Building my safety raft - advise needed from those who've come out the other side.

[ilovehugs]

Hello again!

I've had sooo much support on this site over the last few months as I have been taking the first steps towards leaving my partner of over 13 years.

Without listing all the horribleness, please can I just ask this... Can my beautiful children and I survive on a worse case scenario of £1600 per month??? This is my salary, tax credits, maintenance and child benefit. Rent around here would be about £590. Are there any other benefits I could get? I have a new term-time only job starting in Jan in which I will work 31 hours per week.

Advice greatly needed... x x x

£1000/month for utility bills, groceries, clothes, running a car (?) council tax etc. sounds pretty reasonable to me. Have you run your details through the www.turn2us.org.uk benefits checker?

Have you checked about housing benefit? I got some when on similar income + paying 700 a month rent - didn't get full entitlement but it helped.

It's tight but doable.

I think I might get a bit of help but would have spend most of the equity I would get from the house sale on car/furniture etc first before I could claim. I really want to hang onto that cash as it is basically my life savings. I might be able to get council tax benefit. Hmmmm Can I be really cheeky and ask what your budget is?

Sounds similar to my budget if DH and I split up. Rent around here is more than where you are. I'd like to buy, but don't know if I could get a mortgage based on tax credits etc. Tight, but I think with very careful budgeting should be possible.

Just done an online calculator thing and our most basic outgoings are £3150!!! That doesnt include clothes, days out or anything. That's just the basics, DD's sports stuff and running a cheap car. I see other people on low incomes coping. Are there some benefits that I've missed out on???? I don't see how we could live?

£3150 translates to about £53k gross I think!!! That's hardly 'basic outgoings'. Bottom line is that, if you want freedom and happiness, some of the material things of life might have to be sacrificed. Depends what you want most really.

That £3150 is rent, utilities, broadband and £400 per month for food and everything else. Using some online calculator thing. As long as I can have a roof over our heads that's fine. It just doesn't calculate though. :(

TMI warning but...

rent 590
council tax 100
tv 3
phone/internet 20
food/clothes 400
gas/elec 70
water 40
breakfast club 40
dds sports 39
car running cost and petrol 119

Arghhh!

How on earth did the calculator work out 3150 for basic outgoings?! If your rent is 590 and food 400, there is no way your utilities will be 2160. Maybe a spreadsheet would be better? :)

At the time I was living on 1600, bills would have been around 300 / month and I used to budget 250 for food / household, and 60 for fuel.

I didn't have a landline at the time and used mobile broadband, which saved me about 20 a month.

Sorry about the lack of pound signs, btw, I'm on my phone!

The figures there don't add up to £3150? They add up to around £1430.

All those things listed come to around £1500, which would leave a little left over each month for extras / repairs / savings etc.

Seems very doable.

You may also get relief on your council tax plus possibly housing benefit.

Blimin calculator thing has all those says that's £3100 - but that doesn't calculate

Blurghh maybe it's too late. That does add up to just about 'dooable' though. You're right. Was using this...www.barclaysmoneyskills.com/Your-money/Budget-calculator.aspx?WT.mc_id=1991316262020561-&gclid=COPshr35qbQCFePHtAodqx4AFQ&WT.srch=1&mpch=sem&mpch=sem

Just checked and checked and our basic outgoings would be £1528 leaving about £60 for error. Scary but do-able.

Thanks Hatpin - v. reassuring.