To spend budgetting loan on something for myself?

[IAmInTheRoom]

For context I am a single mother to a disabled 3 year old getting limited maintenance from her dad. We survive day-to-day on work I do 12 hours a week, IS, CTC and CB. I can’t work more due to DDs SN meaning I need to be able to drop everything and be there for her as she is often admitted to hospital with infections or spiked temperatures. She also has weekly appointments; it’s not unusual to have 3 appointments in a week. Her dad is neighing on useless pops in to her life for a couple of weeks at a time, moans about my apparent ineffective parenting then buggers off again complaining that I’m living the life of riley and he pays way too much maintenance. I spend £300 a month on Nursery fees which is worth every penny as it’s an amazing Nursery which DD loves but I have to work as many hours as I can to keep her there.

I took out a budgeting loan from IS of £800 (the full amount your entitled to). I now don’t need it for what I originally planned to use it for. I can pay it back early but it really doesn’t make much difference as a portion of my IS will be taken every week until it’s paid so either way it goes back into the pot.

So WIBU to use a bit on something for myself? Apart from £5 a month on a phone (which is almost as old as DD which I don’t begrudge at all) I never spend any money on myself. I’m still wearing clothes I bought as a teenager (I’m late 20s now). I’m not thinking a huge amount maybe £100 or so on some new clothes or some nice bath stuff. I am planning to also keep £100 or so back for a decent Christmas present for DD so it’s not all to spend on me.

Prepared to be flamed and told to hand all the money back to DWP.

[theWarOnPeace]

YANBU but just also want to make sure that you are getting the DLA you should be entitled to for your daughter, and also the disabled child premium on top of child tax credits, plus carer’s premium added to your IS.

[GreenLantern53]

How comes it only £5 a week to pay back? mine is 20 something?

[Maccycheesefries]

After spending a £100 on a well deserved treat for your self I would stick the remaining amount into a stocks and shares ISA or premium bonds. If you make anything extra on top of your initial investment of £700, it's yours to keep. You've also then ringfenced the repayment amount so you don't spend it all on a shopping binge.

[Sandbox]

I hope you get dla, carers and disability element of ctc

[Gingerrogered]

Pay £1 a week extra into your pension.

Arf. £1 a week into a pension? When she’s a single mother claiming benefits? What planet are you on? She can’t afford that, and it would be worthless, employee pensions on decent schemes with much more money than that are almost worthless too.

[albert92]

@MyDcAreMarvel why would she waste money paying £1 a week to a pension that's totally random and nothing to do with this post ?

[Thelaststand]

Get a really good winter coat for you both and some good boots. Some great advice on here 😊

[HopelesslydevotedtoGu]

Because she earns 1pound too much to receive carers allowance

[SpitefulMidLifeAnimal]

Green it's the phone which is a fiver

[IAmInTheRoom]

How comes it only £5 a week to pay back? mine is 20 something?

That's the agreement I've got with them. It can be more and if I can afford it I will be paying more.

She doesn't get DLA unfortunately she didn't qualify, missed out by one point. I've appealed but they upheld the decision maker, I'll likely get DLA once she starts school as it'll be easier to show how different she is to her friends plus the mobility element comes into it then.

[Armchairanarchist]

If she puts £1 into a pension she'll get an extra £64.60 a week.

[ScentWorkBags]

Repayments are calculated individually based on income, outgoings and if you have other debt to repay.

[Sandbox]

Go to citizens advice and get help with the forms. You need to be brutally honest, don’t sugarcoat it and provide evidence of all appointments and diagnosis’

[ceecee32]

I am concerned that you havent declared your earnings to IS. The limit for a lone parent is that they are only allowed to earn £20 a week before it affects their entitlement.
You then say that you earn £1 too much to claim Carers Allowance which means that you must be earning in the region of £120 a week.
You say that you are working 12 hours which is under the 16 hour limit but your earnings would still affect the amount of IS that you receive

[Sandbox]

I didn’t think you could get carers if the person you care for doesn’t get dla or pip? In which case you wouldn’t be entitled anyway

[Marble179]

Do not feel guilty. Treat yourself! The money is there for clothes as well as other things. I've known people borrow these loans for holiday spending money! As a single parent, your own life satisfaction is important for your child too. Do something sensible i.e. Christmas and save a little then enjoy!

[IAmInTheRoom]

I was helped to fill in the DLA forms by a lady from the charity for DDs specific condition, I had evidence from her Nursery, her Paediatrician, and an Ed Psch, but she missed out by one point. As I said I appealed by they upheld the decision maker so no DLA.

My income is declared to DWP, and I earn £130 a week but with pension contributions it comes down to £121. It doesn’t affect my IS at all and I can’t claim WTC as I work too few hours.

[AnotherEmma]

You don’t have to wait until she starts school before reapplying for DLA. The mobility component kicks in from age 3. Did you get any help from Citizens Advice or any other organisation with your original application and/or the appeal? I strongly advise you to reapply now and get professional help to do so.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/disability-living-allowance/before-you-claim-dla/check-if-you-can-get-dla/

You can’t get Carer’s Allowance unless your DD gets DLA, but you don’t have to wait until she is awarded DLA - you can apply for Carer’s Allowance as soon as you’ve applied for her DLA.

As PPs said, you should apply anyway even if you won’t get it, as you will get the Carer’s Premium which will increase your Income Support.

DLA will also give you a premium on CTC.

Lastly a PP mentioned increasing your hours, it’s true that if you work 16 hours or more you will be entitled to WTC (including help with childcare costs) but your income support will stop. If you are considering increasing your hours I suggest you ask Citizens Advice to do a before/after calculation to check how your benefits will be affected.

[AnotherEmma]

Cross post. I still think you should reapply for DLA, but get help from a benefits specialist this time.

[SleepingStandingUp]

OP treat yourself. You deserve something nice.

Not sure if you can get carers without DKA but def worth reapplying if anything changes and then sorting pension.
You're unlikely to get mobility before she's 5 but if she needs any additional overnight care etc def reapply for basic DLA.

[Sandbox]

My friend re applied several times before getting it for her son with downs. I got high rate first time which surprised me so it’s worth re applying. Neither of us were told anything about points though?

[GreenLantern53]

No its not the phone its the loan. Just surprised as mine is over £20 which was the lowest they would allow me to pay back.

[SilverLining10]

Yanbu a single bit. Treat yourself. X

[Nanna50]

How can your benefits be so wrong if you have had advice? For starters any child care costs are eligible expenses so your income is not too high for carers allowance. DLA is not scored on points, earnings do affect Income support

[IAmInTheRoom]

I promise I have called the local job centre and declared my earnings. I’ve been working since I split with DDs dad last year and never been given an overcharge for IS or CTC, I wouldn’t deliberately claim fraudantly.