Work and money problem

MrBaz

Good morning all

This is my first post on a site that I have read before for ideas, this one has stumped me though.

I work full time (40 hours a week) and my other half is a housewife and looks after our kids. I work 40 miles from home and spend nearly £400 a month on petrol.

Now my wages in tax year 2010/2011 were fairly low (just over 11k) so i got tax credits and a little help with housing benefit. We managed, well just about. My wages went up in August and my P60 for tax year 2011/2012 stated just over 17k. With this wage rise the housing benefit stopped and still we managed.

Now with the tax credit re-applied for they are cutting my tax credits from £53 to £8 a week and this is where I come unstuck. I now cannot afford the petrol to get to work. In the next 2 weeks i will run out of spare cash.

Ideally I need to get a job closer to home but this takes time to find. I worked out that i could take a 5k a year pay cut and still have more spare cash if i worked within 5 miles of home.

Should i give up a great job that i enjoy to find some near minimum wage job nearer to home?

Do i really want to go and sign on while hunting for work? I would get nearly the same in benefits as i do working full time.

I am stuck in a quandary here, any suggestions?

Hmm71

MrBaz wrote: »

Good morning all

This is my first post on a site that I have read before for ideas, this one has stumped me though.

I work full time (40 hours a week) and my other half is a housewife and looks after our kids. I work 40 miles from home and spend nearly £400 a month on petrol.

Now my wages in tax year 2010/2011 were fairly low (just over 11k) so i got tax credits and a little help with housing benefit. We managed, well just about. My wages went up in August and my P60 for tax year 2011/2012 stated just over 17k. With this wage rise the housing benefit stopped and still we managed.

Now with the tax credit re-applied for they are cutting my tax credits from £53 to £8 a week and this is where I come unstuck. I now cannot afford the petrol to get to work. In the next 2 weeks i will run out of spare cash.

Ideally I need to get a job closer to home but this takes time to find. I worked out that i could take a 5k a year pay cut and still have more spare cash if i worked within 5 miles of home.

Should i give up a great job that i enjoy to find some near minimum wage job nearer to home?

Do i really want to go and sign on while hunting for work? I would get nearly the same in benefits as i do working full time.

I am stuck in a quandary here, any suggestions?

It's awful isn't it? Knowing you'd be nearly as well off on benefits as in full time work. Don't give up your job just yet, it's always easier to get another job when you're employed.
Is there any way you could ask your work for help with travel costs?
Or is your wife in a position to be able to look for a part time job?
Sorry, can't think of anything else. I'm sure someone else will be along with more suggestions.

moneypuddle

Could you wife do anything from home?

You need to join all agencies in your area and tell them how serious you are about finding work closer to home. Can you take a weeks annual leave to do it in? Have you started searching online? The sooner you start looking, the sooner (hopefully) you'll find something.

I personally wouldn't give up your job (and I know nothing about benefits but wouldn't you be sanctioned for 26 weeks anyway for knowingly giving up paid work?)

Good luck OP

mynameistallulah

Is your wife able to work? If so, could she not get an evening/ weekend job? It seems a shame for you to give up your job when there is a far more simple option.

MrBaz

My partner is looking for work she can do round the kids and does a bit where she can, we are looking for work for her while kids at school.

I have my CV updated and contacted 12 agencies nearby, they all know i need something ASAP. Looking online too.

As for benefits i think its 16 weeks, or at least it used to be. Whatever happens in a few weeks the money pool dries up and i will be unable to fill the car up as in my eyes rent and feeding my family comes first.

I need to sit down and talk it over properly with my boss, we have had a quick chat and he offered to make me redundant if it helped. I will try and get some mileage payments or something from him if I can. He did say he didn't want to lose me. Hopefully that's a good sign.

mynameistallulah

MrBaz wrote: »

My partner is looking for work she can do round the kids and does a bit where she can, we are looking for work for her while kids at school.

I have my CV updated and contacted 12 agencies nearby, they all know i need something ASAP. Looking online too.

As for benefits i think its 16 weeks, or at least it used to be. Whatever happens in a few weeks the money pool dries up and i will be unable to fill the car up as in my eyes rent and feeding my family comes first.

I need to sit down and talk it over properly with my boss, we have had a quick chat and he offered to make me redundant if it helped. I will try and get some mileage payments or something from him if I can. He did say he didn't want to lose me. Hopefully that's a good sign.

moneypuddle is correct, it is twenty six weeks.

To go from a job that you enjoy to being unemployed will be soul destroying. Look at many of the posts on here, this is not the time to be making yourself unemployed.

Any reason why your wife cannot do evening or weekend work? No point in limiting her hours if you can provide the childcare. Most of my local pubs are advertising at the moment for staff to cover the football and the Olympics, and short term is better than nothing at all?

getzls

You need to re check that tax credit amount. You say kids, so more than one. At £8 per week on a wage of £17,000. Something not right. Have you talked and gave your figures to them or tried to work it out on-line?

dktreesea

getzls wrote: »

You need to re check that tax credit amount. You say kids, so more than one. At £8 per week on a wage of £17,000. Something not right. Have you talked and gave your figures to them or tried to work it out on-line?

I agree. Same with housing benefit. £17k income should mean you still get some of your rent paid. And you should still get some working tax credit, though it will probably only be a few pounds a week. As for the child tax credit, for that level of income, you should be getting around £120 a week or so for two children. Plus child benefit.

Have you tried a benefits calculator like on turn2us.org.uk? That could give you a good overview of what you should be cliaming for and getting.

ohreally

Can you swap places with your wife - does she have skills which can earn more than you?

hcb42

look at liftshare.com or carshare.com or similar.

Seriously, you might think the chances are impossible but hubby just started a new job recently...70 miles away...and now car shares with my (next door!) neighbour 3 days a week! There is also someone in my village I could share with if I chose to, and my commute is above average also.

Look at other ways of streaming your mileage to reduce your petrol costs, they do seem high for that distance.

Ultimately it is too far away for the salary you are earning, so unless you are thinking it will be worth it in the long run, finding something nearer home is the sensible option, but not worth chucking in the towel just yet.

princessdon

Last year my OH was paying a fortune in petrol due to rush hour and his job

He went to work at 6/7 am and stayed till 6/7 pm to avoid rush hour and as result got an early Friday finish now and then. It wasn't just petrol costs, he got home approx the same time and left not much earlier without the traffic, so only out of the home a wee bit longer.

It's worth asking your employer if they will consider changing the working day / working from home / getting an early finish now and then if you put the work in