Now that the brouhaha surrounding last week’s spending cut announcement has started to abate a little, it’s time to look a little more closely at what the cuts actually mean for families.
The two biggest changes that will most likely affect average families are the children benefit cut for high earners, and the increase in rail fares, that will now be able to rise three percentage points above inflation until 2012.
For families that has one earner making more than £44,000, when the cuts come in, those families will no longer be receiving their child benefit tax credit. This has been called unfair by a lot of people who point out that the changes mean that a family with two people earning £43,000 each will still receive the benefit, but those with one parent earning £44,000 or over, won’t. For some families, especially those where one parent works while the other stays home to raise children, and single-parent families this may have a pretty significant effect on their finances.
If you are worried about how the changes will impact your money, there are a few things you can do to make sure your money goes further every week. I’m going to run a series this week, called ‘Five days to better finances,’ showing five simple steps you can take over the next five days to get your finances in good order. They will cover the following topics:
1. Budget
2. Cut outgoings
3. Menu planning
4. Household bills
5. Make a money plan
The series will start tomorrow – I hope you will read along, and feel free to offer any tips you think I have missed out along the way!
