to be fucked off that while i cant afford to put my heating on...

[juicychops]

my sister and her husband who are on full benefits and pull job seekers the pair of them in their free house have had £25 per week for the last 2 weeks in 'cold weather' allowance and im sure will get it again next week too.

im single parent and work part time and as im not on benefits im not entitled to luxuries such as heating.

i have shitty storage heating which are too expensive for me to turn on plus i have an old un-insulated house with no double glazing so when ive had them on in the past the heat just escapes anyway. i only have the one on in ds's room so that he doesn't get ill like ive been all xmas.

my house is freezing and i have to wear layer upon layer of clothing when im here.

yet they get £50 FOR A FORTNIGHTS FREE HEATING!! so unfair. punished for having a job - again!!

A bit off topic but I heard a couple of people in the queue at the local Tesco's this morning saying that they were a bit annoyed that the weather had become milder and was set to stay that way for a bit. The reason for their annoyance was the fact that they wont get another £25 cold weather payment if it stays warm.....!

Interesting comment as if they want it to stay cold so they get more money it makes me think that the £25 isn't needed for or spent on heating bills.

I'm on benefits, but I got no heating allowance so once again more than a quarter of my (v. sad) income has had to go on heating.

Look, you have two options: be glad your sis and her family are warm or be jealous and let it fester in you. What are you going to do?

Thankfully I'm not on a meter - and so managed to over pay in the summer meaning my gas bills will (hopefully) be lower. And therefor the money will sit in my account until I get my bill

Dione I couldn't agree more. I work full time and just less than a quarter of my income goes on fuel bills but that is how it goes.You cannot spend your life thinking you should have what others have.

btw - my last post was to A1980's point.

Sorry Baroquin, I did mean you!

But you see, you knew I meant you, even though I called you the wrong name, never mind mis-spelling.

teh, the...meh!

um I wouldn't think you were being unreasonable if what you were stating was a fact. But as I read it your sister is commiting fraud which is why she maybe has more money than you, and you have substandard heating which isn't the norm. Generally speaking people who work will recieve more than someone claiming benefits (otherwise they would be entitled to them too as there is a threshhold) therefore people who work usually can afford to have their heating on unless they choose to spend their money on other things.

try this one. My sister lives at my mums and she got this as well - my mum and dad both work and she didnt even consider giving it to them to cover her costs - she spent it herself.

boroquin- can I ask why you are on quarterly bills? Are they straightforward quarterly on demand- ie you get a bill for three months at once, more in the winter, less in the summer and you pay as a lump sum?

Have you looked into direct debits? It spreads the cost and is the same every month, plus you get a discount for paying like that. Plus it is a lot less hassle.

Of course, make sure you run your bills through uswitch and get the best deal too- atm it is usually eon or edf, but get on a capped price if you can as those two haven't put their prices up, but will most likely have to. Don't get tied into a long contract though, unless it is a bloody amazing deal.

Brandy - I'm not on quarterly bills now -with BG on one of their online deals they had - gas is set direct debit (whih they lowered recently - hence holding on tight to those CWP's until my next statement.....) Electricity is a monthly pay what you use thing - which is working well so far

NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER going back to EON - the day I turned my back on them was a huge relief. The misery and debt we got into with them when they refused to take extra payments over the phone, or increase the direct debit when it should have been higher was awful. They were also bastards to deal with when there was no debt but for whatever reason I wasnt going to be able to pay on time