child benefit - what do you spend yours on?

[PersephoneSnape]

I apend mine on (part of) the weekly food shopping for me and 3 dcs, ds2s ballet lesson and dds pocket money. does anyone tuck it away in an account or spend it on wine and handbags?

Sonnet her midwife suggested she applied for emergency social housing and then she would get benefits. That seems like a ridiculous and wrong way to go about things.

I dont think it should be means tested either. Those that pay into the system dont get many tax breaks so nice to get something back. Tax credits are aimed at those on low incomes so a lot of people either get the basic £42 a month or simply dont qualify.

I do agree with the poster who said it should be capped regardless of the number of children.

Whether you save it or spend it, who cares as long as it benefits the children and isnt wasted on alcohol/cigarettes etc.

TDWP are you sure?

I got both when I was pg (I was in between jobs but I had worked for many years beforehand) Had your friend really never had a job before she was pg or signed up for JSA?

I didnt think IS was based on contributions otherwise those that get pregnant straight from leaving school wouldnt get all the benefits they do. TDWP, she should have been able to claim IS or JSA income based until she reached a set stage in her pg.

I have a funny feeling that she probably doesn't want to know this now.

DDs goes into her (v high interest) regular savings account, along with half child tax credits into a normal savings account which I can access if I really need it at xmas/birthday time.

In all honesty, it will all be wthdrawn when I need it for the deposit on a house (possibly this year) but then, that will be to the benefit of my daughter. Saying that, if I was to take myself off on a relaxing week long spa holiday with the money, it could benefit dd too....

Ours just goes into our current account & gets spent on everyday stuff/bills etc. I hope one day to start putting it into an account for DS...but can't see that happening any time soon.

Happy she was never told so much. The people at the job centre said as she was living with her parents she was classed as dependent on them (aged 23)

Ours used to go into the current account and vanish. I've now finally started to put it away for the dcs in a separate account.

same as FAQ - it goes into the pot to pay our staggering gas and electric bills.

thanks, Alistair Darling, for increasing this benefit so folks can buy wine and handbags with it, but not the means-tested child tax credit.

we all know how much you care for helping children out of poverty now.

Expat, I'm still waiting for you to tell me what flavour of gatorade you want (speaking of things you should get for free).

Goes into their respective trust funds.

into savings for their future in the hope that they then won't need to live with us unilt their late 20s...

shiny things

actually, most of it goes into dd's CTF

Goes straight into an ISA from which they should benefit one day...

I like to think i can put something aside for kids. but no way do i agree to saving for my dc's weddings!! or houses.

Gosh im not even married myself!! A big wedding is a luxury. My mom couldnt have afforded to pay for mine, nor would i have expected her to either, as an adult. And i definitely dont agree to contributing to their houses(unless you have lots of spare cash). I am a very generous person but i draw the line at stuff like that. They will have to go to work and earn like everyone else to pay for weddings and deposits for houses!

OMG, I totally spaced it, Athene!

I'm so sorry!

Which is good because I changed my mind about the Cover Girl lipstick.

I'd like a re-usable barf bag right about now. Just kidding.

Will write NOW!

dd and ds's cb goes partly into their savings account and the rest I spend as I see fit. Im a sahm so I have no income generated by myself so I see this as spends for myself. BUT that said it gets spent on a variety of things from clothes for the lo's or me or even stuff/gifts for dh..I don't think oh this is £x amount of cb to spend on x...Suppose I save some of it....

BTW I don't see why those of us on a higher income should not qualify for cb....

DH is on a very good wage and being a company director he works long and sometimes unsociable hours so I guess imo this is reflected in the wage BUT im a sahm so don't have an income myself,I choose to give up work to better my lo's (imo) so obviously im/we're less off financially..
We or should I say dh pays his tax'es etc like everyone else so why should we not get it..? We still have bills to pay and lo's to feed and clothe.

I pay it into a separate bank account along with the tax credits and use it for ds's swimming lessons, shoes what's left goes on childcare. After Easter i'll start using it to buy his xmas pressies

I save £50pm for ds and spend the rest on books.

It is the only way I could save something for my dd. I hope she will go to university (can but hope). Mind you I stick it into an account that I have control over, as I'm a tad concerned about the CTF, I do stick some money in it each month, but she will have control over this when it matures and lord knows what she'll be like when she's 16. I know what I was like .

I don't think it should be means tested.

I put all the money from child tax credits and family tax into a bank account for my DD.
She's only two so quite easily and cheaply entertained, so we dont have to worry about paying for lessons / activities etc.
All her food / clothes and stuff comes out of our wages, as does childcare. It means DH & I are poorer per month for it, but hopefully it will be a nice amount of money when she is older, either for University / travel / deposit on a home.
Though, admittedly, she had just over £2k in there a while ago and we used it to pay off DH's credit card as they were messing us around - DH has to pay it back though, I'm not charging him interest, so long as its there before we plan to give it to her!!

I save it for my dd, dont know what for iyswim but would like her to have some savings, maybe for an expensive school trip or a once in a lifetime opportunity or uni.

We arent rich, at all, i am sahm, dh works part time and studies part time, dont see why saving it for my childs future is wrong? I use the ctc as 'my pay' and independent money that i can choose to spend without consulting dh as he hasnt earnt it. I think it is because we aren't that well off that i think it is so important for my kids to have savings, it is all about priorities the money is direct debited out of my account so i dont think i have it so cant spend it. Similarly we are insured etc. and the money is taken out before we see it as we see it as essential as we would never be able to just pay to replace things at the time.

hmmmm. where people are talking about means testing, can I ask a question.
Are we talking about the bog standard approx £18 for a first born a month, or the tax credit you apply for and it is dependant on wages and hours?