To ask if you can live on £500 a month?

[calliiee]

No housing costs but council tax, electricity and gas and insurance, phone, Internet and groceries. Is it doable?

[AndNowItsSeven]

//www.disabilityrightsuk.org › guide-tax-c...
Although tax credits are means-tested, they have no capital limit. This means there is no amount of savings that will automatically stop you being able to claim tax credits. Income from savings can however be taken into account so as to reduce the amount of your award; the first £300 a year of such income is ignored.
Applies to everyone not just disabled people.

[HyacinthFuckit]

Agree, no capital limit for TCs. Which was actually quite controversial, because in theory you could own a dozen properties and, provided they weren't bringing you in enough income to put you over the threshold, still be eligible.

I wonder if you're confusing capital with income from capital. So eg if you rent properties and earn 50k a year from the rental income, you're not TC eligible. But that's because of the rent not the fact that you own the properties. If you have a lot of savings, the interest is counted as income but not the savings themselves.

[calliiee]

Ok well I can look into that but everything I've seen just says not eligible.

[PushToOpen]

This thread!

A simple Q about living expenses and all of a sudden the OP is in an absuive relationship, a single mum who isn't working and also isn't claiming benefits.
According to the replies anyway.

[specialsubject]

I have a mobile, cost £3 new and credit is about £20 a year. I have unlimited broadband and landline calls at home for £25 a month inc line rental. Much the cheapest way of doing it and I am still contactable. Chatting is done on the landline, better than crap mobile signals (they all are, that's why everyone yells into them). Also a small mobile is tough and needs charging once a week, not twice a day .

know people in real jobs who cope without internet out of the house or office. That is a luxury, not an essential.

[calliiee]

I do think the Internet as an essential. I mean in my hypothetical situation it would be very very lonely. No car no help so I could go days without seeing anyone.

[flirtygirl]

I could live on that but wouldnt want to, extra curriculars for my kids, clothes and toiletries budget and my £16 gym per month would have to go and i couldnt run a car but it is doable but totally miserable and internet is an esential, you are right about that.
Short term more doable but longterm with no room to move in the budget, what happens when clothes and appliances need replacing.

[HyacinthFuckit]

What have you seen that makes you think your capital makes you not eligible for tax credits OP? It might be an issue with universal credit, but not TCs.

Also agree some internet access is essential these days. So much is done online. This could of course simply include having a device that will access it and a place you could go to get free wi fi.

[CremeEggThief]

It really isn't "totally miserable" and as spartan as some posters are suggesting, OP. As long as you're careful, it will be fine. I'm really pleased you're going to look into tax credits further.

[calliiee]

Well I will do but the same info is just coming up online :) don't know who else I could ask tbh

[noeffingidea]

calliilee I have a landline/broadband package from virgin media @ £19.99/ month. (Obviously you have to have cable in your area).
PAYG mobile - a tenner a month.
I don't drive or have content insurance.
I would spend about £20/week on shopping for one person, that includes toiletries and cleaning stuff.
Baby things - not sure if you are breastfeeding, but I think it's best to include the price of a tin of formula just in case. Put the money aside if you don't need it. Also nappies, wipes, etc(aldi own brand are excellent value, same as toiletries).
I have to pay between £10 - £25/week for my electric key, depending on how cold it is.
Clothes - I buy from supermarkets , usually marked down and only when essential.
I think that comes to about £280/ month. Add your own council tax and water rates on top. Anything left over , split between savings and luxury items.
And I'm not miserable - there are plenty of things that are enjoyable that are cheap or free.

[Lelloteddy]

The Entitledtoo website is fairly accurate in giving you figures.

[w12newmum]

As a couple and soon to atrivd baby we spend £850-1000/month not including rent but everything else including bills, day to day outgoings and luxuries/holidays. I feel like we do just fine and are comfortable despite it being quite a bit less than most of our friends. So I would think £500 would be doable for one person plus baby if you are careful but I would try to keep track of current outgoings (easy to look back if you use cards for everything) and do a rough budget. Obviously a lot harder when childcare costs start to come into it. Then there is baby stuff - we are lucky to be getting some help from relatives and also getting everything on sale or second hand.

[w12newmum]

I'm also investing in second hand reusable nappies for environmental and cost reasons - some councils give you a voucher to get you started and seance hand massively brings down the large initial outlay so should work out quite a lot cheaper than disposables.

[qumquat]

I live on not much more than this once rent taken out. I have a £20 sim only mobile deal with 20g data so I tether my phone to my laptop and get the internet that way. It's enough data to watch tv as well so I sold my tv and don't have a landline. Also I only pay £45 a month for gas and electric. Shop around and there are some good deals. The fudget app is great for keeping track of spending.

[LondonGirl83]

Yeah, while getting my masters and DH was in his first job out of uni we were able to live on less than that per week excluding housing costs (which he covered). We live in London though so there weren't much in the way of transport costs as we took the bus. Also, we went to a lot of museums and parks for fun as they were free. We ate pretty well as we only bought real food that we made which is loads cheaper than eating out or getting pre-packaged convenience food, but takes more effort.

There is no scope for treats though and unexpected expenses feel like a disaster so overall its fairly stressful and bit miserable. Try to (if you can) have an emergency budget saved up before you need to drop down to this level of income. Hopefully, it won't be for too long.

[hiyababy]

Do you not get some council tax benefit? When I was on a low income I got help with council tax had to pay £21 a month
£550 is doable but not easy

[BeccaAnn]

do you have single person occupancy discount on your CC? how free are you to change energy providers?

[YeOldMa]

If you have more than one property, you cannot claim tax credits or if your earnings were high the year before. My DD had to leave her part buy, part rent accommodation when she became disabled and moved into her fiancee's home; this had a huge mortgage on it because he'd inherited the property but the person who had died didn't have mortgage protection. She couldn't rent out her property, nor sell it without the HA's permission but still had to pay the rent. However, although her fiancee was on a low income she was told that they weren't entitled to any help at all because of her flat. It was a very stressful situation.

[seasidesally]

I don't drive or have content insurance

not having contents insurance is just madness,its usually very cheap and unless you genuinely cant afford it please have it

[Me2017]

I earn a fair bit. As a single mother I have always worked full time and worked full time evey with babies so not been in your situation.

The fewer people who claim tax credits the better as that will help keep down the high taxes many of we full time working single motehrs way of course so tips on how people can live more cheaply without claiming benefits are a great idea.

I just drink tap water. That saves some money. i don't go to the hair dresser. I just eat 2 meals a day. All these kinds of things are very cheap to put into practice. I wear the same clothes every day and until they fall apart.

"Although tax credits are means-tested, they have no capital limit. This means there is no amount of savings that will automatically stop you being able to claim tax credits. Income from savings can however be taken into account so as to reduce the amount of your award; the first £300 a year of such income is ignored."

[bellie710]

Not a chance!
We have 3 kids and own our home so no mortgage.
£130 Council Tax
£130 Car
Netflix £8.99
Spotify £13.99
Car Tax £16.18
Car Insurance £17.83
Electricity £150
Sky £32
Bt £55
Mobiles £40
Leisure Membership £29
Sofas £35
School Dinners £90

So our outgoingings are about £750 a month not including food which is about £600?

There are luxuries on that but I could not live on £500 a month!

[NameChange10001]

I have done this. I am single and don't eat much. It is JUST doable but it's with NO treats at all. No TV/TV licence (not even i Player now it's no longer free), no holidays, no trips into town, no shopping, no presents for friends or family, no interesting food. It's bloody depressing but it is doable.

[Briarthorn]

As a single mother I have always worked full time and worked full time evey with babies

Xenia, when your DC were babies you were not a single parent. You had a teacher husband and live-in childcare. Stop telling half-truths while advising people not to claim the tax credits they are entitled to.

[noeffingidea]

seasidesally it's not madness at all. Never needed it, would have been a total waste of money.