Job woes...

[cwspellowe]

Right, first off, child tax credits. The point he's trying to make is they throw money at you until you reach an earnings threshold, once you breach that you get so little tax credits that you actually end up worse off than you were before. Last year we got about £300 a month through various credits because I was unemployed and my year's earnings were sub-£15k. This year we get nothing because i've been working the full year. What happens is people don't want to push themselves over that threshold as anything up to as little as £1 below the threshold entitles you to the full amount. £1 OVER the threshold and you lose it all.

I know it shouldn't be relied on but having that amount of money cut from underneath you can have a massive impact on your quality of life..

As for us? Linzi isn't working for various reasons, and isn't claiming either. I'm on a £19k basic with no bonus for the next 9 months thanks to my disciplinary, so we've lost about £250 after tax each month through that. Our total take home pay is £1290 after tax, NI and student loans.. and we still manage to run a house, car etc. with a three year old child at home.

Rent £475
Council ra*e £130
TV, phone, broadband £50
Gas/Elec £90 monthly (currently £130 as had to spread the cost from when we were quarterly)
Mobile phone bill £25 each = £50
Car Insurance £55
Paying off debts from years ago £70
Fuel £30
Home insurance £16

Add in TV license and other random bits and bobs.. leaves about £200 a month to feed ourselves and the occasional splurge.

An extra £400 a month Chris? Yeah your rent's higher, but if we can keep a family on a similar disposable income there's no reason why noone else can...