To feel for my friend who is very anxious about how she will afford twins.

[BobDylansUnderpants]

My friend is due twins in the next few months the and she is beside herself with worry about how her and her DH will cope financially. She would never have aborted as that was never an option for her for religious reasons.

She lives in what i would consider a small house with her DH and 2DCs. The DCs share a room and there is a small box room which would just about fit a single bed. The fact her house is too small is the least of her worries.

She says she just about can manage the mortgage payments and living costs with just the 4 of them and has little left over for savings. They hardly go on holiday and live within their means.

She is really worried about how she will manage with paying for the gazillion nappies, milk, baby clothes every few months and the general cost of kids.

She told me that she has just missed out on tax credits which she won't get anymore for the twins as the government only pay for 2 kids. She could have got an additional 5k a year which she says would have really helped alot. ( Not sure if the figure is correct)

I don't really know what to suggest for her and wondered if anyone has had similar experience of unexpectedly having lots more kids and how you managed financially. It feel such a shame that the government have stopped the tax credits as it would have really helped her family and no doubt others in similar circumstances.

Some schools will be willing to provide some assistance for the cost of trips for twins.

Weren't tax credits a relatively new thing anyway? Google says they were introduced in 2003 so before that there wasn't the help anyway (or maybe it was something different, I was only 17 then so wasn't aware of that stuff). It's surprising how quickly we've come to rely on them if they're such a new thing (this isn't a criticism, I'm including myself here!)

Quack - My friend who has twins found this too for school residential trips,, I think she only paid for one twin to go on the yr6 residential, the school fund paid for the other. She hasfound it a struggle and works evenings around her dh's day job to bring in some extra cash. they have bee lucky enough toget tax credits for four children for the past 14 years though unlike op's friend.

Was family allowance before tax credits?

A quick Google tells me family allowance is now child benefit

And that there was some kind of married couples tax relief before tax credits

It was family credit.

Family Credit was a United Kingdom social security benefit introduced by the Social Security Act 1986 for low paid workers with children. It replaced Family Income Supplement

The benefit was designed for families with children where at least one person is working more than 24 hours a week, on average. This represented an exclusion with entitlement to Income Support. The work should be intended to last at least five weeks.

annandale I didn't say using all of those methods at once, but a combination of at least 2 methods. The condom won't fall off when pulling out if the man holds the base of the condom when pulling out. Lots of people actually do use more than one method of contraception if they really don't want a pregnancy.

That sounds really tough.

Things I'd suggest for her:

• looking into places that offer twin discounts
• posting on twin boards for tips
• organise a baby shower and ask people to contribute vouchers rather than buying presents
• ask around your friends to see who can offer second hand clothes and equipment (either as a gift or to lend).
• Obvious but having a clear-out and ebaying old things that are no longer used.
• Can she or her husband take on some extra work? My MIL used to do German translation in the evening when she was young and struggling to make ends meet. Obv that's not for everyone but there are lots of ways to make a few quid- surveys, mystery shopping, ebaying things for other people, car boots.
• Register with Sitters and advertise locally as a babysitter- you can make £50 a night for just sitting in someone else's house watching TV.
• Check utilities, insurance etc to make sure everything is as cheap as it can be.
• MSE boards are great for money-saving tips.