what do you actually 'get' now? (money)

[sophie22]

ive been re reading my money matters booklet and it seems alot of stuff no longer exists. like child trust fund and one of those grants. so is there anything you are actually eligble for if you are just a normal working couple? i may soon be able to get working tax credits once OH sorts his accounts out but i dont think this makes me eligble for anything pregnancy wise? there was that £500 one but i dont think i could get that? it seems so unfair. we dont have a big income and most our stuff is second hand but id love to be able to buy a new travel system

 

[leahsbabybump]

have you tried for the sure start maternity grant i dont qualify for it due to OH income being too high i dont know how they class it as being too high he only get £16,500 pa and i only get maternity pay from the job centre £125 pw maybee you could apply for that.
Maybee best off going to the citizens advice onceyo know what your income is on paper between you both when its 100% right thy will be able to tell you what you qualify for x

 

[sophie22]

it says that you need to be getting one of a list of benefits, the nearest i could find would be working tax credits, but then it says something about having a disability elemen =t in that, which i dont. so i think that means ic ant have it :/

 

[smileyfaces]

I agree, it's completely rubbish. Seems that you only get the extra benefits if you haven't worked through your pregnancy for some reason or another. I work 40 hrs a week, my OH works in excess of 50 hrs a week and we are both on low wages an still struggle to pay bills and buy things for baby. It doesn't seem fair to me.

 

[tardiz]

agreed, if you both work its doubtful you'll get much. the £500 annoys me a little to be honest. everyone could do with £500 extra to buy baby things and i read on here once one woman say she used hers to buy luxuries as she already had everything :'(

 

[leahsbabybump]

TBH the whole entire money support system sucks in my opinion if you could never be bothered to get off your but and get a job you get £300 sure start grant then you get all those benefits you get you rent and council tax paid for etc etc etc then people who do work for a living and who are generally struggling no one gives a dam to help us :-/
dont get me wrong i know there are people out there who generally cant work forone reason or another but some people jsut like to toss it off at home and live off all the hands out from government which us workers have to pay which is what criples us. My step dad pays £200 per week in income tax!!
its unreal i really do feel for you hun i would have loved to have gone out and bought baby some one of things brand new but our wages etc just dont stretch that far we only just manage to pay the bills we have to penny watch in supermarket we have to watch what gas andelectric we use round house it seem some peopl neverbothered to work and their kids are running round streets with all designer gear on :-/ the only new things i have for the baby are clothing gifts from friends and family
oh well rant over lol sorry i took over your post but it makes me mad when people work all hours to try and support their families and they ask for a little help and the authorities may as well just kick us in the teeth for trying

 

[smileyfaces]

TBH the whole entire money support system sucks in my opinion if you could never be bothered to get off your but and get a job you get £300 sure start grant then you get all those benefits you get you rent and council tax paid for etc etc etc then people who do work for a living and who are generally struggling no one gives a dam to help us :-/
dont get me wrong i know there are people out there who generally cant work forone reason or another but some people jsut like to toss it off at home and live off all the hands out from government which us workers have to pay which is what criples us. My step dad pays £200 per week in income tax!!
its unreal i really do feel for you hun i would have loved to have gone out and bought baby some one of things brand new but our wages etc just dont stretch that far we only just manage to pay the bills we have to penny watch in supermarket we have to watch what gas andelectric we use round house it seem some peopl neverbothered to work and their kids are running round streets with all designer gear on :-/ the only new things i have for the baby are clothing gifts from friends and family
oh well rant over lol sorry i took over your post but it makes me mad when people work all hours to try and support their families and they ask for a little help and the authorities may as well just kick us in the teeth for trying

100% agreed. I have always worked and paid my way and it seems that you do not get any credit for that from the government. They are more inclined to help those who do not have any intentions of finding a job.

 

[BabyNo1.]

Yep basically nothing if you work! we are lucky to get an maternity really I mean what do they do with all the money they tax me at the end of the month, coz I don't get any of it back! I would be quite happy not getting any benefits if they just taxed me less so I could keep more of what I actually get of my arse to earn!

 

[leahsbabybump]

TBH the whole entire money support system sucks in my opinion if you could never be bothered to get off your but and get a job you get £300 sure start grant then you get all those benefits you get you rent and council tax paid for etc etc etc then people who do work for a living and who are generally struggling no one gives a dam to help us :-/
dont get me wrong i know there are people out there who generally cant work forone reason or another but some people jsut like to toss it off at home and live off all the hands out from government which us workers have to pay which is what criples us. My step dad pays £200 per week in income tax!!
its unreal i really do feel for you hun i would have loved to have gone out and bought baby some one of things brand new but our wages etc just dont stretch that far we only just manage to pay the bills we have to penny watch in supermarket we have to watch what gas andelectric we use round house it seem some peopl neverbothered to work and their kids are running round streets with all designer gear on :-/ the only new things i have for the baby are clothing gifts from friends and family
oh well rant over lol sorry i took over your post but it makes me mad when people work all hours to try and support their families and they ask for a little help and the authorities may as well just kick us in the teeth for trying

100% agreed. I have always worked and paid my way and it seems that you do not get any credit for that from the government. They are more inclined to help those who do not have any intentions of finding a job.

me and OH get penailised everytime because he earns more than 16k a year he earnt exactly £500 more than that last year so we cant have the help i dont know how far they think £500 takes you if you spread it out over the year lol it wouldnt even pay for food or electric for the year
it sucks me or OH have never claimed any benefits nothing never ever so nowwe are struggling we try to get a little help and nada we earn too much obvs we dont earn enough cos we struggle topay renton time every week
oh well its one of those things you could go on about all day isnt it

 

[Boony]

Yep basically nothing if you work! we are lucky to get an maternity really I mean what do they do with all the money they tax me at the end of the month, coz I don't get any of it back! I would be quite happy not getting any benefits if they just taxed me less so I could keep more of what I actually get of my arse to earn!

I'm guessing your not using the NHS at all then! free prescriptions whilst pregnant? free dental care? NHS Midwife? NHS Hospital?

Not to mention all the other things Income Tax pays for!

Yes its unfair that LOW income families arent getting as much help but you cant say your not getting anything back! It would cost alot more to have a baby if you had to pay for your healthcare. Just having a baby in a private hospital costs over £10000!

 

[sophie22]

what i find even more awful is that they got rid of the benefits that were for everyone! the only new things i have are what other people have bought, except one month i managed to have enough to buy a new moses basket matress (the thing itself was given second hand) and a few outfits that were on sale, and i ended up in my overdraft more than usual at the end of the month ( i try not to go in it too much other wise my wages just get swallowed up again!)
my situation is a nightmare as OH is only earning like £400 a month now. he has his own business but is waiting for new projects to come, but because his books are a year behind it makes it look like he earns loads. even the forms they give you to fill out when they know this info still look at times when he was doing better. luckily tomorrow his accountant is sorting something or other out so he has some different info to give out. im just trying to decide what will be more benficial, working tax credits or help from the council. things might get a bit better after that! i only earn 11500 a year as its an aprentice wage! so we get the bills paid and whats left has to go on food as he cant afford to help out after the bills are out!

 

[strawberry19]

doubt youl get anything we havent been able to get any of the grants or any benefits and between us we only earn £1500 a month so after taking 500 of that out for our rent the rest is bills, paying off a little debt we have and rest has had to gradually buy baby stuff we managed to get everything but a little help would of been nice! wel get child and working tax credit when baby is here and child benefit and it sickens me that we are actually going to be alot better off each month

 

[leahsbabybump]

what i find even more awful is that they got rid of the benefits that were for everyone! the only new things i have are what other people have bought, except one month i managed to have enough to buy a new moses basket matress (the thing itself was given second hand) and a few outfits that were on sale, and i ended up in my overdraft more than usual at the end of the month ( i try not to go in it too much other wise my wages just get swallowed up again!)
my situation is a nightmare as OH is only earning like £400 a month now. he has his own business but is waiting for new projects to come, but because his books are a year behind it makes it look like he earns loads. even the forms they give you to fill out when they know this info still look at times when he was doing better. luckily tomorrow his accountant is sorting something or other out so he has some different info to give out. im just trying to decide what will be more benficial, working tax credits or help from the council. things might get a bit better after that! i only earn 11500 a year as its an aprentice wage! so we get the bills paid and whats left has to go on food as he cant afford to help out after the bills are out!

i would go for the working tax credit help as once you are getting working tax credits you do qualify for many other things xx

 

[lovelylaura]

Its such a nightmare trying to find out what your entitled too and that its all based on last years earnings would have got much more help if we didn't work x

 

[leahsbabybump]

Yep basically nothing if you work! we are lucky to get an maternity really I mean what do they do with all the money they tax me at the end of the month, coz I don't get any of it back! I would be quite happy not getting any benefits if they just taxed me less so I could keep more of what I actually get of my arse to earn!

I'm guessing your not using the NHS at all then! free prescriptions whilst pregnant? free dental care? NHS Midwife? NHS Hospital?

Not to mention all the other things Income Tax pays for!

Yes its unfair that LOW income families arent getting as much help but you cant say your not getting anything back! It would cost alot more to have a baby if you had to pay for your healthcare. Just having a baby in a private hospital costs over £10000!

it costs just over £4000 to have a bay in private hospital and that includes all your antenatal care and a 48 hour stay in hospital and for your labour etc thats at st.john and st.elizabeth hospital in london were kate moss had her baby.
Also the dentist would only cost £15 per check up i have only been once during pregnancy and i know some people do use medications during pregnancy but i have only needed a couple at £7 each so am i really that better off to say for the last 7 year i have paid approx 16k in income tax not to mention the national insurance and my OH had paid approx 44k in income tax (no national insurance) since he started work (hes a lot older than me lol) and he has never so much as had a stay in hospital :-/
its is a fact that i would be better off financially if i was a single mom not working claiming of the state with my 2 kids than if i stayed with OH and we both slog our guts out we did actually work it out out of curiosity as we were pissed off about thelack of help we are entitled to as a low income family

 

[BabyNo1.]

Yep basically nothing if you work! we are lucky to get an maternity really I mean what do they do with all the money they tax me at the end of the month, coz I don't get any of it back! I would be quite happy not getting any benefits if they just taxed me less so I could keep more of what I actually get of my arse to earn!

I'm guessing your not using the NHS at all then! free prescriptions whilst pregnant? free dental care? NHS Midwife? NHS Hospital?

Not to mention all the other things Income Tax pays for!

Yes its unfair that LOW income families arent getting as much help but you cant say your not getting anything back! It would cost alot more to have a baby if you had to pay for your healthcare. Just having a baby in a private hospital costs over £10000!

Yeah I think you get the idea we know what the taxes are supposed to pay for!
Yes we all use the NHS, but a little bit of help back for all the years of hard work would be appreciated by many families. I'm not asking for benefits just a reduction in the amount of tax I pay on what I earn each month!

 

[sw121]

You can get an idea about whether you would be due tax credits by using the following calculator:

https://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/payments-entitlement/entitlement/question-how-much.htm

They've changed all the thresholds since April though, so a lot of people who would have received credits last year either don't get them or get them at a hugely reduced rate this year. We worked out that the only way we would be entitled to them would be if I gave up work completely and then we would get a whole £50 a month! It seems it's not geared around encouraging people to work anymore.

Unless you are a higher rate income tax payer (which I'm guessing you're not) then you will get child benefit - I think it's about £90 a month for first child, but less if it's your second child.

It all sucks if you've been working throughout the time when all the other payments were being made.

 

[Boony]

Yep basically nothing if you work! we are lucky to get an maternity really I mean what do they do with all the money they tax me at the end of the month, coz I don't get any of it back! I would be quite happy not getting any benefits if they just taxed me less so I could keep more of what I actually get of my arse to earn!

I'm guessing your not using the NHS at all then! free prescriptions whilst pregnant? free dental care? NHS Midwife? NHS Hospital?

Not to mention all the other things Income Tax pays for!

Yes its unfair that LOW income families arent getting as much help but you cant say your not getting anything back! It would cost alot more to have a baby if you had to pay for your healthcare. Just having a baby in a private hospital costs over £10000!

Yeah I think you get the idea we know what the taxes are supposed to pay for!
Yes we all use the NHS, but a little bit of help back for all the years of hard work would be appreciated by many families. I'm not asking for benefits just a reduction in the amount of tax I pay on what I earn each month!

You have had a reduction the government upped the amount you can earn before having to pay tax!

I dont see why people have this 'I'm having a baby what are the government going to give me?' attitude? The government handing out money to everyone is what got us into debt in the first place and somehow it has to be paid back!

I'm glad they've taken the £190 grant away it was a waste of money in the first place! The £500 grant is still available for LOW income families for the first child they have so they are still helping people that need it!

 

[kandbumpx]

Not read through all the posts on here... But I know how you feel.. GRR! OH works 45 hours a week and I was working 40 before I went on maternity leave... And we arn't entitled to any of the sure start maternity grant! Or milk tokens ect. It REALLY annoys me as when you work, you seem to get help with nothing!? But when you don't work, don't look for a job (fair enough to people that are trying to get a job ect) they get help with EVERYTHING and get £500 just like that! Ye and they get their rent paid and council tax.. So they'll have more spare money than us that work that have to pay full rent and full council tax! But yet it's us that have to pay everything in full that doesn't get any help with things like this! Right gets on my t*ts! Then government wonder why noone wants to work or isn't bothered about getting a job! The answer is.. You get more money, and seem better off when you don't work!!
Sorry for rant lol, but just really annoys me...

 

[strawberry19]

id consider myself a low income family at £1500 a month sometimes less but we could not get the £500 grant because we dont claim any benefits.. friends of ours get more in benefits and pay outs than we do wages and neither of them bother to work because they cant be arsed they get their rent and council tax n everything deducted and got all the pregnancy grants.... and spent none of it on baby stuff!!... this is what pisses me off.. they should give it out in vouchers or just not give anyone anything afterall if your gonna have a baby you should be able to afford too! we are quite proud that we got everything for our baby for ourselves