To be worried about prices going up and up and up

[AMAZINWOMAN]

I am getting scared of the way bills are just rising and rising all the time. Fuel is predicted to rise another 40% this year.

Even though I really am good at budgeting, I can't see a way of compromising any more than what we do now. Our only luxury is the internet, (or essential according to kids and their MSN needs!) which I would be reluctant to give up.

I have looked at loads of money saving tips websites, which is what I already do. I am just worried about the way the economy is going

Yes I am worried. We live very frugally anyway and I don't feel theres much to cut back on. Our veg is growing as well as our meat chickens so we will have food. My main worry is debts that we havent been able to clear such as those we got when dd was born prematurely and just couldnt keep on top of things. And if we ever (please no) lost the house then we would lose that food supply too.
I think I'm going to go and cry now as everytime I think about money and the future I start panicking.

Message withdrawn

we are lucky to be debt free at the moment.
However, we will probably have to put our plans to relocate on hold. We were hoping to move to the North-West, and thought that the big drop in income we would face would be offset by cheaper housing.

Problem is we are car-free here, and would need 2 cars if we move. I have just calculated our likely petrol bills, and think we may be staying put .

Its true I am in the same situation. We have a son at school already and 1 starting September. We will be a couple of hundred pounds short come September - madness beyond comprehension!DPs brother and his wife dont work and have 3 children and are expecting a 4th.GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR - how angry does that make you feel. They will probably get a bigger house too - soooooooooooo unfair!

Why on earth are families with a child in nursery and receiving vouchers for child care WORSE off when the child starts school?? I am not saying I don't believe the posts on here btw, it is simply beyond my comprehension how anyone can come up with a system which is so ludicrous. Maybe we should all just give up work, keep having more babies and take every benefit going. Would get pretty boring but hey, we might be better off. Whoops, silly me, forgot that if we all did that then there wouldn't be anyone left to pay taxes!

I actually don't understand that either because aren't tax credits only supposed to cover 80% of the nursery fees, therefore you should be 20% better off, they may have made a mistake at some stage surprise surprise

Message withdrawn

I first read that as 'ate lots of mice' and though 'Blimey, they were hard up.'

I'm confused about the childcare component of working tax credit. Do you only get it if you qualify for working tax credit?
We qualify for child tax credits, but I think we earn too much to get to working tax credits.

What do you mean play the market when it hits the bottom?The only thing with that is you will habe to pre empt the next downturn and sell up which is what we did but a big gamble

Milliec - that is a heck of a lot of electric you are using! Have you had your meter checked recently or are you playing catch up? If its your only means of heat and light too, you need to try wearing vests and jumpers, use hot water bottles and socks in bed and turn things off at the socket!

I'm old enough to remember interest rates at 17% - mid 1980s- and eating pasta in cheese sauce 3 days a week.... We got through then and most will do this time, not fun but a life lesson

the whole benefits /tax system in this country is a joke.

just this week on mumsnet i have seen one poster saying that since she has gone on benefits she is so much better of and can afford treats for her family that she could not afford when working.

meanwhile someone else who has a daughter with sn is worrying how she will heat her house this winter with the rising fuel costs, being unable to keep the house warm could have a serious effect on her daughters health.

And yet, on the other hand, someone thinks there's a market for this

bouncingturtle - although the childcare element is part of the WTC you can get it even if you don't qualify for WTC. If both of you work 16+ hours a week and claim from a registered provider you should get some help.

btw this is what the tax credit helpline have told me - it's a stupid way to organise it IMO so it probably is what they do.

Don't bank on getting much though

People can qualify for the childcare element of CTC and earn too much for WTC.

Similarly, people on benefits like income support get CTC.

shatteredmums, I am sorry but unless they are very lucky your in laws will not just get a bigger house because they have another baby... that kind of assumption is really starting to piss me off. My dh, ds and I are living in an appalling council flat at the moment, 1 bedroom, mould on walls, rotten floor joists and holes in the walls, inadequate heating, plus so many other problems with this bloody flat and we are still waiting to be moved. ds is now nearly 10 months. So stop making assumptions about people, everybody has their own problems to deal with.

I am not sure how the childcare element works because I have never qualified for it. I think it has an earnings threshold quite a bit below the CTC threshold which is about £58K or something. So when my DD goes to school in January I will be better off. If I lived in most other parts of the country I would be better off in September.

Me and DP are quite worried about the ever increasing prices of everything. It makes me cross that we are two hard working people who have decent jobs, but can't afford to do most of the things we want or relax when we should be able to. Having only managed to buy a house in the last couple of years our mortgage repayments are quite large anyway so any price increase affects us quite a lot

I'm trying to be positive about it though, and buying cheaper food and stuff where I can though realise that this doesn't really help the whole climate change effort!

Thanks people. I assume there must be a earnings threshhold for the child care element but can't find any info on it!
I suppose I'll find out once ds goes to nursery!

Message withdrawn

Ah right, do you have the cash because credit crunch means exactly that, you will need at least 50% deposits by the time the bottom hits and tbh people buying up houses for their pensions etc is what causes all the misery of stupid house prices in the first place, I certainly wouldn't want to be shouting about the fact that you are planning to benefit from other families being reposesed.

I just wish i could afford a house for my family.......
I am also really worried about the money situation, life is just so expensive, petrol, food etc., My dh's wages have gone down though, rapidly, he is a builder and most of the big builders have stopped working at the moment, so really can't see anything improving much for us.

I think there will be new legislation soon to stop this happening again like increased taxes on second homes and taxing buy to let income regardless of margins.I can;t see there being any profit in property for years to come unless you are in it for the long haul.Houises will become homes again

I tell you one thing, my life is about to get one whole lot harder. I fear that if I don't manage to land a job soon, I'm going to start losing friends. Resentment cuts deep in a dog pack when someone takes a couple of bowls away, and it's the weakest smallest dogs who do without supper. People are the same.

People can feel sorry for the poor their taxes support when they feel better off - but when they feel poor, they resent having money taken away and given to someone else.

why will you start losing friends if you don't get a job?