To think people have known for a year that Tax Credits were changing...

[hoops997]

so should have budgeted for it? I have lost £100 a month but knew I would so for a year I've reigned in my spending to compensate for it......

I can't believe your being so smug, about an issue which will result in families struggling to put food on the table.

I'm not being smug at all, I sympathise with everyone losing TC, I'm losing money too but people have had notice.

Well done you.

BTW I don't get TCs but believe it when people say they are shocked.

If you're living on the breadline, you generally pay attention to letters which tell you about earnings. So if they didn't get notice then yes it's a shock. And even if they did get a letter, it's still a shock.

Well the award notice I got last year that showed this years award if circumstances stay the same said i'd get the minimum amount £39 a month. But come this month despite circumstances not changing according to the tax credits calculator i'm entitled to nothing. Not had a letter from them or even a renewal form either.

So I can see how some people would not realise that they were going to lose alot of tax credit money if the award notice last year said they would still get tax credits this coming year.

I just don't understand why you feel compelled to start a thread that criticises people who are potentially going to have a real struggle on their hands, when they will already feel like they have been kicked in the teeth by the fact they are losing money and for some a LOT of money that no amount of 'reigning in' will help to compensate for. What do people 'get' from kicking people when they are down. It makes me very sad that people lack such basic compassion for others.

There was no sympathy in your OP.

Having notice may make no difference at all to people who are right on the line. Those people will probably end up in debt, buying less food and switching off the heating. I doubt that some people can spend any less than they do. But well done for budgeting for your own reduction.

Most people are still waiting to hear, and panicking about what, if anything, they're entitled to. It's not clear, and HMRC haven't exactly been bending over backwards to inform people of their individual awards and circumstances in double-quick time. The awards notice for this year from the previous year is more than likely outdated and wouldn't have given adequate warning I think. So it's good you got to plan, but I think it's a bit...I don't know, crass to think everyone should have followed your example somehow.

My father has always distrusted the benefits system and claimed that the only money people can afford to rely on is the money they earn themselves. With job security and wages so low, even that is iffy at the moment. It's a worry.

Wages so low in proportion to the cost of living, sorry.

Just because people have had notice, doesn't make it any easier to cope with when it comes if they were already struggling to make ends meet.

But well done to you OP

I can kind of understand what you're saying OP and it will apply to a lot of people however there will be many more that will be struggling beyond belief and whether they've had notice or not will not have a clue how to survive on what they'll end up receiving.

Perhaps it might be helpful to start a thread on thrifty ideas on how to get by etc.

I don't claim any benefits whatsover however I have my own financial and debt problems which I am working my arse off to clear. Just when you think you're on top of it something in the system comes along and punches you in the face again and you're back to square one struggling on a daily basis yet again. I image that's how a lot of families are feeling right now.

That's a bit like saying if you were warned you were going to be robbed at gunpoint in twelve months time then it's not the robbers fault you got shot but yours for not donning a bullet proof vest.

Oh, well done OP.

Maybe you could set up an advisory service on budgeting and finances to help all the other people that aren't as fantastic as you.

I'm surprised that people have been shocked, but that's because I don't get tax credits and assumed that whoever pays it would have told people how they are going to be affected.

The fact that people have paid attention, and still haven't got a clue what if anything they are going to lose, is what's shocking.

Yup, no problem being fucked in the arse as long as you brace yourself, eh?

What an odd, odd thread.

@ tethersend

Yes we've had notice but we haven't known exactly how much we'd lose, have we?

Well done OP for managing to budget without knowing an exact amount. Perhaps you could share your crystal ball with the rest of us.

OP, are you losing this money because of your salary,or due to the number of hours needed to claim for working tax credits?

There is a difference. Someone working 20 hrs (in a 2 parent family) will no longer qualify for WTC.
Some families may lose up to £70 per week. That is a lot of money for a low income family.

£280 per month is a lot harder to do without than £100 per month.
Have some compassion.

tehersend a bit smuttier and funnier version of my analogy.

I knew because of my award letter......which everyone would have had

Nope, my circs are exactly the same as last year, I'm a single parent who work 22 hours a week.

I havent been affected by the changes as I work full time, my sister however worked 16 hours and lost all her tax credits. her employeer has increased her hours Luckily for her and the tax credits calculator says they are entitled to £225 a week with their new earnings etc. If someone needed that £225 a week to get by how can they justify taking it away just because they are not working enough hours? I just dont understand it at all?

I didn't get a letter telling me anything yet OP.

So..we'll see on Friday