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AIBU?

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Original poster

What is it with being poor..

181 replies

scaryclown · 07/11/2016 21:31

That makes everything more expensive??

I'm fuming/despairing at the moment. I've just managed to get control of my money after a period with no income and no soon as i get my first month finishing with £10 spare the fucking DVLA have written to me to trap me thus...

pay £300 or so quid NOW or we will take you to court where you will have to pay £1000. You cant pay in installments.

so because i'm poor, i'm forced to go to court to be charged £1000 because the court CAN enforce installmemts to pay...

fir a wealthier person, this is inconvenient and manageable, for the poorest its MORE EXPENSIVE ..

what the hell?

Also the reason is that i was clamped for pulling up on my 'to the MOT station' journey to collect the numberplate that i needed to pass the MOT and PAY THE DVLA ...they also charged me £260 to unclamp the vehicle.

UTTER BASTARDS...

my food bill is £120 a month

WIBU to put their windows in?

OP posts:
PickAChew · 07/11/2016 22:12

And yes, for the terminally clueless, the point the OP is trying to make is that someone with free cash wouldn't be facing paying £1000 instead of £300 b3cause the £300 wouldn't be a problem. I'd also hazard a guess that they'd have been less likely to incur the fine because they'd have been in more of a position to spend £20 on a taxi to collect the plate, in advance, without worrying about which bit of budget that £20 is coming out of.

And to those judging the OP for having a car she struggles to afford, we don't all live in places with fantastic and low cost public transport. It's £7 return into town on the bus from our village. There's villages further from town which get discounted ticketing, but we have to pay the full whack. We're lucky to have 2 buses an hour, plus others. My parents have 2 buses a day in their village. Fat load of good for someone who is car-less and seeking employment.

beccabanana · 07/11/2016 22:12

I'm guessing the car had no tax because the MOT was expired and there was some kind of illegal number plate (wrong font or number spacing) on the vehicle hence why it wouldn't pass MOT without. Being skint absolutely sucks balls but I'm betting you won't make the same mistake again. Things will get better, think positive

normage · 07/11/2016 22:13

What a bummer! Ignore sanctimonious posters. I often think of this issue when I see really good multiple buys, but can't afford to buy them. I definitely identity with the boots analogy. Last year I ended up buying my daughter four cheap pair of school shoes because I couldn't afford Clarks. I spent way more over the year. This year, I put money aside in August to make sure I had enough for Clarks.

Original poster
scaryclown · 07/11/2016 22:13

Thanks for the nice comments.It really is awful that i have to give a holiday away to them when its a wealthy family's big shop. utter dickensian workhouse owning, slavemaster bastards!!

OP posts:
ChocolateWombat · 07/11/2016 22:14

Sorry this won't improve your situation, but the reason these things are more expensive is not so much that you are poor, but that you are a bad credit risk. When people have defaulted in the past on direct debits etc and standard bill systems, they are put on instalments or meters or whatever so that the supplier can receive regular payments. These cost to administer which pushes up the price. Plus, there may well be a bit extra built in, because of the higher risk of default.
People default on bills act for lots of reasons. Sometimes it is due to being poor in the first place and not having enough money, sometimes it is due to poor budgeting rather than insufficient money.

Sorry to hear this is hitting you OP. I can see it does seem like a pit you can't fight your way out of if you are having to pay more and can't get ahead. A very very strict budget which you rigidly stick to isn't fun, but will be a way to improve the situation over time...but it won't be a quick fix and there probably isn't a quick fix.
Go to see a Commumity Money Advisor who can help you manage any debts and draw up a manageable budget so that you can afford to live and have what is necessary, without your creditors beating down your door and making life a misery.

SpunkyMummy · 07/11/2016 22:14

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

Sometimes I wish I could help. I know, I'm not a saviour, don't even have the means to be. But I wish I could.

We try to donate, volunteer, be kind... and yet I sometimes feel like it's useless.

I know, I shouldn't make this about myself. I'm sorry. I'll simply blame the pregnancy hormones for taking myself too seriously and being such a twit. Sorry.

All the bets, OP.

scaryclown · 07/11/2016 22:15

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Peregrina · 07/11/2016 22:17

Is it worth letting them taking you to court so that you could put your case to the court? I don't see how DVLA can say that you will be fined £1000. Won't that be the potential maximum? I am not a lawyer, so don't take my advice, but maybe someone on MN is and can give you a better idea.

Original poster
scaryclown · 07/11/2016 22:18

I amazed at how easily people here make excuses for 'the man' against the poor...its almost like you've been trained < narrows eyes at the daily mail in costa, hotel lobbies, train stations, starbucks, neros, hospital shops amd wards, etc eyc>

OP posts:
Phalenopsisgirl · 07/11/2016 22:18

Go to court, it sounds like the ticket won't stand up. If you have already appealed and had a knock back don't be discouraged, all appeals are refused on first request, I have never known an exception to this. However if they realise you aren't a pushover you may find your luck changes and don't be suprised if it never makes it to court and the whole thing evaporates without explanation.

FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname · 07/11/2016 22:20

Yanbu at all OP. I had a similar shoes conundrum to the 'Boots' post above. I needed new shoes for work as had nothing suitable. I couldn't afford a decent, comfortable pair of shoes for £50, so I had to buy a cheap rubbish pair for £10 that hurt my feet so much that by the end of the day I'm hobbling in pain.

Electric and gas on meters = more expensive.
More expensive to borrow money/buy things.

The thing that really get me though is the charges for things like going overdrawn etc. So you get charged for having no money. Really fucks me off, as if that is going to help anyone!!

Original poster
scaryclown · 07/11/2016 22:23

its because the stupid-ass government are only able a. to use economic punishment to manage bad behaviour (witness £1000 fines for homeless rough sleepers..when GIVING 1000 might work, TAKING 1000 from someone whp cant afford a room is ludicrous, but economists cant see a problem with that )

The stupid idiots dont realise that it doesnt do amythimg apart from charge someone sorting something out and only AFTER that process anyway. communication BEFORE would manage behaviour
..but wouldn't raise money...

its mental...

OP posts:
Original poster
scaryclown · 07/11/2016 22:26

i know re od charges. how the chuff charging someone £90 for having no money is going to do anything I just dont know... but again to a £3000 a month earner that means nothing...but also a £3000 a month earner is much less likely to have a problem in the first place...its so shitty its like every agency you can think of is pouring slippy oil over all the possible bottom rungs...

OP posts:
PigletWasPoohsFriend · 07/11/2016 22:26

Not fair to pick on becca OP.

ShesAStar · 07/11/2016 22:27

Hi OP, I've been in the same situation as you, in fact our car was towed away and rushed because we couldn't afford to pay to get the clamp removed. We then had no car for DH to get to work and I'd bought some Christmas presents which were still in the boot at the time of being towed away. We just couldn't get the money together in time. You will get over this but you are right, it is much more expensive to be poor. Credit is more expensive, electricity, pay back schemes, you really do get penalised and it's very unfair! Can you phone the number provided and speak to someone about an extension which will give you enough time to get the money together?

5OBalesofHay · 07/11/2016 22:28

MOT Garage would have done you a new number plate if needed.

Liiinoo · 07/11/2016 22:29

I totally agree that it is much harder to live cheaply when you are hard up. When my DDs were little I used to stockpile nappies when they were BUY TWO GET ONE FREE. If you are on a tight budget you cannot afford to buy two bags of nappies in one week, and even if you managed to save up enough to buy the extra bag, Good luck with getting three bags of nappies and a buggy on the bus! It is nearly always cheaper to buy anything in bulk, including it being cheaper to pay for insurance/tax etc a year in advance but it will always require an initial extra outlay. And for groceries you then need space to store the excess, much easier in a three bedroom semi than a one bedroom flat.

But YWBVVU to put their windows in. Busfares to court/fines/community service will not improve your mood or finances.

Scaredycat3000 · 07/11/2016 22:31

Well OP, would you really want to be rich if it means losing all empathy? Wink
It really is shit, and wrong. These benefit sanctions are just unfathomable to me as well. It can't be good for the country's economy ether, which you'd think they might care about, they sure as hell don't care about people/families who have the absolute least having absolutely nothing.
It's all so fucking wrong.

FleurThomas · 07/11/2016 22:31

In your case it's better to let it go to court probably, if it's not your fault someone is bound to pick up on it.

BlueFolly · 07/11/2016 22:45

Yep, I agree, let it go to court. Fuckers.

pmama · 07/11/2016 22:50

What about trying to negotiate - describing the situation, and agree with small payments? Even when you use your credit card to cover this cost, would be better than going to court. Food bill could be cut down quite easily... 140 pounds is for how many people per month?

Original poster
scaryclown · 07/11/2016 23:08

no it doesn't 50bales. Thats why i got it done elsewhere. You aeem to know it all.. except nothing you say is correct.

OP posts:
LookMoreCloselier · 07/11/2016 23:09

Can you write a letter back, explaining (again presumably) that you were on the one allowed journey (can you prove this?) when they clamped you, therefore they will need to take you to court as you are in the right and they stopped you from completing your journey, hopefully they would at that point throw it away...?

Original poster
scaryclown · 07/11/2016 23:09

THEY WONT ALLOW INSTALLMENTS.. thats the trap...tge trap that's SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO MAKE THE POOR PAY MORE.....

dont you get it???

OP posts:
GettingitwrongHauntingatnight · 07/11/2016 23:10

Yes its true.Sad just look at paydayloans