All-round Budget thread

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Jeez, Cil1234, that was a harsh. I liked Pippy's post. If we were businesses our net gain would be looked at. But, as individuals, they tax us based on income alone irrespective of our costs. And people who are labelled rich on paper are often struggling more than those who are benefitting from their taxes.

@Chil1234

Firstly I was not looking for any sympathy - you are completely right about everyone making their own choices. Yes I could sell up and move to where my family live and probably be better off even with a much worse job.

However I was just pointing out that simply looking at gross income is not a great indicator of how well off someone is. I can directly compare myself with someone who chooses the same lifestyle as me (has a family house, job, 1 child etc) in a very different part of the country and I while it might seem that I should be significantly better off because of my salary, in fact due to not getting the benefits/tax credits they get, due to silly house prices etc, I end up with less money to spend on my "lifestyle" every month. I don't expect sympathy, but I also ask that people understand that not everyone has the same outgoings and it is NOT related to leading some kind of opulent lifestyle.

I never go out, rarely buy clothes other than for daughter, have to be VERY careful when food shopping, don't smoke, can't afford holidays etc, so I am at a loss at exactly which part of my lifestyle I have opted for that I can't afford.

strix...I wouldlike tothink that was true; but I have me
doubts...

it was very noisy in parliament. What are they all on?

Not harsh at all. Anyone earning good money and still struggling to make ends meet shouldn't just be blaming the tax-bill or thinking they need handouts but should look closer to home at outgoings and life choices. Life is not the way it was five or six years ago where those on £50k qualified for benefits and we could spend it like water, borrow some more and hang the consequences. I think some people have not yet woken up to reality....

" Yes I could sell up and move to where my family live and probably be better off even with a much worse job.".... seems like a no-brainer to me. What's stopping you?

So fuel duty will be cut be 1p per litre? Great.

But the the government are funding this by taxing the fuel companies an extra £2 billion. Now who do reckon will have to pay for that?

I have never qualified for benefits (other than recently the child benefit), and have never expected to receive benefits given I do think my salary means I shouldn't get them. I have never complained about how much tax I pay either - I earn more I pay more - simple. I am completely realistic that taxation will never be done a different way.

I am not "blaming the tax-bill or thinking they need handouts" I am just pointing out that higher rate tax payer does not equal well off - there are more factors. Some don't get this it seems and clearly get wound up when a higher rate tax payer dares to suggest that maybe they should be given some slack rather that seen as some kind of well to do rich person who can afford whatever measures are thrown at them while somehow someone earning under this band must be seen as more needy.

"I think some people have not yet woken up to reality"... and I think some people are too black and white in their thinking and are making comments with no understanding of other peoples circumstances. Sadly those who think in this way are unlikely to take on board the views of others so there is no point even trying to defend my position.

Working mum's with kids in childcare - working to work and not really enough to enhance your households income! My sons pre-school is £3.52 ph and most jobs that I am trying to get are paying not alot more than £6.00 ph so over half before tax gone on childcare!! Yes you get child tax which in our case gets lost in our account on every other bill rent etc!! Then you have the fuel expence to get to pre-school then work it all adds up and you have to ask why do it at all!! But with next to no money and the insanity of staying at home with a 4 yr old - roll on September when he starts school!!

Serious question for anyone paying 20k a year childcare. Why don't you employ one of these young people desperate for a decent job? You could get someone with childcare qualifications, double what some shirt nursery pays them and still be quid in.

The budget was much as predicted. If it does help the economy that is probably the material way in which it will help most people.

Wish he'd backtracked on the Child Benefit - am not looking forward to the hit when it all goes (the higher rate taxpayer bashing is really grating when we will lose CB because of DH's salary but if we each earned half his salary we'd still get it...)

Chil1234 - I don't spend money like water, we have a large mortgage because that's pretty much the going rate round here, and prices were high when we first bought a house. We don't have any other borrowing. I never envisaged child benefit going in one hit rather than ever being phased out gradually, so can you blame me for having factored it into our "lifestyle choices" (which extends to swimming for one child and dancing for the others, nothing out of the ordinary)? Looking at our accounts, the majority of our disposable income goes on food and petrol, and the amount we spend has increased significantly in the last year.

(waves at Xenia - fancy making this about flat tax and the benefits it would have for the economy ? )

I like that 50% tax isn't here to stay.

Pippy is right. I'm in a situ now where it would make more sense for us to live where DP works (styx) 160 miles away from London but I just wouldn't be able to get a job there in the field I work in so we have much higher living costs plus no London weighting on his public sector. Obviously it wouldn't be measurable but tax on disposable income would seem fairer.

I'd happily swap with someone paying HRT, would be fine losing CB if I earned that much and I would help DD at Uni. I do work but am not valuable enough to earn a high salary.

Everyone has had to tighten their belts and are being hit, does anyone want to swap with me btw.

There will always be people better and worse off than all of us. People get used to what they have and when they have less that's harder. They can always try to take second jobs though or set up a business if it's hard to make ends meet. It's amazing how much you can do if you really put your mind to it.

(There's no chance of a flat tax in the UK)

It's difficult to take a second job when you're already working 60 hours a week of course.

The other option is cutting back on what you spend and, obviously, that is easier to do the more you earn. I know, we reduced our income by 50% and we manage. We do without lots of things, but we have a roof over our heads and food to eat.

Swimming and dancing, whilst lovely, are hardly necessary. Organic and free range food is wonderful, but if you were really on the bones of your arse you'd manage a basics carrot, I'm sure.

We don't need half the shite we spend our money on. Can you imagine our parents and grandparents buying a new TV just because there was a newer model available? You made do with what you had and when it broke you had it fixed!

Wubbly some of us have always lived that way, we've had no option.

But what happens when you simply can't cut back anymore?

MrsOtter we're not rich, not by a long shot!

I've frequently walked around the local fruit and veg market a dozen times, just to make sure I'm getting the best possible deal on each individual item. Those pennies add up and when you have to account for every penny, it really matters. I've learnt to eke 12 plus meals out of 400g of minced beef. I just focus on what we have, rather than what we don't.

I'm not saying it's easy but so long as you're fed and warm and loved, then everything else is just a bonus.

wm, some of us still use things until they wear out in 2011 actually. I would never replace a television unless it were irretrievably broken and buy Tesco value chickens etc. Just drink tap water etc and I'm not poor.

you don't become rich by spending it Xenia

how comes everyone else seems to be better off from April 2011? According to thesalarycalculator, I shall take home about £26 less every month due to the lowering of the HRT band and the 1% increase in NI fromApril. Am I missing something?

Oh no, not the tap water thing again.

Well according to the budget calculator, I'll be around £50 a month better off, and as a single parent with a not very well paid job and a car needed to do my job it will be very welcome!