Just saw somebody 'pay' for a massive pack of Amber Leaf, green rizlas and 3 packs of Quavers...

[badcoverversion]

...with Healthy Start vouchers.

I was a bit about it.

AIBU in thinking that both the customer and the retailer are bang out of order using the vouchers for baccy and deep fried cheesey snacks.

"Well I'm on a low wage, I hate how low income is used when in reality they mean benefits"

the vouchers arent just for people on benifits, they do cover low income also for working parents.

Thanks mamadiva, I'm divorced, no maintenance (definitely not paying for the CSA who couldn't organise a fart in a bean factory let alone do their duty.)

What I earn is what I earn. That said I am a master of budgeting. I was on benefits for a couple of years, used the system as the helping hand it should be and not the way of life it is for too many people. To be honest though I tend to buy from farmer's market when I can and I will spend money on buying quality food for dts. It can be done without vouchers but at the same time...

It just seems entirely unfair but then the world is.

How much is a packet of fags these days?

It's not allowed, but if the shop sells milk, fruit, veg or formula then they can fudge it by saying everyone who bought these items used the vouchers, even if they didn't.

My greengrocer's won't accept them and it's a pain because their fruit and veg is both nicer and cheaper than the supermarket, and it's on the way back from toddler group, so I tend to buy whatever I need daily. When I worked out which shops accepted them on other things I found it a lot easier to actually remember to spend them. Otherwise I end up with £12.40 I have to spend on fresh food by tomorrow and I can't buy that much because it will go off. Such a waste. I still have a freezer full of carrot soup and milk!

I don't see why you would assume that someone is getting less than the value of the voucher though - I bought a packet of 20 cigarettes the other day (with cash I might add!) and it cost £6.10

xpost MrsBonkers

Report the shop. They're not allowed at all!

I work in a shop and a bloke came in wanting a can of cider (about a quid) and gave me two HS vouchers, so that's £6.20?). I refused and I pointed to his pram that had a wee baby saying those vouchers are to ensure your baby has nutrition NOT for your alcohol. He started arguing back.

By this time I was in full rant mode and the owner came down to see what was going on and the customer pointed to him sayin 'HE takes then'. My boss tried to deny it but I could tell from his face. Once he admited it I explained the reason these vouchers are given is so the children get at least SOME food/milk and on his conscience will it be if that child is suffering. He won't ever take them for alcohol/cigarettes again although he does take them for groceries which I don't really have a problem with as it is food. I said I would report him if I saw him taking them for booze or cigs(yes, I still have my job )

How much???????
F* me I'm glad I don't smoke - I'd be skint!

As an aside - aren't quavers baked not fried?

StuffingGoldBrass WTF has it got to do with anyone else? This is just another 'ooh, the poor shouldn't be allowed to make any choices or have any treats, because they are benefits-claiming scum' thread isn't it?

I'm on a relatively low income myself...and I live in a deprived part of Salford so I wouldn't class myself as the judgmental sort really. I'm certainly not implying that people on benefits aren't entitled to treats...but isn't the healthy start scheme intended very specifically for the children of those who are struggling, and isn't it awarded alongside benefits?

I just think it's a bit out of order to be using these vouchers for ANYTHING aside from milk, fresh fruit and veg really...I'd have been a bit if she was using them to buy turkey twangers and spaghetti hoops but then I'd have thought ahh well, at least her kiddies are getting a hot meal in their bellies. I doubt they're going to get much enjoyment and nutrition from a rollie.

another benefit knocking thread ?

Fucks sake I'm not knocking benefits and I'm not knocking the healthy start scheme. I'm knocking her choice to use something very specifically intended for her children on herself and I'm knocking the shopkeeper for flouting the rules on what the vouchers are allowed to be used on.

She can spend HER benefits on crack for all I care...but this is something additional to benefits isn't it, or am I mistaken in thinking that?

It isn't a "benefit knocking thread".

However, if the government is going to insist on handing things out then they are open to abuse.

I think they should have something like food tokens, where 1 token buys you, say 5 apples, or 1 token buys 2 pints of milk...you get my drift. More on an exchange and basically you can select online what you need the vouchers for that month/week and get the vouchers printed especially...and only let them be redeemable from particular outlets (not dodgy corner shops).

I think it's despicable, and yes the guy may have bought vegetables with his last "tenner". but we all know he didn't (takes a stand on the moral highground)

and I thought it was a man, so my moral high ground is crumbling...

change "he" to "she" and "him" to "her" in my last post.

The problem with saying you can only get them from X shop (say supermarkets where it's easy to check) is that lots of low income people don't have easy access - they're often out of town, and you might need a bus to get there so you might be forking out the value of the voucher to use it!

She should have got Golden Virginia ...Amber leaf is horrible

and frazzels are much nicer than quavers

I'm not sure I believe you, as Amber leaf come with papers.

I smoke Amber Leaf - it's about £11.50 for a 50g packet (lasts a week).

I don't get HS vouchers as I forgot to change my address with them ages ago. Plus I buy most of my fruit and veg from the market where I can't use them anyhow.

When I did get them I was always in lots of shops when I'd buy a vareity of stuff, some that the vouchers should cover and some that it defintiely shouldn't. I'd hand over the vouhers saying "don't know how many I can use today" - and quite often they'd put the whole lot through. On checking the receipt it was obvious that I should have had some of them back.

Sometimes the person on the till would work it out properly - but quite frequently not.

And yes - some of them were supermarkets that didn't bother checking.

Some "dodgy corner shops" are actually ok. We have one round the corner -they don't accept HS vouchers (don't even have a chip and pin machine) but they do sell cheaper milk than Morrisons or the One Stop shop, and often stock fresh fruit that's cheap too.

Loopy - yes amber leaf comes with papers - but a double pack that the 50g comes with isn't enough for the whole pack You run out of rizzla's before you run out of tobacco.

Plus, blur rizla's are better than the one's in the Amber leaf packet.

Not that I would know of course

blue obviously

LoopyLoopsIsNoLongerFestive - Fair enough but it happened. My OH has smoked the little box of Amber Leaf when he's been a bit skint and he always used to buy the really thin blue papers as the ones supplied were a bit shit for rolling he said.

Posted at the same time as aPixie, basically saying the same thing.

How can anyone say quavers are a poor excuse for a crisp? They are my surefire hangover cure. One glass bottle Irn Bru that has cooled overnight in fridge, packet of quavers and two paracetomol. Instantly feel better.
I don't buy my alcohol with healthy start vouchers. If I was eligible for them I would use the line from My Fair Lady that 'gin was like mother's milk to me'

I would report the shop. They all have a serial number on them which gets scanned alongside the rest of the shoppng. There must be some way of checking. I hope this isn't a "stop healthy start all the poor scumbags just buy booze with them anyway" thread. A lot of people really benefit from them , myself included. In my experience retailers are quite strict and only take them for fresh fruit and veg and not frozen even. When I read the title I thought it was a lie and to be honest, I still do.