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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be gutted we're not entitled to any financial help?

481 replies

DeanaPiana · 21/04/2017 13:48

Myself and DH have a combined income of £46000.

I have done numerous calculators and apparently, I am not entitled to Child Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits when baby gets here.

A few sources have even said I shouldn't go for Child Benefit as it wouldn't be worth it in tax returns Shock

We didn't budget for a baby thinking we would get extra help to finance them etc, but I thought we were entitled to at least a little something and I have to say, I feel gutted. We live in a high cost area, London, and rent here too. We want to move out into a more rural/outer area in the next 2 years max but that just doesn't seem possible now. No way we can afford to save that much. We don't even have a lot of outgoings. Our rent is over 1K a month and that is considerablly cheap here.

Just doesn't seem fair at all Sad

OP posts:
famousfour · 21/04/2017 21:01

Prime example

Babyblues14 · 21/04/2017 21:03

Lol we are on 24 grand combined and get 40 quid a month in child tax. You make double what we do from working. Your hardly going to struggle. Its for people who really need it. Who could not afford to live without it. We manage to just about get by.

dontbesillyhenry · 21/04/2017 21:05

I know. I wish someone would help us. 50k combined income. Just one car each. It's terrible driving round in an Audi all day

chocolatespiders · 21/04/2017 21:06

I have manged to raise two children on half your income as a single parent so I think you will just fine. I don't get any housing benefit and manage to keep a roof over mone and my children's head. I havent bought new clothes for myself for approx 4 years but don't let that put you off.

Babyblues14 · 21/04/2017 21:07

If you are single and earn 12 a year you are entitled, but if you are a couple and earn more than 24 you will not receive any work ng tax and minimal child tax. The system is a pile of shit. Your always better off being single

bibbitybobbityyhat · 21/04/2017 21:08

This thread is a revelation to me. I honestly thought people on lower incomes were better served by the benefits system. I'm shocked at the low thresholds. Is it all since the austerity cuts?

Babyroobs · 21/04/2017 21:11

How can you be better off being single - only those getting decent amounts of CM on topo f tax credits are better off.
t least with a couple you can both work around each other if need be to minimise childcare costs. You can't do that on your own unless you have an ex who is willing to help out , and a lot of them don't seem to be that great.

Babyroobs · 21/04/2017 21:13

bibbity - Any new claims for tax credits will be even worse off with the family element being discontinued and only paying tax credits for 2 kids now.

Babyblues14 · 21/04/2017 21:13

We received working tax last year but they had trouble working it out as I am on a zero hour contract. When the new tax year came in and I sent my p60 I had earnt 11500 and my partner 12000. So 23, 500 altogether.
They contacted us, said we would receive nothing this year and that we owed them over 2 grand. And they take the money directly from the 40 month child tax we get. So it ends up at about 20 quid. Its horseshit.
And if I lost my job right now we would get nothing because they base it on your last years earnings.
And they wonder how people become homeless.

Babyroobs · 21/04/2017 21:15

baby - if you lost your job now you could let tax credits know and they would re-assess your award. there is a risk of being overpaid if you found a new job soon but you would get help in the meantime.

Wando1986 · 21/04/2017 21:18

Babyblues how are you only getting £40 a month? Child benefit is more than that.

Babyblues14 · 21/04/2017 21:20

Hi Babyroobs, we did actually ask them what would happen in that situation when they called to tell us what we owed and they did clearly say that we would get nothing else as everything is based on last years earnings. Its fair to say my dh gave them his opinion of their system and they didn't have much to say Grin
We were just angry that they cut it off without giving us notice.
(Had bills to pay and were expecting the money to go in, obviously it didnt so we got charged for unpaid bills. If we had warning we could of sorted something to pay the bills earlier)

Babyblues14 · 21/04/2017 21:21

40 is child tax

Ohb0llocks · 21/04/2017 21:26

Our combined yearly income is 24 including help and we manage perfectly fine with DS, DSS and one on the way.

You're practically loaded OP.

StarUtopia · 21/04/2017 21:29

£46k? And your rent is £1k?

Swop you for combined income of £28k and rent being 700.

Of course you're not entitled to any help. Neither are we!!!

needsahalo · 21/04/2017 21:30

but if you you earn minimum wage and choose to churn out child after child, then it's only right that the state should pay for them, and your home etc

Really? People earning minimum wage are churning out kids? What evidence do you have of this?

DixieNormas · 21/04/2017 21:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CazY777 · 21/04/2017 21:43

OP, you are getting a hard time here but I think you need to rethink your attitude. If your combined income isn't going to be enough just to meet all your basic outgoings then you need to work out how to make it add up. Can grandparents help with childcare or can you work evenings or weekends instead? Living in the London and the south east is bloody difficult if you are on average wages and paying childcare. I saved as much as I could to cover the shortfall during my maternity leave but I didn't spend as much I did at work. I went back to work part time for 6 months but it just didn't add up so I left and became a SAHM and we lived on DH's salary. We cut back a lot, very cheap holidays, second hand clothes, lidl nappies and wipes, take away a rarity, I sold things on eBay to get a bit of spending money for going out, buying toys and clothes for DD. It was ok, I didn't feel particularly like i was missing out (though a holiday somewhere hot would be amazing but to be honest not that easy with a little one anyway). We managed until DH stopped getting his mileage costs paid for, and then things started to get harder. So, we've moved to the north, only way we could see of being able to live reasonably on average incomes.

Babyroobs · 21/04/2017 21:44

Dixie- i didn't say it works for everyone, but many couples do work around each other, most couple si knowwith young kids manage this way. One tends to work regulalr hours and the other works part time shiftwork.

DixieNormas · 21/04/2017 21:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

neonrainbow · 21/04/2017 22:45

It's not the ops fault that some peoples lives are hard now is it.

Original poster
DeanaPiana · 21/04/2017 22:45

Thank you for the helpful comments, nice to see there are a good few of you!

On Maternity Leave, we will pretty much be living off of DH's salary. The idea of moving out to someone like Essex is lovely (where my mum lives), but, commute to and from will add up even more and it really isn't that much cheaper. Rent may be £250 cheaper for example, but we'd be paying the rest in travel anyway to get into London.

Our jobs really do tie us to London.

OP posts:
NameChanger22 · 21/04/2017 22:51

I think people are annoyed on this thread because millions of people live on much, much less and some do it without ever thinking they are hard done by. Most families have a lot less than 46k and manage just fine.

I just can't understand why grown adults earning so much wouldn't want to to stand on their own two feet? The media is full of stories where cuts have meant the disabled and most vulnerable have had benefits taken away from them and are now struggling to leave the house, eat or keep warm. I personally wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing my luxury lifestyle was being funded at the expense of someone else's complete misery.

Are we are rich country? I don't know if we are or not, I don't understand it. The reason the Tories got elected in the first place was because they were supposed to sort out the massive financial mess we're in. Was that all sorted, or did I miss something? We still owe trillions and we're getting poorer all the time last time I checked.

Some people have money, some people have nearly none, some people are in the middle like the OP and those people certainly don't need extra money.

grenhild · 21/04/2017 22:59

Haven't got past page 9 but really no, the OP should not be complaining about feeling the pinch.

Yes it is not good that so many have terribly low incomes whilst the rich grow richer, but the OP has a good income and certainly enough to manage far better than many.

It is hard to find any sympathy for you OP. My DH & I have had to choose not to have children because of poor health and resulting low and unstable income. We get a bit of help but not enough to make it feel safe to have a child.

We thought (hoped) things might improve healthwise but so far they haven't. Where is the fairness in that?

It is very hard now that I am realistically getting too old to conceive. I can hardly bear to think about it. Will it help me to post on MN about how it isn't fair?

I think you should feel happy and grateful. Life is not fair and often there is not much anyone can do. You both earn good money and you have the health to allow this and you can afford the child, if not the luxuries you think you need.

Really, think hard about all this OP and just be grateful for what you do have