to be worried about Universal Credit

[idiuntno57]

I am in the lucky position of not needing to claim this but I am so worried about its implementation.

Its coming in in the Autumn and is going to be an online only, monthly, postdated payment. It will be paid to one adult in the family unit.

All well and did if you are god at managing your money, internet literate and in a stable relationship. But in the real world....

How are the most vulnerable in society going to have a chance with this?

Already the council tax changes are coming in and as far as I understand people are confused and shell shocked by it. UC is much bigger and no one is prepared.

faster you can understand that people sign up for those contracts when they are employed and earning a good wage dont you? they lose the job/become ill and they have no good salary but are still tied into the contract.

Booyhoo funny that as people are so desprate to tell there story how much they paid in ect not so keen to actally say what there plans are to look for work

Because people dont have to answer to you Domjolly. Believe it or not, being a "taxpayer" doesnt give you the right to judge people.

Your tax pays for YOUR childrens education, YOUR use of the NHS, all the services YOU avail of.

people are entitled to share as much or as little information about their personal financial situation as they like. you, however, are entitled to know none of it, no matter how much you bark about demanding to know. the future plans of all benefit claimants is not public property.

penelope yy im in exactly the same boat...the titanic.

ANd its those in genuine need that get mucked about, and yet they never seem to catch the actual benefit cheats do they?

trustissues75 its not a matter of how long you paid in blah blah blah its about come april 1st things are a changing what are people plans everyone can moan on here call right wing scrum, all you like but what are peoples plans
What business is it of yours what other peoples plans are. It has absolutely nothing to do with your. Your tax contribution is so minimal as to not make a soul answerable to you. You obviously have not read any of the links people have put up, including the ones I put up. You demonstrate no empathy but instead remain hunkered down in the denial bunker. Everybody is out to get something for nothing according to you, but if you bothered to make some sort of attempt to educate yourself in the ins and outs of the welfare system, if you had any empathy for those not in your situation, then you would be a different, perhaps kinder person. I have a brother who is a Tory. He is ashamed to be so at the moment. I would not ever call him right wing scum, he is educated, he listens, he makes valid points. He doesn't stick his fingers in his ears and yell La, la, la, which is what you do. So no, not all Tories are right wing scum, but some, demonstrably, are.

Well said Dawndonna!

So no, not all Tories are right wing scum, but some, demonstrably, are.

Are we allowed to call some people who choose a life on benefits and having children whilst on them, scrounging scum, then?

Thank you Dawndonna you spared me having to hurt my brain even further.

I don't believe I called Tories anything of the sort....I have quite a few right wing tendancies myself...as well as quite a few left wing too...I think it's about time we removed the labels - it doesn't make for sensible and productive conversation. We'll leave that to this government and rags such as the Daily Mail....

No, it was dawndonna.

It was, and Trust has answered adequately. Thank you.

What are my plans?

1. Continue to research getting the grocery bill as low as possible. Continue to improve my "make do & mend" skill set. (A bust loo, broken major appliance or a leaking pipe, is a disaster when you are on a low income).

1. Look into how to survive without cash as far as possible

e.g the formal LETS system where you offer an hour of your time/skill in exchange for someone elses. eg a hairdresser spends an hour on a families haircuts in exchange for an hour of a plumbers time. I'm also quietly starting to offer my sewing and craft skills to family and friends - my skill at making sock monkeys, or fixing computers might equal a few tins of food someday sif times get hard enough.

1. Investigating relocating to a cheaper more remote part of the country so that at least I can have a small veggie garden and a couple of chickens. This last option is my preferred one but fraught with difficulty as it costs money to move house.

1. Fuel - we got out the hot water bottles the winter before last, and I've been collecting blankets like there's no tomorrow.

The big problem is the fixed costs I can't change, like the mortgage, therapy, school uniform, council tax, heating bills, broadband etc.

Allotments are fantastic and extremely cheap .

Anyway, back to things the cash strapped can do - both working, claiming and/or working and claiming...

I was lucky enough to have central heating in my old flat - and it was a flat with ceilings nearly 20 feet high and had been built in the 1800's with HUGE windows - so very cold in Winter. I kept my heating on very very low for the whole winter - just so the radiators were just over hand hot - yes, my BF complained it was a bit chilly in there at times, but only really getting out of the shower. My gas bill (had electric everything else and shower) worked out at about just over a tenner a week over the year I was there. I was lucky not to be on a gas meter...I have been told that this method is more cost effective than having it come on twice a day at almost full blast for a couple of hours each time...

Annabel - have you applied for an allotment? I didn't get one in the two years I was claiming....great though if you can get one....as long as you have the transport to get to it...

Used to have one and here there are quite a few going spare.

its not a matter of how long you paid in blah blah blah its about come april 1st things are a changing what are people plans everyone can moan on here call right wing scrum, all you like but what are peoples plans

I'll go and visit a few prisoners due for release in early April (without any accommodation) and let you know what they say, shall I?

Bollocks annabel there is not one LA run allotment scheme currently in the uk that does not have at least a 12 month waiting list most are around the 2-5 year mark.

Not really sure citing prisoners problems really lends weight to your argument.

Wishing I hadn't posted on this thread now. They are always so predictable!

I posted earlier as a person worried about these changes as someone on benefits before all the nastiness begun. What I didn't post back then was I am on benefits due to being on my own with a disabled child. I used to be part of a couple with a mortgage and a full time job each. Things change! All those smuggy smug people slating people on benefits - one day it could be you.

There is a lot of propaganda and false information on this thread.

Uniform grants have been cut.
My son cannot eat his free school meals due to sensory eating issues.
There is no free leisure pass.
I do not own an i-anything, I do not have a flat screen TV, a car, a goat, etc.
I do not get all of my rent or council tax paid.

If I worked 16 hours a week at minimum wage I would be better off, (I am definitely not living some life of riley) but this is not possible due to my son's needs.

Thank goodness we live in a society where welfare is there for those in times of need. If we didn't me and my son would be homeless and hungry and I am so thankful for the help my son and I receive right now. I am an intelligent person and budget extremely well - however if I times zero by 4 it's still zero! I can't buy food with zero pence, put money on the gas and electric meter with zero pence.

Yes some people will struggle to budget for monthly rather than weekly/fortnightly but that's not the point, the point is EVERYONE will struggle during that first month, and it's the idea that benefits claimants are rolling in money that is making this go by and be rolled out with an "I'm alright Jack" shrug.

wannabe - I said expensive phone not any mobile. no one needs the latest iphone (i include myself in that).

booy - that's bad financial planning. if you have enough to get by whne you are in work, you will be screwed if, as many people do, you loose you job. i have an old car. no one needs a new/newish car.

if people choose expensive things, they buy on credit and cannot service the debt, its their problem & no one elses.

their choice, thei responsibility.

Annabel - you seem to live in the ideal part of the country....one where seemingly everyone's money troubles will disappear - plentiful jobs, allotments going spare....what's the rental market like?

Wrong socks 100% absolutely wrong . I know for a fact that there are spare plots in my locality.

Started a community gardening project a few years back with local residents & zero funding- the council razed the area to the ground after 3 years as they wanna get hold of gubberment funding for a "proper" project. (Read nepotism for those whose pensions rely on working with the "deprived") The poor aren't supposed to act on their own initiative as it makes tptb feel uncomfortable.

While this is ongoing the land we used is an ugly eyesore, suitable only for fly tipping and illicit drug dealing. In the meantime after 4 years on my local allotment list I only have a decade longer to wait till my number comes up

It was an exercise in miniature of the current Central Government attitude to small business. I wish people would realize that those in power want the lower classes to be totally dependent on their largess. It makes the masses easier to control - esp if you want a free workforce for your multi-national conglomerate (Tesco's & workfare anyone?)

Outsourcing of white collar roles from the 1990's onwards didn't go far enough, now they want to reduce costs even further where possible. The comment above about capitalism eating itself rang so true.