For being FED UP that people are living in council houses & on benefits, yet some how can afford to go on a holiday every year??

[cleo43]

I have had it with lazy shites that sit in the house that I & my dh ( the tax payer) pay for , living on money that I & my dh ( the tax payer ) make possible, having more than I have!!

Perhaps it's a little bit of a green eyed monster going on here ,but, this evening my neighbour that lives in a council house & on benefits has been round to show me her new car and ask me to look after "her" house when she and her husband ( plus the two children and a grandchild) go on holiday next week!!
I am sick of it. It was only last month that she was dragging me in to see her new giant flat screen tv!!
We can't afford these things yet we have to pay for these idiots to have them??

Petetong - I told Cleo to f'off too. It's an expression y'know, a bit like piss off? Not too often taken literallly, but more often an expression of frustration - that itself a valid opinion.

So what's your point agian?

there's one neighbourhood in Edinburgh that is in the catchment for one of the best schools in town and ex-council semis there go for £200,000 or more.

My point is that I don't like being acused of being a troll just because I have a certain opinion. I think I have made any of my other feelings clear in my earlier postings.

Oh expat shoot him that won't do. Coming between a pregnant woman and her food! Tut tut!

It doesnt get to me those on benefits and not working im sure they have theyre reasons, but what does piss me off is all those, my freinds included who have boyfreinds who are not supposed to live with them she has income support plus rent payed plus no council tax, he then also gets job seekers allowance but earns a couple of hundred aweek cash on side and lives with her. Now that pisses me off. And all along My husband is keeping me and my children, yes I dont work but I dont claim anything either and he pays the mortgage, council tax bills, and his own taxes and yes we struggle constantly.

And if your wondering why im not working it is because we have 2 young children and when the youngest is in school then I will have to get a part time job

Petetong, if it's any consolation I'm here three years and often feel the way you do re being afraid to voice my oppinon. until I down a bottle of chardonnay and let rip!

Fiar enough.

Many woudl think Custy a troll upon first posting.

But I haven't read the thread in full, I was just alarmed at my worse cuss being ignored!

kel78, my feelings exactly. I've seen it all with people on benefits who really have no need to be but are having a lovely time staying up all night (might I also say that these people spoil the quality of life of people who are genuinely in social housing but actually work and have to get up in the morning). I would say that in the school where I work there are 20% of pupils spoiling the education of 80% of the pupils in the school. Also in the wider community these percentages are about the same.

Kel78
That's not on benefits, that's Benefit cheat
Report them if it bothers you

Expat, I live in one of those. Lovely house. In a 'close' of 7 houses. All ex council. All privately owned now. I tell you, the stigma . Ha ha.

I work part time. DP works full time. We make enough money to have a holiday once or twice a year (usually to visit my parents or staying in a holiday house owned by a relative, so cheap holidays, nothing fancy). We have a big mortgage, a tiny car and one child.

Frankly, I am DELIGHTED that I live in a country where people who need it can get benefits. If they want to get into debt to buy a big telly or a car, that's entirely up to them. And I think the idea that waging war on Iraq is somehow more important than making sure children don't grow up wondering where the next meal is coming from is absolutely laughable.

As long as the money is legit (or backed upby the odd cash in hand job) does it really matter how they prioritise? If you have kids, their welfare must be your priority, no question. But if not, let them spend the money as thy wish. Would you rather we returned to milk coupons?

My priorities are different from many too. My DH earns a six figure salary yet we can't afford a holiday this year. Partly due to increase in school fees and partly because the new mortgage begins with a 3! Many other parent would argue,'buy a smaller house and send them to state school.' Those views are completely justified, they're just not my choices.

What I'm saying is that to me, rightly or wrongly, the house and the school fees are my priority. For this couple, perhaps the tv and the car are theirs. If I had to live on such a low income I'd want a bit of escapism too!

I honestly think some people would like to usher in an ethos of humiliation whereby people on benefits where made to keep written accounts of where every penny goes!

Cushioncover you are right that everybody has different priorities. Unfortunately I think that you may believe that all mothers put their childrens needs first. I have had a mother sit opposite me with 20 fags in her hand and ask me to give her money cos she couldn't afford to feed her child. It went against my grain, but I said no, I have childrent myself and would never sit there smoking whilst they went without the basics of food. Unfortunately yet again the minority spoil it for the majority but i do believe that some parents need to be given vouches so that they dont have the choice of what the cash is spent on and to ensure that the children have adequate food and clothing before anything else is purchased.

I think those mothers that would use their last £4 on a packet of fags whilst letting their kids go hungry must be seriously in the minority.

Also the stigma of being on benefits is bad enough without having to hand over vouchers at the checkout.
I can just see some snotty young cashier saying, 'Sorry, this only entitles you to value ham not the nice edible stuff!'

well we have a brand new car and three flat screen Tvs, we haven't been able to have a holiday for a while but we did used to have 2 a year whilst sitting on our arses and claiming benefits, so judge away. i don't suppose that anyone would want to awop lives for a while, they could have the TVs and the new car, but would also have to have 3 kids with Sn and a DH who is dying.
if you could all form a queue that would be fab
do not judge unless you know the full story.

You already have to hand milk tokens over and have the stupid bratty teenaged cashier yawp "DO WE TAKE THESE?" across the shop.

It's great. No really, who needs those last shreds of dignity, they were only slowing me down. Now I feel free to drink Special brew in the day and start smoking again instead of buying shoes.

Colditz, if I had a pound for every snide/patronising/ignorant comment I've heard over the years, I'd be a very wealthy woman. No pun intended.

I brought formula milk today and gave the cashier 2 milk tokens to cover it and he didn't know if they could take them I didn't even know if I could use 2 for one tin because I am BF, but Ds2 is having a nursing strike atm, so had to get emergancy supplies in.

I agree about the stigma as when I found out I was pregnant I left work at 6 months and moved regions so my partner had to give up too. When my DS was born we were both still unemployed so we recieved tokens for baby milk and one day I got to the checkout at Tesco and there wasa problem coz I had folded it over the barcode so wasnt scanning anyway the cashier shouted and a woman behind me turned to her husband and says 'bloody tenagers if they can't afford kids they shouldn't bloody have them! They get handouts for everything these days' I was 19 but looked about 15 as I was told aot LOL. Happily am bak to work this week and my partners working away.

I'm often irritated also by the "well your different" "Your Ok" mentality. I sometimes find it slightly patronising. I'm off this particular thread for now as I'm tired and my brain is starting to ache.

The best one was once when Ds1 was a baby and Misdee's DH was pushing him around in Asda while me and Misdee were doing the shopping. Two old people started on about 'teenage parents' Peter turned round and said ' Actually he isn't mine, his dad works full time and his mum works part time' (that was when we both worked and before Ds1 was diagnosed with cerebral palsy) People will always think you are a benifit cheat, even if you work, if you look young

I do not have the energy or the inclination to even touch on the utter BS, bigoted OP. Utterly ridiculous.

Colditz and many others have made such fantastic posts on here, I see no point in going into it further, however, I couldn't let this post go:

Would you mind explaining to me how exactly, you are picking up the bill for the debt incurred by those not able to afford to buy things out right, and who rely on credit and loans at often extortionate rates of interest?

How, and when are you picking up the bill for these debts? I've never come across this before, so would be grateful for any information on it.

DH and I both work full time and struggle every month to meet payments for mortgage/utilities/nursery etc. My cousin has 6 kids, lives with his df in a 4 bed council property and swans around all day doing nothing much.

After bills, we have no money at all and often have to use credit cards to meet the shortfall. We only have a 2 bed flat which we are trying desperately to sell so we can move into a cheaper rented place.

I just don't see how it adds up - how can someone (like said cousin) opt out of work and yet be better off?

OJ - you are wonderful - your post says it all. Not everybody who claims benefits enjoys it..believe me I would rather be working full time and I know my DH would rather be working full time.

Unfortunatly after a joint working life of 60 years we are claiming benefits for the first time. and...my MN friends we go on holiday every year!! Shock. Horror. We save like nutters, we have no new clothes, cant remember the last time I had shoes. Also when my two sons died I DID NOT claim any help for their funerals. We got the money together and paid for both of them.

Everybody is so quick to judge. Both my DH and myself are from a long line of very hard working miners. Men who put their life on the line day in day out to provide the rest of the country with fuel. I would love to know how much money our joint families paid into the system in tax and national insurance.

Loosing my two sons has taught me that life is so short. I WILL go on holiday every year for as long as I CHOOSE TO...some of you judgemental MN's need to realise that Benefits do not equal unreliable, unworking, uncaring fools.