For being fucked off with all the threads about what people on benefits should and should not do?

[conniedescending]

Apparently not have babies OR go on holiday for starters.

What is it with this obsession with what other people less fortunate are doing? I find it absolutely ludicrous that the so called tax payers are more annoyed at vulnerable people claiming benefits than they are at what the rich are actually doing.

Why is it the spotlight is not on the 'rich' people who tax evade left, right and center meaning there is less in the pot.....what about MPs expenses???? What about non-doms?

I find it ludicrous that people actually think the problem lies with people on benefits when it is the rich who are the abhorrent party in this debacle.

the credit companies prefer people who will only be able to pay back the minimum amount each month.

So, yeah, people with little money are ripe for the picking really.

Ooh yes, I am with you there Enid. Like with the holidays - FAQ is being sensible and finding something very cheap. Just because you're skint doesn't mean you don't need that running away breathe sigh of relief, if anything it is escaping from the money worrying. But then others just whack it all on a credit card and go to Florida

i bet places do though cd

i agree with my first post too

CD - bet you could.

They can get catalogues and loans with sky high repayments though.
You'd think that credit was made to keep poor people poor the rates they have to pay back to get it.

or dont go on holiday

its not the end of the bleedin world if you have to stay at home for 2 weeks

yes old fashioned catalogues sell everything at hugely inflated prices but you pay back 72p a week for a million years etc

FioFio - Don't you ever want that feeling of being completely away from all things every day life?

We don't go on "holidays" as such, but we do get the odd weekend with PIL, the odd trip to see lovely MNers who let us stay etc. Sometimes I just want to run away from everything.

i seem to be in a mood to agree with countess today so i agree with whatever she says

that should have saved me enough time to have breakfast and a shower

Tbh though Enid, I think if you're living on the breadlin every day of your life it's understandable to say 'you know what fuck it' and blow out on a holiday or a big TV or w/e.

I'd happily say no holiday this year because I have a pretty good standard of living all year round, if I didn't I reckon I'd get pretty fed up with not being able to afford anything.

The bill's in the post Zippi

Countess - you would be surprised at the amount of credit people on benefits can obtain.

I have worked as a conveyancer and over the years have accepted work from numerous brokers who bascially find a mortgage for people on benefits so they can buy their council houses. These people nearly always borrow extra for 'home improvements'. The interest rate they have to pay back is ridiculous and they get stung for a huge arrangement fee (usually about £1,000.00) which they add to their mortgage. These deals don't sit easily with me. I am torn between feeling sorry for the people who sign up of their own free will to be fleeced but then also if these brokers didn't exist they would not be able to buy their houses at the discount as a high street lender wouldn't even look at them.

Sorry if I have lead the thread down a different path.

Yes this is all very well Enid but you don't actually have to go without a holiday do you?

The reality is probably not very nice

I know I would go mad

And unfortunately there are many people on very low incolmes or benefit income who do spend what they haven't got, not on getting by, but on luxuries.

When I was growing up I was surrounded by lots like this. Friends who always had the new trainers, the branded clothes, the big colour TVs, new cars, annual holidays, fancy stuff...ye there is no way their income level could afford that. But they did it and spent it. My parents made us wait, and we went without that type of stuff. And you know what? We survived. We were really happy and had fab childhoods. My parents have benefitted from it too as they are now way out of there and it much better circumstances. Those who spent what they didn't have are still there, as are their children - no better on, still in debt and still buying what they can't afford.

"Tbh though Enid, I think if you're living on the breadlin every day of your life it's understandable to say 'you know what fuck it' and blow out on a holiday or a big TV or w/e."

why is it understandable

I dont think it is actually

It could be fun being one though This of that cool dizzy headrush you'd get!

I do feel the need to run away from my life a lot though, so I think that might say more about my mental state than money or holiday need tbh

no I dont have to go without a holiday now

but I did as a child, many times

God I do

I certainly don't live anywhere near the bread line (more like the poilane line tbh) but I still sometimes think "oh fcuk it I deserve a week on a beach"

no one 'deserves' a week on a beach

fair enough you can afford it, and you want a week on the beach, that is a totally different thing

Blowing out on stuff tends to give me more worry and anxiety attacks than NOT having them.

I think I have been lucky to make friends with very welcoming MNers I went away more in the last 12 months than I had done for aaaaaaaages before that. All weekend or just one night trips, but enough to blow away cobwebs.