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Money worries

Does anyone else feel like there constantly struggling to keep up with every day life? Both me and my oh work but we have recently had to remortgage our house to repay lots of debts and his ex wife and our mortgage payents have gone form ??377 per month to ??690 and i am just sick to death. It's like we just constantly struggle. We've always worked have a young son and another on the way but cant claim any benefits? even though are outgoing are going to be double and im due to go on maternity in 4 weeks. It just doesn't pay to own your own home these days. I'm even concidering cutting my loses and renting for a while, but moving with 2 young kids isn't the best idea lol
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  • yes, yes and yes !! We earn fairly good wages but it just isn't enough to cover everything anymore. Our oil bill is ??500 a time, council tax is ??1200 a year, son's driving lessons are ??30 a pop, childcare for Tom is ??120 a week and I can put ??100 petrol in my car each week (only a bleeding 1600cc focus not a porche!!!), I never have any cash now and worry constantly about getting in debt.
    I would stick with house even if renting is cheaper in the short term, if you sold and the market took off you could find yourself out for good. I only pay interest on my mortgage eash month and pray in a few years I'll be able to chip away at the massive balance or win the lotto ???
  • It awful isnt it? we are thinking of going to intrest only aswell for the next 2 years, then remortgaing again for a lower APR. my bills are pretty similar to yours, my other half earns good wages but that annoys me aswell as he pays nearly ??200 per week in tax but we cant get any benefits!! I just doesnt seem worth your while any more to buy a house or train for years to get a well paid job.
  • you should get child benefit as on the website its implies its for everyone as its not means tested. Its 18.10 per week which is better than nothing!!! image I know the other one child tax crfedit is means tested so maybe you don't get that one. I dont have any children yet so don't know that much about them. It soes make you sick though when your working all the time and never have anything going spare! hope things get better for you xxx
  • It's not worth it. My oh has a good job, I don't work as childcare would cost more than I used to earn (we have no family localy). If it wasn't for the fact that my fil died while I was pregnant with Millie and left oh a large lump sum we would be screwed completely. As it is we just about manage to limp from month to month but the possibility that the mortgage rate might go up and bugger everything is always hanging over us. I know that we are luckier than alot of people, we own our two cars outright and don't really have any depts apart from the mortgage but it makes me wonder why we bother when the government do absolutely nothing to make it any easier.

    [Modified by: Bedhead on March 26, 2008 10:27 PM]
  • I feel the same as you!

    I'm very lucky in the respect that i've got a 4 bedroom house with quite abit of equity in it and im only 24, but both me and my oh have worked so hard to keep this house up and running.It just makes me sick that no one helps when your financially stuck. My brother is paying ??495 per month to rent a smaller house than mine so in that respect its good but then i look at some of my friends who dont work(have no reason for not working) and get money thrown at them of the government when people who genuinly need it, get hardly anything.

  • by its not worth it do you mean not worth making the claim???
  • No sorry, I was still typing my epic reply to the post before yours when you posted lol.
  • Thank god I'm not alone. OH and I both work and I have a pretty decent salary. But our mortgage on 1 bed flat is already ??580 a month (edinburgh prices !!) and we need to move to a bigger flat for when baby arrives. Probably gonna cost aboutanother ??200 a month on interst only. I stupidly have loads of debt from student days and this takes up about ??430 of my income every month. Plus bills, council tax etc.
    When I'm on mat leave I have no odea how I'm going to be able to pay off my loans etc so I'm saving like mad just now. Hopefully we'll be OK and when I go back to work all my disposable income will go on childcare and we will have to live off OH's salary. Which won't go very far for 3 people !!
    Completely agree that I work all year to help support people who don't work and claim benefit but when I'm not goingt o be working on mat leave there is bu**er all support for me. Aargh, try not to think about it and focus on bundle of joy. Suz x
  • hi, I completely agree, me and oh were talking about this the other day. I have just finished work and I am on maternity leave. I am due in a week. I was teaching at my local college, doing parent classes to teenage mums. It was a great experience but I had to really bite my tongue at times when they were moaning about needing a new double buggy and only getting a grant for two hundred pounds when the one they wanted was three hundred!!! I know that they have a hard time being young some were only 16 but it made me cross knowing that I had bought my pram off ebay to save money yet both my husband and I both work. I only worked part time due to already having a 2 year old son. It seems that if you try to do your best by being a family, owning your own house and working, you are the worst off. My MIL was asking why my husband was using up holidays to be off when the baby is born, and why he was not going on paternity leave. This is another thing that really annoys me. Where he works he gets the standard amount of about ??100 a week paternity pay. That with my maternity pay would not even pay our insurances let alone the mortgage. Sorry for the rant but I find it all so frustrating.
  • im on benefits (incapcity benefit) been onit all the way thru preg i got my own house but its council im struggling to pay all my bills i live on my own only get 56quid aweek my mums been havin to pay for my food shopping cos its just does'nt last but wen my son is born ill switch to income support hopefully get the 500.00 grant.so then hopefully things will b bit easier i feel for everyone of u guys xx
    abbie,hope+bluebump 37wk
  • Hi I can only agree with you all, my OH and I both have very good jobs but we only have enough money for bills, mortgage and childcare, we both have to use a car as we work to far away and both start early. that cost a bloody fortune, we have decided I can only afford 8 weeks off work at smp so will with holidays owing etc be back at work by time baby is 14 weeks assuming baby comes on time. Cant even afford to start maternity leave before baby comes as will mean less time off with baby going to be knackered before baby even comes.

    Government have alot to answer for in this country.
  • Can only agree with everything that has been written. Both me and Oh have full time jobs on decent wages however we seem to struggle every month! Like you Zoey we just can't afford to get on the property ladder so we are renting at the moment. Luckily compared to others we don't seem to be paying over the odds on rent (??400 a month on 2 bedroomed house) but with bills that keep going up and the fact it costs us ??240 in petrol a month, its just so hard. At the nd of the month we have less than nothing left! Wondering if it is worth me coming back to work after maternity if childcare costs are to high! Its about time that we hard working people got some help! My oh ex has never worked since my step daughter was born (14 yrs ago!) and her attitude is that she dosn'e need to work........yes because she gets handed everything on a fucking plate thats why!!!! Also always has enough money for fags and vodka!!! Sorry for the wee rant but don;t really like her or her attitude!
    Tammi xxx
    28.5 weeks
  • Thank god people agree with me i thought i was going mad! Its like were pinalized for working to get a better life. Obviously i understand that some people cant work but its the ones that can, but dont who really annoy me! I've got a friend who lives at home with her mum n dad, her oh lives with them and she has 2 children who her parents look after. She doesnt pay any rent or bills but around ??300 per week in benefits plus ??175 child care costs when she doesnt even work. She has also got a council house that is still in her name but she doesnt live there as she says it will cost too much (obviously the council dont know this,hense all the money she gets!) its just so infuriating!
  • Agree with everyone but dont forget that owning a house is a choice and a privilege if your lucky enough to be able to, not a right. I get really annoyed when I hear about people sponging off the government too . Even more annoyed when people tell me how "lucky" I am now to have a great husband and a nice house (mtge ??1451 pcm, scarrrry), and a decent job (mortgage broker ironically). I was a single mum at 16 and spent a couple of years on benefit, gradually increasing my earnings to come off of it. I havent got "Lucky", I've worked really hard, at my job and my relationship to make sure it works. I could have made the decision to stay in my council flat on benefit but I had too much pride to do that, and thats where the difference is between everyone here, and the people they are moaning about. You could choose to take the easy way out, sit on your backside and sponge off the tax payers but you dont, you choose to have a better life, as hard as it might sometimes be. (That said we should all remember that some people have a genuine right and need for benefits and government assistance, and would look at us and wish they had the abitlity to do more, these are the people the government should be helping).
  • oh my god, this topic makes me so cross!!!! I got made redundant in dec at 14 weeks preg so wasn;t really able to get another permanent job. My hubby works full time and we have a 4 yr old as well. I tried to find out what help we could get cos me losing my job meant losing half our household income...and guess what? You guessed it - absolutely nothing. Child tax credits said that i had to wait till new tax yr cos i had already earned too much this tax yr, not able to go on jobseekers cos wasn't going to be actively seeking work and no other benefits cover being early pg and jobless. Thank god i hav found some temp work to see me through to maternity but up till then noone cared that without financial help, we couldn't afford to even do the food shopping. And of course, if u do miss payments, the banks then charge extortionate amounts of "admin fees" meaning that u r then struggling to get back on track.
    Sorry for giant rant, i just know exactly where everyone is coming from...makes me so mad that if my hubby was to lose his job too we would get all sorts of help but noone cares about the people who just need a little help every once in a while to get through unfortunate circumstances.
    Anyway, moan over now! xxx
  • I just wanted to jump in and say that some people who earn benefits are doing their best and that money worries don't end just because you recieve money from the government. I lost my job 2 days ago (not through my own fault - am taking them to tribunal for unfair dismissal) and will now have to go on benefits until i find another job. Finding a job will not be easy as I already have a bump, but that doesn't mean that I am not trying.

    I know that a lot of people who are on benefits could get jobs and choose not to, but please don't tar us all with the same brush, as there are people like me out there who really are struggling and who circumstances are difficult for.

    I cannot sleep at night now as I am wondering how I can afford to pay for my flat, food and bills etc with ??45 a week. On top of all that, i have no idea how I will be able to afford maternity clothes.

    I am working my ass off to find a job, but people will not hire you when you are pregnant.

    I jsut wanted to let you know that some people do try their best and that not everyone has the same opportunities.

    I'm really not being rude or trying to say that being on benefits is correct, but I have had a job constantly since I was 16 and this is the first time I have been out of work.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    so sorry if I sound rude xxx
  • hi guys,
    this is my first post so please be nice. :-/
    i have just turned 3o years of ages and have recently found out that i am expecting. the farther whom i have known for 13 years is not so happy about this fact and has done a complete runner leaving me with the anticipation of rasing a child on my own (which i am completley scared stiff about)
    i have worked since i left school and through collage but am now stuck in a dead end job on minuim wage and have no idea who i am going to survive once bump has arrived. i would love to retain my independance and continue working but can just about scrap by as it is on my own so child care is out of the question i believe. my parents are deceaced so can not even ask them to help with baby sitting etc. in all honesty i dont know how im going to cope financilly or emotional! image k
  • Steph

    Don't worry you don't sound rude! I for one have absolutely no problem with people like yourself relying on benefits when you really need them. That is what they are there for and if I was in your position then I would expect to be able to claim them myself!

    The problem is people like speckle described who abuse the system. Just think if taxes weren't being wasted on scum like that we could all have better maternity care, clean hospitals and all the other things that the government can't afford!
  • Thank you, i just didn't want all of you to think that I am the same as all the people out there who have claimed benefits for 30 years and everything. Thank you for your niceness - i know that isn't a word lol xxxxx
  • I know where you are all coming from, it is difficult to make ends meet and is so frustrating to hear all these stories of ppl with more income and the average, from benefits. It is the fault of the government that allows it!!!

    i'm in a bit of a naff situation myself.... 7 weeks pregnant, 8 weeks into a new job.. whoops. although i wouldn't change it for the world. i am seriously considering not going back to work after the baby is born because of the phenomenal cost of childcare!! I don't know how we would cope either way!:\?
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