To use my child benefit..

[ridingshotgun]

To pay towards food shopping?

A mix up with a tax bill has left me skint this month and I've just had a lecture from my mum that it should be going into a saving account for my child

Child benefit is there to help you meet your child's needs each month! Tell her where to stick it.

We absolutely do not save it! I have used it to buy food,pay for classes, new shoes for ds etc

Even if mum had saved it and handed it over with a flourish when the OP reached 18, that would still not oblige OP to save it in the same way. Times change and circumstances differ. If the children did not exist the parents would be financially better off, hence child benefit exists to redress the balance. Whether it's properly balanced or is too much or too little is another argument.

I saved all my kid’s CB when i was married. When I left ex that went outta the window! You don’t need to justify this OP, least of all to your DM, if she feels that strongly she can “save” that money herself for your DC!

Re previous poster's comments I do claim it to earn credits towards my pension, but my husband has to pay the whole sum back in tax so I do not benefit from it. It is so unfair as I have friends who still receive it who have a far higher joint household income than us.