Mother-of-two Sarah Powney and husband Chris have been married for seven years and have two children, Oliver, five, and one-year-old Jack.
The couple have a combined income of £28,000, with Chris working as a buffet car attendant for Cross Country Trains, and Sarah part-time in the planning department at Sandwell Council.
Both don’t drive and they don’t have a mortgage, choosing to rent their home in Great Barr instead.
Their main outgoings are spent on the children. Sarah says that she would rather work part-time so she can look after Jack, instead of paying out for rising nursery costs.
Oliver is now at school so they don’t have to worry about childcare for the youngster.
As keen parents they want to make sure both their sons get a good education.
However, Mr Powney said the Budget did not help them too much.
“There’s nothing really that will really make a huge difference to our lives,” he said.
“The main point is that the child tax credits will go up for one and two-year-olds. But that’s not until 2012. That is great for other families out there.
“However, that won’t be beneficial for us when it does come into action.
“Jack will be four, whilst Oliver will be seven, which means they won’t qualify for the increase. However, if there’s another edition to the family, we will see this extra cash.
“The move to raise the threshold for stamp duty also means that now we can think about buying a house.
“That was not really on the cards in the near future but it makes it a possibility for us.”
He added: “We use public transport to get around and there’s no indication of any changes to that, despite the rising costs of fuel.
“I think Darling has played it very safe with this budget. It doesn’t do any damage to the way we live, but it’s not going out of its way to help families either.”
