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

[DeanaPiana]

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

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

[Tw1nsetAndPearls]

october there own no need to call the OP a silly cow. Do you earn 24K before tax? I am in awe of your budgeting skills if you have an income of 24k and pay almost 17k of that on rent.

[BlondeBecky1983]

October, how you dare call anyone else rude is absolutely beyond me. What an utterly vile post.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

october17baby

You are making yourself look very silly. The op earns less than the national average salary.

[ComputerUserNotTrained]

So october, after tax and national insurance etc your monthly income will be about £1.9k p/m (obviously depends on who earns what - I'm assuming two of you earn £1k each). Leaving you with £500 a month for all other expenses once you've paid your rent - council tax, food, clothing, electricity, transport....

That isn't sustainable, although after childcare, it's £500 p/m more than op will have until her baby is older

[bananafish81]

also as if you have actually written you didn't budget because you thought you would get help ?!! D

@october17baby can you read? OP wrote a budget, assuming no help, and budgeted for the most expensive nursery in her area. Have you even read the thread?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

But never mind, your post will be deleted because of the personal attack and you will save face from that.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

Is £60 per day expensive for nursery in London?

[PerpendicularVincent]

October, how can you call the OP rude and a silly cow? You are the rude one, name calling is totally unnecessary.

You clearly haven't read the thread either.

[gillybeanz]

I think some people have forgotten that everyone used to get cb and the cut off for tax credits was 42k.
The government of the time (labour) realised that this was the amount that was needed, then all of a sudden the cuts came in.
46k is a lot to some people but not to others dependant on property, childcare etc.
Whilst we all make our own choices on how we spend our income it's clear to see that 46k is not a huge amount of money these days.
I'm on far less than this, but our family survive as few low outgoings.
I feel sorry for people who are struggling whatever their income.

[letsmargaritatime]

There is a lot of indignant outrage and competitive poverty on this thread, and a lot of it is total bollocks, like this.
I support two kids on 12k. Yes I get help. Swap if you feel so hard done by
No you don't support two kids on 12k. If your income is 12k you get at least 7-8k on tax credits, tax free, plus CB. This is like an extra 10 grand on your salary. So give us the real figure, or it's not an accurate comparison. Many posters are throwing about ridiculous low figures about their income without mentioning the TC and CB that tops up their income. Yet at the same time telling the op that she "has" £46k and is wildly rich which of course she doesn't, as that is before tax. Double standards.

[Babyroobs]

isn't the government giving more hours of free childcare to 3 and 4 year olds soon?
Assuming a years mat leave, that only leaves a couple of years of high childcare costs. Op can explore childcare vouchers, perhaps see if her employer would let her do condensed days etc to cut costs a little. I haven't wtwt so apologies if this has already been suggested.

[KimJongCunt]

Oh silly OP.

You'll be fine. Just have a few more kids.
I earn 45K and with my five I qualify for ctc and cb.

[Bluewombler2k]

Has anyone said Maui yet?

[Astro55]

No you don't support two kids on 12k

You forgot free school meals

[TheFirstMrsDV]

No you don't support two kids on 12k

You forgot free school meals

You don't get FSM if you get WTC. You can be on a very low income and not qualify.

[Darbs76]

To be fair 46k combined in London isn't a lot, up north it is.

[RedBlu]

I am due next month and we aren't "entitled" to claim anything and our household income is just under £40K. We obviously will get the standard £20.80 a week but that is all. However we knew all this before we even started trying.

Granted I don't live in London so our expenses are lower, but I didn't expect to receive anything benefits wise so we have budgeted accordingly.

[Babyroobs]

In my job I had a couple yesterday complaining that they couldn't get fsm for their teenagers. They had a monthly income of nearly 2.5k. I really don't how people can think this is realistic.

[expatinscotland]

'I am due next month and we aren't "entitled" to claim anything and our household income is just under £40K. We obviously will get the standard £20.80 a week but that is all. '

That's all? That's over £80 a month, and it's a benefit.

[RedBlu]

Yes which everyone gets!

[expatinscotland]

Yes which everyone gets!

No, plenty of people who don't have children, have grown children or who earn too much (and that includes couples on the same income as the OP, but where there is only one earner) don't get it at all. It's massively entitled to moan about getting £80 for reproducing because, boohoo, 'everyone gets it'. No, they don't, but they're still paying it out.

[JanetBrown2015]

£60 a day nursery in London someone asked about? (£300 a week - £15,600 a year) Few are that cheap actually certainy near the centre. I know someone paying £24k a year (one child full time) which is £92 a day and this one I just looked up randomly is £70 a day www.turtlesnurserycoventgarden.co.uk/fees.html

[NameChanger22]

Some things are more expensive in London, some things aren't.

For example entertainment can cost nothing in London as there are so many free museums and galleries that you'd never have to spend anything at weekends if you didn't want to. In most other towns and cities parents spend a small fortune taking their kids out and keeping them busy.

[RedBlu]

How was I moaning about it? £80 is £80, and no people who don't have children don't get it, obviously. Should I be bitter for all the years I haven't received it because I chose not to have children until now? Dont think so

[CrowLeftOfTheMurder]

You will get child benefit (£82 every 4 weeks) and should always claim it even if you don't get any benefit payment, it ensures the child is logged into the system to get a national insurance number when they're 16. You won't get tax credits though. When I had DD and was on mat leave we got £10 a week because you can deduct SMP and any unpaid leave you take from your income for that tax year. We got tax credits for a couple of years after that but our joint income was below £23k AND we paid some childcare until she started reception. We don't get anything now (joint income £29k due to increase in hours when she started school) The only way you'd get tax credits on that income, possibly, is if you pay childcare. Might be worth running that through the calculator if you know you'll be doing that later.. Even if you qualify for help with childcare though they only pay you up to a maximum of 70% of the actual cost. In most cases people who appear to be raking it in with tax credits are actually paying massive childcare costs for a couple of children which quickly adds up to thousands a year.