they are all overpriced now.

whambamboo

Jake'sGran wrote:

I would be surprised if a person was allowed to do this and then claim housing benefit. Were you being sarcastic?. Renting is a bad idea to me and I think the lady should use it to buy a property even though they are all overpriced now.

rent generally costs less than the interest on a mortgage, so for most people it is better at the moment. But I guess if you are low-waged the cash will probably get spent, whereas if you have a house, the mortgage will probably get paid by the benefits (not an investment property though surely)

PropertyGuru

Wow. Quite a strong reply.

Have you considered pooling your resources with a relative and buying somewhere?

Angela_D_3

Jesus wept, blow £40k just so you don 't loose your benefits - have you any pride woman ?