benefits, want to go back to work but gotta think about the cost. what would u do?

[misdee]

right situation is this, i am full time cerer to my dd1 and dh which means i get carers allowence. dh gets incapcity benefit, we also claim ctc and child benefit. dd gets dla which isnt counted in working out benefits. in total we can have £301 a week coming in and still get HB and CTB. i do have some high debts which are slowly being cleared, plus also have car insurence which went up £300 when i moved house.
I want to go back to work in the evenings, but if i earn over a a certain amount then we lose some benefits, which in turn means we lose HB and CTB, and also means we lose the right to free perscritions. free perscriptions dont matter to most people but DH meds each month come to around £100 perscription charges if we had to pay, and even tho he needs them to live he cant get them free as they arent on the list of free meds like insulin etc are. my rent and ct a month will be about £400, but my debts are in the region of £500 a month as well.
would dh still be entitled to incapcity benefit if i start working? i am not trained for anything except shop work, and trying to figure out how much i'd need to earning to be better off is doing my head in. just dont know what to do really. am i being stupid thinking of work?

Sarah you should have phoned me....... Jays mum gets IB and her hubby works. So yes, he will be entitled to it still.

should i spend until dec 05 (when dd1 DLA id guareenteed til) so i can get a better paid job at the end?

hmmmm, but its the other costs as well. damn benefits.

ANd if your income is less than £13,200 you are still entitled to free prescribitions

So Petes IB is about £3,000 so you can earn £10,000 and still get the help

but i'm unqualified!! i dont want to go back to shop work. maybe college is the way to go.

Get your driving licence it helps!!

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