Were all in this together

[drcarlos]

Let me put this into perspective I am one of those it will effect and I have strived to earn more over the years to benefit my family.
I take one holiday a year in my caravan (which was not expensive) and it cost me a little over a grand, I cannot afford to take package deals to Tenerife in peak season.
I pay the mortgage and bills, we shop at Aldi, we have a six year old Truck which we are selling as it is too expensive to run and will be getting a smaller cheaper car probably just as old. I went racing 4 times this year at a cost of about £50 a time as the money is not there to do it 12 times a year. I don't own 5 Kleins I have had my CB nearly 20 years and the Muddyfox has cost me about £100. I dont spend hundreds each month on widescreen TV's.
OK yes I am getting a new car (the first one ever) but it's a company car which I need for work and the money to pay for it comes out of my salary.
Basically I earn a bit over 60k but we just about make ends meet we are hardly living the life of riley. My wife even works part time to help out. If they are going to take the benefit away they need to take it away from couples with combined income of over 44k as well and also get tough on the lay abouts (I know a couple of people like this who are milking the system for all it's worth) and asylum seekers/freeloaders too.

Carl.

 

[Neil G]

Let me put this into perspective I am one of those it will effect and I have strived to earn more over the years to benefit my family.
I take one holiday a year in my caravan (which was not expensive) and it cost me a little over a grand, I cannot afford to take package deals to Tenerife in peak season.
I pay the mortgage and bills, we shop at Aldi, we have a six year old Truck which we are selling as it is too expensive to run and will be getting a smaller cheaper car probably just as old. I went racing 4 times this year at a cost of about £50 a time as the money is not there to do it 12 times a year. I don't own 5 Kleins I have had my CB nearly 20 years and the Muddyfox has cost me about £100. I dont spend hundreds each month on widescreen TV's.
OK yes I am getting a new car (the first one ever) but it's a company car which I need for work and the money to pay for it comes out of my salary.
Basically I earn a bit over 60k but we just about make ends meet we are hardly living the life of riley. My wife even works part time to help out. If they are going to take the benefit away they need to take it away from couples with combined income of over 44k as well and also get tough on the lay abouts (I know a couple of people like this who are milking the system for all it's worth) and asylum seekers/freeloaders too.

Carl.

60k....what you doing with your money bud if your finding it hard making ends meet on that wage :shock: . I'll never earn that!

I'm 35 now, single, work full time and probably have no more money than I was when I was a student over 10 years ago.

Having kids just not possible, even if I was with someone!

 

[drcarlos]

To work in the industry I am in I have had to live in the south in one of the most expensive areas in the country. Before I have even started my mortgage take 1/3 of my take home salary, we only live in modest 3 bed house.
I should say that it's only recently I have had that salary (like 1 month) before i was in the mid 40's, but once my car and pension (never had one before but I am thinking i need to have something if I live beyond retirement age) come out of my salary I will be back down to a similar figure.
I will be looking to move to a cheaper area with this new job as i can work from anywhere that has broadband so maybe things will get easier.
I can tell you with 2 kids and a modest house you do not live the highlife on 45k a year.

Carl.

 

[IDB1]

I was on close to £65k in 2000 and we didn't live an opulent life then..

The tax is a crippler for starters.. then you have to remember it costs to go to work.. I was forking out £250 a week on fuel, fags and food. Just for work.

 

[marin man]

You lot are so hard done by............My mrs.and I worked fifteen hours a day with 1 day off a fortnight until recently for social services and we have not had a holiday .....ever.
We now rely on my shop as my wife has been unwell and unable to go to work and she is entitled to nothing,because I am self employed and if I quit my business then we can get a tiny amount but that will not make ends meet.
We struggle to pay our mortgage every month and there are only two of us in the house and a couple of pets.
Her children have grown up and left,and we get no help at all,but pay tax and always have done.

 

[The Ken]

Sorry Dr Carlos but with that salary I can't give you any sympathy, I earn much less and although I live in a cheaper place to live my mortgage is still over a quarter of my income. However I don't know all your personal circumstances so my opinion is only based on what you made public.

We get child benefit and will continue to do so, even our combined income doesn't reach the threshold and we have 3 children. I haven't paid into my pension in over 5 years because I can't afford to, other than the odd weekend camping we take a proper holiday every 2 years. We don't eat out much and when we do it is on Clubcard vouchers.

I have to factor in things like petrol and spares before entering a race or event. I tend not to race because of the additional costs.

I consider myself lucky, we can afford to eat decent food and buy the kids the things they need. If I didn't have the additional debts

There are many people that earn much less than both of us and have more children. Some of them even live in expensive areas to live.

On top of this I don't agree child benefit should be removed for some as the country needs the population to be balanced and at least some sort of benefit should be supplied to compensate for the extra costs involved.

 

[drcarlos]

Sorry Dr Carlos but with that salary I can't give you any sympathy, I earn much less and although I live in a cheaper place to live my mortgage is still over a quarter of my income. However I don't know all your personal circumstances so my opinion is only based on what you made public.

I knew I wasn't going to get much sympathy and TBH I wasn't expecting it, what does nark me though is that a couple earning £87,999 between them still get an extra 2k a year in benefit when we get jack and bring in 25k a year less than them. It would be pretty easy to say all households with a combined income of over 44k don't get it, just like they already do with child tax credits (and they already have all the data they need there FFS!).

Carl.

 

[suburbanreuben]

Sorry Dr Carlos but with that salary I can't give you any sympathy, I earn much less and although I live in a cheaper place to live my mortgage is still over a quarter of my income. However I don't know all your personal circumstances so my opinion is only based on what you made public.

I knew I wasn't going to get much sympathy and TBH I wasn't expecting it, what does nark me though is that a couple earning £87,999 between them still get an extra 2k a year in benefit when we get jack and bring in 25k a year less than them. It would be pretty easy to say all households with a combined income of over 44k don't get it, just like they already do with child tax credits (and they already have all the data they need there FFS!).

Carl.

Don't start on Tax credits... £600 a year for household incomes from £20k ish to £60k or so. Why spend the money on the admin required to dish it out? To make it more complicated, there's child tax credit and working tax credit.
These are an enormous contributor to the "It's not worth working" argument. Aside from losing other benefits, for anyone increasing their income from £10k to £20k pa, every extra pound earned loses them 75p in tax credits! :?

 

[The Ken]

what does nark me though is that a couple earning £87,999 between them still get an extra 2k a year in benefit when we get jack and bring in 25k a year less than them. It would be pretty easy to say all households with a combined income of over 44k don't get it, just like they already do with child tax credits (and they already have all the data they need there FFS!).

Carl.

(and they already have all the data they need there FFS!)

Not sure that is the case and I think the reason they have done it the way it is - They have the info for all individuals in the upper tax bracket so thay can easily exclude them, They have the info for all registered married couples in all brackets so thay can easily exclude them where required.
The ones that they can't track are the unmarried couples as their finances are only tied if they are claiming other benefits, it could also cause issues for couples that are seperated/living apart but still technically married.
I think the extra work involved in tracking and paperworking these would offset the savings and probably result in another Child Tax Credit type fiasco.

I do agree though it is unfair and any percentage of salary lost is always hard to swallow.

 

[The Ken]

Yes, child tax credits are a nightmare I don't claim them and haven't since around year 2 of them - we were overpaid and despite pointing it out were told it was right - 2/3 years later they asked for it all back and has been under review ever since. Making a claim is just not worth the stress.