To ask you to help me work this out?

[Lulu2021]

My head is a mess as I'm going through some relationship difficulties with a young baby and I'm trying to make sense of my entitlement to financial help.

I've done a UC calculation a few times but it comes out with an amount that i think is an overestimate.

My details are;

• FT salary of £47,126, net monthly income £2,516 after deductions.
• 2 DC (ages 15 years and 6 months) - no childcare costs for eldest, costs of £700 pm for youngest when I go back to work from mat leave.
• child maintenance of £120 pm for the eldest child only.
• private rented property
• no other benefits claimed
• no significant savings

It's telling me I'd be entitled to in the region of £650 pm as a single parent. Does this sound right? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Is it possible you can use your savings to pay off your debt which will lower your monthly outgoings?

While having a pension is sensible, you could choose to lower it until the free childcare cuts in & up it when you're earning £53,000 (or whatever it was you said you'll be on soon)
*

Except I can't "choose to lower it". NHS pension rates are fixed according to salary. I can be in or out. I can't adjust the percentage I pay.

There is so much ignorance, assumption and judgement on this thread, honestly. It's eye opening ...

Why on Earth would someone opt out of paying their pension contributions to ensure they're NOT entitled to any support paying childcare to enable them to work?!

@Thelonelyranger

Is it possible you can use your savings to pay off your debt which will lower your monthly outgoings?

The savings I had / have were accumulated in advance of my maternity leave in order to cover the (significant) shortfall in my income as a result of mat leave (£800 per month net loss). I'm coming to the end of my mat leave now so most of those savings are no more because they have been used to supplement our household income during my mat leave. I have a small amount left. It's not a great deal.

@drpaddington

Why on Earth would someone opt out of paying their pension contributions to ensure they're NOT entitled to any support paying childcare to enable them to work?!

😂😂

Couldn't make it up.

I just want to give you a big hug. So many posters are giving you such a hard time. You need a little bit of help for a short time after finding yourself in a shit situation. It can happen to anyone. Have a little compassion people.

Others have said you'd be entitled to UC, but you're only entitled to it because you're paying 9.3% into your pension before your entitlement is calculated. You're choosing to do this

you'd have large cooperate businesses that would increase their pension contributions to ensure they saved tax and got more benefits - given half the chance

but no-one bats an eye when they do similar and wiggle through loopholes

[quote drpaddington]@Boobahs I don't know if you already know but there's a Facebook group, universal credit essentials. The admins are really knowledgable and will be able to help you check whether your award is correct. If it's not, they'll know how to help you sort it. [/quote]
Thank you, I've just checked it out but it's been temporarily archived. I'll be sure to keep an eye on it though, thanks!

Lulu2021

couldn't make it up = that mn for you....

@Boobahs sorry, try 'universal credit, tax credits and benefits advice'

[quote drpaddington]@Boobahs sorry, try 'universal credit, tax credits and benefits advice' [/quote]
No problem, I’ll have a look. Thanks again!

I'm pleased that my thread has helped others, too! (despite the outrage I've been on the receiving end of)

😊

I'd make a CAB appointment and ask their advice on the car payment and baby-stuff credit payments. They'll be what really eats your money.

What happened to the savings? Could you please use those to buy a car outright?

Forget the bit about the car! Just RTFT and seen your savings have gone.

@Lulu2021

Do you have family members who can provide some childcare for you? So that you do not have such high childcare costs.

@Lulu2021 well, I'd just like to say well done to you. We probably share similar stories, having our eldest children at a younger age. I was 17, and am now 36 too. I chose to do my midwifery degree when I was 19, and clawed my way through it, fighting every step of the way. I split up with my eldests father when he was 6. I had been working as a qualified midwife for just 3 months when that happened. Since then, working in the NHS as a single mother has been, quite frankly, hell on earth (the shifts/childcare problems) and many times I have been so close to losing it all (career and house that again, I made huge sacrifices to get). I now have younger children, but once again found myself as a single mother when my husband buggered off when I was pregnant with my 3rd (our 2nd). He has subsequently had zero involvement with them. I've done it alone for coming up to 7 years now.
You've made your way up to a band 8, and when I consider that, at our age, I think that is pretty amazing. I couldn't do it! So, have a pat on the back, and feel proud of yourself.

BTW, at one point I was receiving £1800 a month in tax credits. Just for the frothers out there. I employed a nanny. I mean how dare I! I should know my place!

Buying things on credit to safeguard savings is a really bad financial decision. You'll pay £££ interest on your credit.

Please start reading Money Saving Expert. It'll really help you.

Things to do this week:

Get a money app like Emma (it's free) to keep track of all your money. It finds things like old subscriptions you've forgotten about.

Find out when the phone contracts end so you can go SIM only.

Ask the CMS to open a claim, and tell them you have excellent reason to ask them to conduct a financial investigation on your ex. I did that with mine (also a self-employed chancer) and found he actually earned £50k more than he said.

See if a bank loan would be better/lower payments/less interest than the car loan and credit. Use the cheaper loan to repay the expensive credit. Check there's no early repayment penalty on the car loan and credit though. There might be.

BTW, I don't recommend CAB, they are notorious for getting things wrong, particularly with financial things. There are really good and knowledgeable groups on Facebook. www.facebook.com/groups/1824855797785386/?ref=share Try this one.

@ThisMustBeMyDream

BTW, I don't recommend CAB, they are notorious for getting things wrong, particularly with financial things. There are really good and knowledgeable groups on Facebook. www.facebook.com/groups/1824855797785386/?ref=share Try this one.

Agreed. Facebook groups are the best and most will do you a thorough calculation.

Your thread makes me think we all need to reframe in our minds what the benefit system is for, so many people here are shocked you are entitled to anything because you earn a good salary. Maybe we need to expand what we consider benefits being for, to those most in need, which you, an above average earner currently are. I know a large contributor to needing benefits is likely to be low earnings but massive drops in household earnings to escape an emotionally abusive relationship is also a damn good reason. Good luck with it all.

@Caterinasballerinas I think it makes people feel uncomfortable. They've been fed bile and BS for years from various powers that be (media, government, etc) and people think of "benefit scroungers" and the image that has been portrayed of what that looks like. People don't want to see working people as "benefit scroungers", because this upsets the apple cart, and the image they have been fed. That may mean that they themselves would or could be "benefit scroungers". I've been on benefits one way or another for almost the entirety of my adult life. There was about 4 years where I earned too much, and only had one child. I will maybe be on benefits for some years to come. I'm degree educated, and working as a midwife. What is wrong is that a midwife isn't earning enough to support themselves and their children. That is where the crux of the issue is - why are professional jobs not paying enough for us to survive?

@ANameChangeAgain

I certainly hope its wrong. Most families bring in less than that as a household income and don't claim UC!

What a dickhead thing to write. It's not a race to the bottom and I don't give a shiny shit whether anyone is entitled to UC on top of what might be considered a good salary because I don't want anyone having substandard living conditions in the society I'm part of. OP has a decent job and shouldn't have to work less so she can claim more in benefits!

Yes, I agree about the 'benefit scrounger' image being largely a right-wing media fallacy, in a similar style to the 'otherness' number done on the 'immigrants taking all our jobs' (now proven that the majority were actually part of a crucially needed, tax-paying workforce ). And we should not forget that 40% of UC claimants are in work.

We should be demanding to be told the real reasons why working people need benefits, not complaining that someone earns too much when they meet the criteria to claim.

Everyone making snidey "you earn enough, the system isn't for you" type comments ought to reflect on the situation they would be, financially, if they suddenly had to find an extra £700 per month on their wage alone. I'm sure you'd all do fine and dandy, right

Erm no. Most people would get their outgoing to something more akin to their salary.

You are spending £700 too much rather than getting £700 too little.

I know several famalies on less than £2500 combined and get nothing from UC.