Help..living off one wage and tax credits!

Dumyat

I think what they mean is to keep a separate account for bills and pay in a quarter of the monthly amount each week. you would need to work out when the bills are due and perhaps change the day they are taken from your account. might take a bit of juggling in the first months until you are up and running.

edit snap!

Dumyat

just looking at your outgoings. your food, stev's money, the petrol adds up to roughly £410 - the same as your tax credits. this will be money you will spend week to week anyway. could you not "split" the money. stev's wages cover the bills, your tax credits covers weekly stuff like food and petrol...

just checked it again. stev's wages will cover all the big stuff. think about the tax credits as being your weekly spends..does that help?

spud30

Hi IA,

We are in the same position as you really, date wise.

I get paid on the 15th, DH, tax credits and child benefit are all 4 weekly. My wages alone dont cover the bills, so I never know where I am up to or how much is left over from one month to the next

Dont forget to bear in mind that when you start childminding, your tax credits are likely to reduce.

Are you not eligible for council tax benefit while you are not working?

vandanfc

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Very doubtful now that I don't have an income..

Hi
Sorry to butt in, but just my thoughts:

Whose name are the child benefit and tax credits in ? These count as income, so if in your name, you may well be able to get a card. There has been some mention of Egg as a good 0% deal.

Worth checking out a little more maybe. You might not get a huge credit limit, but every little will help.

I don't work and have managed to get credit cards (have to confess to no debts either though, but I don't really think that it would make too much difference, especially if you have rebuilt your credit rating anyway ?)

Ytaya

Knowing how you feel about spreadsheets...

I get income at irregular intervals (quarterly student loan, weekly benefits, sporadic expenses reimbursement), but my bills come out monthly. I set up a sample quarter's spreadsheet, say 1 Jan to 31 March, and listed all incomings and outgoings in a single column in date order. So it looked like this

Date Amount Balance Name
1 Jan £1000 £1000 Student loan
3 Jan -£15 £985 Mobile phone
4 Jan £16.50 £1001.50 DLA
5 Jan £30 £1031.50 Income support
5 Jan -£15 £1016.50 Groceries
8 Jan -£35 £981.50 Petrol

And so on until 31 March. Every single in and out. It enabled me to see that my budget really would work and reassure me that I'd never be left, for example, £5 short of my mobile bill.

Maybe you could do something similar on a per-month basis? Do a typical monthly budget with all the dates and see for yourself where it's tight and where you have a cushion.

Storm

The most difficult month is likely to be the one where Ste changes jobs as he could end up with a reduced final pay packet from his current job, and depending what day of the month he starts at the new one, he may even miss the first payday (a lot of places have to have all the details in about 3 weeks before, and they won't process it until someone has actually started work for them) I don't want to be a harbinger of doom, but it may be an idea to make the minimums only on the CCs until you feel more settled with the money coming in, purely so that you can have a cushion.

System

I have nothing useful to add (nothing new there eh?). Could yourself or Ste sell your bodies for one month only. Would that boost your income?

hypno06

lennymfo wrote: »

I have nothing useful to add (nothing new there eh?). Could yourself or Ste sell your bodies for one month only. Would that boost your income?

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

benbenandme

Has Ste taken much holiday this year? Lots of employers will pay you any holiday owing (or you have to pay back if you've taken more than you've accrued) ... could this give you a bit extra when he changes jobs or has he already taken much this year??

Oldernotwiser

Why is your OH's personal budget £140 per month and yours is £20? I always thought that marriage was an equal partnership? Have I missed something?