Forum home Family life & relationships Single parents

Finacial Support

Hi there, Erm I'm new to this and not sure where to start. I'm starting to panic about how I'm gonna cope alone money wise. I'm working at the moment and in a rented House but on a relatively low income- i earn ??200 a week and ??80 is rent and bills and I'm in some Debt too! I'm not elegable for help with rent and not sure what to do re work. Will I be better off just leaving work and claiming benefits or should I stay on Mat leave when It starts in May? Does anyone know what I might be elegable for or is anyone else in this situation? I'm not a scrounger by any stretch of the imagination infact i've had a job and paid my dues since i was 13 and am now 34 , I just want whats best for baby and not sure what to do for he best!

[Modified by: vivienne1976 on 23 March 2010 19:21:07 ]

Replies

  • I am currently on Mat leave and I get some money from my LO's father. I also get child tax credits and some working tax credits, child benefit (when you are single you can get it paid weekly instead of monthly) and I get housing benefit, although I don't get the full amount and I get help with council tax too. Just make sure you get all the forms you need to fill out before the baby is born (I am assuming you are pregnant at the minute as you said you start Mat leave in May) Fill them out as best you can until the baby is here, then fill out the rest when your LO is here. I made the mistake of leaving it all until my LO was here and have been single since I was 3 months pregnant, so found it really difficult to get everything sent off in time. You have time limits for some of them, 3 months for child tax credits and with housing benefit you will have to apply for it to be backdated, which I did just explaining I am a new single mum and they backdated it, but don't know how easy it is in different areas.

    Good luck with everything x
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions