Both work and we claim UC but still can't afford to live.

[Mocha1]

We have 3 kids, 2 who aren't at school yet, my husband and I both work 30 hours a week for charities so not highly paid. We also have childcare for part of the week and then juggle the kids between us the rest of the time (We don't want to work more as we dont want the kids in fulltime childcare). We rent and down't own. We claim UC but we are still really struggling to make ends meet. We really try to live to a tight budget but I have no idea how to lower our expenses any more.

Am I missing something? Is this normal? does anyone have any tips for saving money/ making more income somehow? I feel a bit at a loss as we keep dipping into our savings for just day to day expenses and we're nearly at the end of those.

Our income at the moment (I'm on MAT leave) - £3980
Outgoings- £4250

Do these outgoings seem like a lot for a family of 5 living in the south west? I've been going over our budget and I have no idea how to save any more unless we literally never bought another birthday present or went to a soft play ever again.

Because bleeding heart idiots always bang on about how we can't allow there to be 'children in poverty'. The fact the children are in poverty because their parents are lazy and feckless appears to be irrelevant.

The system is full of holes and needs tightening up to prevent freeloaders taking advantage.

Look I also believe in the importance of being present when children are young and wanted a big family but that’s why I worked hard to pursue a career where I can work 3 days a week, DH 4 days a week, afford all our bullies and outgoings and have funds leftover for savings and investments for our children’s futures

Prior to their child being 3, the main carer on UC doesn't even have to look for work.

What an unbelievably twisted reply.

Mumsnet can be brutal OP.....i've experienced similar vitriol before and it's really horrible :(
You've done nothing wrong! Claiming benefits is not a crime (especially whilst both working 60hrs a week!) And nor is having 3 kids.
Let the idiots telling you otherwise sit in their privelidged little pockets of judgemental bitterness....you know who will be having the happier life.

Agree.
Just one point of clarity though - it's a combined 60 hours, not both working 60 hours.

Not really. Its the voice of frustration. It's tone death to cry poverty when both the adults in a family with three children (who can afford to pay for soft play - something they don't want to compromise on!) choose to earn less money so the tax payer has to pick up the tab.

"Tone death', do you mean 'tone deaf'?
OP isn't doing anything the system doesn't currently allow her to do, and it's not her fault you're frustrated with your life.

Edit - to spell you're properly

Yes , I care for my mother, dont claim carers allowance because I prefer to work

But mostly I work part time because of MH issues, I had a complete breakdown back in my 30's so I down graded and now work what I can cope with. Never fully recovered, then diagnosed as AUDHD, dyspraxia and all that carp , which I dont let stop me, but lets me be accepting of what I can do and be happy doing

Right now I have 20 hrs a week, on the doorstep, 5;30 start, home in time for mum getting up

Shit pay, but it's the lifestyle I HAVE CHOSEN ( excuse the caps , I dont know how to do bold ) and I dont expect the rest of the population to pay for my lifestyle choices. We do get it tight at times, we live out lives looking bargains, but we are living within our capabilities and within our means without screwing the tax payer. Although I actually do because my employer pays more tax and NI then I do

What's twisted is expecting sympathy from other parents that are working non-stop and being forced to put their kids in full time childcare, despite missing them non stop. We live in a horrible dystopia. Capitalism is terrible but it's the system we're stuck in. Genuinely saying "I'm so confused about why me and my husband working part time, in a terribly paying industry" when there's a cost of living crisis is just unhinged. I would absolutely love to live in a world where we could all live this way but that just isn't reality, unfortunately.

You could propose to your employer doing full time hours over 4 days a week? Starting earlier and finishing later. I've worked like that for many years and it means I get full time pay but also a day off with the children.

When you start looking at your return from maternity it will give you a good chance to have the conversation about a flexible working request.

I did. One of them should be working full time.

Your situation isn't OPs fault.

Then the other could work part-time?

30 + 30 < 37 + 25

30 + 37 = is a better balance. No need for one to reduce their hours.

Cheaper than UC paying for childcare. You don't have to look for work after three if your partner earns enough.

30 hours is as close to FT as PT though.

Sorry that sounds hard.

“Unhinged” is over the top and unkind. Unless OP and her husband are paying off a huge amount of debts, then they aren’t great with keeping on eye on their disposable income and perhaps need some help getting better desks with their utility bills, hence the £250 shortfall. They are struggling a little, like most of us have been at one point. Your post is really awful, particularly after OP’s last update.

clearly I meant deaf. Mistakes happen.

But are they confused as to why they can’t afford to live and asking for ‘‘tips to make more money”?

You'd be surprised how many people get these sort of phrases wrong!

I would rather my tax goes to someone that genuinely needs it, not someone looking for their lifestyle choices to be funded when they are perfectly capable of funding them themselves

Sorry, @Neurodiversitydoctor
This is not so.
AI says:
In 19th-century England and Wales, the percentage of married women in paid employment varied significantly by region and time, but generally remained low, with some sources showing figures as low as 10% to 25% in the mid-19th century, dropping to around 12% by 1901.
CAMPOP gives the same information.
If you think how life was organised before day nurseries and labour-saving devices, and with 12 hour shifts `(according to CAMPOP), worse for shop workers, it is obvious that mothers cannot have been in paid employment.