Child benefit/tax credits - what do you do with yours??

[CocoaOne]

I don't separate it out, but each month I budget £50 to spend on LO (clothes, toys, bibs etc) and I save a couple of hundred quid which is going towards paying my bills (food, petrol, phone etc) when my maternity pay stops in December. Although the money isn't being spent directly on her, I like to think she benefits from having me at home for a few extra months.

ETA - we get £160 a month in CTC and CB

 

[bathbabe]

it all goes into my account and helps me live while on maternity pay, we get a fair bit, i actually have more money now than i did working FT. When i go back to work i will be saving some and putting it away for Harrison

 

[Claire788]

All our crc & cb gets spent, food nappies etc. I've worked since I was 16, not saving it, so it can be taxed a 2nd time!

 

[leelee]

All money in our house goes into the same pot. Me and OH get spending money per week which is budgeted to include LO's needs. We currently have more going in than we spend, but I'm using the money to first pay off debts and then save up for a house deposit. If some is the money we are able to save is because we receive CTC and CB then our LO is going to benefit from having a house to live in.

Similar situation here. We need to pay off some debts and then we are saving for a house (after selling our flat).When the debts are paid off we will be in the position to save a bit for LO. But as you said Celesse, LO will benefit overall from us having a nice house for him to live in

 

[daniandbaby]

I spend it on shopping, nappies clothes for kye etc

I have just got a job so once I start and all my money is sorted out it will be going in to kyes trust fund

 

[Foogirl]

Can I ask, are people here saying they feel guilty for seemingly not spending it directly on their child?

If so, that's nuts!! It is a benefit designed to help parents provide for their children. You can spend it however you wish!

 

[littlepne]

Ours goes into the bank and along with DH's wages and my MA goes to pay our bills. I don't budget (but I should), I buy what LO needs as and when she needs it. I try and buy as much stuff for her on ebay. I can't afford to save any of it, hopefully one day I can.

 

[PrincessJenna]

As soon as I get my cb I go out & buy nappies, milk & wipes for the month, CTC is usually spent on a new toy or outfit x

 

[leelee]

Can I ask, are people here saying they feel guilty for seemingly not spending it directly on their child?

If so, that's nuts!! It is a benefit designed to help parents provide for their children. You can spend it however you wish!

No, I don't feel a bit guilty as LO gets lots anyway but I would like to put money away so when he wants to go on a gap year, uni, or wants to buy a house, that we are in the position to help him.

 

[MrsVenn]

Goes in to the joint account so goes towards a roof over her head, nappies, Aptamil etc.. We don't get CTC.

We save seperately for Molly for her future.

 

[funkyfish586]

we use both to live off every £1 Is accounted for in our wages. When i go back to work in a few years i will start saving for them but its just not possible now x

 

[stephx]

Umm it just gos in the pot like the rest of our money! I spend more than £20 a week on bits for her anyway so I guess I just spend it x

 

[stephx]

Oh and we get quite a lot CTC but that gos on bills mainly x

 

[bathbabe]

Can I ask, are people here saying they feel guilty for seemingly not spending it directly on their child?

If so, that's nuts!! It is a benefit designed to help parents provide for their children. You can spend it however you wish!

Not at all, i agree with you. If it was ment to be money for saving for LO it would be put straight into an account that parents couldnt access (sp) like CTF.

 

[Emzywemzy]

It goes in the pot for Bills! CB, Tax Credits and Maternity Allowance make up my portion of the income whilst I am on Maternity Leave. Once I go back to work anything extra will go into her trust fund I would have thought x

 

[ames_x]

£30 of it goes into his Savings account the rest goes on nappies, wipes, clothes and anything else he needs

 

[cherryglitter]

We use ours on food, bills, rent, nappies, milk! Whatever we need really to keep ourselves alive and living comfortably!

 

[Blah11]

I just spend it. I obviously buy her stuff throughout the month so I just treat it like another wage really. (CB anyway, tax creds go to nursery)

 

[xemmax]

we currently have 2 cars but we're going to get rid of both and buy a bigger shared car, and so we're going to spend the tax credits on that. inititally the car will cost a lot but will save us so much money by car sharing!

it's all saved at the moment and we're going to carry on doing that, only spending it on big purchases like the car, or a holiday for us all. that way it should save nicely. a portion of it is transferred monthly into savings for oliver.

however the child benefit i'd like to start spending week by week on nappies etc, as i'm pretty skint at the moment, but my boyfriend insists on saving it all!

 

[loulabump]

Wow so many of you save it for your LO's. I so wish I could do this but as soon as it starts getting paid I'll need it to live, most likely it will be spent on LO though...nappies/milk/clothes etc. Really struggling with just my maternity pay at the moment.