Seriously need help...please :)

seven-day-weekend

You make sure you can afford to support your family before you have them.

(And I didn't have ANY holidays when I was a child. When I had my own son we went camping in the UK or staying with friends in the UK because that was all we could afford. Apart from a trip to Switzerland (camping) in 1971, the year we got married, I did not go abroad again until 2002 when I was 52. We could not afford it so it did not happen).

prosaver

Tory MP Sir Peter Viggers said today he felt 'ashamed and humiliated' over his expenses claim for an island to house the ducks in his pond.
He described his decision to include the feature in his taxpayer-funded second home claims as a 'ridiculous and grave error of judgment'.
The ducks had never liked the feature and it was no longer being used, he added.

The veteran MP was forced to announce he was standing down at the next election after details of the claims were published this week.
Among them were £30,000 towards gardening at his home, including £500 for manure and £1,645 on a 'floating duck island' for his pond

SingleSue

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

You make sure you can afford to support your family before you have them.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, there are times when things happen later down the line which can cause problems, for example, a marriage split, a disability, a death.

We could well afford it when we started to have children (I was a high rate tax payer).....but it is a slightly different story now due to two of the above!

prosaver

Douglas Hogg, the Tory MP, included around £2,000 for clearing the moat as part expenses claims for maintaining his second home, a country estate in Lincolnshire. The former agriculture minister insisted he never meant the public purse to pick up the cost but the extraordinary finding has captured the public imagination as an example of the kind of expenses claims made by MPs under the auspices of carrying out parliamentary duties. Mr Hogg also claimed for piano tuning and repairs to his stable lights.

seven-day-weekend

SingleSue wrote: »

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, there are times when things happen later down the line which can cause problems, for example, a marriage split, a disability, a death.

We could well afford it when we started to have children (I was a high rate tax payer).....but it is a slightly different story now due to two of the above!

Oh yes, I agree that the unexpected can happen (it did with us and we lost my husband's income (the main income) for several years)...but surely you should not expect the taxpayer to support your family in normal circumstances???

prosaver

Taxpayers must pay millions more to fund MPs' lavish pensions, the Government has announced.
MPs' gold-plated retirement packages are to be topped up with an extra £1.2million a year - on top of the £13million taxpayers




Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who has served nine years as a Cabinet Minister and 27 years as a backbench MP, can expect a generous pension package worth more than £55,000 a year - and a total pension fund of more than £1million.
Besides generous pensions schemes, MPs' perks include travel and housing expenses, 80-day summer holidays and 'parachute' payments worth tens of thousands of pounds when they lose their seat.
The increase in the state contribution was recommended by the Government Actuary, which assesses the pensions fund every three years -

Fridge2

Sweetie_Jo wrote: »

I
I should not be judged by wanting to watch my child grow up!!

You're not being judged for wanting to watch your child grow up.

You're being judged for expecting others to pay for you to watch your child grow up.

I hope this clarifies things.:)

SingleSue

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Oh yes, I agree that the unexpected can happen (it did with us and we lost my husband's income (the main income) for several years)...but surely you should not expect the taxpayer to support your family in normal circumstances???

I would expect to go out and do what I could to bring the pennies in.....just like we did pre children with high care need disabilities.

prosaver

Fridge2 wrote: »

You're not being judged for wanting to watch your child grow up.

You're being judged for expecting others to pay for you to watch your child grow up.

I hope this clarifies things.:)

if your partners earns over 15k you will only get 500 a year wtc and tax credits.

dont listen to them lot who says go back to work.. there just jealouse...theyll do the same as you if they had the choice :beer:

Blue22

prosaver wrote: »

if your partners earns over 15k you will only get 500 a year wtc and tax credits.

dont listen to them lot who says go back to work.. there just jealouse...theyll do the same as you if they had the choice :beer:

I don't believe that amount is correct. I make it just over £3000 a year with one child and a partner earning £17k.

But if this is an option the OP is considering then she needs to do it early in the tax year, like now.