Cash and My Baby!

Families with stay at home mums are facing bigger tax bills than anywhere else in the western world. In fact, families with only one average wage earner are facing tax bills that are 44% higher than people in the same position but in a different country.

They seem to have lost out when Gordon Brown introduced the tax credit system, which favours single parents.

A Brit couple with a stay at home mum, and a dad with an average wage of £33,165 can expect to pay nearly £7,000 a year in tax and NI. This, compared with the USA is £3,000 more a year!

Despite increases in the incidence of burglary in previous tough times, the home secretary has told us that it isn't inevitable. However, the number of burglaries did start to rise at the end of last year - is this a sign?

We have been urged to secure our homes, and on the Home Office website is a three-minute test which can help you judge how safe your home is and should also help you limit the possibility of a thief targeting your home.

This would suit me to a T...If I wasn't pregnant and my other half would move to the other side of the world...

There's a job, found at this site, that is being offered - as a caretaker of an island on the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia. The salary? £72,000! The responsibilities? Feediing turtles, watching whales, and collecting post. How long for? 6 months. Sounds awesome! I wanna go!

The job has apparently had 10,666 applicants, including 660 Brits. And the deadline for applications isn't until February 22nd. I wish I had a job like that!

I don't think I can agree on these figures, but it's amazing to think that these figures were found from somewhere.

.. Some parents must spend this. It's ridiculous!

Apparently, parents have been reported to spend £193,772 to raise a child - that includes putting them through uni, so until the child is 18 and beyond. That equates to £9,277 a year or £25 a day. That's 38% higher than when the annual survey was first started, five years ago. And i's one hell of a sum of money!
The table opposite shows just what parent's hard earned cash is supposed to go on - I can't say I agree with it to be honest. It's a bit far-fetched, but it's entertaining to read! The education segment gets me - because that figure is a bit much, considering it doesn't include if you want your child going off to private school - if you did, it would cost you a further £129,000 according to Liverpool Victoria. And it all depends on what income you are on - you wouldn't be spending £50,000 on education for university and the like, if you were earning below the income-assessed value. The data is a bit subjective, but interesting all the same. I just hope my child doesn't cost this much!

News that British Gas have decided to cut their gas bills by 10% is music to the ears of Consumer Focus, who have praised the company for making such a good move. Whether 10% is enough of a cut is yet to be seen, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Last year wasn't a good one for consumers of gas, with British Gas upping their prices on 2 separate occasions, including the 35% hike in summer of 2008. But now, it seems like they are trying to help Joe Public, and fair play to them.

Cheques as payment have been falling in popularity for quite some time now, since the Chip and Pin method has been introduced and less and less retailers accept them as payment.

Equifax say that the smaller businesses will probably continue to accept them, but it's likely that the use of them will continue to decline.

According to APACS, the number of cheques written peaked at 11 million, falling to 4.4million by 2007. And it's likely that this value will be even lower now.

The job market is set to be much more tougher than it already is for graduates, after a survey found that recruitment targets in 100 surveyed firms, have been slashed by 17% for this year.

The credit crunch has particularly hit the finance sector, with there being 47% fewer grad entry-level jobs available.

It's reported that 2009 is one of the worst years for graduates in the past 20 years.

What could be a better initiative to bring in the new year, than to insure yourself and your family and make a more secure future? And you don't have to fork out a lot - there are lots of life insurance quotes to be searched for, and many are affordable - and, in today's economy, useful.

Over recent years, the cost of life insurance has dropped by around 40%, so it's an opportune time to have a look at policies. What's more, is it's not just life insurance but also critical illness cover that has fallen in price. Income protection may also be worth thinking about - especially considering the economy, and the ever-increasing number of redundancies.

Child benefit is increasing this year, which could mean a £15.4bn boost to Child Trust Funds and savings accounts - if the money is put into the accounts that is.

The weekly child benefit has increased, from £18.80 to £20 for first born children, and from £12.55 to £13.20 for each additional child. These increases could provide long-term benefits if invested into savings accounts.

£20 a week investment into a Child Trust Fund could result in £32,300 for when the child turns 18 - an increase of £1,800 from the previous £18.80 figures. Even if a quarterf the £20 child benefit was saved per week, it would still equate to £8,900 in 18 years time.

So, if you can afford to do so, save some of the child benefit. It would be an awesome investment long term for your child and would help them enormously.

Children who are bad at maths whilst they are at school are costing the taxpayer 2.4bn a year, according to KPMG who tracked children with poor numeracy skills. Why do they have such an impact? Apparently, it's because these schoolchildren are more likely to become unemployed in the future and also are more likely to claim benefits and pay less tax.

The Every Child a Chance Trust wants to make a difference to this, and raise money for projects at primary schools. They are asking businesses to make annual contributions of £12,000 each for 3 years, to schools in their local area in an effort to boost children's number skills.

Barclays have already pledged £1.2nm, becoming the first national sponsor.