To wonder what’s the point when I’m left with this after bills?

[ReLOa]

In a stressful job and single parent to nursery age child. I have 570 left after all bills and childcare and petrol, excluding food. What is the actual point in this?! We can’t do much at weekends and holidays are out of the question. I’m supposedly in a highly paid job (earn 70k) and I feel like giving up. Just been paid and looking ahead at the month I’ve already had to turn down some things like an adventure park day with friends as it was 28 pounds entry and a 35 mile round trip. I feel like I’m failing yet not sure what more I can possibly do?!

I've pointed her In the Right direction for help it she's not already getting it. Luckily things are slowly getting better for mums in her position and she's entitled to some support childcare and child benefit wise. I just hope she comes back to read the helpful posts

It costs £2000 a month for full time nursery and I'm not even in London. Add 2 kids, commuting, sick leaves and you can easily find yourself in a situation where you lose money by working full time and are better off at home or doing some evening cleaning job around your husband's schedule.
Yes - working is an investment but it's not possible to "look at bigger picture" when you have to prioritise paying your bills and mortgage.

Not to mention single parents on UC. You're supposed be better in work, only UC calculates just half the cost of full time childcare so women are pushed into underpaid part- time roles.

Childcare is a real barrier and we don't know what will happen with funded hours in the future as they have been heavily criticised by Labour.

How is she being penalised?

She's choosing what to spend her salary on.

She's choosing the nursery.
She's choosing the house she lives in.
She's choosing the car she drives, phone she has, insurance products, how much she pays for a pension.

She's not struggling, she's not broke, she's spending her salary on what she chooses to.

Now... If she was forced to buy nothing but essentials.. LIKE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.. and she had nothing left at the end, then maybe it'd be different.

If she's getting £4200 a month.
Choosing to pay
£150 for Sky
£100 for an iPhone
£250 for a car
£80 a month for a.gym
£500 a month to a pension
Etc and.etc

That's on her.

If she's spending £10 on bubble bath every month. That's on her.

If you can't live a good life with £4200 a month, that money is going somewhere.

As her mortgage will run into her retirement, she needs a decent pension to cover it.

No uc does not calculate half of the childcare. They pay 85%. As far as I'm aware there has been no criticism of funded hours by labour either. The majority of your post is incorrect.

When your a working couple not entitled to UC, your correct sometimes the cost of childcare out weighs the benefits of working more. When entitled to claim childcare on UC which is anyone earning under £40,000 either alone or as a couple you get 85% paid.

Now with funded hours most mums should be able to work 30 hours from 2 years old.

What do you mean she's choosing nursery?

She pays £2700 of it to a nursery and mortgage, so your saying she should opt out of a pension that I can afford to pay and have a terrible retirement, instead of getting the help she rightfully deserves? Should she keep paying for all of us, whilst she has nothing? Does that sound right to you? She's left with £1500 to pay everything else, that's if she doesn't have student loans... and that's without a pension. Somehow I don't think she's paying £250 for a car and £150 for sky, but given the eye watering tax and ni she pays, she should be able to it's scandalous that she can't

Aldi or tesco own brand are £4.60 for a pack

Ok, you're either in a very very cheap area, or haven't taken on a mortgage recently and haven't seen how much it costs now.

For a 30 year mortgage at the moment, including a 10% deposit, you're looking at a £200k property if you want to pay about £900 a month (what the OP pays).

In my not hugely expensive (comparitively) area, that equates to a 2 bedroom flat or v budget 2 bed terrace. Not recent indulgent for a mum and child.

In somewhere like Bristol, again similar. In Birmingham you can get a rough small 3 bed or a nice 2 bed for that.

Regardless, it's certainly not a London level mortgage.

You have to shop around a bit and buying online is usually cheaper

Persil non bio if you want branded is about £20 for 130 washes, or Aldi washing powder is good

Bubble bath - own brand, Aldi do a child's farm dupe or this is £12 for 1.5l

amzn.eu/d/9WBf7fH

Wipes

Again branded but £13 for 1000 wipes amzn.eu/d/fCv51de

I watch Amazon prices and buy when stuff is cheap and use Quidco for cashback on stuff like car insurance, contents insurance etc

I think they mean the maximum amount offered by UC for childcare per month is about half of what some people pay for a full time place for their child.

Also, UC pay up to 85% of childcare costs but it's another element which is added on to the total monthly award and subject to deductions for wages just like the others.

And there's no 40k income limit for claiming childcare costs. In many circumstances, someone can earn more than 40k and still receive help with childcare costs.

I think I'm severely disabled and my health limits what I can do 👍

So basically if you haven't heard about something it's not true ?
Labour was extremely critical of 30 hours for working parents and they were strongly opposed to it's extention to younger children.

UC does pay 85% childcare costs but not on all childcare costs. Precisely it's 85% on up to £1,014.63. Full time nursery costs at least £2000 a month where I am (not in london).

Even if you take into account 30 hours it's sometimes impossible to spread them over the year. That means single parent will end up with many weeks of inflated costs which could leave them worse off.

For a semi where i am nothing special its about 160 and for a terraced about 115. Its not the monthly amount that makes me think shes in london its the length of the mortgage. Either shes already 40 or shes had to entend the length of the mortgage as its a very highly priced house.

@ReLOa I completely empathise OP. CoL has meant that what was affordable and within budget is no longer the case. It is depressing and leaves me feeling extremely vulnerable. The financial book also stops at me so I have no one to turn too plus on paper, our income is too high to receive any help. My job is too support people, many in dire situations, and I find myself having to use every ounce of strength to leave my worries elsewhere so I can focus on them.

Gosh I'm so sorry your left feeling like this, I hope things get better for you soon.

You can't get through with logic to people who engage in emotional reasoning.

It doesn't matter OP is high tax payer who instead of being motivated feels like quitting her job. What matters is she's a spoilt brat who is "choosing to pay for nursery ". 😅

The more time I spend on MN and witness the prevailing resentment and hate towards anyone aiming for anything, lack of any comprehension of economy and taxation, short-sightedness which doesn't allow for any forward thinking or seeing a big picture, the more I understand why this country is in such a mess.

Didn't they want to fully fund childcare, I will have a quick Google but I really don't think this is the case.

Yes but the 30 hours free reduces it even further so it's more than 50% as both can be used together

I’m not in London either but a 2-bed semi will set you back £260k, and that is miles cheaper than London.

A £250k mortgage over 35 years will set you back £1100 a month. She could have been 35 when she took the mortgage out, meaning 70 when it’s paid off. .

They've changed their mind but I've seen what you mean, they were worried there would not be enough places so your right they were critical of it, my appologies

Well then with all due respect @WalkingonWheels mentioning your phd etc and stating you were on 26k was not a true representation of your situation!!?

I'm in the north of England, we are basicly known as the poor cousin 😆 but we get better priced houses, lower priced childcare and a reduced cost of living. Opportunity's are less here and wages lower but not that much lower, that we don't benefit from the reduced cost of living. House prices have doubled here now though. Before covid they were half the price i stated above.

Well if that's how you slosh your money about, no wonder you're struggling.

That lot shouldn't cost £40 pm let alone £40 pw. What on earth are you buying and doing with £40 for those things every week?

I watched them in Parliament. They were openly against 30 hours roll out. Both times. They did mention keeping free hours only for vulnerable children and people on low income tho.
They talk about childcare but have no plan for it whatsoever. According to them there is no money -as if it made any fiscal sense to stop people from working and paying taxes.
Of course it could change. Things are not set in stone.