better off?

[melanieyeah]

Hi guys, seems that people who claim benefits are better off than me and d/f who work... i mean, because i work, there are hardly any benefit(if any) options open to me and d/f, and i know that the maternity pay I will be getting wont be much at all. But if you dont work there seems to be load of benefits incl-£500 maternity grant.
All this is for when i am P/G, i like to plan ahead haha!

So am I better off staying at home or working.. it makes me wonder sometimes.

 

People should only stay at home because they need to, i.e ill or bringing up children. I don't work as I have had a crap pregnancy but as OH does work and so we get nothing except Maternity Allowance it seems. I'm trying to fight my case to get Sure Start Grant at the moment, without it I don't know who will be buying my baby's things or when.
So financially you are better off staying at work. If I could work and help support the house I'd love to. OH is only on a £14K wage and that's supposed to support our house... we borrow £100's a month from family just get by.

Hun trust me, it is not easier. I sit and cry everyday over the situation we're in. Working is honestly the better option.

 

[melanieyeah]

aww thanks for that babes, I wouldnt leave work to go on benefits, but sometimes I wonder how I will manage, it must be so hard, especially for you xxxx xxx

 

Money is one of those shite things you never have enough of no matter who you are - unless your the Beckhams!!

I agree some people do seem better off, my friend for example gets quite a lot of benefits, she has 3 children and lives with her partner who does not work. Various valid reasons why they are in that position but they are better off than me and OH - mainly because they get their house rent and council tax paid for them.

I think the fact you are TTC gives you an upper hand at the moment though, you have that extra bit of time to not go out at the weekends and actually put some money away for the baby already, and the longer you can do it the better I'd say. Even to put money away for bills just incase you get signed off in your pregnancy like me. If you live with OH then you won't get much support from benefits if you get signed off, you'd have to rely on SSP.

I know where you are coming from with the first statement, and I think some people take the p**s with the amount of money they get from benefits for unknown reasons other than they sit on their bums and can't be bothered.

Try and save as much as possible now, it will really help in the future.

 

[melanieyeah]

thanks so much sami, I have £600 saved up so far, d/f is getting some money from a pesion scheme thingy doodah at work, so I guess we wont be so bad. Right now, I owe sky £80, which I cant pay until friday but that is the only debt I am in. So I will get that out of the way, and then keep saving. hard work isnt it! lol thanks again mate! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

No problem sweetie - your doing very well to have £800!!

Think of roughly £1000 to kit your baby out (most expensive things are cot and pushchair though) and then just extra for things like nappies, etc.

Good luck with TTC hun and I hope you catch soon, you're a lovely girl and you deserve it

xxxx

 

[melanieyeah]

*sobs* how sweet are you hehe! I really appriciate your advice and help!
I have my cotbed already(hope I dont jinx anything) but it cost me £50 off ebay, i have loads of little odds and sods everywhere, just gota get a moses and a pram-but ill get those later, like when im preg would help haha. why am i so organised! lol, it makes me sick! thanks again sami, have a great day! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

i am a single teen parent i started a new job 2 days before i found out i was pg which ment i didnt get sure grant all i get a month apart form my mat pay is £260 not even that which makes bringing up braydon hard i am dreading when he needs new clothes i also pay rent with that

 

[Tara & Liam]

My hubby stays at home because we both agreed that we didnt want to put our children in childcare (our own personal decision) so that means that we are really skint and get an amount of child tax and working tax credit which helps (not as good as another wage though), but it has given us peace of mind with regard to childcare.

The telephone number for the sure start maternity grant is 01908 557282 and they are really friendly and helpful. i would suggest giving them a ring.

and Sarah, are you sure you are not entitled. please do give them a ring because you may find that you can benefit from the grant. you only have until Braydon is 3 months old, so give them a ring and let us know how you get on.

x