benefits - can anyone advise?

[namechangerrr]

hi i am a regulare but have name changed for this. i was wondering if anyone would e able to help me here. i have seen on the news about benfits being cut/capped but cant seem to find any exact figures.

was wondering if anyone could be able to help me and see if my benefit will be capped or cut, so that i can be prepared for this.

i recieve weekly:
£135 child tax credit
£48 cb
£65 incone support
£145 hb
£12 ctb

i no this seems like a huge amount when written like this but in reality it isnt. once i have paid gas, elec, water rates (£28 per week!), tv licence etc there is not much left for food/nappies.

i would be very grateful if anyone could help. i am not intending to be on benefit forever and i do want to better myself for myself and my children.

its still being dependent on benefits system Ma.no matter how its dressed up!!! alot here dont like to hear that though...

work by 2013....there is no work here now,let alone in 2 years with extra job cuts on top!!!

and to whoever suggested i am setting my life up to live on benefits i am clearly not. i left my exh to provide a better more stable life for myself and my dcs and that includes earning a living!!! and when i said i fully intend to be in employment by 2013, i mean to have a job in a few months but still be employed then because of all the reduncies.

You know Gooftroop I think I could struggle to begrudge my tax money to support the children in a family escaping violence support to get themselves back on track again. As a society I can think of much worse investments to make in our future working population.

tbh i think the attitude i have recieved on this thread regarding me claiming these benefits is disgusting.

would you rather i let my children be abused?? i have said this is only temporary as we have had to flee to a different area/schools etc.

OP - please don't be put off here by some of these posters. You will get some good advice and help if you are able to stay. I am shocked at the vitriol some people have given you today. Aside from ilove who has explained her situation (though still gone about posting in the wrong way), you can bet many of these posters live in a completely different world and have never had to rely on benefits to get by. I do hope you decide to stay even if under your regular name but if you don't I hope everything sorts itself out for you. Escaping a violent relationship will be the best thing you ever did, even if life is incredibly hard for a while after

"OP - I wish you all the luck in the world. Life sounds hard atm so I hope it all sorts itself out"

Hard? Half that amount of money would have me dancing in the streets.

You don't have to justify yourself OP. I know it's not the life of riley people make it out to be. The fact is, any one of the people who look down on you could lose their job, home, high earning husband, health, and end up on benefits. Nobody is better than you, we just all have different circs at different times. Well done for leaving a twat aswell.

hard yes!

she had to start again from scratch....furnish a house,new uniforms t....the works!!

Also people on benefits normally have to pay over the odds for services, which offsets the apparent healthy budget

Gmajor - I wasn't talking about the money. Have you ever had to flee a violent relationship? Leave the family home with next to nothing? Explain to children why they have to change schools, move away from their friends etc? Buy everything from scratch? Live somewhere with a minimal support network because of having to move so far away? Be constantly looking over you shoulder in case the violent ex catches up with you? Would you still be dancing in the streets then? What a stupid bloody idiotic comment. Do you have any idea what the op is probably going through right now? I think probably not.

Hehe...calm down!

Glad you think it is so funny Gmajor - you are being a prize twat and I never swear at people on here. You are showing no understanding or empathy for what it is like to flee a violent relationship. I am sure you would be so happy if your ex had beat seven bells of shit out of you because after all you would have all that lovely money to dance around the street with. FFS.

Utilities for one

Notalone you are presuming to know what I have experienced in life. You do not.

You do pay over the odds. Prepayment meters cost more than DD. Clothes are bought through catalogues that charge interest. Brighthouse for beds, washing machines, sofas. If benefits are so fantastic, why was I always in the pawn shop? Thank God I had assets to pawn. Lost everything though, as couldn't afford the £80 to get them back out. The loan was £50 originally.

And no I didn't smoke or drink or have a car

I used the word "probably" GMajor. Why on earth would you be so judgemental or scathing of the amount the OP gets and make out it is just about the money when her life has just fallen to pieces, if this is something you have been through yourself? By all means criticise the system if you feel strongly about it. But to say you would be dancing in the streets while ignoring the situation she is in, in my mind is wrong. This is not her fault and nor is the amount of money she receives hwer fault either.

"I am totally shocked by the amounts you get op.

The system is desperately flawed.

Anyone that feels otherwise have a look what a full time nurse earns."

Totally agree Geek, thankfully the system is changing and the Tories will eventually stop the "entitlment" sense that many people have. Whilst its partly labours fault for allowing benefits to be a lifestyle choice its also down to those who see it as there right even though they are physically able to work.

IS should be made short term (a year) with a clause to say it can only be claimed once every x years. A year is plenty of time to settle into a new lifestyle and find work.

social housing nearly always means you inherit last tenants pre payment meters,which are just about impossible to get taken out......good with money or not!!