To rant about government financial help

[Alittlenonsensenowandthen]

Firstly, I'll say that I've previously been in receipt of financial help from govt and extremely grateful and also want those who need help to be helped, but...
I've now met two people (retired) who are telling me what they're spending their fuel allowance on (new flat screen TV, holidays, new sofas). This is not an agiest or benefit bashing thread but it just gets my goat that there are people happily spending money given for heating on luxuries. It's not actually their fault - they haven't asked for the money, it wasn't means tested so arguably why not spend it and see it as bonus money. If govt wants to help, it needs to pay for things directly surely?
Just really bugging me at the moment because we're fine financially but only just, and we earn too much for help.
Argh! Just needed a rant to the ether this eve!

Ask them to buy you a sofa?

Given the amount of money the tories tee up for their mates through their corrupt practices I'm past caring. Go pensioners, enjoy it 😘

From AgeUK
Over the last ten years a shocking quarter of a million older people have died from the cold –1 older person every 7 minutes and at the root of this problem are cold, poorly insulated homes.

A lot didn’t manage to stay alive.

Sofa? Holiday? For £500?? I doubt it!

When mine arrives I will order heating oil.

We use hot water bottles, blankets, thermals, layers - we need to change our heating system but are struggling to decide what to change to, and what we have right now isn't great. We do have double glazing and so no frost inside windows etc, though condensation. We are all healthy and fairly mobile though, and so can generate our own heat by moving more if we need to - not everyone is able to do that, disabled folk, more frail folk, older folk and so on, and so it's not unreasonable that they do need their heating on more just to survive/feel well.

How original.

They’ll have quite a challenge doing all that on £600🤷🏽‍♀️

0/100 for effort OP

If they were spending it on diamonds and ferraris you might have some sort of point but a tv and sofa? They're not exactly things anyone's going to buy unless they need them, unless they're a completely mad millionaire who wants to stock random rooms in their mansion with loads of sofas and tellys for no reason. Maybe imagine they said "our sofa's lost all support and hurting our backs terribly, but we can't afford a new one because of the cost of fuel now" - wouldn't you wish the government were doing more to help them?

My boss at work recently got his bus pass. He works full time and earns over £150k a year with bonuses on top. He thought it was hilarious. It’s shameful that we don’t have a government IT system which knows what our earnings are!

Both my parents (they are divorced) get it and both give it to me as I’m on UC and unable to work they know I need it more than them as they are comfortable

@Areallyboringperson

He must have applied for his bus pass. They aren’t given out automatically.

But an honest one😊

Just pointing out the fuel allowance wouldn’t get them much of a holiday , definitely not a tv and a new sofa as well.

worry about the real problems going on in the world if you want something to be busy about.

I've often wondered that too. All TVs now are 'flat screen'. It's almost as thought the wording is copied and pasted.

My elderly mom has just put hers towards new hearing aids. I hope that’s suitably non-frivolous for you op

You’re targeting the retired people, and not younger people who might also be pretty comfortable on UC, which is a benefit? People on UC are also getting boosts for fuel allowance this winter, when there are many people just above the poverty line who get nothing. There’s a lot of unfairness in money handouts, but it is what it is.

Would you rather the government spent more money administrating it, or some people who don't need it getting it?

People love to moan. Considering the OP has admitted having financial help from the Government I am pretty sure she would accept this hand out if offered. Whether she needed it or not.

Peter Stringfellow, in the one thing I've admired him for, phoned to try to give it back, and they wouldn't take it, or take him off the pensioner list. So he gave it to charity. The article detailing his conversation with the call centre, not blaming them, of course, was hilarious. My parents don't need it either, but there we go.

But if he earns £150k a year, you do realise that he probably doesn’t catch a bus, so is not using the pass anyway?

I repair TVs, have an oldie like that in the shop on display - havn't seen a CRT TV for repair now in 15 years, maybe more!!

My mum, knowing she is about to get £500, bought me a new winter coat last weekend. I was very grateful as I need one. She's putting the rest towards her fuel bill. She helps me with childcare too and we eat round there regularly. So, in our family, it filters down

I think you're correct to be concerned about taxpayers' money going where it isn't needed.

Unfortunately this happens in ways that are mightily more expensive, far less justifiable and hugely more egregious than Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners.

It's a shame we don't talk about those examples more often and with equal animation.

You’re targeting the retired people, and not younger people who might also be pretty comfortable on UC

Do you mean those younger people who are 'comfortable' on zero hours contracts topped up by UC of less than £300 a month (including months where they're offered zero hours) and who can't find homes to rent because of the unprecedented housing crisis we're in? Because that describes a high number of young people in 2023, many of whom have mental health issues directly caused by the economy that is rigged to disenfranchise them, and whose parents' and grandparents' generations are characteristically sitting in mortgage-free homes of their own that those young people can't even begin to imagine for themselves. Do you mean those younger people?

I bet it's being so fucking miserable that gets you up in the mornings 🙄