Paying debts with no income?

newmum1

ive just had a baby myself im thinking that you should be entitled to income support, ctc and child benifit once the baby is born also you should qualify for the sure start maternity grant which is £500 as you are not currently working you should receive it before the baby is born apply at your local jobcentre or online oh and dont feel guilty if you have to use the ctc for debts as long as your baby has all that he/she will need at the end of the day money is money, hope all goes well.

starving

the job centre often get its wrong in cases where the rules are not clearly defined. even the last time i went to sign on i was told i was not entitled to it, yet i was.

fact is your pregnant, you have no income, your BF i presume only get a student loan so you have a chance of claiming something under the hardship provisions as the health of your family could be seriously affceted due to the limited income because of your circumstances.

Poppycat

I am just wondering, can your partner not get a part-time job say working an evening or weekends for 16 hours a week that way you could possibly get working families tax credit, and at a later stage get childrens tax credit, it may tie you over until such times as he may find better work.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Karnam wrote:

yea bless him he cancelled his preordered PSP and XBox360 to pay for a travelsystem and a crib! and that was really painful for him i know! it's amazing, this switch seems to go on in men's heads when they're going to be fathers and they mature by around 20years! thanks for the advice and support guys!

Now thats impressive. Maybe get him on as a late entry to Davina's show on BBC 1 Saturday night "he's having a baby"

It sounds like he is switched on,its just some times us blokes are a bit thick and do not always take the emotional,time,financial, commitment to our kids seriously enough.

and remember its not just about money if you both give the child lots of love, support,commitement etc then baby is "rich" already if you know what I mean.Money can't buy that.

well enough of my prattling on for one day.

All the best !

Karnam

the jobcentre are possibly the most unhelpful people in the entire world! and to think the government LEA's are so helpful when you apply for your student support!!

still, he can't work just yet as his training course is 9-5 mon-fri (some kind of certified IT thing? what do i know i'm an english lit student!!) but he's job hunting next week so hopefully it'll work out ok. and no one wants to employ me i've only retail experience and it never looks good in essex to have pregnant customer services!!

I've given up with benefits until the baby gets here. I know that people who can't claim maternity allowance can get income support 29wks before birth but i was again told i was eligiable for this either as partner 'is unwilling to work'. the mind boggles.

still it's exciting to have a baby! there's more to life than money! or a lack of it...

starving

it might be too late for this, but have you considered contacting your university and claiming an access fund payment ?

Karnam

I can't, I'm entitled to no student loan etc etc since they've taken me off the roll for the academic year 05/06 in order to have the baby. my tutor recommended doing that cause then i can spend time with the baby, and i can reenrol 06/07 whilst avoiding 3,000pounds worth of student fees

Thefunkygibbons

Any chance of getting involved in tutoring or exam prep for school age children?

Being pregnant would not matter much

Contains_Mild_Peril

I think you should go and hassle the benefits agency about getting money. They're talking nonsense if they say pregnant women can't work. Though in practice you would have difficulty persuading an employer to take you on when you're pregnant, in theory there's no reason why you couldn't take some types of work. I don't know when your baby's due, but if it's not for a while, there may be temporary vacancies available to cover for employees who are already on maternity leave, which may finish before you need time off to have your baby.
I would ask your local CAB or Welfare Rights office to try to help you get benefits. If that doesn't work, try contacting your MP or local papers. Make as much fuss as possible.
Meantime, contact the companies to whom you owe money, explain the situation, and ask nicely if they could accept reduced payments, or maybe even suspend payments for a while until you have an income. They may charge extra interest if this is allowed, but at least it would give you some breathing space.
If shopping for baby goods, there are usually some good secondhand bargains available. I bought a lot of stuff for my son from jumble sales, car boot sales etc. Any equipment with the BS or CE mark should be fine provided it's clean (you can see to this yourself if it's not clean when bought) and has no visible damage which would affect its use, with the exception of car safety seats, which may have invisible damage from previous minor accidents, and are often fitted incorrectly becasue they've been separated from their instructions.
Though the money is peanuts, there are some companies online (e.g. Ciao) which pay for writing reviews of any products you use, and/or participating in market research. This can be done from the comfort of your own home. You may only get pennies for each review/survey, but it's something.
You might also find out if there's a barter scheme in your area (can't remember what the proper name for them is) where goods and services are exchanged rather than bought or sold, so you could, for instance, do someone's ironing in exchange for something you need. They use vouchers or their own special currency, so the exchange doesn't have to be direct.
Good luck.