for being annoyed that our tax is paying for people to buy wallpaper.

[suzexxx]

I saw a post from a girl on facebook asking whether the social could help her buy things to do up her home e.g wallpaper and paint. Alot of people commented that she could get some vouchers to use on a certain paint brand and B&Q etc.

AIBU to think this girl should save some money or attempt to get a job for extra luxeries before expecting the social to foot the bill?

I'm moving house next month and the whole house will need decorating. However i am realistic in the fact i won't be able to afford to wallpaper the whole place at once, instead doing a bit at a time as and when i can afford it. My partner earns a moderate income and i'm currently on maternity leave, so money is tighter at the moment, but would never expect someone to pay for something i could manage without like wallpaper.

I completely understand people using the social to buy essential items such as a cooker or fridge, but not non essentials.

We use schools, hospitals, roads etc, that all costs money.

We are high earners but I doubt we are net contributors.

delboy - I'd be very surprised if your landlords never decorated, floored or carpeted any property you've lived in.

Delboy er so you have never used the nhs, schools, police etc etc etc

Maternity pay is refunded by the government , isn't it?

Not really delboysfileofax - NHS, council services, education, policing...

Why cloverer? You get what you can pay for. I could only afford the cheapest of the cheap. On many occasions it was not decorated/had carpets

When i am nursing i have no opinion or judgement of anyone. I treat everyone the same, i've even nursed in prisons caring for people who have committed horrific crimes, but at the end of the day they are a patient and i'm doing my job.

Sorry delboy, but I flat out don't believe that you've had to decorate and carpet every private rental you've lived in.

NHS- national insurance (and very lucky for me never been ill) education- didn't have kids. Police- again lucky to have never needed them. So that would be a net contributor no?

Cloverer- why? You've never met me. Not every place has needed decorating, but most have

Your do indirectly need the police even if you haven't used them yourself . The same for education and other services,

You're just delightful, OP.

By the by - do you claim tax credits? If you do, you're claiming from "the social" - if you don't and haven't looked into it, maybe you should so you can decorate a bit faster...and quit bitching about something you obviously now little about.

Of course YABU.

The money that is given in voucher form is about £100 if you can't afford to do your own decorating, why pick on those less fortunate than yourself.
People that work can save money for such things, those on benefit can't.
If you work you can afford a lot more than those who don't obviously. If you decide to spend that money on other things you can't complain that you can't afford it.
Totally unreasonable.

But suze, if the state didn't pay for stuff out of taxes, you wouldn't have a bloody job! The NHS gets probably the biggest amount of money from taxes! So instead of whinging about people in poverty getting help from our taxes, remember that, actually, taxes pay your wages. They pay your maternity leave. Why is your maternity leave not a drain on taxes but someone slapping some wallpaper on a grotty wall is?! The fact that you have worked doesn't make it more acceptable for taxes to be spent on your maternity leave.

Like all people who need to feel others are inferior to make themselves feel better, you're showing yourself up to be very illogical and imperceptive.

The NHS isn't solely funded by NI (and you are being disingenuous anyway as most people lump them under the same heading), I fail to believe you have never visited a doctor and whilst you, personally, may never have needed the police I'm not too sure you would be so happy in a country without them.

I'm assuming you also don't use streetlights, have your bin collected or 101 other collective benefits that taxation funds.

No i don't claim tax credit. Read the post before assuming.

'Maternity pay is slightly different to never working and having children yet relying on the state pay for everything' - how do you know the person in your OP has never worked, or never plans to work?

benefits are a fall back for most people, not a way of life, again you are quoting daily mail type shit about those on benefit will never work, lazy entitled scroungers blah blah, its a pretty disgusting way to think imho

Indeed Arisbotle- But having not used/needed those services but paid for them, that would have made me a net contributor surely?

I always count being state educated and born in an NHS hospital when people bang on about being net contributors.

Paint of course, but wallpaper? No. It is expensive, and not as essential as providing food, clothing, heat etc which I have no problem with coming from my taxes.

how can you switch from being non-judgemental in your job, to judging someone on fb who you are not even friends with?

i was forched to take a HA flat, as the landlord of my very lovely priviet house had not been paying the mortage, god knows what he did with my 610£ rent, but the bank did not see it.

i was not offered home base vouchers, they stopped doing that years ago in my area. my tint two bed flat, had manky carpet in EVERY room (i guess they where trying to help me out by leaving it in ) the rooms where dirty pink, lime greem. in your face yellow, walls where cracked.

the boiler gives me about 4 inchs of hot water to bath in. the walls in the bathroom have holes in from the plaster falling down.

it's is utterly depressing leaving in here, i used to be very house proud, but for the past two years of living here, it has died a little each day, becasue what is the point. i have done what i can to improve it, but it seems with every improvment something else falls down or it just makes it worse.

i have the manky carpet in my room n the kids room (though theres is clean just a horrable colour mix of shit and puke in a swirly pattern) becasue i cant afford to get new ones, and ill be honest i started but on so little money things do come up.
im in court in july over child support in july and the first thingi get will be new flooring.

my point is, whilst wallpaper may seem like a non needed thing, leaving in a rundown shit hole when you cant even afford to decorate one room in a month (it for 3 months just for me to do the living room and its not even done, but is ok) it seriousely gets you down, its depressing and soul destroying.

so would you really begrudge the council offering a £100 of vouchers to help out a little bit?

sorry that was really long.

But when your baby is born i guarantee you will claim tax credits. But noone will begrudge you for it, just get your head out of your ass and chill out. Its probably £100 from what i'm reading. In the grand scheme of things, that's nothing.

The whole post is full of people judging (myself included, which i admitted and apologised for). Please don't assume i work for the NHS because i am a nurse, don't assume i have benefits when you don't know my income. I apologised for being naive about council house and privately rented and have learnt something.

I am not assuming that you get benefits, I asked you. Although we all take benefits of some kind courtesy of the tax system.

As a tax payer I am pleased that I am able to help someone have a better quality of life.