To believe £780 month lone parent benefits income is adequate to live on.

[goldfacegreen]

There's some myth busting required at last I think.

As a lone parent of two under 6, I receive a total of £780 a month in benefits:

Income Support, Child Tax Credit, Child Benefit, CSA (£5 a week).

I receive full housing benefit for a two bedroom house (£75 shortfall which has to come out of my income support, currently being paid via Housing Discretion Award) which doesnt go into mybank account, it gets paid direct to landlord, and £16 a month council tax shortfall also has to be paid out of income.

I'm on meters and gas and electric are around £20 a week each, some of which pays off accrued debt. Water is deducted directly from my income support via an 'attachment of earnings' type court order.

I don't have loans or credit cards, no landline, no satellite tele, no car, no travel expenses, no socialising costs, don't smoke, my Internet is paid for by someone else although I should have organised a bill swap ages ago and I run an old phone on £10 month contract. My other costs are regular swimming, yoga, wax salon, and I buy school uniform and children's clothing as and when required.

Childcare such as nursery (pre-school), morning and after school clubs are free to those on income support, school holiday clubs are heavily subsidised, as are school meals, dentistry, doctor's prescriptions, council run leisure centre swimming and gym classes, and many other recreation facilities.

My budgeting skills are atrocious but having recently done some sums, I actually have around £250 a month 'spare' from all benefits income. Although for the past year or two I've been constantly overdrawn by around £500 so whenever income is credited, I'm always 'one step forwards, two steps back' amd because of this will never get back in the black again.

So, with better budgeting (I don't buy a regular weekly food shop for instance, instead spend a fortune every few days buying dinners and sundries at the overpriced local Tesco Metro) I just don't understand how so many lone parents claim they can't afford to live on these same benefits.
Even if you have debts, there are features in place to reduce your debt payments to just £1 a week or even write them off altogether as a last resort.

Also, the father of my children earns thousands but fraudulently claims benefits, so he is only required to pay the minimum £2.50 a week per child direct from his benefits. Many lone mothers receive full child support which isn't deducted from their other benefits income, so can be receiving up to £800 a month on top of their benefits depending on what the chikdren's father earns. I have noticed that rarely will lone parents on benefits state this fact or include it in their income along with their complaint.

Yes, it is a struggle trying to support myself and two young children on £780 a month (but mostly because I can't get over this overdraft debt shackle) but on paper, budgeting well, it is entirely doable, and if you are frugal, you could even save a little too.

Why does the Daily Mail stereotype exist that single mothers are rolling in handouts, given the above figures? Just under £195 a week is an adequate income for one adult and two young children, surely..

[allthingsfluffy]

Xposts.

[goldfacegreen]

Wittiernickname No problem. Free buses would certainly help massively with parents returning to work though. As a non driver I can't even imagine the costs of public transport to work yet. Yikes.

[IneedAwittierNickname]

This is what I read and misunderstood op

No, I have no transport costs as an unemployed person.

I'm also unemployed, but still have transport costs as some times I need/want to well you know... Go somewhere

[Revenger]

I live in Calderdale op. Never heard of the stuff you're talking about being available here. You think I would have since I work with communities and closely with Sure Start.

Um, why did you start this thread again?

[Monty27]

OP you could give your underspend to charity, like the local women's refuge?

[CouthyMow]

I can tell you that there's no way we live in the same area of the County I live in. Guaranteed. I KNOW what's available, I've had to.

[goldfacegreen]

CouthyMow

No, I have two young children, not one.

Broadband is free at libraries, amd mobile wifi is cheaper.

If my teenage children want mobile phones, they will be getting paper rounds to pay for them

My daughter is used to shopping I charity shops. I hope to raise her woth the attitude that 'trendy' overpriced clothing is unneccessary. That attitude never did me any harm, as a teenager.

[TheBigJessie]

revenger

[goldfacegreen]

Revenger. Which towns did you live in? There are at least two that I know of that run these furntoure recycling projects. Admittedly it's been 6 years since I lived there.

[goldfacegreen]

Monty I do contribute to charity regularly already. I buy our clothing at charity shops and give unwanted items to them.

[SPsMrLoverManSHABBA]

Clothing is one reason I'm glad I'm and my son doesn't grow. Luckily my brother, who is younger than my son, is growing quicker so my son gets his hand me downs. I get necessary clothing such as coats as gifts.

Its not a great life. Its utterly depressing. I want a job but with my empty CV I'm not getting anywhere quick

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Out of the 4 areas I work in none give free furniture or appliances,on referral from a social worker you have the chance to buysecond hand goods cheaply they charge delivery and charge for the pat testing,the referrals are available to those who have fled dv,come out of prison or homelessness.

We also do not have any free trips or clubs ect only available to those on benefits no after school childcare type clubs that are not paid for by the user.

op have you actually been able to get debt repayment down to £1 a week? Normally they at the very least ask for £4.25

And you named one of the areas I work in, so I know the furniture place your talking about and no it does not do free and has not for a long time (unless you are a care leaver) delivery fees start at £20 and pat testing as well, most referrals get a reduced cost on the actual product. Some times you may be lucky and ss can get a charitable grant to pay for it on your behalf but mostly it's not happening.

The rent assistance scheme is only availible to certain groups of people.

And sp is your tv licence on been paid monthly for the last year or been in a different name ? They do this weird thing can't quite work out what but they take £24 a month for some time then it drops to £12 sometime through the year,they tried to explain it to me but I was not paying much attention. When my ex was removed I had been paying it at £12 pm but it was in his name when I tried to get a new one they wanted £24 so I just changed the name on it and it stayed at £12

[CouthyMow]

You're lucky your DC was allocated a school you can walk to - I spent 8 years in my last house having to pay bus fares for my three DC's (and myself for 7 of those years, until I found out I had been entitled to a bus pass on the grounds of one of my disabilities...) as the three closest schools were full. No, places never came up.

[Revenger]

Oh, you mean the libraries that the council are removing funding from? The ones that they're shutting down? So how does one get to a library in a very rural place without incurring transport costs? You also have to pay for printing too. Then there's the inevitable queue for the computers which have a time limit. Perfect solution .

[SPsMrLoverManSHABBA]

Could I have renewed it at that? I did it online. Its always been in my name so no issue there.

[Monty27]

You are such a saint OP. You could work voluntarily in one of those charity shops what with you being so sorted, that's if they're in walking distance of course. Just saying.

[CouthyMow]

What's a library? Need to pay for buses to get to one of those. When I have 3 DC's that are charged bus fare, most needing to use it daily, and frequently for longer than the 30 minute slot you are allowed to book in our library, and you can only book one slot per library card per week, you can start to see how broadband becomes a necessity for older children these days.

[IneedAwittierNickname]

Wondering which mobile provider you get your cheap internet from? Mine cost a fortune, sky broadband is way cheaper in my experience!.

[Revenger]

I live in Sowerby Bridge. I know of one furniture recycling place in halifax town centre. You would get a voucher for a bed or whatever. But you had to have been homeless or suffered from a drug problem etc. to qualify. Even that doesn't exist now.

[CrazyHneedsSleep]

Revenger

[goldfacegreen]

Sockpixie (and others) there seems to be some disbelief at the help available for those on benefits, I'm noticing (hmm) The information is out ere if you look hard enough, or better still like me are give referral by particular agencies or assistance. How canyou know which town I refer to when I only mentioned an entire area of the country, Sockpixie??

[jacks365]

Calderdale the place it's cheaper to get the train than the bus. Not exactly over running with supermarkets either. Brilliant recycling facilities though

[goldfacegreen]

CoutnyMow. Not lucky. I was also it your position for a whole year with transport to achool issues.

[SPsMrLoverManSHABBA]

There's disbelief as people in those situations aren't getting the help or ever had the help. Why don't you understand that?

[CrazyHneedsSleep]

I'll try again

Revenger