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AIBU?

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Original poster

I do not know anyone who is having a 'party' living on benefits....post here if you do

444 replies

electra · 03/05/2010 13:01

On MN, I keep reading on many different threads that Labour has been giving away loads of money in benefits to people who don't really need it which has caused the financial crisis.

All the people I know who rely on their tax credits and have children seem to have to watch every penny. I do not see evidence of them having any sort of 'party' life.

I had thought the banks were mostly responsible for the financial crisis by lending money that didn't exist.

Can anyone correct me on this? I'm open to different opinions.

OP posts:
CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 15:35

Look im not on here to cause controversy or piss you all off, im here to make friends but i always get misunderstood - Alot.

My problem is i dont think before i open my mouth (or type).

I started coming on here as it looked fun and very friendly. But i dont know what to think no more. I was driven off of a very popular parenting forum because people didnt like my honesty. Which TBF is their problem. I came here to make friends but seems i havnt succeeded...

sarah293 · 04/05/2010 15:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Laquitar · 04/05/2010 15:40

thanks.i dont have any desire to look at your facebook though.
I just though that the way you go on and on about the tv was a bit too much. Thats all.

And there are too many threads about benefits and plasma tvs prior to elections. as if we are stupid.

CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 15:43

By Riven Tue 04-May-10 15:40:09
keep trying vimtogirl smile
I'm just nosey about why anyone would want a TV that enormous. Would be very overwhelming.

My hubby always wanted a big screen so thought seeing as though we was buying a new TV, might as well get a big one. (mainly for the World cup i am guessing lol)

I know how my posts may appear to some and i am not genuinely posting to shit down peoples necks, i am merely explaining my situation, everyones circumstances are different and this time last last year i would have been the same as everyone one here who jumped at me about it, But the life we have now has been a long time coming.

CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 15:45

The thing is people who are in a shit situation at the moment always think, il never get out of this pit (as thats what i was like) but now we are out of the pit we was in. It only takes a matter of time and if that time takes you 3 years like it has done us then you will get out of it. Keep positive.

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:15

Really sorry I don'thave time to read the entire thread but my take on it is this;

If you're on benefits, you are not entitled to "luxuries" that families like mine, with two working people, cannot afford. It fucking galls me to think that even with two of us working we can't afford the best telly/Wii/whatever yet a lot of people on benefits can.

My SiL is on benefits but her cash goes on her families food/bills/clothes anything left over is for treats and by treats I mean an ice-cream or a trip to the nature reserve where they can all get in for £8. If she was spending money on plasma-screens, I'd be fuming.

CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 16:17

Im not on benefits though.

CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 16:18

Why can't people get that into their heads, i am not on benefits. I am a SAHM who doesn't get a wage like the rest of the SAHM on here/i know.

CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 16:18

My husband works, like alot of other peoples husbands on here.

Kaloki · 04/05/2010 16:18

~cupcakes So people on benefits aren't allowed to save what little they have for treats?

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:19

Kaloki, "treats" is not a £700 telly. That is a fucking extravagance.

Kaloki · 04/05/2010 16:20

ANd I ask again, why are you opposed to them putting a little bit of money aside until they can afford it?

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:22

Cheekyvimto, my post wasn't aimed at you specifically. I just read the first couple of pages, sorry. I still stand by what I said though; if you're in receipt of benefits it's because the government has deemed that you are struggling financially. If you are struggling financially, it is ludicrous to even think about spending that type of cash on a television. A £700 television does the same as a £200 television.

Kaloki · 04/05/2010 16:23

So their savings shouldn't be their own essentially? Would you like them to give it back to the government? Or should they just post it to you?

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:23

Because, Kaloki, it ain't their money they're putting aside is it? It's mine and every other mug who works and pays taxes. I love the welfare system, I do. I love the idea of my taxes helping out families less fortunate than some. I do not love the idea of my taxes helping to fund something that I cannot afford.

Kaloki · 04/05/2010 16:25

And it all comes back to the idea that people on benefits are vastly overpaid. I am on benefits, I barely even remember what a disposable income looks like. But if I choose some months to scrimp as much as possible then I shouldn't be allowed to spend that money?

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:25

If they can afford to save, they don't need benefits, surely? My SiL spends every last penny because she needs to. She can't afford to save. If you're claiming benefits, you do not spend benefits on vulgar shite like massive bloody televisions. Doesn't matter whether they saved it or not. Spend it on your children/bills. That's what it's there for.

sarah293 · 04/05/2010 16:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:29

Kaloki, how much do you reckon you'd need to save per week to buy a television that expensive and for how many weeks? To be able to buy one in a year, you'd need to be putting aside around £30-40 a month probably more, right? I can't afford to save that much a month and we have a not bad income. So why the hell should I or anyone else working their arses off contribute to someone else claiming benefits to have the kind of disposable income that my DH and I can only dream about until DC leave home? How is that fair?

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:31

I was a SAHM for two years, I got sweet F.A. Couldn't afford holidays, couldn't afford new televisions (ours was permanently breaking on us for two years). It's called making a sacrifice. You can't expect to have kids and not work and still live the same lifestyle as when you were working full time. I went from earning £1700 a month to bugger all. Wouldn't have dreamt of using the child benefit/tax credits to pay for a new telly though.

junglist1 · 04/05/2010 16:31

When I was on benefits, I got a grant and blew the lot on clothes in one afternoon, after not buying myself or my children clothes for yonks I went a bit berserk. That's what happens when you are uncomfortable, you see a bit of money and reason goes out the window. It might seem extravagant and maybe should have been put to better use but that was the best afternoon I'd had in a long while

expatinscotland · 04/05/2010 16:31

'the fact that the working poor have it even shitter than those living (properly - ie no cash in hand/dodgy extras) on benefits doesn't mean that benefits are too high. It means that the something is wrong with the way that the working poor are supported/housing costs/minimum wage etc etc'

Exactly!

And then we get people like Cheeky who assume than anyone in FT work doesn't understand how hard it is to live on benefits.

About 80% of all our neighbours don't work at all.

cupcakesandbunting · 04/05/2010 16:33

Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, Junglist.

looks down at scraggy jeans and holey jumper

I must think about getting myself on benefits.

JackiePaper · 04/05/2010 16:33

I don't think everyone on benefits is living a party lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination.

But, I did used to work with a girl who worked part time - 20hrs a week, she lived in a council house with her daughter and 2 dogs. Her combined income from work, benefits and tax credits was higher than our income, with my DP working as a teacher full time and me working part time.

She had 2 cars (nice ones) several holidays abroad every year, 3 flat screen HD TV's, was always getting new designer trainers/clothes/tatoos whatever. It did used to piss me off a bit if I'm honest.

Kaloki · 04/05/2010 16:34

"Kaloki, how much do you reckon you'd need to save per week to buy a television that expensive and for how many weeks? To be able to buy one in a year, you'd need to be putting aside around £30-40 a month probably more, right? I can't afford to save that much a month and we have a not bad income. So why the hell should I or anyone else working their arses off contribute to someone else claiming benefits to have the kind of disposable income that my DH and I can only dream about until DC leave home? How is that fair?"

I know realistically that I could never afford that much money on a TV being on benefits, as I say, no disposable income. But what I do object to is you telling me what I can and can't do with what little savings I do have.

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