Need advice - the best solution

Gazella77

Hi James,

Thanks a lot. I really need to learn to calculate. It's horrible that the reduction will be next to nothing. But I still will try my best do pay a bit more towards the mortgage whenever I can. And I am hoping that in 2-years time when it's time to re-mortgage there will be some better offers for me.

angelavdavis

hi. might be worth googling parents forum. There are people on there who have been in the same position who might be able to help. Good luck.

Kaz2904

I'm really sorry that you're getting no further with your answers.
I have to say that your best bet (or mine if I was in your position) is to have your savings at about £100 below what is the max amount allowable for benefits. You then just pay what you can afford. If you have any left over monthly after baby is born you op the mortgage but if you have had a big expense you build your savings up to the previous level (IYSWIM).
I had been wondering how you were getting along. I hope you and bump are well? Please take care of you both and rest up. It might be a time to think "Right, buy what I need from savings so they = £0 and then work up the savings again.
Take care, TTFN, Kaz.

Gazella77

Hi Kaz,

Thanks a lot, I went again to IR trying to claim now and update later in April but they didn't let me:mad: I still don't know what is the limit of savings for the benefits and I am quite astonished with the lack of advice and help from the offices:-(

I have 3 000 in ISA and about 1 500 in other saving account. I suppose I need to empty most of it before the baby arrives. But I thought I'd do it just in March, a month before my due date.
I was also considering the possibility of transferring the money into my brother account but he can be irresponsible at times and I wouldn't like to riks losing the money.

So now I have a standing order of £30 extra + whatever spare I have going to my mortgage. That's after £250 which goes to the saving account (this is the maximum amount I can pay in there). So actually by the end of March I would have £5 000 in savings.

I will stop working in March and hopefully will have more time to go to all the offices and sort out my finances.

Gazella77

Oh, and I forgot to say that both me and the baby are fine :-) thank you!

Floxxie

Hi Gazella77,

Have you tried having a good search on https://www.tiger.gov.uk?

I know that the amount you can save for various benefits has gone up but what that limit is I don't know. You also need to find out if assets are included in this figure, as the mortgage free house abroad may exclude you from being able to claim.

Floxxie.

Gazella77

Yes, I have. But I haven't learned anything I don't know. All such pages are quite general. And I haven't seen the amount of savings allowed there.

Oh, dear you have really scared me with this house abroad. It's been a huge effort in my previous life to buy it and keep it after the divorce. And even if I sold it, it wouldn't pay much of my mortgage here :-( Hence I decided to keep it for the time being.

Floxxie

Sorry Gazella77, didn't mean to scare you.

I have no idea about benefits but a lady at work who has enough equity in her house to purchase a property to let out told me that she couldn't, otherwise she would lose her benefits so that got me thinking..

I've read on other boards about people having to use savings and redundancy to live off before they are considered for benefits and when I fill in my child tax credit form, it asks questions about income. It seems that the IR are interested in what you have and are bringing in.

It doesn't really help you though unless somebody can definitely tell you if the house and/or savings are going to be over the allowable threshold. Won't anybody at the IR tell you this?

Floxxie

Gazella77

I went to IR 3 times! Every time I asked what I might be entitled to and said I wanted to claim now and then update in April (as I was advised here, on the forum) they refused, telling me to come back when I have had a baby:mad:

I am not sure if I understand correctly what you are saying about the house - I haven't used one house to buy another and I haven't bough-to-let. My flat abroad is the old place I used to live in and managed to keep after the divorce. I started again from scratch here, managed to save up for the deposit and bought a flat with 25 years mortgage, which I am trying to pay off as quickly as possible.

About the savings: that's exactly what I am dreading - if my savings are going to affect anything I'd rather put them immediately into my mortgage. But then I will be afraid of going into debts and having no emergency founds, which has never happened to me before.