To be worried?

[RollonBed]

New to mumsnet, just joined purely because its all i can think about. Love reading other threads though.

Ok, so the cap comes into place tomorrow 384 pound a week. Im a single psrent 2ith 4 children. How on earth an i expected to pay rent out of this and live? I will have to pay £104 pound rent a week! Thats 280 to buy food, petrol, gas, electric, water... yes i pay monthly for these but each week i make sure i set aside 50 pound... its said some 300,000 children will be pushed into poverty and people may loose there home over it. Im so worried i cant eat or sleep!! Should i be worried. aibu to think this is such an unecessary thing gor goverment to do?

That's more than I earn working full time. And the rent is considerably less!

Could you work? If not, whilst it may spoil your "savings" that £50 will have to come into play won't it? £280 per week is a good amount.

You realise that there will be many more people comibg on to let you know they get less than you but work.

How much are your food, petrol etc a week. £280 a week for bills etc seems quite a lot to have. I work full time and certainly can't afford to save £200 a month.

I would say £384 was a manageable amount. It equates to £20k a year. You'll just need to make some cut backs and budget well.

You're gonna get jumped on!!

So, just clarify...is the 50 set aside to make sure there is enough for the monthly bills or is it savings?

What! £380 a week is a huge amount! You need to learn to budget.

How old are the kids?

I thought OP meant that she puts aside £50 of her weekly money to pay bills that are payable monthly, not that she can save that amount. Is that right, OP?

What about the children's father, what is he paying?

I get just about that working full time.
YABU
It's time to start budgeting like the rest of us

thats 280 to buy food, petrol, gas, electric, water

Lucky you.

380 a week

Oh god. Then 50 a week isnt "savings". Its for my monthly bills gas electric and water petrol is 30 a week as my children go to skl in a differenr county as there is no schooling spaces available near me and no i wont put them on a school bus as they are 4 and 5.. my two youngest are babys

There father turned abusive so we was moved out the area he doesnt contribute in anyway and hes also now in prison

It seems like quite a lot to me as well but it depends on your outgoings. Can you make a budget planner of your outgoings? I have a spreadsheet so I have money coming in at the top then all the outgoings (start with standing orders that are the same each month) and have all of these subtracted from your incoming money then see what is left for food and petrol. This way you can work out what you can budget per week for food and work out meal plans that will keep costs down (I eat a lot of lentil chilli and things like that as very healthy and very cheap). It might mean a few sacrifices but it will be manageable. I'd advise either do online shops where you can track how much is going into your cart or just take enough cash with you that is in your budget. This is how I stretch what I have (also a single mum) and keep on top of finances. It takes some work and some planning but ultimately the government asses what a family needs to survive, it's not about having a nice lifestyle. That may seem unfair but obviously resources are stretched.

You get 1500 a month, that's more than someone would get who earns 20k after tax. I really think it's manageable.

How much maintenance do you get? That isn't included in the cap is it?

sorry cross posted and didn't see that he is in prison. Does he have any assets?

You make almost twice as much as I do and your rent is considerably cheaper than our mortgage. Yes, I'm married so we have a second income, buy I have friends who earn exactly what I earn (same job) who are single with children, and they manage. You need to budget better.

I work full time long hours and take home less than that and I pay full mortgage and council tax, transport to work, food and utilities....so what's your point!

Donttouch thats really helpful thank you. Tonight shall make a spreadsheet and work through some things thank you

Twin babies? What is the father contributing. That is a good amount of money op. Especially since you dont have the added cost of working. What are you strugglinn to manage? Your food shopping bill? Theres great threads on here to help with getting great deals.

So you have £280 a week
£50 is for bills
£30 is for petrol
So you have £200 a week to spend on food etc?
Is that right?

No assets all he left behind was debts he took in my name

That's a huge amount, it's more than many people's salaries. Not very sensitive to post about getting all that when some can work a 40 hour week for less.

If children are pushed into poverty then the parents need to take a good hard look at their life. Nobody is forced to have children. If you chose not to work then bleating the state has cut your money is your own fault.