Job woes...

[C.A.R.]

Bit of a rant / request for advice.

I work in the timber door industry, have done for nearly 5 years now. It's commercial stuff, not like that you get on the front of your house...

Brinigng in 25k (not affraid to tell you lot that much!) and it's simply not paying the bills. Live in a small house which was the cheapest in the area, but struggling to pay the bills every month and have enough money left to eat.

Last year I was on 20k, so we were entitled to a bit of Child Tax Credit which helped pay for the nappies, food and clothing for Florence (most clothes are 2nd hand). When I threatened to leave my position last year they gave me a £5k payrise to keep me here, so it's highly unlikely I'll see another payrise anytime soon.

Here's where it gets annoying.

The MD of the company is bringing his eldest son in to work here. I have to train him up, teach him the ropes. He won't be here everyday since his dad is putting him through a construction course at college

Wait a minute, wasn't I offered further education when I started here? WTF happened to that offer?

Basically feels like a kick in the bollocks. It's not going to increase sales, it's going to increase my workload, the lad is going to get paid healthily by Daddy and I'm going to be struggling on whilst he will be trying to find his own customer base (we don't get paid comission here).

So what do I do? Present my issues to the MD or is this likely to cause upset? Mention that I'm struggling to make ends meet and if they could look at any possibility of a payrise?

Not going to get any tax breaks this year and the support for Florence (our daughter) will drop to £7.08 a week, which doesn't even buy the food she needs. Sadly, the Government see it as we are living well off of the huge amount of money (LOL) I'm bringing in and working 40 hour weeks for, therefore we don't need any help.

Part time work is something I've considered, but that means spending even less time at home with my daughter.

I feel like I've worked hard to get here and there are no rewards for it, I'm skint every month. Now the MD's boy is coming in and I feel like I'm being squeezed out...

Well done for reading this far

[kentiiboii]

Bit of a rant / request for advice.

I work in the timber door industry, have done for nearly 5 years now. It's commercial stuff, not like that you get on the front of your house...

Brinigng in 25k (not affraid to tell you lot that much!) and it's simply not paying the bills. Live in a small house which was the cheapest in the area, but struggling to pay the bills every month and have enough money left to eat.

Last year I was on 20k, so we were entitled to a bit of Child Tax Credit which helped pay for the nappies, food and clothing for Florence (most clothes are 2nd hand). When I threatened to leave my position last year they gave me a £5k payrise to keep me here, so it's highly unlikely I'll see another payrise anytime soon.

Here's where it gets annoying.

The MD of the company is bringing his eldest son in to work here. I have to train him up, teach him the ropes. He won't be here everyday since his dad is putting him through a construction course at college

Wait a minute, wasn't I offered further education when I started here? WTF happened to that offer?

Basically feels like a kick in the bollocks. It's not going to increase sales, it's going to increase my workload, the lad is going to get paid healthily by Daddy and I'm going to be struggling on whilst he will be trying to find his own customer base (we don't get paid comission here).

So what do I do? Present my issues to the MD or is this likely to cause upset? Mention that I'm struggling to make ends meet and if they could look at any possibility of a payrise?

Not going to get any tax breaks this year and the support for Florence (our daughter) will drop to £7.08 a week, which doesn't even buy the food she needs. Sadly, the Government see it as we are living well off of the huge amount of money (LOL) I'm bringing in and working 40 hour weeks for, therefore we don't need any help.

Part time work is something I've considered, but that means spending even less time at home with my daughter.

I feel like I've worked hard to get here and there are no rewards for it, I'm skint every month. Now the MD's boy is coming in and I feel like I'm being squeezed out...

Well done for reading this far

Shit me your struggling on 25k a year :/ hows this possible? I know your down south but are prices really that bad?
I know its none of my buisness but what bills do you have going out couldn't yu cut them down a little

[Niall]

Sorry but with regards to the mds son, I think your just being a whiny little bitch. How do you know the company is paying for his college course and not his dad out of his own pocket? Secondly, he's the mds son. No matter what happens, there would always be a bit of preferential treatment.

With regards to the wages, how are you struggling on 25k? My basic wage is about 1k higher than that (although more than that goes to hmrc to various reasons) and if it wasn't for my loan payments and lack of ability to not spend money on crap, I could easily rent my self a flat with all bills and live comfortably within the m25. Your out of London so should be less for you!

[C.A.R.]

Shit me your struggling on 25k a year :/ hows this possible? I know your down south but are prices really that bad?
I know its none of my buisness but what bills do you have going out couldn't yu cut them down a little

I know right? I thought as much, life shouldn't be this tough, I know the national average is something like 26.5k, but monthly outgoings are sky high!

On 25k the monthly take-home after tax / NI is ~ 1640. I have the following outgoings which can't be helped -
Rent - 715
Cncl Tax - 129
Leccy bill - 95 (pay quarterly)
Phone / internet bill - 30
Mobile x 2 @ 20 each - 40 (this is pissing cheap for 2 contracts!)
Car ins. - 55
Credit cards - 70ish (this is minimum payment, interest free!)

Adding it all up and thinking "heh, there's still 500 quid in the kitty" but this has to pay for shopping, fuel, car maintenance etc. It's not like we live in luxury either, we make a lot of meals ourselves and Florences' food is home-made, not those expensive jars / pots / pouches.

Life, eh?

[kentiiboii]

You need to move up here mate. Rent for a 3 bed house is between 4-500 a month. You still have £300 to get to work and back everyday but I know everything was expensive down south but god thats bad.

[Ruan]

IMHO you need to start a budget for fuel, food, maintenance etc.

Like I put away £100 ish a month purely to keep in a kitty for when the car NEEDS something... My budget goes something like this:

I take home 1147/month

Rent: £325
Phone Bill: £36 - I know, I need to drop it!
Insurance: £68
Fuel: £250 - That's in a DT - you can imagine what it was like in a GTI6...
Food: £150 - That includes my lunches as well
Car: £100
Paying back shit I owe to parents etc - £200

That takes me to 1129... So yeah, I suppose I do live FAIRLY comfortably, but I swear EVERY month it's a case of "Oh, this is an exceptional month, I won't have this next month to pay for" - then sure enough, the next month something else happens... For example we're someone short in our house share at the moment, we've got someone moving in, but not until next month, so it means we've all got to stump up the extra - so it's ANOTHER £100 that has to come out... It's just stuff like that ALL the time...

[C.A.R.]

Sorry but with regards to the mds son, I think your just being a whiny little bitch. How do you know the company is paying for his college course and not his dad out of his own pocket? Secondly, he's the mds son. No matter what happens, there would always be a bit of preferential treatment.

With regards to the wages, how are you struggling on 25k? My basic wage is about 1k higher than that (although more than that goes to hmrc to various reasons) and if it wasn't for my loan payments and lack of ability to not spend money on crap, I could easily rent my self a flat with all bills and live comfortably within the m25. Your out of London so should be less for you!

Rent prices have gone through the roof around here. Stevenage has 2 junctions on the A1 and a train station, we're literally 28 minutes from central London, which means prices are high. The small house that we rent is the cheapest in the area. Sure, we could live in a smaller flat with no garden, no driveway and in a shitty area, but we've done that and the quality of life is a lot more shit for the £100 you save.

I feel a bit c*nty saying that we're struggling on my wages alone, but I have 3 mouths to feed / keep happy!

I just hope the MD's son isn't being drafted in to fill my position. I don't have a written contract here either, which worries me even more so...

[Ruan]

I just hope the MD's son isn't being drafted in to fill my position. I don't have a written contract here either, which worries me even more so...

GET ONE f*cking SORTED.

[swampy]

Start by paying the electricity monthly works out better for a. Start

[puglove]

does seem odd to me that your struggling on 25k .

you say you got £500 left but food/shopping ect . i dont see how you manage to use all that. me and the mrs use £250 a month. that includes food, shower stuff, house cleaning stuff , keeping 2 cats , a reptile, and any other small misc things like light bulbs etc so how are you blowing £500?

---

also like to add as this does get to me. your choice to have a child. so dont moan that what the goverment gives you to keep that child. be thankful you get anything atall!

[Niall]

also like to add as this does get to me. your choice to have a child. so dont moan that what the goverment gives you to keep that child. be thankful you get anything atall!

This 1000%

[Dum-Dum]

Guys you say hes struggling on 25k but you gotta remember that hes supporting his missus and kid and the nipper is at the age where shes gonna grow out of clothes on a monthly basis.

I find it tough on £35k, I spend alot of my time eating baked beans or weetabix for most meals as I cant afford proper food. That said I don't take home alot more than those of you on £25k but then Ill be retiring earlier and on a better pension.

Chris the MD's son will get preferential treatment, you'll never change this, its the perk of being the MD's son, if you complain you'll just cause shit. It dosen't matter if the money is coming out of the company or the MD's pocket as hes the MD and can do what he wants.

Do you not qualify for income support or some sort of other tax break. Does your missus bring in any money at all?

[puglove]

Im not the only one who gets rattled by this theb lol

[C.A.R.]

does seem odd to me that your struggling on 25k .

you say you got £500 left but food/shopping ect . i dont see how you manage to use all that. me and the mrs use £250 a month. that includes food, shower stuff, house cleaning stuff , keeping 2 cats , a reptile, and any other small misc things like light bulbs etc so how are you blowing £500?

---

also like to add as this does get to me. your choice to have a child. so dont moan that what the goverment gives you to keep that child. be thankful you get anything atall!

It gets to you? Why?

Yep - our choice to have a child. Yes I'm peeved about losing money from the government which I used to support our daughter. The margins work in such a way that once you get your head just slightly above the water the benefit drops off a cliff and you get chickenfeed. Meanwhile there are people out there who don't work, have never worked and have no intention of working and are comfortably living in a council-paid house, with bills paid for. This is who you should be annoyed at. I've been in full time employment since I was 17 when I left college, mmmmmmkay?

There are people who are on twice, 3 times the household income who get child benefit buddy!

----

No, Mrs doesn't bring anything in. But she does look after our daughter full-time. This is the other conundrum...

She would need to earn X amount before it would cover the childcare fees to pay someone to look after Florence during the hours she is at work. Until she earns over this threshold, the money is just being pissed away. When it comes down to it, I'd rather my mrs be a mother to our daughter than go out to earn money to give to someone else to look after her, geddit?

I need to look into it for sure, since you are entitled to more tax breaks if you pay for childcare, but there's still some sums to be done to work out whether or not it would actually make a difference or if it would simply make no difference at all....

[bigcheez2k3]

Maybe you need to make yourself some more money whether that be breaking cars or finding some evening work. At Pizza Hut we get a few guys who work evenings and or weekends to top up their wages so they can pay the bills.

[Mattcheese31]

CAR . . . . most of the people replying are not bringing up families in an expensive area of the country on 25k, which you and i know is fcuk all, you won't get any sympathy mate because they're all not living in the real world yet, i feel your pain because i have 2 kids and experience not a half cocked idea of how far money should go after i've paid for my nights out, new clothes, a tank of petrol to burn off for the laugh and 2-300 quid rent coz i share with my mate innit etc etc . . .
i don't mean to take the piss lads (actually i do) but stop being so fcuking self-rightous because most of you haven't got a clue yet, one of the reasons i'm a 35 year old man running veg oil in a 20 year old car . . . . .it's tough when you support a family and the government taxes your bollox off and gives you very little in return . . .(Thatcher's Legacy btw )

keep your head up pal and try and save (not spend money) where ever you can . . .

[Dum-Dum]

TBH Matts right most people here live with parents and living on your own is completely different, however much anyone thinks it costs add 20-100% to that.

[fuziduck]

CAR . . . . most of the people replying are not bringing up families in an expensive area of the country on 25k, which you and i know is fcuk all, you won't get any sympathy mate because they're all not living in the real world yet, i feel your pain because i have 2 kids and experience not a half cocked idea of how far money should go after i've paid for my nights out, new clothes, a tank of petrol to burn off for the laugh and 2-300 quid rent coz i share with my mate innit etc etc . . .
i don't mean to take the piss lads (actually i do) but stop being so fcuking self-rightous because most of you haven't got a clue yet, one of the reasons i'm a 35 year old man running veg oil in a 20 year old car . . . . .it's tough when you support a family and the government taxes your bollox off and gives you very little in return . . .(Thatcher's Legacy btw )

keep your head up pal and try and save (not spend money) where ever you can . . .

Maybe the OP should have considered the cost of bringing up a child in an expensive area on a job with no contract (or job security) before poking her. Having a child is a choice at the end of the day.

Sorry if I sound like a cock, but I feel you have brought some of this on yourself. (Although I'm sure you have your reasons, as does everyone.)

Have you considered asking your GF to do shift work in the evenings when you aren't working, then you wouldn't have to pay child care, and it would bring in some much needed spending money.

Also £20 phone contract each, do you need a flash phone, could you not have a sim only contract, I pay just £12.50 for 500mb, 300mins, unlim texts. Still rocking my phone from 2010!

[C.A.R.]

If anybody sat back and actually calculated what it costs to bring up a child nobody would ever have children buddy!

The job is 'secure' as I have been here over 2 years and there'd be no intention of getting rid of me, but the possibility that they might move me into a different department as a direct result of the MD's son taking on my workload, which I don't really want.

Evening / weekend work is something we are considering too, she has applied for a few jobs. I've said that I wouldn't like it since I'd never see her, but needs must. My phone contract is £36, but I use it for work so it is subsidised 50%. I might look at changing the Mrs contract since she is on O2 and seems to never have signal anyway!

[devils_fuel]

Shit me your struggling on 25k a year :/ hows this possible? I know your down south but are prices really that bad?
I know its none of my buisness but what bills do you have going out couldn't yu cut them down a little

I know right? I thought as much, life shouldn't be this tough, I know the national average is something like 26.5k, but monthly outgoings are sky high!

On 25k the monthly take-home after tax / NI is ~ 1640. I have the following outgoings which can't be helped -
Rent - 715
Cncl Tax - 129
Leccy bill - 95 (pay quarterly)
Phone / internet bill - 30
Mobile x 2 @ 20 each - 40 (this is pissing cheap for 2 contracts!)
Car ins. - 55
Credit cards - 70ish (this is minimum payment, interest free!)

Adding it all up and thinking "heh, there's still 500 quid in the kitty" but this has to pay for shopping, fuel, car maintenance etc. It's not like we live in luxury either, we make a lot of meals ourselves and Florences' food is home-made, not those expensive jars / pots / pouches.

Life, eh?

Me and my partner earn your wages, we have a kid thats 3 and your bills are cheaper than ours...i have no hair left from pulling it out the day after payday! we struggle to eat
I need another job but time with charlie is gold...so i struggle on as thats all that keeps me going. I will be fecked if the car needs work or to be replaced

[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...

[HDIkyle]

Tell her to get off her arse and find a job. When I met my partner she was a single mum with a 4 year old living on her own. She worked from home as she can't afford childcare. Now she works part time so gets around a quarter of that and we manage to run a car, sky, mobile, rent, electric, council tax ect ect and support her little lad with no csa income. Not sure about other income such as child support but it don't make up nowhere near 25k :/ I was also out of work for over a year and she supported me also on that.

[gareth7]

does seem odd to me that your struggling on 25k .

you say you got £500 left but food/shopping ect . i dont see how you manage to use all that. me and the mrs use £250 a month. that includes food, shower stuff, house cleaning stuff , keeping 2 cats , a reptile, and any other small misc things like light bulbs etc so how are you blowing £500?

---

also like to add as this does get to me. your choice to have a child. so dont moan that what the goverment gives you to keep that child. be thankful you get anything atall!

It gets to you? Why?

Yep - our choice to have a child. Yes I'm peeved about losing money from the government which I used to support our daughter. The margins work in such a way that once you get your head just slightly above the water the benefit drops off a cliff and you get chickenfeed. Meanwhile there are people out there who don't work, have never worked and have no intention of working and are comfortably living in a council-paid house, with bills paid for. This is who you should be annoyed at. I've been in full time employment since I was 17 when I left college, mmmmmmkay?

There are people who are on twice, 3 times the household income who get child benefit buddy!

----

No, Mrs doesn't bring anything in. But she does look after our daughter full-time. This is the other conundrum...

She would need to earn X amount before it would cover the childcare fees to pay someone to look after Florence during the hours she is at work. Until she earns over this threshold, the money is just being pissed away. When it comes down to it, I'd rather my mrs be a mother to our daughter than go out to earn money to give to someone else to look after her, geddit?

I need to look into it for sure, since you are entitled to more tax breaks if you pay for childcare, but there's still some sums to be done to work out whether or not it would actually make a difference or if it would simply make no difference at all....

This makes my blood boil.

I know exactly where you're coming from Chris, our son has just turned three and although our joint income is a little more than yours we struggle too. We're fortunate the Liam's just started 2 days a week at our local school's nursery and that he now qualifies for 15hrs a week free childcare. Heidi, my wife, had no choice but to go back to work after her maternity leave, all be it part time, two days with a 12hr shift on each.
Things are better now than they were a few months ago because we're not paying out for childcare but things are still very tight. Granted, our rent is cheaper here in Herefordshire but our other bills and outgoings are similar and having to run two vehicles isn't cheap at all. I'm also self employed which means my monthly income can vary widely and that can cause major issues if I've had a bad month.

All I would say is that until you're in this position and have a baby/child of your own you'll find that there simply isn't ANY spare money. When there's 3 mouths to support on one income it makes life incredibly difficult, especially in this climate when the cost of living seems to be constantly rising almost week by week.

[C.A.R.]

As odd as it sounds I'm kinda glad I'm not alone in this boat.

Finally cost me less than £70 to fill up the car this week, with the fuel coming down 5p a litre. It's the little things that add up!

Nephews' birthday this month, Florence is growing way too quick so she'll need a few new items.

My little sister is the biggest benefit sponge I know, which makes it really hard for me to be happy for her. She's just gone away on holiday for the second time this year. She doesn't work. Her partner works less than 16 hours a week so they are entitled to a higher rate of benefit. The house they live in, rented, is £1,050 per month (London), is paid for by the tax payer.

Makes your piss boil, eh? They've just announced the date of their wedding, too. If you're a taxpayer you should come along, seeing as you have paid for it?!

[Anton]

Agree with both Chris's, i earn around 35k but living in Oxford is not cheap. I get by but wouldnt say i am comfortable.
In regards to the op, id keep looking for a job she can do at home.

[declantg]

Well, I'm never having kids..

[Dum-Dum]

Chris I know how you feel, after having got this HDi I'm seriously considering breaking a few cars on the side to make some extra money. If you were doing that you could send the missus down the post office with bits so she can earn her share.

[sweeney1987]

I know right? I thought as much, life shouldn't be this tough, I know the national average is something like 26.5k, but monthly outgoings are sky high!

On 25k the monthly take-home after tax / NI is ~ 1640. I have the following outgoings which can't be helped -
Rent - 715
Cncl Tax - 129
Leccy bill - 95 (pay quarterly)
Phone / internet bill - 30
Mobile x 2 @ 20 each - 40 (this is pissing cheap for 2 contracts!)
Car ins. - 55
Credit cards - 70ish (this is minimum payment, interest free!)

Adding it all up and thinking "heh, there's still 500 quid in the kitty" but this has to pay for shopping, fuel, car maintenance etc. It's not like we live in luxury either, we make a lot of meals ourselves and Florences' food is home-made, not those expensive jars / pots / pouches.

Life, eh?

A lot?? should be all!! especially if youre birds a full time mum, also if youre not bringing a packed lunch to work then you cant complain, its an unreal money saver!
Really cant see how you cant budget to be honest, me and the girlfriend ca live off €25 food per week, eating healthy and meat every dinner, fuel is a killer, get an xud and veg it... or be very careful with economy, no heavy right foot.
Children are expensive but youre choice so dont complain about benefits.
Although if i had my way anyone on benefits with no work for more than a year would be consigned to bread and water, see how long it takes them to try find work then....
Maintenance on car shouldnt be too bad, try save a bit each week for when something does go wrong.
And if its really that bad then get your missus to get a part time job on evenings/weekends, no childcare costs and will dig you out of a hole to build up capital / save for a deposit so youre paying your own mortgage instead of someone elses...

[Stephen]

Man, I don't want to grow up

[Jonny b]

Don't claim fuckall never have after all the shit we had after our 1st child trying to get working family tax credit off them, figured it was more hassle than its worth