Tuesday 27 March 2007

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The Budget

Sorry I am having a moan today. For a more positive take on life visit http://www.helpforbusymums.com

What do you make of Gordon Browns budget?

I can not find anyone who really feels it is going to help them or is financially fair.

In fact it was a budget that did not do anything ....yet..
Most things seemed to be deferred o next year when GB will no longer be chancellor.

To smugly cut income tax by 2p from next year - and abolish the lowest 10p rate, even for a bozo like me means the net effect is not going to help people who are on the lowest incomes.
The very people that Gordon Brown says he wants to help.

No no, the argument will be. There are the tax credits. Tax credits, are one of the biggest cons around.

I would love to know how much they cost to implement. The tax credits I refer to are the ones which you have to apply for in a document which is around 30 pages long (great for the environment).

You just wonder how many people are not claiming for these because they find the forms too difficult or time consuming. Especially the old and infirm.

I have a friend, single parent who diligently filled out this 30 page document to claim the child tax credits she believed she qualified for in 2002. (This was as they started).She was paid them for a year and then had to pay the whole lot back because the figures had been calculated wrong.
Causing her all sorts of financial problems which she had not budgeted for.

Her fault apparently, but as she is on PAYE and she filled the form in over the phone.... you wonder how that could be.

Now she wants nothing more to do with the system. She is frightened if she claims them and then gets a pay rise she will end up in the same position again.

And like many other people can not understand why we can not return to a simpler system when any additional allowances you are eligible for, are incorporated in your tax code.

This would reward people who work, would save thousands of pounds in the office staff which have to manage this system (which is impossible to get through to on the phone).
Not to mention the number of trees which have to be cut down to create the paperwork which goes on behind it.

It would also mean that the money is deducted at source rather than being taken off and given back.... (and then in my friends case taken back again).

Are well..... the money will not reach the intended recipients. I don't get that.....if you have children then you get family allowance, surely that could reflect additional special circumstances.

Pensioners..... perhaps they should have a different tax code ....

Lets face it there must be a thousand different ways that we create a fairer most cost effective and less bureaucratic benefits system.

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Tuesday 6 March 2007

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When your children start to drive

Todays blog from the Busy Mums Blog is about my daughter passing her driving test. For more stuff for Busy Mums visit my website: http://www.helpforbusymums.com

Today my daughter passed her driving test. What a relief. The last few weeks my daughter has gone from being nought to ninety in emotional maintenance.

Generally C is really easy going and laid back so it always comes as a bit of shock when she moves into top gear.

The pattern for her nerves were set after she failed her theory test a couple of times. For those of you in the know, there is now a hazard perception test and the highway code. She managed to pass each one individually - and at £21.50 a time it made the whole event frustrating and expensive, particularly as she had managed to pass each examination, but not at the same time.

The thing which is scary about C's behaviour is I can see so much of myself in her. Because sadly when something really gets to me, I know I become incredibly high maintenance and needy too.

So having some empathy of what C is going through, I have been trying to offer as much unconditional support as possible. As a result I have made sure I was available to drive her down to the theory test centre, walk her to the building, see her in the door - all whilst giving her positive visualisation techniques to practice!

It reminded me of her first day at school, but I seem to remember that she didn't even give me a backward glance then.

On each occasion, once I had "dropped her off", (for the test that is), I then wandered along to my favourite coffee shop and passed the time sipping a latte.

I still wonder what the staff must have though when twice within a month my daughter arrived at the door of the coffee shop in floods of tears.

Sympathetic drinks were delivered to our table in hushed and appropriately sombre tones and I could see the staff whispering, trying to work out what on earth was going on. I should have put them out of their misery really and explain it was nothing life threatening . C had just failed her theory test.

Finally and thankfully for both my family and the coffee shop staff, C eventually managed to pass both tests at the same time.

But now we had to move on the the practical test. (I hate to say it but I was filled with dread - I failed my test multiple times mainly because my nerves got the better of me).

The date was booked and I was informed that under no circumstances was I to pass this highly confidential information on to anybody else in the family. In the background of course there is latent competition going on amongst her friends who were also learning to drive, all adding to this unhealthy pressure.

As the date drew nearer I was also dispatched to the shops to get in a supply of calms and rescue remedy.

The day came, our contrived story why C was not going into school first thing seemed to pass unquestioned. And then at 9am C disappeared for a driving lesson which would be followed by her test.

I calculated that the 40 minute test would be over by 11:30 am which meant if I had not heard anything shortly after that then the likelihood was she had failed.

When no phone call materialised I found myself looking out of the window in readiness for her arrival home. Maybe she was waiting to tell me the good news (I remember feebly hoping).

When I saw C get out of the car - there was no doubt in my mind that she had failed ...... she fell through the door sobbing.....

I must admit I felt sorry for the driving instructor, who later told me she was relieved that someone was at home when they arrived back. (I had never realised what an emotionally stressful job teaching people to drive must be - not to mention the additional counselling skills which are required!)

Anyway after a weekend of C feeling cross and upset C was just about back on course for test number two.

Three weeks later there was a repeat of the whole drama. I was instructed to buy further supplies of calms and rescue remedy. Although I knew she was taking her test I was not allowed to communicate I knew, or even say good luck as she disappeared off in the morning.

Once again I calculated the time she would call me - if she passed. Of course I could not concentrate on anything all morning. It was with great relief to hear that the good news that she had passed.

C's driving instructor was also highly relieved too and C , as you would expect was like the cat who had got a crateful of cream .

So all's well that ends well. Mmmm Not quite... I am of course pleased - but if I am really honest also a bit worried, because of course now she is a young and inexperienced driver ....

So now there seems to have been a transference of stress and worry.
Instead of my daughter worrying about passing her test I am now worrying because she has passed her test!!

Life was so much simpler when she was little and was only allowed to play in the garden!

For more stuff for Busy Mums visit my website: http://www.helpforbusymums.com

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