To ask what you do with child benefit

[Gemma273]

Basically this.. so I've always since my DC has been born split it in half, half into savings account for DC, half into our account to cover clothes, shoes, activities etc for DC. This discussion recently came up at a toddler group I go to and everyone said they put it into savings and now I feel guilty that I split it.

So what do you do?

Everyone is eligible and you can still claim if there is a higher earner in the household. If there's a higher earner then that person would then pay some or all of it back through a self assessment tax return. Alternatively you can do a claim but opt out of payment and that would give NI credits to a lower earner/sahp and means your children get their NI numbers automatically when they turn 16.

Just goes into my bank and used on anything household related

My post should’ve read don’t go without in the here and now! Bloody phone.

It just goes in the pot, which everything comes out of, I've never earmarked it as a different source of money different to any of the other money that we put in it.

I stick £20 a month into my 2 kids. I would love to be able to stick more in there but instead it pays for swimming, gymnastics and scouts.

@dementedpixie I didn't know that actually gosh everyday is a school day lol

*kids accounts not jnto the kids themselves🤣

Goes into family pot where food and bills are all paid from. Can't afford to put it aside at the moment. Once he's out of nursery we will begin to start thinking about putting some money aside.
If you need the money for stuff for him then there is nothing to feel guilty about.

Don't get it anymore but it went into the pot. Never had anything left to "save".

Ours always went into a separate account and was used to pay for subs for scouts/sports etc. anything left was just kept in the account and I'd use it to pay for a treat in the holidays or something

Have you ever made a claim for your children? My dh is a higher earner but I still claimed and we opted out of payment. I got NI credits until my youngest was 12 I think and it means both my kids will get their NI numbers automatically at 16. Dd got hers already as she's 18 now

I don't get it anymore, but it used to just get spent on whatever was needed month to month

Until he recently turned 1 and started on cows milk I used it to buy my Son's formula.
Now it goes in to my bills account and is used as money towards nursery fees, nappies etc

Doesn't even cover their food bill...

Its just general family income, that covers activities, clothes, food, mortgage, utilities holidays, birthdays, Christmas etc.

Why do you feel guilty?
I couldn’t care less what anyone else does!
I could afford to specifically save that payment - I don’t, it just goes into my account and “disappears” into everything else.

Its varied throughout their lives, at some points it very much been needed for household bills, originally it paid for milk & nappies, now it pays towards their hobbies.
There isn't a right or wrong answer (as long as children are fed, housed & clothed).

I don’t get it any more, but it used to go into the general family pot/joint account. Our DC didn’t have savings accounts. That was probably a mistake.

Money to spend now on things they need/want/benefit from now

It gets absorbed into the family budget.

I suppose I save some of it, but not intentionally. It gets put in the family pot and I have a standing order going to the kids' savings accounts. Never really occurred to me that it was coming from child benefit.

Is child benefit depending on household income in the uk?
We get 140 euro per child per month . When I first had dd I put it in savings account but by the time she started school and all the after school activities it went on Them.
Poor dd2 has no savings account but I need to open one for her and start putting even 40 a month in it !
I always use the august child benefit for back to school costs which doesn’t even half cover it all🥴

We spend it on things for the kids, pretty sure that's what it's designed for. If the kids need new shoes or clothing it's used for that, when we do a grocery shop it helps towards that, especially since the cost of formula went up, same with nappies, calpol and other basic things for the kids.

@Givemeallthegin8 yeah it depends on income, everyone is entitled to claim it but if you earn over £50k you'll need to fill out a tax return for it and may need to pay some or all of it back depending how much you earn.

In the UK child benefit is £21.80 a week for your first child and then £14.45 for each child after that

If you asked my ex, it went on hairdye, nails, fancy clothes, food & alcohol (I didn't drink) for me and everything else that his child couldn't benefit from, along with the meagre maintenance that occasionally dropped into a separate account.

It went towards childcare costs, keeping his kid housed, clothed, fed and warm - just like almost every penny of my DLA and my salary did.

When he demanded to see itemised proof of exactly what 'all that free money you get for nothing' went on and the suggestion that I saved it for her as 'It's not for you', my laughter could be heard from space.

It's a very braggy thing to imply that you don't need it and save it, especially when it's combined with the 'it's their money, not mine' bollocks.

It was designed to be a source of money where women could always have an amount that would enable them to care for their children if their husbands were refusing to give them money - the first State recognition of and attempt to circumvent financial abuse.

It goes into the joint account along with my and DH's monthly pay and gets spent on household expenses - including DC activities, clothes and food.