please help...young family bit stuck!

dappanumber1

hi, this is one of my first posts so sorry if its in the wrong section! i'll give you the lowdown...i am a 21 yr old married dad of a 2 yr old girl, i work full time 35 hours per week (no chance of overtime, just toil), my wife worked up until 16th april 2005, and left because of the way she was expected to give up her home life to go into work all the time, it ended up with our childminder not being able to look after our child as we had to switch around to much and it wasnt fair on her to lose money because of my wife getting messed around at work. anyway my wife has been working now and again on agencys (she is a carer, about 3 shifts since 16 april) and has been offered a job, but hasnt got a start date yet. as it is now payday we are £800 down and it has just hit home. we have rang the jobcentre who say she should get contribution based jsa, but couldnt get an appointment till 6 june, (we rang 2 weeks ago). anyway we were wondering whether the money will be backdated till 16th april, as this would obviously be a massive help, or just till when we contacted them on may 19th. i have looked on entitledto.com but because she will start a job soon (hopefully!) it seems to just get confusing as we cannot claim tax credits till the end of the tax year!? i have cut the bills down using the tips on here but it is still over £1000 a month with shopping, petrol to get work 15 mile away etc, which is just about what i earn. it is just worrying as it is the first time it has been this way and i dont want to get into debt, any advice on benefits, lifestyle, bills or anything that can help us will be greatly appreciated as i am not sleeping at night worrying!! i know many people would swap thier worries with mine but when you have a daughter to feed, cloth, buy nappys for it gets very stressfull!! thanks in advance for any help!!! adam.

Ms-Money-Penny

I'm not an expert on benefits but as far as tax credits are concerned you do not have to wait until the end of the tax year to claim.

Go online and fill in the self assessment or phone for a claim form

https://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.

Try the other forums some good money saving advice

Hope this helps

irs101

Unless you are expecting to earn more than £58,000, then you will be entitled to some Child Tax Credit. If you are at all unsure what your income is going to be for this year and there is any possibility that it will be less than £58k, get your claim in now. Even if you are not entitled to anything at the moment (based on last years income), it is known as a protective claim and means that if your income does indeed drop, you will effectively be backdated to April.

irs

Fran

Contribution based JSA will be backdated to the date you put the claim in.

Re lifestyle there are loads of interesting & useful posts on this site, so perhaps do a search for things that might help or read Martin's articles.

elaine373

You could put in a claim with an estimate of what you expect your income to be this year.It may be that you state last years income, but you can correct that straight away with an estimate of this years income.It is difficult to get going on something like the tax credits, but generally once the claim is through(providing you have given correct details) it usually benefits the family. Ring the helpline for advice and go to https://www.entitledto.com.You could claim your tax credits with an estimate without what your wife will earn, then correct it as soon as she starts her job.like some-one else said, unless you expect to earn more than 58,000 you will be entitled to something and that should cover tha nappies at least.Ayoung family like yours deserves all the help they can get, let us know how you get on, regards, Elaine

dappanumber1

thanks for all the replys! the jsa will be backdated only till 19 may, but my wife is starting her new job on monday!! so i feel a lot better now! thankyou everyone for thier help! adam.