in getting so fed up of being skint and having to read about people who claim to be skint bbut are buying games consoles for their DC when mine will have to have whatever I can scrape from the charity shop or freecycle?

[conniedescending]

I know this is a bit 'living in a council house with flat screen tv' and I'v always been hugely against benefit bashing threads but I'm wondering if the worm has turned?

we are struggling to pay the essentials, my DH is working all the hours he possibly can in a job thats not going well at all (due to loss of customers due to aforementioned credit crunch) meanwhile I'm working from whenever he gets home till 1/2 am, 6 days a week trying to make up the shortfall.

Have had a disastrous week as washing machine packed up and my mum is on holiday so I can't use hers. I have a baby in cloth nappies so have had to buy disposables. Have spent all morning or the last few days handwashing clothes and deserately trying to get them dry which is impossible in this weather. Cant get to launderetter because car needs mot and we have no money to do that.

Then I saw some small toy items on freecylce that I asked for and hoped I'd get because the lady who was offering them has had several items from me (curtains, breadmaker and some hardly worn shoes). Anyway - she's not gifting me them (was hoping they may be okfor xmas pressies).

so I come on MN and read threads about people on benefits who are skint and have 'only' bought nintendos ds'or a wii...........

honestly have no clue how we are going to get through this - we have eaten into both our overdrafts, looking to increase income in everyway possible, have cut back everything to the bone. There is no safety net there now at all and I am starting to really worry.

We have a wedding we're supposed to go to next mth as well - god knows how we are going to make that, plus birthdays galore.

cant see the wood for the trees at the minute

I sympathise with you and I think this Christmas will be tough for a lot of people. But tough is a subjective word. To some people it'll mean less expensive gifts. For others it'll be whether they can put a decent meal on the table and half decent gifts for the kids.

YANBU in getting annoyed with people saying they're skint, but then buying consoles, but people will buy what they want to. It's similar to people saying they're skint then spending £40 a week on fags or booze. It's all relative.

If people decide they want to spend what little they have on their kids, I can understand that.

I hope that things get easier for you and your oh. It's such a horrid time of the year if you've got no money. Good luck to you.

Mn gives you a weird amount of insight into what other people spend money on and what other people think is affordable and normal. I was pretty surprised at the 'can a family survive on 36K' thread.

I've had to hide all the christmas threads as they give me a sinking feeling when I compare what some other people think is normal xmas spending and my non existent budget.

I think if i didn't know it wouldn't even occur to me - so hide it and don't read it and just concentrate on your own reality.

I bought a wii last year when I was on benefits. I was sick of having nothing at xmas and my kids being the ones with with crappy xmas pressies so "save like buggery" all year with a xmas saving club. It was hard but worth it. I have done then same this year and will be doing it next year.

I haven't read the thread (too irritated by it tbh) so this has probably already been said but life on benefits is bloody hard and those people cannot afford to go out and buy wii's with cash just like that.

Ever heard of Brighthouse? I hear that is v busy around this time of year. I wonder why? D'ya think it could be because they are expliting low income/benefit families?

I bet that is where most of these widescreen tv's etc come from that everyone on benefits seem to have. Although I think they forgot to give me mine Do you think it is too late to phone them about that now that I am working?

the tv comment was tongue in cheek btw

i understand life on benefits is hard....but, at least u dont have to work for the money.

OMG!! I can't believe you just posted that!
I am not on benefits but I am still shocked by that comment!

I am sure that those on benefits would rather be working for their money!!

no connie - I'm just "on call" 24hrs a day for 2 weeks running (I get 2 days/nights "off" once a fortnight when exH has them)....

And actually my role as director of music at church keeps me pretty busy too

i'm sure they would but most claim they 'can't afford to'

I'd rather work anyday. Have you ever cued in a post office or benefits office before? People look at you like you are something they stood in.

I hated every second of it. Some days I even considered not going to collect the money I felt that bad.

I am now workig not making much more as I don't have many qualifications but the job I am in promotes from within and has loads of opportunities for moving on and I'm doing an ou degree in Pysch and a diploma in spanish.

I worked all last week. It was my first week. I was knackered working all day/night and then coming home to look after the kids/have to get them up for school. It felt great I feel like me again. It's oonly a crappy job in a fastfood place but I don't care about that.

aren't all parents on-call 24hrs a day?

ffs connie - yeah you know what - at the moment i can't afford to work - trust me if I could I would out of the door like a shot in the morning, even being worse off financially there would be a chance exH's mortgage provider would agree to me being putting on the mortgage - and I could then get help with the interest on the payments

Then I wouldn't be facing certain homelessness after Christmas.

that sounds great shesells

i'm just worn down by it....looking after the kids allday and working most evenings - we still cant meet all the outgoings. makes you question what the point of it is.

Connie the way things are going maybe you will get to find out soon. Just don't ask the nice benefits lady "where do I claim for my yearly holiday and weekly restaurant costs"

connie - well yes I guess if you have a lazy fecker as an OH then you're doing it all on your own 24hrs a day - but when I was with exH he did at least used to share the workload when it came to the kids.

seems we are 2 sides of the same coin then faq...you cant afford to and i cant afford not to

connie it does.. and you need to make sure you are earning at least minimum wage if your self employed tbh.. or you'll do a lot of hours for very little.. or one of you needs to be at least earning the minimum wage or better still a living wage. If what your doing doesn't allow you to live.. then it's time to think about changing what you do.

It's wearing..I have been there and i do understand, but you can't slate people on benefits.. most of whom really want to get the hell out of their situation.

By conniedescending on Mon 20-Oct-08 22:26:30
the tv comment was tongue in cheek btw

i understand life on benefits is hard....but, at least u dont have to work for the money.

ok you come and look after my sevely disabeld dd for me then. as I don't work!!!!!!!!!

yeah it's pretty shit - but I suppose for now it has it's advantages - it means I can stay at home with DS3 while he's still little - and I decided to "take advantage" of receiving benefits - I start my degree with the OU in February (should be fun - I applied before I knew I'd have to move - and as things are going it could be Feb I move - eeeek!) so I like to think I'm doing something useful while I'm sat at home.

Oh ffs.

yet another "people on benefits are actually really well off" thread.

well go sign on the farking dole then.
see how you like surviving on £88.64 a week!

spooky - we have thought about changing roles - me going fulltime and DH staying home. Need to find a f/t post

we do earn above living wage - well, I do, not so sure about DH at the minute

depends on what my outgoings would be mamazon. You try living on -£350.....see how that debt adds up.

it always heats up when we talk about benefit
good post tiramasu, can anyone tell me where to find cleaner for 7£ 1H?

Please tell me you are taking the piss now? You are not really that dumb to be asking Mamazon that? Most people on benefits would walk over hot coals for that sort of money.

£350 a week!!!! I'm lucky if I get that in a month.

then I think ( and I'm trying to be constructive here).. you need to work out what your dh is earning.. what you exact outgoing are.. and see what needs to change.
If you earning above living wage.. it has to come down to out goings.. can these be modified?

i am currently being made bankrupt because of the debts i was left with inmy name after leaving xp.

If yoru working and your not earning enough then either change jobs or give up.
if life on benefits is as great as you all tgink then why are you continuing to work for £0?

seriously. why start threads whinging about how skint you are even though you work but thoase who claim benefits are well off? if you truely believed that then you'd be straight down teh jobcentre tomorrow morning surely.

yes life is shit right now and money is hard, but dont channel your anger at those who have enough to worry about.
these threasds seem to turn up every few weeks and it really pisses me off

if your life's shit change it.

actually when I went for my Work Focused Interview with the lone parent advisor in September I told her I'd applied to start a degree, but she still went through the better off calculation with me.

She took one look at the figures and turned and said to me "I think you've made the right choice to do a degree rather than look for work at the moment" - working 20hrs a week minimum wage I would have been much worse off than I currently am !