There was a question about money on here earlier, which I didn't answer because I got side-tracked.
Andy is on welfare because he stays at home with the kids; you can do that if you home ed, it's wrong in my opinion but never mind. He also fixes computers in what spare time he has as he used to be a computer technician when we were together, and he takes in that spare money (without declaring it, so technically not legal).
As for me, when he left I was still earning up until I was 8 months pregnant with DD4. Then I said to him I am exhausted, can you take the business until baby is 6 weeks old? So he moved the stuff to his house and promised to run it but didn't hardly at all.
I had DD4 and of course she was so exhausting, what with my depression too, that 6 weeks turned into 6 months. I went on welfare from when I handed the business to Andy, but in November 02 he admitted he couldn't run it alone and asked me to help so I lived round his house 2 days a week to work, but didn't take any pay, just did it for fun and his company.
We worked together like this until June 03, then he left me again and I spent the next year fighting him in court, trying to keep my kids and get my business back. Finally, in June 04 after court action, I won my business back and he was forced to hand over the stuff.
Unfortunately he hadn't worked on it for months so I had hundreds of complaints to deal with, backdated orders, literally hundreds and hundreds of cheques that I had to throw away because they were more than 6 months old. I was knee deep in wasted money. Luckily most of the public were understanding, but I didn't get the lost revenue back.
I did get re-paid by the big businesses who had ordered as I asked them to re-issue cheques. But basically my successful business was almost closed down due to this.
I am now struggling on a shoe-string and make only enough for running expenses, no profit anymore. I am on a scheme where you get paid a benefit for running a business, so that while you are trying to build it up, your income is supplemented.
Then I have disability allowance which was awarded when I was 5 due to my disability, and this amounts to about $300 a month that I will have for the rest of my life. They put the figure up slightly as time goes on.
Andy also gets this as he has HMSN type 1a.
Then there is Child benefit which all parents in the UK get, regardless of income, so this is £15 a week (about $25) until she is 19 and there's Child Tax Credit which I think is £20 or £30 a week as well (about $50).
I also have an overdraft facility of £300 (about $550) which I use about 2 or 3 weeks out of every 4, to manage. I have a lot of credit debt which I admit, I struggle to pay because I spent LOADS of money when I had depression so I will be paying it off for another 2 years, I suppose, and it means I've got none in the kitty for any extras or emergencies, but this was my own stupid fault so I don't complain about it.
It was really funny, because when me and Andy got together, I was only 16 so he actually claimed Child Benefit for me! He got my Child Benefit until I was 19, and I was already a mother myself at that age!
Fancy my own husband getting Child Benefit for his wife!
