Skint Britain: Friends without Benefits on C4

[amrscot]

Is anybody else watching this?

One of the couples take their dog out to hunt rabbits and squirrels that they can eat.

They've just shown him with a dead rabbit he has caught skinning it in the kitchen

Horrendous..

*tune about luck

I'm done responding to you. Enjoy your rental income, be sure to let your tenants know you'll boot them out if you have a row other your partner

You sound very bitter with life WTM.

As it is, my tenants have been there for 3 years and are very happy. We don't use an agency and I haven't increased the rent during these 3 years. I have done all the repairs they have asked for in good time.

As it is, I expect they will be the ones giving me notice and I'm surprised they haven't done so yet. I'll be sorry when they do but last we talked they said they were very happy there so who knows.

I don't get any monthly income from it. 40% goes to the taxman. That's a lot of added tax. Maybe one day I'll sell but considering the type of property it is, only professionals or those who got an inheritance/lottery win will be able to afford it, so me stopping to be a landlord won't be of any help to those claiming benefits.

Not that you'll care about any of this. You are clearly set to believe all landlords are on a mission to make as much money from it without a care for their tenants and won't be able to see that this not the case for the vast majority of tenants. I'm sorry if you've had poor experiences but as much posters are asking here not to tarnish all benefits claimants with the same brush, you might want to considerthe same advice.

I very much appreciate the time people who are in difficult circumstances are taking to talk to those of us who are in a better position. It is only by listening to each other (it is a two way process hopefully) that we can understand the positions of others.

Brilliant, is doing eactly what I recommend and how my parents got out of poverty in the NE in he 1940s by the way and it often does work - further and higher education. Not everyone can manage that/pass the exams of course but it is a sensible thing to do if you can.

I also totally understand mental health issues. My father was a psychiatrist in the NE, a regular attendee at Durham prison and all over the place up there. My granny had awful arthritis. I know how awful that is. I hope none of us are saying everything can be down to what people do in their lives but just that some simple measures if you can take them can help eg moving to where jobs are or passing exams. Eg I graduated a teetotal virgin so not surprisingly I got a good degree and did not have a baby before I graduated.

Nope, it worked for them therefore it'll work for anyone trying hard enough. Ok then, thanks
I think the point is more the opposite. The assumption that if you face difficulties in life, you can't possibly get yourself out of a life of benefits because it's too hard and only luck will allow you too.

As you've said, some people on benefits have tried very hard and got nowhere just as some are where they are because they expect luck to come and knock on their door.

Similarly, some are doing well because they got things handed on a plate and have done little to get where they are, but many are there because of all the blood they've sweated, the rejections they've faced and the chances against all odds they've taken.

Thats why judging as a whole is totally pointless.

It's exactly why I've put my two eldest in uni. Ones in law the other is a student nurse. I didn't have the chance of a decent education and I have made sure through everything that they have in the hope that they won't go through so many struggles.
It is pointless judging as a whole and I think WTM is a bit down at the moment and so am I. Im really pleased for you that you turned your life around. It's inspiring to lots of people to hear that. You just never know what's around the corner life can be cruel and it's certainly short. My dad was running about 7 weeks ago. He thought he had a chest infection or a virus like we all did but now he's bed ridden on oxygen. Let's be thankful that we are all still here and not argue. We all have difficult times and we all judge and maybe we should try not to so much. Most people are nice. I think Theresa May is probably a nice person but out of touch with the reality of life when you're working class but it's but her fault she had t experienced it and doesn't understand it. Well I won't be able to call myself working class in three weeks. I hope I don't automatically turn into a scumbag because I'm off work caring for my dad and being evicted because I'm still waiting for my universal credit hasn't arrived yet. The government make the rules and we do have to abide by them otherwise we'd be in a war zone. I hope hope hope something changes for genuinely struggling people I really do. These TV shows are designed to cause outrage and don't reflect the true picture, I can tell you that much having been on both sides of it (I've never been "wealthy" but I was ok, I was a landlady myself when I was married years ago in my twenties) Anyway, seeing arguing makes me feel sad and it gives in to what the powers that be want which is to create a divide because then we are easier to "control" for want of a better word. Also I am a teeny bit over weight because I am addicted to sugar. I love it and I would much rather eat a desert rather than a meal. It's just me but if I do go sugar free I lose a stone in a month so that's what I do now and again to keep the weight off.

Also if anyone one wants to look more attractive on way is eat less eg try one meal a day and no snackes for a week or two as a start.

Ahaha.

Including college, the home study I am required to do for work, working 30-50 hours a week and caring for my grandma once a week to give other family a break I clock over 100 hours a week. Am I shite doing that on one meal a day with no snacks.

As for hard work I do think some people are able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. I also think for a lot of people luck is involved. And I know that some people try and try and try and get kicked back down over and over. I know that because I am one of those people. I've done education, had a good career and only left once I was married and had young children. I married well, he was wealthy, educated, owned two properties outright and treat me like a princess until he developed alcohol dependence and began emotionally, verbally and financially abused me. I think he would've physically abused me if he hadn't been so lazy. Once I left him I could only work part-time because I had 2 young children and childcare wasn't available for my former career. I tried setting up my own business on the side, just as it was starting to take off I was investigated for tax credit fraud and all my tax credits stopped. It happened during the quietest period of the year so I was forced to quit my business and take-up fulltime work. I'm now entitled to more tax credits than ever but until they hear the appeal, they won't pay me anything.

Good luck MiGi. I think thd reality if life is just about everyone has something they feel envious of what others have because we are naturally so focus on our misery and only look at what others have that we don't.

Life is a gamble, so every effort we put in becomes an investment with no certainty of return. Many efforts will lead to nothing and this in turn will deplete us of positive energy. For some people, this leads to the mindset of 'why bother, I might as well make the beat of the little I have'. For others, it will prompt them to keep going until they get what they want.

My view is that I rather have a life of keeping trying whether I get where I want to be rather than a life always wondering what ifs. What if I'd tried it just one more time.

My experience is that although not all positive thinking and efforts lead you to what you want, as a whole, you get closer to it than not trying. You also learn on the way so you are better armed next time you try.

Of course there are dreadful disappointments in the way that makes you want to give up and at times, when you hut failures after failures, you need a break to regain some energy but hatred, bitterness and resentment rarely takes you on the road towards happiness.

"I just know the value of a pound and have worked for every penny ive earned"
No you haven't.
You've sat back and taken money from people in exchange for a roof. A roof that someone else without one could have bought.
Landlords, all private landlords, are a bigger drain and cause of poverty than any claimant.
They get money from a bank to buy a house and the tenant pays the mortgage, they get a free house paid for by someone else's hard work.
Parasitic behaviour.
They then bump up the rent to as much as they can get. Use estate agents that cripple other people with ridiculous fees.
Parasitic behaviour.
So don't bleat you've worked hard for your money, you haven't. You've drained money from the economy to the tune of 3 houses and their rental incomes.

I would get more sense if i went out and spoke with a pile of rocks!

When you say "its a roof that someone else could have bought" you are entirely right. So why didn't they?
Do you think that someone just hands houses to Landlords from the magic bag and they just sit back and wait for the money coming in?
Or.... could it be that the landlord has worked hard everyday of their life to be able to afford to buy a property; They've had to furnish and decorate the property, advertise the property, write up terms and contracts for the property, arrange payments for rent on the property. These are decent hardworking people who the majority of the time are just trying to earn an honest living for their family.

Its tedious explaining common sense but the Landlord bought the house usually from money he earned; if he got a mortgage to pay it then he pays even more for that house because he also pays interest as profit to the bank who lent him the money

He payed stamp duty (tax) when he bought the property

He will pay capital gains tax if and when he sells the property

He will pay income tax on the rent he collects from that property often as much as 40% on what he makes!

I'm struggling to see where up to now a landlord could be thought of as a parasite. In case you were getting mixed up, this is a contributor.
Money HE has earned has been used to buy the property.

I don't think there are many people on this thread that understand how the economy works either. There isn't a group of landlords who have got together to agree on a minimum price of rent to extort renters out of their money. The price is set based on the demand of a free market economy; this means that if a landlord was to set the price of rent too high he would soon be out of business because tghe next landlord that came along at a cheaper price would be getting all the business. This is called competition in a capitalist society.

Just because you find something very expensive doesn't mean you are being ripped off or that you are being overcharged.

I would love a £20m yacht. That doesn't mean that the seller is ripping people off by asking £20m, it just means the it's too much for me to afford. That's not the fault of the seller. The fact he owns that yacht is good for him, he's probably worked hard for it and deserves it, and i'd never dream of attacking him as a parasite or a rip off merchant. I clearly have to work harder before i can buy the yacht.

And to whoever said my working out of bills was incorrect i beg to differ. Many of the figures you quoted were average numbers for households. I would expect if you were on benefits that that is the time to make a consious effort to only use a minimum amount of what you need, buy a minimum amount of shopping at the least expensive places. So if your on benefits you should cut back to the minimum amount of things needed.

The problem is many on benefits think they are entitled to the same luxurious and lifestyles as the the rest of the population and they're not. They need to cut back. I understand some of them are in debt and are finding it hard, but again debt needs to be paid off and they need to take resonsibility for that.

Life isn't always fair or good to everyone.

Frequency, i suspect the advice to our children then is never give up fulltime work no matter how rich the man seesm to be. I never gave it up and went back full time after just a few weeks off for each baby and that did work. Had I stopped work or gone part time my life would have been so economically secure. Had you carried on you might have out earned the rich man who turned alcoholic even. It is that relying on one income source that can be risky for people.

And if anyone fancies and is ready for a change tehre are full time PAYE jobs going with lots of over time down here for van drivers like my son on about £22k a year. although you need a driving licence which I appreciate not everyone can afford to get. rooms to rend near his work are about £400 a month. et pay a m,onth is £1528 on that salary so you have about £1000 each month for your food, council tax, heating, travel, not too bad really (I am taking about single people here of course not those with children)

I know the government have stepped in and made a start to this but part of the problem is people worrying about childcare whilst getting into work.

Again we need to drum into people to be responsible. If you're on benefits you really should be thinking twice before having children as you can't afford to have children. Its common sense to most but still escapes a large amount of people.

I don't think theres anything wrong with leaving work to care for kids if you're supported by another i.e. DH. I left work to care for both of mine but I could have always got back into work incase of an emergency. I think that if you have the opportunity to take that time off during the first few years of your kids lives thats never going to be a bad thing and is great for the kids. Theres' also such good childcare out there now that its hardly a detriment if you're unable to though

Unless someone is disabled I would question why they would spend their days “under a duvet for warmth” when they could be out undertaking voluntary work to give something back and increase their employability once the DC are old enough so they can return to the workplace.

Access to luxuries lick the internet paid for TICK

The internet is not a luxury, it's classified as an essential because you can't claim UC without internet access and children can't do their homework without internet access so not having access puts people at a disadvantage.

Unless someone is disabled I would question why they would spend their days “under a duvet for warmth” when they could be out undertaking voluntary work to give something back and increase their employability once the DC are old enough so they can return to the workplace.

Because if you do voluntary work, your benefits get stopped.

To claim UC you must be available for work at all times which you cannot be if you are already committed to doing voluntary work. You must also spend a minimum of 35 hours each week looking for work (and prove you have done so) which, again, you cannot do if you are doing voluntary work.

My point is, and I can't understand how this is even a point of contention is that you have not earned this lifestyle, it is payed for by other people like me

And it's fuck-knuckles like you who seem to think the unemployed and financially vulnerable should be happy for whatever crumbs we throw their way. Have you even read the full thread to see what the wider issues are?

Not true, you can do voluntary work. As long as you spend an additional 30 hours a week applying for jobs.

You tax credit and UC advance aren't payments! Thats money you've already had and spent.

Tax Credit overpayments were/are very common due to a clunky system that works in arrears for the most part and in advance for other, more specific parts, where some changes of circumstance could be reported in advance, some couldn't be reported until they'd occured, some would be backdated, some wouldn't, and so on. It was complicated to navigate and administer as well as complicated to navigate and claim. The overpaid money is then taken back at preset rates, as is the case here.

UC advance payments are because no money is paid for the first 5-6 weeks of any new UC claim. Could you go 5-6 weeks with no income whatsoever? Claimants are able to apply for an advance to tide them over and buy luxuries such as food but it's a trap as this advance is then deducted at a rate that leaves them in further hardship once their payments actually do start as the payments are at a lower amount than they should be. Even the government has admitted this system is punitive and wrong and that claims should be processed more quickly in order to avoid it happening in future.

Not true, you can do voluntary work. As long as you spend an additional 30 hours a week applying for jobs.

Again though, it's proving this is the case.

FIL wanted to do voluntary work and was told by the DWP that the hours involved (24 p/wk) would make it difficult to prove/believe that he was also meeting his claimant commitment of spending 35hrs p/wk jobsearching.

StevieHuckle Fri 01-Mar-19 14:56:56

I know...
Again we need to drum into people to be responsible. If you're on benefits you really should be thinking twice before having children ....large amount of people.

So Child Benefit for people earning upto £50,000 each isn't a "Benefit" then.
Neither is Childcare a benefit and the rest.

The problem is if your unemployed its a benefit if your working and don't need it, its what your entitled to because you work.

Nonsense nobody on that kind of money should get financial assistance of any kind. All benefits and other allowances should be means tested and based on basic rate tax allowances.

You can hear the screams now if it was and should be the case.

I bet you happily claim "Benefit"

When I was on UC (just unemployed and looking for work) they made allowances for volunteering. Something like up to 6hrs a week (not too sure on the exact amount) you could volunteer and have that taken off your job search ie volunteer 6hrs and job search for 29hrs. This was because volunteering improves skills and gives experience, and promotes employability. Courses you go on (either self funded, or ones through volunteering) also count (well some of them) as they are classed as improving employability and leading to work. Know people on UC who volunteer regularly

StevieHuckle Please allow me to clear some things up for you after reading through your replies & realising how you’re lacking in empathy & decency with each post... Firstly having a mobile phone is NOT a luxury, having access to the internet is NOT a luxury and being able to treat your child/children to a chippy tea should NOT be a luxury !! More or less everything to do with benefits is done online now therefore a phone and internet access is essential just walk into any of your local jobcentre’s & enquire about benefits & see if they don’t tell you everything is done online for yourself !! Secondly benefit claimants DONT expect anything to be paid for by you a very SMALL percentage of your tax money goes towards benefits I suggest you go & do some research to find out exactly how much !! & thirdly tell me please why do you & the people who think the same way as you only seem to get mad & angry at “your tax money” going towards benefits but don’t seem to have a problem with the MP’s claiming back expenses for breakfasts, travel & having properties left right and centre all paid for by you the tax payer & your tax money !!

You don’t have to 24 hours per week of voluntary work. There are organisations all over the UK crying out for a few hours a week. You could even arrange something yourself by organising local litter picks or similar, help out at your DC’s school with reading, gardening or other clubs, offer to visit a sheltered scheme and be their bingo caller for an hour a week, make cups of tea etc. The list goes on...

Always seems to be an excuse why a positive potential solution won’t work!

I can definitely understand why volunteering 24 hrs wouldn't be acceptable in UC eyes, that's not far off a full time job! There's plenty of organisations wanting only a few hrs a week

@Namenic

As a childfree by choice woman i looked into joining a childfree by choice forum. But the couple i looked at did have quite a bit of vitriol towards parents and made me feel uncomfortable.

When i read posts like yours and the diifferent expectations placed on child free people simply because they dont have living proof that they have had sex without contraception i can understand what has caused it in some cases.

The attitude some of you have disgust me, because a lot of PP's need an empathy transplant it means I have to jump through hoop after hoop after hoop to demonstrate how disabled I am because I have an invisible disability through no fault of my own just bad genetics and bad luck, its not people who defraud the system currently 0.7% according to the official DWP statistics but because the hoops are there because some of you hate the idea that people like me deserve to have a decent quality of life, but put your minds at rest my quality of life is awful so thats something that can put a spring in your step for today eh

I once rented to a single parent of 4 children. She then had another baby. My 3 bed semi was trashed and she was a manky cow. Because I didn’t want to make 5 children homeless and for them to have to be taken out of their schools, I moved her into another property I owned in the same road in order to redecorate and refurbish. She trashed the other property as well and was breeding dogs in one of the downstairs rooms. Thankfully, she decided she wanted to move. My husband caught her moving out whilst owing us rent. When I went in the property that had been fully refurbished a year earlier I ran out gagging and being sick. The end result is I don’t rent to benefit tenants unless I know the family personally and they are prepared to act as guarantor for the tenant. She was entitled and knew how to play the system. I have 2 children she had 5.