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!

£300 is a significant amount for one adult and one child.

I do volunteer at 2 of our local foodbanks regularly and would absolutely eat any of the food we hand out there.

And also, as an aside, “Cheap tins of food” is still food, and when you are hungry anything is better than nothing. Again, nobody is saying food banks are amazing and the best place to find high quality meals, but they DO provide a safety net of food and when you truly have no money to feed yourself or your kids you couldn’t give a flying fuck if it’s Heinz beans or Aldi beans- they will both serve as a hot meal for your children.

I don't think it is. not with how much things costs now but that's just my thoughts does not mean I'm right though.

Where are you that yours is like that, that’s unusual. Ni it’s not expensive food but it’s not out of date and generally a variety of bog standard foods

Looking at the criteria for DHP’s I don’t even think the OP would be entitled to one given her current circumstances
All of ours are only issued in the event of HB reductions, moving costs, reduction in HB for HA tenants and the bedroom tax and shortfalls to prevent homelessness. I don’t think you can get one anymore simply for not being able to afford your rent. What a shambles housing has become

Shoplifting is also part of the reason costs have gone up.

Come on. Might sympathise a little with stealing milk. Although there are routes you can go down to get this anyway without resorting to theft. But to admit that you would have no guilt about stealing moisturiser?? Something that isn't a matter of life and death? That is pretty poor morally, and indicates that anything on your wish list to steal is justifiable.

If the o0 had a one bed home she would have it paid for. If she’s back to work next year she will be able to afford a two bed before the kid needs their oqn room. She is choosing to spend her money on a spare room.

Cheap tins of beans that are a year out of date.

From the food standard agency's website:

"Use-by dates are about safety
A use-by date on food is about safety. This is the most important date to remember. Never eat food after the use-by date, even if it looks and smells ok, as it could make you very ill."

It means you might have to go without food and heating. Not now and then. Frequently.

Look at your essential outgoings this month. Could you afford them if you didn't have enough money coming in to cover them?

It seems pretty obvious to me that the answer is no.

It depends on what you are used to, but it's entirely possible (with budgeting and being quite frugal) to manage on that and not resort to theft.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/discretionary_housing_payments_dhp#:~:text=You%20might%20get%20a%20DHP,local%20housing%20allowance%20(LHA)%20rates

According to shelter you can . My council allows it

Then you should tell the staff as that’s not the norm,

If you don't budget it might mean you go without these things.
I budget for what we have coming in, not what I think I want.
I think folk are forgetting the concept of budgeting and being frugal nowadays tbh.

@NasiDagang Have you. Food bank food is fine I have used them in the past and iv also donated to them they have them in supermarkets so it's only stuff being sold in supermarkets. I'm poor anyway so I do buy the cheap tins of food in my regular shop where not all out here living the highlife on heinz and kellogs welcome to the real world

So if that’s the case would you not chose a one bed home which your rent is fully paid for, knowing you can move again before the kid needs their own room, rather than spunk 250 a month on a spare room? I would.

Ah that’s good! I wonder if it’s just at the councils discretion. Glad they’ve not done away with it completely!

Good job food banks aren’t giving out tins of food a year out of date. As I say, I volunteer in 2 and ALL stock is checked and rotated weekly. Never ever is out of date food given out, we do not accept out of date food donations, and we check the date on every item and sort so that it all goes out before it expires. Anything that slips through the net and is donated out of date goes straight in the bin. Every item has date checked before being given to anybody :)

But please, tell me again how awful food banks are for putting food on the same for families and kids who would otherwise go starving because they’re sending out Aldi beans instead of Heinz x

Are they? Or have things become a lot more expensive than they used to be?

It's easy to insist that people on benefits must be being needlessly profligate, but most of them know a lot about being frugal. Like that they need to skip meals and keep the heating off.

Knock knock - it's reality calling.

Surely the father should be paying out more, and not just getting away with it because he works cash in hand.

There’s no guarantee that in a 1 bed your rent is covered. Round here our 1 beds are only around £150-£180 cheaper than a 2 bed. UC will only pay the LHA regardless of how many bedrooms you’ve got.

Where is op getting the first months rent and deposit for this 1 bed property? Also op is on UC it's almost impossible to get a private rent when in UC.

I am well aware of reality thanks, no need for your little jibe.
With prices increasing then there is even more need to budget and be frugal.
I am well aware of what poverty feels like and also what it feels like to be struggling on a day to day basis, so please don't assume to lecture me.
We're not all sitting in every towers lecturing down.

They really need to start teaching in school basic lifeskills. Budgeting, finance, cooking on a budget, sewing, diy, first aid, common sense it would really help a lot of people as parents seem to be really dropping the ball on this stuff and nobody seems to know how to manage anymore.

Surely the father should be paying out more, and not just getting away with it because he works cash in hand.
why do people always keep trotting this out? you cannot get £ out of someone like this through CMS, OP cannot force him to pay her. I honestly wonder how people are so naive.