2 Questions

Well I am pretty much an expert on all things WINZ, comes from years of experience with useless case managers and having to find everything out for myself

If you are on a low income you are entitled to an accomodation supplement to top up your rent or mortgage. It's worked out based on income and where you live. The rate is highest if you live in Auckland, slightly lower for Wellington and other main centres and lower again for rural areas.I get $120 a week and my rent is $320.

Food grants are available to those on a benefit and/or low income who are recieving assistance from WINZ like the Accomodation supplement. You are entitled to up to $350 per year on average, but to get one you have to prove that you have no immediate means of buying food eg. bank statement with nil balance. You also have to give specific reasons for why you can't afford food that particular week.

If you or your child has ongoing medical costs you can get a disability allowance which is worked out based on the costs of medication, doctors visits etc. We get around $40 per week for Maya because of the cost of her docs visits, allergy meds, specialists visits and special food.

If you have a child with a 'disability' (also includes things like allergies, asthma etc. anything which requires the child to have a greater degree of supervision or assistance than normal) then you can also get a Child Disability Allowance of around $40 a week. This is not income tested, so anyone with a sick/disabled child qualifies for it even if they are earning megabucks. This allowance is to cover things like transport to appointments etc, special food requirements, keeping the telephone connected in case of emergencies etc.

You can also get one off grants for emergency dental/medical treatment, kids school uniforms and stationery, fridge/washing machine repairs etc. but these usually have to be paid back over a period of time.

And if you are not on a benefit IRD administers the Family Assistance (on the benefit WINZ pays it as part of your benefit) and it is income related. You can also get Family Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit if you are working up till you have baby, and your partner is working.

and for more info check out
www.winz.govt.nz or
www.ird.govt.nz

i was told u cn get up to $600 per yr for food grants???also u[ to $600 towards bond if u move n cant come up with the money urself.

my mum got help frm winz for 3 pr glasses back in 93 thanx to us kids needing them *sigh* poor mum.i have gotten help for dental and glasses too.

Yep Becs the amount for the food grant does depend on how many children you have, for 1 child it's $350.

I think mine is $400 if I remember rightly ?

i dont think u can ask for the full amount at once?we got 150 for last week due to moving n had not enuff for a food shop.so we still got some if need be down the track.nath dnt like doin it but was fun spending sumone elses money tee hee hee.we struggled to reach 150 but felt soooooo good to have full fridge n pantry

We get disability for Caleb, $74 per frotnight and they pay it fortnightly to plus we get $35 per week for disability related costs... I used to get $125 for food when I was on a benefit since Caleb needed speciality foods. When I was a solo mum on the benefit I was getting $467 per week and disabilty on top if that so I was doing ok... But most of my friends didnt get that kinda money, but my case manager was awesome and got me every little thing I was entitled to.. My ar got pink stickered years ago for bald tyres.. WINZ paid $1200 for new tyres and I didnt have to pay it back because a car was a necessity with Calebs disability (being on oxygen) so it all boils down to how good your case manager is. The lady we have now on Family ass is a B*#@H simple as that and looks down her nose at me..

lol bridget.. i was told you leave your draws and your dignity at the door.

roksana, you should still look on the ird website... you guys might be eligable for something from them.

youll cope roksana. Dont mean to sound rude but we all do it. I got that benefit as well with my first but some people dont. youll be right. May just have to curb your spending a bit

yep it will be hard, but hey, if me and mike can live on $25,000 a year, with 2 kids to clothe feed and nappy, pay the extra for daycare, as well as all the bills and pay off his debts from before he met me... then i think you will be able to to. yep the mortgage thing is pretty tricky, but budgeting is the key. every likes to think they can give their kids the best of the best, but many of us can't.... everything in life is just so expensive these days.. and sacrifices are the only way. pay the bills, and use the rest wisely. we buy nappys from wherever has them on special, we spend $240 a fortnight all up on food... and that includes the $60 spent on nappies, up until a few months ago we spent $30 a fortnight on formula for paris as well.

you learn to buy at sales, buy a year ahead, put things on layby not buy them outright, and use the cheaper brands or buy in bulk.    

you'll do just fine. just spend wisely and accept that your child won't love you any less if it's not in pumpkin patch clothes with the best toys around... all that counts is you be a good mum and give her lots of love.

yep i can justify buying for paris because i know it will get used again for ayja. already i have gone through ayja's clothes that she has grown out of and have about 6 supermarket bags full. pretty much all of them are still as new cos even if they were used for paris as well, they both grew so fast that the clothes were hardly used... so onto trade-me they will go as soon as i have time to list them. we getclothes given to us from a couple of people at mikes work.. one of them does the pumpkin patch thing.. the clothes we get have been her girl's daycare clothes.... pumpkin patch... all in great condition.. so they are paris's good clothes for the most part. but i do go and buy at tnt as well, did a big buy up too Maria, paris has 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of jammies and a winter coat for next year. got her a pair of polar fleece slippers for $1, felt so cheap, but she thinks they are the greatest and has hardly taken them off all day. just shows it's the little things.

i do believe in big xmas and birthday though... we save and layby all year so that our girls can have amazing xmases... they may not get a heap in between, but on those days they are treated like princesses. i'm pretty sure most people think i'm a nut, cos when that kmart sale was on, i was there, first day, 7 am when they opened. but hey, i got their cubby house on layby, and when my sister went later in the day to get one for her boy they were all gone.