I got caught shoplifting

[RoseBiscuitll]

I really didn't know what topic to choose for this

I'm mortified, I got caught shoplifting in boots today, I was stealing baby milk and a facial moisturiser. I'm so ashamed of myself. It was in the city center aswell. They didn't call police but they took my details, took a picture and told me I can't return to the store again

Will this picture and my details go around to the other shops near by or will it just go to the other boots shops.

I can't believe I was stupid enough to do this! I'm so embarrassed and also feel really guiltily!

You don't get the money given to you, granted, but you get your rent mostly paid and that's something a lot of folk don't get.
Perhaps you could benefit from some budgeting help, going forward?

What privilege ffs. I’m in the same boat as the OP.
UC doesn’t provide an amount to live off when out of work.

@RoseBiscuitll have you applied for discretionary housing payment .

And op has that BEFORE her bills are paid. Check your privilege.

Her big bills are already paid. What comes out of that £500 is her £45 phone bill and £160 fuel bill. That leaves her with around £300 to feed herself and top-up baby's milk.

The naive ones are the ones who have convinced themselves that people on benefits are living the high life.

It must be comforting to believe that people on benefits have everything paid for, including free travel (on what planet?), get to live like kings to boot, and then roguishly decide to nick stuff (which they would, right? Because people on benefits are scummy, right?)

You hear about things like the household support fund. So they must be rich. My local council doesn't even offer it in the first place. And plenty either aren't eligible or missed out because it's a limited pot.

Or they're going to food banks and getting everything for free. Yeah out of date tins of sweetcorn and vegetables on the turn, maybe a roll of two of cheap toilet paper if you're lucky. Sure there's the odd nice thing, but it's a miserable existence.

Do yourself a favour and put your bank cards along with most of the cash you have on you in the cupboard for the rest of the month. Take away nine tenths of what's in your fridge, freezer, and cupboards. Now live on that until October.

Now try doing the same thing in October, November, December, January, February. You're allowed to turn the heating on for half an hour a day.

Then come back and tell me that you've been living like a king.

You forgot water rates, but yes she has around £300/month to spend on food, clothing for a rapidly growing infant and herself, nappies, transport... Sounds pretty shit to me.

Everyone will have your photo and honestly, you will be tracked in each and every shop. ( I know, I used to work in this line of work) They will recognise you, your photo will be up in the CCTV offices in the back of each store.

I'd be shopping elsewhere if it were me. If you can't do that, you will have to get used to be looked at by the security teams and the cameras.

They let you go because it was babymilk and a first offence.

It’s fairly common though, many larger families budget 80 or less. Week for food, so one adult and an infant should be able to manage without resorting to theft.

It’s not enough. There is just no way you can sit there and pretend that the OP has enough. No one on UC has enough. I’m pretty sure when they look back at these decades they’ll have the same opinion that we have of the workhouses and debtors prisons. It’s a scandal. UC is not enough. Carer’s allowance is not enough. Pensions are not enough. None of it is.

People on UC shouldn’t be starving but they are. It’s not enough for a nutritious diet, and even one nice activity a month.

But it’s supposed to make you work. And it isn’t going to change so OP needs to get a job.

Or they're going to food banks and getting everything for free. Yeah out of date tins of sweetcorn and vegetables on the turn, maybe a roll of two of cheap toilet paper if you're lucky. Sure there's the odd nice thing, but it's a miserable existence.

What a crock of shit, you’re not allowed to give out of date food and all the food I have seen given to food banks are branded goods, not own brand stuff that us working peasants have to buy to be able to afford the bills.

Rent is paid yes and I also top it up by £250

That's a chunk of my money gone already

I’d advocate the op doesn’t shop where they use facial recognition software as they all share the same database. Boots are known to use it since late last year and if the employee said it was for facial recognition he meant the software. Boots even give media access to their cctv hub and show how they monitor all stores, they want everyone to know.

shoplifting in a store that uses facial recognition and getting caught and having your picture taken has long lasting and wide consequences.

they don’t call the police anymore, but it means you can’t enter any store that uses it, arguably a much harsher punishment than the police and a caution as so many now do. From home bargains on.

I honestly don’t think (or at least I hope not) that anyone is genuinely saying that people on benefits are living the high life.

What people are saying is that having your rent paid for you, your bills subsidised like Council Tax, and having essentially £300 left over after paying other bills to feed 1 person and 1 baby for a month plus vouchers/card for some baby milk free, is actually not the worst position to be in. There are lots of families in this country who are in a similar position despite working 40 hours a week.

And I don’t think anyone is saying food banks are amazing for fresh and good quality meals, but what people are saying is that they are available for when you do need help.

So no it’s not the high life and nobody is swanning off to the Carribean for a month, but having a secure home with your rent paid for you is something on it’s own that a vast amount of people do not have, and having £300 left over for 1 person’s food & milk is not horrific.

The UC system isn’t enough to afford anyone an amazing standard or quality of life, but as another poster said it is designed to encourage you to work, so they are never going to increase it, and if they did then others would be paying more tax to enable that.

No, I got told not to enter that boots again

Didn't get told I can't enter other shops

And?
That's how life works, we get money and a chunk of it goes on necessities.

No but he told you it was for facial recognition. And that’s what that is for boots op, the fact he didn’t explain it doesn’t change the facts,

Again, the least the government could do is to raise housing benefit to represent property prices in the area and stop landlords charging ridiculous amounts of money for standard housing.

All I can say op is pop to another boots and see.

We can’t pay for everything. It’s getting f crazy. The op is paying for a two bed and she arguably only needs one. That’s her choice.

Soo all boots shops I will be banned from basically

Food banks don't give out of date food.
There are also places which do give out close to date/out of date food, with the aim of reducing waste, and what you get there can vary a lot. They will have a variety of names, often with the word community, pantry, fridge etc in it.
Food banks normally need some sort of referral.
The places designed to reduce waste are generally open to anyone.

We have both in our area.
I have never used but have donated to the former.
I have used the latter if I happen to be passing (it's nice to find a use for otherwise landfill food).

HB is reasonably generous, it's the crazy escalating rents that make it harder for folk. Lots of folk have to pay those rents with no HB though.

If your image was uploaded to their facial recognition software then it is every store that uses it,

It is shit, but it's not impossible. There are families of 4 getting by on a £200 budget for food, cleaning products, and toiletries - including nappies.

Sell old clothes. Buy new secondhand clothes.
Sell old crib
Sell mobile phone. Buy cheap phone.
Transport? Stop going to Boots to get baby formula. That's 2 bus fares saved.

Did you read that she outright bought a new cot? She could have got it on Buy Now Pay Later. Or on finance. Or saved up the child maintenance when she got it. Or borrowed from her family. But no, she decided to spend her budget on it and outsource feeding her child to Boots.

When you are poor you have to be smart with what little money you have. You have to be resourceful. Getting a fucking criminal record is neither being smart nor resourceful.