[Solved] Bit Hard up!!

Hi and welcome to the forum

I'm not sure what benefits are around these days, it may be worth giving the benefits office a call, but other dads on here may have some ideas.

Best money saving idea I can think of is to try to plan in advance so buying things like cots and sterilisers, if you start looking now on Ebay you have plenty of time to pick up a bargain rather than having to take whatever is available if you leave it to the last minute.

I've just seen an advert for moneyadviceservice.org.uk -it's free and independent so worth a look.

Hey, cheers for the response,

THanks for the link and the ideas... my OH has been on ebay also so collecting things bit by bit... I Gave my details for ebay to my OH ages ago and I found out that we got a cot after she had won it (through the bid confirmation email 😉 ) lol.

Bit nervous as its our first but so excited!!!

Cheers

Hi there

Yes it will be hard and you will miss the income - however think of the alternative

Do you have a free babysitter? Parents are great but if they are not nearby then this will not come cheap.

Look on ebay as previously suggested but also consider car boot sales for other items or use other family members. This is NOT a time to be proud.

FInally your OH may want some adult company once baby arrives and may work 1 or 2 days a week - can you work around this so you can help with bringing up baby?

Good luck with it - check what you can get and remember don't be too proud to ask - others can only say no!!!

Hello mate

With regards to benefits, you will qualify for Child Benefit, which is around £20 per week for your first child. It's paid every 4 weeks so your looking at around £80 there.

Secondly, you should qualify for Child Tax Credits, which is based upon your income (i think everyone with a kid earning up to £40k gets these). It's based on your P60 figure for the last tax year, but be aware, when you use the HMRC calculator, it only gives you the amount it thinks you are owed until the end of this tax year, ie - April 2012, so the figures dont reflect a full years amount of money.

Hope this helps

One added point to the tax credits - as Basdad says, it's based on the previous year, but I if your circumstances change significantly, then I think you can get it changed - obviously, for last year, your wife will have earned 8k, but that's going to change when the baby is born. It's worth ringing the tax credits helpline and asking them for advice, they are generally very helpful.