to think many benefits punish the prudent people that do the right thing

[ladygingina]

Aibu to think that many benefits are counter productive and reward people that don't do the right thing?

I mean why bother saving any money because I'd you have a five figure amount in the bank you won't get many benefits. But if you just waste all your money and have zero in the bank the government will give you money.

Also it seems better to rent rather than buy so the government will pay all of your housing costs if you loose your job.

I just think many of these reward people that we silly with money and it doesn't encourage people to behave responsibly.

biscuit]

sod off david cameron we don't want anymore of your goady threads your ridiculous TV shows and your nasty news

talking of goady TV the only large families i know WORK THEIR ASSES OFF AS DO THEIR KIDS

I don't understand when people talk about being given benefits

You are not given them - it is your money. You pay it in through tax and take it back if you need to when you are between jobs.

The government itself does not mysteriously have money - it is ours - our taxes.

Yes I would of done because then I would have qualified for the boiler replacement scheme.

Aha, someone's been using Google whilst posting. Found out there's no 'emergency fund' but a 'boiler replacement scheme'. It's actually an allowance, but they are trying to be clever. All homeowners who earn under £40k can apply, and if you are on JSA, you have less than that. So go for it! Apply!

Having fun yet?

No you can't apply if your on contribution s based JSA. You really think your so smart and funny? And making nasty comments your good at.

Fair enough, I'm not convinced it would have covered all the costs involved (grants rarely do ime but that's biased clearly ) but you're the one whose looked into it so I'll concede your the one with the facts.

Your boiler isn't the be all and end all obviously, but at least you can sort it out. That's the point, while you have the means any resources go to those who don't. If your new boiler dies on it's arse out of it's warranty and your circumstances are no different then that safety net (or equivalent) would be an option for you. I dislike the breaking up of grants/benefits for this reason, there's no bigger picture. If your talking about your boiler no one will consider your savings are being used for something else important. It's frustrating - I get that, but I maintain that it doesn't help to start thinking your better off with less.

All hypothetical of course, because I really hope that you do find work and a way to get your budget back on track - sooner rather than later.

I am rather clever, yes. Silly me, the application said any owner-occupier with a total gross income of under £40k, but, being a private-sector tenant, naturally I am not eligible at all.

I just read that your station is King's Cross. You own property anywhere around there, or in commuting distance of there, the time to sell is now.

The market is buoyant and, as you truly feel you will be better off renting, trot down to the estate agents.

Hey guys, don't even bother with that - be a teenage mum, we get the keys to our free 4-bed new-build houses handed to us in our Bounty packs!

Leaflet says income from benefits can be applied. Yes, Cant, it only goes up to £1000.

With a goat and a plasma telly, Moomin, don't forget those!

Thanks much appreciated ninja.

I realise I'm looking at the greener grass. But on paper I do feel like I would be better off if I had of spent more money rather than saving it.

Anyway I'm off for the 6 mile round trip on my bike in the rain to get to lidl, because Franky tesco your too expensive and too low quality.

Can I just set you straight on your notion that people on benefits automatically qualify for 'free dental, prescriptions.' This is not true for the working poor who claim 'benefits' for eample WTC - you have to put in a claim for them and it is means tested. This is further complicated if you are self employed and it takes months to sort out.

Housing Benefit is another difficult one to claim because the people in the HB office (many of whom don't understand how to read a Profit & Loss account) make arbitrary decisions that are worng and woe betide you when you can't pay the rent because they have issued you with an 'intervention'.

What is it with these recent threads implying that anyone claiming benefits is living the life of Riley. Fucking gets my goat!

and have a stale biscuit too!

lost my spellcheker and that gets my fucking goat too

Some people genuinely do not save to be entitled to benefits, not all obviously and I've never said this!

Really?

Oh joy, more benefits bashing. Like I don't feel shit enough already that I have to focus on rebuilding my mh before getting a job, and of course I feel so amazing at the fact I get to live in a rented house that I've got no control over, that I can't move out of this area because I can't afford it, and I just absolutely love the fact that I get to stay at home all day tearing my hair out and drowning in guilt about not working or providing a decent life for my children. I should obviously just get off my arse and get a job regardless of if it causes me to have yet another breakdown.

Thanks OP

How exactly are you supposed to save a 5 figure sum when you're on minimum wage and it hardly even covers your living expenses, miss clever clogs who can't spell?

Have a for being another benefits goader.

Contribution jsa is only paid for 6 months if partner works, they are expected to support both of you even if both partners have worked for twenty plus tears, wrong IMO it used to be twelve months which gives you a chance of finding a new job

Ooh yes LeftRight my goat is currently babysitting DD while they play GTA V together on our Xbox One on the 50-inch plasma screen TV in our free house.

Well I guess that if savings weren't taken into question when receiving jsa and benefits to pay the interest on the mortgage (bearing in mind that when hb is paid it is often paying effectively for the interest and capital repayments plus possibly profit for a landlord who is renting to the hb claimant ) then it would be fairer. I didn't take the op to mean that those who don't save shouldn't get benefits just that if you do save you should also have equal right to benefits while unemployed.

I wish I could save and due to house price drops am either in negative equity or have been paying a mortgage for 7years and still owe the amount that the house is worth - not including moving and selling costs if we were to do that, we both work full time but until recently when ds turned 3 childcare was about the same as our mortgage - no chance of saving and even now it is only £50 less per week and that money is needed elsewhere such as improvements and house maintenance etc that we have put off to pay for childcare . I wouldn't feel guilty about claiming benefits if I lost my job and nor should anyone except those defrauding the system who are in a minority.

I am so fucking sick of all these benefit threads. It's coming from all angles at the moment, the news, the papers, radio, fb, MN. I'm beginning to feel really uneasy. Why is there such a sudden huge spotlight aimed at benefit claimants. I'm with gamerchick, it feels like something awful is about to happen and the gvt are testing popular opinion.

You know behind the debates, the opinions, the ranting about how much we should get, where we should be able to spend it, what we should be able to spend it on etc there are actual people. Oh, didn't you know that? Yes, we are real people, not caricatures that the media have created. In my house this morning us real people are sat in silence as the last of the emergency credit has gone on the elec meter. This obv also meant breakfast ideas were limited, coupled with the fact that I haven't been able to go shopping for a week as DCs have been ill, breakfast was rather a struggle. Half a bread roll cut into "slices" and a bowl of jelly was what the kids had for breakfast, there is literally nothing else. I have £20 in the bank. £10 for the elec meter, £10 for food.

Now I do ok over all. But the way benefits are paid is different to a wage that all comes in together in a nice lump sum. At the end of the month my pathetic amount of maintenance and the housing benefit come through and that covers rent and my direct debits. And then for the next two and a half weeks I only have the fortnightly income support payment to live on. Towards the end of the month the tax credits come in and that covers my other bills with a wee bit left over to tide me over until the next IS payment. It's hard. It means I spend half the month trying to make money stretch itself beyond the realms of possibility and the other half doing ok.

It's hard, it's not very nice, no one choses to live like this. And yet all I'm reading ATM is thread after thread after thread passing judgement on my situation, debating whether I should have a bit less money, be a bit more grateful. I feel like a bug under a microscope. I didn't chose is life. And I'm sorry that my existence and that of my children is such a burden on the conscience of so many that it must be scrutinised like this. However I'm just a person, a mum like so many of you, trying to get by and do the best for my children and hoping against all other hope that I can get off benefits as soon as possible. Because this is beginning to affect me personally. I feel judged, I feel disliked and I feel judged some more.

Instead of Housing Benefit (HB), if you're a home owner you can apply for Support For Mortgage Interest.

It's means tested in a similar way to HB, but you have to be on a qualifying benefit, unlike HB which is purely income related.

Both the tax and benefits systems can be unfair, the OP has a valid example.

I don't think there's any way to change the rules to get rid of this particular unfairness, oher than to abolish/reduce benefits, which no-one is suggesting.

So if the rules can't be changed, it's up to individuals to be canny and play the rules as they are. Generally speaking, savings that are put into envelopes called "my home (that I own)" or "my pension" don't count as assets for benefits purposes. So I'd suggest that people take advantage of that.

Well actually there is a way to change the rules: universal benefits, e.g. citizens income. I'd prefer that to means-tested benefits, but I'm not holding my breath.

Anyone can end up on benefits o.p. yours perfect self included. I pay my taxes and I have no qualms paying them so if I ever do need to claim it will be my money. Is that clear!!!!.
People claim to survive not through choice.

Too many senarios for some stranger with a nick name to pass judgement for eg
I have been with my company for 20+ years. Heaven forbid. I go into work next week and they say "Ghost we don't need you". Can I not claim back my taxes because you don't like being on benefits.
A man walks away from his wife and leaves her almost destitute. Does she not claim and just let her children starve because of closed minded people like yourself.
Someone becomes ill.Do they not claim.
The benefits system is there for the poor and the needy.
Like it or lump people are not going to stop claiming to please you.