What do you do with your child benefit?

System

Mrs_Sparkle wrote:

How's your baby son doing? Is it how you imagined?

Aye it is. Xmas was a blur and mi OH is shattered doing all the feeding. She has got v sore nipples so we have an electric breast pump (not in the spirit of DFW I know) but it means he can still get the milk and we are using aptamil as his formula milk. This also means I can feed him overnight so OH can get some sleep!

Lenny

Spendless

lennymfo wrote:

I didnt think we woul be with our combined income being approx 34K. I did a basic check and it would appear that we are entitled to about 500 a year. Gonna apply anyway!

Lenny

Lenny you will def get it with that income, and you get an additional £545p.a for babys first year. Def apply as they will only backdate upto 3 months.

Mrs_Sparkle

lennymfo wrote:

I didnt think we woul be with our combined income being approx 34K. I did a basic check and it would appear that we are entitled to about 500 a year. Gonna apply anyway!

Lenny

Definitely worth applying. Not for me though- the £75 a month is all we'll get.

Electric breast pumps are highly recommended- think it's worth the money for the time and hassle it saves you. Best wishes to your OH.

DawnW

Child benefit has been around for a long time. I got it, and my kids are grown up now. Come to think of it, my Mum got it too. It started just after the second world war, I think - so the government are very unlikely to want it back. Some governments in the past have tried to make it means tested, but even this proved a real vote loser. If you have plenty of money, and don't need to use it, by all means put it in a savings account / CTF for your child. However, if, (like I did), you need it to buy things s/he needs, don't feel guilty. as that is what it is for! Even if you don't need to buy much for your new baby now, the time will come soon enough when s/he will need new shoes every couple of months, school uniforms, money for school trips etc!

Spendless

DawnW wrote:

Child benefit has been around for a long time. I got it, and my kids are grown up now. Come to think of it, my Mum got it too. It started just after the second world war, I think

That's right, and it wasn't initially paid to the 1st child (mum didn't get it for me initially -I'm 40) later they paid it to the eldest child also and at the same rate then changed it to what we have today where the eldest is paid a higher rate than additional children. In April 2007 it is going up to £18.10 a week for eldest and £12.10 for additional children.

Once I return to work, I'm hoping my wages will pay for the extras CB currently does, and I'll be able to save the CB for the kids for things like uni,weddings, driving lessons, car or house deposit.

Mrs_Sparkle

My mum relied on CB for 3 of us for all of her weekly spending as my dad refused to give her any money for housekeeping. She would have been lost without it. That's why I totally agree with it being non-means tested. If it had been my mum wouldn't have got it and would have been literally penniless.

Luna69

I usually transfer mine into my other account, classed as savings but isn't really it's my spending account. basically at the moment my current account has money paid in and the bills come out, full stop. I transfer the chb and tax credits to my other account so I know what I have and use it for kids and any other stuff we might need, I also was saving it up for christmas. However if we need to use it to bail us out of any tight spots then we do.
we are having a crisis at the moment so it's basically swallowed up by our overdraft when it is paid in now, so we have basically lost the last 2 months worth by paying charges back etc.
I had thought of letting my 10 year old have some to spend on clothes and stuff for school to see how he does. He isn't too bad at saving when he wants to and doesn't buy that much himself... yet.

Yvonne

System

Spendless wrote:

Lenny you will def get it with that income, and you get an additional £545p.a for babys first year. Def apply as they will only backdate upto 3 months.

Woo ooo!!!

System

Mrs_Sparkle wrote:

Definitely worth applying. Not for me though- the £75 a month is all we'll get.

Electric breast pumps are highly recommended- think it's worth the money for the time and hassle it saves you. Best wishes to your OH.

Defo. SLightl off track. 5 Oz in half an hour!

bootman

I have had it padi into an account in my sons name since he was born, so I have never missed it. He has over £7k in the account now. I never had any money given to me for a car, or house, so I want to have something for him to have.