Facing unemployment - just over £1100 in benefits

[BringBackCatsEyes]

I've just put my figures in a calculator and think I will receive just over £1100

UC £ 362.73 per month
(standard + child, then take away JSA )

117.22 per month child benefit

Council Tax Support
£ 71.07 per month

Support for Mortgage Interest loan
£ 152.49 per month

New-style Jobseekers Allowance
£ 414.05 per month

Are people actually living on this or do they end up selling their home to move into rented?

I am trying my hardest to find work. My contract ends at the end of this year.
I am not asking for advice on finding work, I want to hear from those who have experienced moving to UC and how they manage?

£600 for food and bills is tight, but if needs must.

-You won't be paying council tax
-You can get a social tariff for Internet (mines £16), cancel any TV packages and watch iplayer.

• sim only phone deals are only £5-10
• that just leaves energy and water, which very much depend on where you live, but can be minimised.

Your teen should get FSM, and be able to access HAF (holiday activities & food). He may also be able to attend breakfast club if you speak to his school, so you might only have to budget for one meal weekdays. Even so food budget will be tight, you can save by doing things like batch cooking cheap meals like bean.

To be honest, it will be a bit grim, but manageable and hopefully short term.

It is miserable @BringBackCatsEyes.

Teenage boys are expensive. Bread and milk alone, cost me £120 per month!🤯 Once you add school transport, mortage/rent and ultilities it leaves too little to exist on healthily. Nevermind home, car, white goods maintenance, shoes and clothing.

UÇ is a barely subsistence income. I was lucky, my Ex paid child support and I have family around me.

Im not surprised that your are depressed.

My husband was made redundant in November last year, followed by me in February. We spruced up our home with an intention to sell it if we couldn't find work. Go somewhere cheaper and release some equity. We both found work in May/June. We don't have to sell for now.

@TooBigForMyBoots Being on benefits isn’t supposed to feel luxurious.

A lot of shops like Argos take on additional people over the Xmas and NY period. That might be something you could look out for.

I never said it was. I said it is miserable and barely subsistance and leaves too little to exist healthily.

Did you read my post? Did you even read @BringBackCatsEyes original post?

The tax payer would end up paying more in rent for the housing benefit side of things as there isn’t enough social housing.

There are also social tariffs for some utilities. I only found this out by ring South East water to complain about the standing charge. I live on a very small income as I'm retired. They told me I qualify for their social tariff which is 50% off. Who knew?

Job hunting is so soul destroying on top of everything else going on @BringBackCatsEyes.

I am an intelligent, experienced, over qualified middle aged, single mother. No one wanted to hire me.

So instead of applying for jobs, I went to recruitment agencies seeking short term PT stuff. You'd be surprised how many companies and organisations will bring in older, experienced women from a temp agency for a couple of days. And then extend that term. Agency pays more than NMW and tax contributions so you dont have to worry about that.

Learning this was a game changer for me, financially.

Im still trying to get my mojo back though. I lost it along the way.

Just as an example people on state pension manage it, think you just have to learn to be a bit frugal, not easy I know

Whilst I haven’t been a pensioner yet, I can’t imagine 1 pensioner would need any where near as much money as mum plus her teenage son?
Their food bills are going to be much much higher, she still has a mortgage, learning to drive, funding education and job searches, needing to save for the future, I could go on and on…
it’s not even on the same page.

I agree that this could be the stopgap solution. Lower barrier to entry and can be a foot in the door to a permanent role. As well as 'office' jobs, as a last resort you could look at factory work. Incredibly dull but pays more than NMW and a lot of food production places will be ramping up Christmas production from now on so need lots of agency staff. You'll be able to work shifts without needing childcare too if your DS can get himself to school. You then need to concentrate on job searches for a permanent role when you're not working.

You're right that there's little support for higher paid people with mortgages who fall on hard times. You're generally expected to have insurance and/or savings. I think there should be a period where you are entitled to eg 80% of previous earnings for 6 months especially as people in your situation have paid a lot of tax but are entitled to very little vs lower paid people who are renting who don't always see a significant drop in income if they're in and out of work because they get help with rent.

A 12 month contract is still a 12 month contract. Don’t sell. If you sell you’re less likely to own again. At the moment you at least have security for you and your son. I honestly think you’re catastophising a little, take a deep breath x

Not with a mortgage they don’t. And retired people renting would get money towards their housing calculated as part of their payment.

Yes this would be fairer - even six months of eligibility for the housing element of UC to put towards mortgage payments would help people get back on their feet. It’s no longer realistic for households to save enough on top of their outgoings to cover emergencies like this, especially single parents.

Totally feel for you. When you think about how much UC goes to paying landlord mortgages it feels really unfair that there isn’t even a temporary entitlement for those with a mortgage. It could be restricted to the local housing allowance used for renting and linked to JSA. Much less financial burden on the state long term to do this than to force people to sell and rent. I’m in a similar boat looking into next year. It’s horrific. And I totally get why your brain jumps to having to sell. Probably the waiting is worse. I am just hoping that when it comes to crunch time I will be able to get creative and lucky with finding a job of some kind. If you play around with a benefits calculator you may find that working part-time hours even might help as not all the UC is removed immediately.

A mortgage payer has more options than a renter - they can sell their asset, release equity, rent out their asset, in some cases rent out a room. Then there’s an SMI loan, extending your term, going to interest only, mortgage protection insurance, a mortgage holiday. Most of those options mean you’ll get to keep your asset, which will likely appreciate in value. Seems fair to me.

It’s the fact you own your own home that is the biggest issue. If you rent, UC will cover most of it (up to a limit) but don’t support money required towards paying off your home. Even the SMI is a loan. Were you renting, you would probably get twice that sum.

Can you go interest only on your mortgage for a while? That would lower the payments substantially and would UC then cover all of that?

I'd imagine most people use their savings for the mortgage, then switch to interest only or take a payment holiday until they find employment.

UC really only works for renters (Or people pretending their partner doesnt live with them!)

It’s shite. I’m not really sure what you expect though for not working?

I hope you find something else soon

Take a breath OP, I understand it is scary but you have 11 months to find a new job.

I will throw a curve ball in here, think about working in a prison, they tend to recruit every few weeks and they honestly take all kinds of people. On my husband's intake there was a 60 year old woman, two men in their 30s and a 24 year old woman. The shifts can be a pain to work round but there always seems to be lots of overtime.

Think outside the box and look at jobs that come with training provided if your own field is in a slump.

Best of luck OP!

It us hard to be on benefits if you have a mortgage as you won't get any help with that unlike renters. Talk to your mortgage company to see what they can offer. If you end up out of work longer term, UC have a system to help with mortgage interest but I think it has to be paid back.

You only pay it back if you sell or transfer the property.

Thanks again for the thoughtful comments, words of advice and support, it’s appreciated.
I have a long-planned-for day out today so no MN for me.
I will come back to the thread next week though.