Ok, here's the deal. Me and my fella want an ankle biter next year. Problems facing us are: Neither of us earn a great deal and are pretty much crippled paying back the loan on the Scooby which means after sprog is born I will have to go back to work. This causes another problem. Child care. It's gonna cost around £400 a month minimum to get the baby looked after which we can't afford either. Any serious ideas on how to get around this?!?!?!

Wait until the loan from the Scooby is paid off? Or see if you can get the loan somewhere else, for longer, at a better rate?

Erm, sell the ludicrously expensive sports car and get a diesel? :eek:

Sell the scoob

I sense a theme here.... :D

I once worked out that to break even, couples who put their kids into private nurseries need to have the partner on the lower income earning about 35k :eek:

You will get child benefit (something like 25 quid a week) as well as childrens tax credit if neither of you are 40% tax payers. (Actually you still get some if either of you earns up to about 40k, IIRC, but it decreases the higher you go). Depending on your earnings you may qualify for working families tax credit, and there's one that pays a proportion of your childcare costs too.

There's an online form to find out if you qualify at https://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue...Household.aspx

I know, we thought of that. We have only had it a couple of months and don't really wanna get rid. Just wondered if anyone had any other idea's?!

Do your parents like kids? ;)

Get your priorities sorted. Scoob or kid?

If scoob comes 1st, then you should not even bother having a kid!

Sorry for being blunt, but people(me included) sometimes miss the obvious questions!

Try and find another job before you are expecting that has creche facilities or would not object to your child being at work.

Do your parents work? Any family friends that would do it for less, ie nothing?

I am fortunate, my wife works for her father, does not get paid alot (less than £10k) but can take both the boys with her, and leave them there if need be so her mother can look after them.

Steven

...of it....rid of it

Sorry...pet peeve - Americanisms...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


Basically, the car is crippling you....Enough said, surely?

Don't sell the scooby!

There are ways around it! :D

Work part time and get your earnings increased with the tax credits scheme. Basically I find that it pays for Stevens childcare and some left over! What you have left over could be for Optimax :D :D

Seriously though, start to put money aside just now and what I did when I was pregnant was get all the buy 1 get 1 free offers on wipes etc and also stock up on nappies too, even just once a month buy a large pack of Huggies (I recommend them, tried both and they are imo the best!). This cut down on the initial outlay and I am sure that your families will buy the bigger items like pram, cot and Recaro for when the wee one is older! BTW the Recaro doesn't fit too well in the front seat!!

Drop me an email if you want some more advice. My son is 3 now.

Amanda x

Alternatively, buy Terry's nappies. Not as convenient, not as handy, but a darn sight cheaper.

Am I the only one here who finds it slightly galling that somebody who allegedly needs tax credits to be able to afford childcare should be able to run a car as ludicrously expensive as an Impreza? [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Providing that the families a)can afford it and b) want to. Not something to be relied on.

Far better, environmentally, too.

No, MarkO - you're not.

I can't afford X, so the state can buy it for me... :rolleyes:

Britain is in a bad way because...........etc.

<High Horse Mode ON>

Sell the car...it's either the car or the child - if you can't afford both, get your priorities sorted. At the moment, you are putting the car before the child...so maybe you shouldn't have a child.

<High Horse Mode OFF>

Interestingly, once you factor in the ridiculously high temperatures and detergents you need to clean them, they aren't any better environmentally :(

I wish i had went for the Kooshie nappies now, it would have been cheaper in the long term.

You learn by your mistakes!

I don't have a Scooby yet and to be honest it's none of your business, somebody asked for some advice and I told her how I do it!

Carl - boil wash them in a huge pot (specifically for the nappies and nothing else) on the oven for a start, use Environmentally Friendly detergents and they can be washed at 40 degrees more than happily.

Urgh! And then put food in the oven afterwards? :eek:

I've got a 5 year old already (from my previous marriage) and my mum looks after him when he's not at school but she can't do it any longer. She is really ill and it isn't fair. My parents made it very clear when I had him that they wouldn't look after any other child I had, so it's not worth asking them!!

I know we need to prioritise..... Child or Scooby but they are pretty much on an equal!!!! I know that sounds sad but it's true! Our dream car!!! B*llox, I'm p*ssed off !!!!!

Given the toss-up between filling land-fill and using some detergent, I guess I'd marginally pick the latter. I know what you mean though.
Fair enough, I didn't realise you don't actually have a Scoob. But it is my business if it's my (already large) tax bill which is being supplemented so that somebody who can't afford a Scoob + kid is being helped to have exactly that.

Bear in mind that I got rid of my own STI earlier in the year because it was becoming uneconomical to run - despite not having any kids and having a high enough income where I would never qualify for tax credits at all. :(

Got to ask whats more important car or kids?!?!

I couldnt justify a 2.0 turbo over another life , doesnt even come into the equation


Sell it!

Si

This 'needs tax credits' thing isn't as bad as you make out, MarkO. If a couple both work and earn about the same each then they can earn up to around £80k (£40k each) and still get children's tax credit. I reckon that accounts for a fair proportion of the people in the country (some of whom will have Scoobs :D)

Carl, please notice the use of the word ON...as in ON THE OVEN....

Put the nappies in a huge pot ON the oven, not IN and then boil-wash them... The pot is one that has been bought for this purpose and nothing else...
:D

You can't put stuff 'on' our oven, as it has a hob on top :confused:

Ahhh....a new-fangled device, eh? ;) Oh well...can't do that then! :)

Failing that - d'ya have a BBQ outside? ;)

Then you don't deserve to be having more children!!!

If you're serious about having kids, and the money isn't there, then selling the scoob should be totally natural and a no-brainer.

[Edited by MarkO - 10/30/2002 11:13:43 AM]

I'm single and don't have any kids so maybe I'm not the best to comment...............but I will.

If you don't see selling the scoob as the obvious and surely only option to take then I think you have your priorities totally screwed up! It's only a car FFS........

I must live on a different planet to you :rolleyes:

Chill out MarkO!!!

Thanks Carl! It is true, if you can get help take it!

AJ