Another whats it worth thread... - Page 2

Smokey · 13-09-12, 07:56 PM

I was £1600 for black mk2, 96k miles, belts done, alcantara, all electric windows 8 months not, 6 months tax, still on rear tyres 16k later. This was 9 months ago or so?

Smokey · 13-09-12, 08:34 PM

I'd be the same mate, I'd want to keep working regardless but if there is a big difference in income, you have to think of you and the kids. Sadly, with 2 kids and Kat working part time while at Uni, I'm still. It entitled to tax credits due to my income!

It's a shitty system, but get it working for you short term rather than sacrifice your transport mate.

daytona365 · 13-09-12, 08:54 PM

I feel for you..............I have only one child (he is 20!) but its a struggle keeping flat going and a zed too. Hopefully when he starts uni next month, things will get a bit better, as he is paying me £300pm rent.
Id try and keep the car, a) you will regret selling b) you wont get much for it c) when you back to normal, you wont find another one as good.

Smokey · 13-09-12, 09:46 PM

Another ZS!! You need to stop getting rid of them lol!

Maxfly · 13-09-12, 10:14 PM

Not a good time mate, pity CAB's advice was so poor that would be the only thing I could think of that could have helped

carmadbaker · 13-09-12, 10:26 PM

Awww wish i had the space for my old zed back :-(
Sorry to hear things arent flowing your way at the moment mate, whatever you decide im sure it will work out!

waynester · 13-09-12, 11:01 PM

Not an easy situation.. many of us I guess have similar stories. I have 2 children, but I pay my way each month my responsibilities. Much rather see them & raise them (as normal) everyday, but the ex decided that that was not going to happen!

Anyway...again, selling the car may only help in the really short term, but leave you without a car? Not helped by the criminally low undervalue of the Zed!

Is it not an option to pursue the mother for maintenance through the courts/CSA?? She may not want to see them, but she still has an obligation to pay in the eyes of the law!

Good luck mate

andy-81 · 13-09-12, 11:05 PM

wayenster is right and you could try maybe popping into the council to see if your entitled to a little help with the council tax i know it wont be much but every little helps

guru · 13-09-12, 11:16 PM

I feel for you, especially being in the same sector as I was an IT admin / manager. I earned a lot more then the average for this area and wifey works too which meant our household income was pretty good however even with that having 2 children in full time childcare meant that we were skint pretty much every month! We've made a few massive changes which have helped, firstly I quit my job!!!! I didn't leave to scrounge off the state but actually set up my own business as an I.T. Consultant which has grown considerably over the last 2 years and now brings in more then my previous full time job, plus I have the added benefit of being able to see the kids for more then 10 mins a day! As part of that change we also 'shopped around' for the childcare and by changing from a big nursery that was part of a national chain to a childminder in the village we've halved our childcare costs. That's one change I wish we'd made a lot earlier, the kids seem far happier now and she also does the school runs which is a massive help. Shopping for childcare is not something we'd have considered but in hindsight it's just a service like any other.
I also had a major look at all of our finances and chopped them to the core, insurances, entertainment, cars, mortgage.....you name it I looked at it and just by doing that managed to slash the household budget, OK we don't have Sky now but I can't say I miss it that much!

Unless you're earning an obscene amount you should also be getting a lot more then £100 in child tax credits so it might be worth talking to the tax credit people again. If you haven't already then also look at the childcare vouchers scheme as these are tax free and save you about 20% on the amount you can put into them, well worthwhile.

If your interested and want to send me over details of your expertise / experience then I can also keep you in mind if any work comes up through my company. We're pretty small at the moment but growing at a fair rate and we also have contacts in the south west so may start to target that area soon.

stamford · 14-09-12, 07:22 AM

There are times when you need to play the system, not fight against it. During my time I have been made redundant three times and one time one of my kids was only 2 weeks old so know exactly what goes on. You have to put pride aside and do what is best for you, your family and your own wellbeing, stuff anything else.

There was a time when I was better off on benefits and hated it, so I can understand how people fall into this trap and put off going back to work. I had to turn down several job offers as the pay was so bad I was better off on benefits, daft I know but that is the system for you!

I ended up taking the next job offered and took another twilight job just to make ends meet as I hated being stuck in the system.

As for the CAB advice, that is so wrong but typical of how things work these days.