You know what? I commit "benefit fraud "and I think I'm justified

[ScroungingSingleMum]

I'm a single mum , whose ex left three years ago and has consistently refused to pay anything (and I mean anything - not even a penny) in maintenance.

From my benefits (£59 IS, £45 CTC, £18 CB - so a total of £122 a week) I am losing £15.26 a week in repayments for the loan I had to take out to secure my child and myself a home after ex did a vanishing act and the council refused to house us. Every week I need to pay nearly £15 for gas and electricity (yes, the heating is on a low setting, but we live in a cold rural area and have no double glazing), £4.50 for TV licence, £4 for Water, £8 for phone/internet connection (yes, I know its not a necessity but I have to have some way to get contact with the rest of the world - being on my own in the countryside means I don't get out much), £4.50 every time we need to get the bus into town for shopping/doctor/library/semblance of social life etc, £15 for the taxi home if I need to do a big shop, oh and feed us a healthy diet, clothe/shoe us adequately, find the money to take my child to see ex (I know thats not my job, but if I didn't do it the relationship would be lost which would IMO be a tragedy for my child), I try to save something, however small, so that we have a fallback fund for holidays/birthdays/disasters...

I am entitled to keep £10 of any maintenance ex pays - but he doesn't pay any, so we don't get that premium.

I refuse to get into debt (other than the Budgeting Loan from the Social Fund that I have) and we do not have a car, or a big new telly (we have one that I found in a skip in fact). I economise wherever I can but its very very hard.

So... I clean the old lady three-doors-down's house for four hours a week for £6 an hour. It means I can have a bottle of wine once in a while, or a coffee before getting the bus 6 miles home after a morning luging the shopping round town, or have a friend over for a meal sometimes, or buy new (by which I mean secondhand-but-new-to-me) clothes every now and then.

And you know what? If you begrudge me that then fuck you.

i thought you could earn approx £20 a week and not declare? its been a while since i checked, but i'm sure it used to be printed on my benefit book at the back (before they changed it to bank payments)

I don't begrudge you a penny. I know it's hard to make ends meet. And you are the real face (behind your screen name!) of the so-called benefit cheat that people love to hate. Stupid mean people who begrudge others fresh air need to feel that there is somebody worse off than themself. So they need to pigeon hole people on benefits. If you then confound them by appearing to have clothes on your back that didn't come from a charity shop, you have a farking nerve.

Good on ya girl whoever you are, and I hope one day it is us earning big fat salaries.

When that day comes I will have a little bit more compassion and understanding towards people on benefits and even so-called scroungers (up to a point).

Things are not black and white.

Good for you - not like SIL who ripped off state to tune of £32,000. Just got 200 hours community service and has to pay it back at........

£12 per week

She'll be about 90 when she's paid it off

I think it's an absolute disgrace ...

that the benefits system works to claw back benefits immediately rather than gradually

and of course who in their right minds would grudge you that?

Don't begrudge you one bit

(I was under the impression that you could work up to 16hrs a week, without it affecting any benefits)

I don't think people are pissed off with those working a few hours to get by it is the ones doing it for huge gain whilst still claiming benefit.

And no one begrudges fresh air to anyone - how stupid - people begrudge others working the system and being able to buy things and have children that people who work and pay taxes can't afford.

I for one would not be paying for my child to see a man who makes no effort to keep contact or pay anything towards their upkeep - especially in your situation! Stinks of him seeing chold because you are making the effort - he needs to make an effort to be a dad not you - you do enough!

I have no prob with that at all, if the CSA did the job right you woulnt be inthat position."real" fraud is claiming DLA whist gyming it and going skiing!!!

I don't begrudge you at all, good for you for finding someway to help yourself out IMO
I don't want to sound patronising (so feel free to tell me to sod off!) but can you get shopping done online? I save doing that as I can't buy crap, no child pester power and you can normally get free delivery if you search for voucher codes.

I have been accused of benefit fraud.

someone came to my home and then went round gossiping at the school gate about my "fancy leather sofa's" "nice new tv" and "posh car"

In fact my posh car was a Zafira that i bought whilst with my ex. i have recently had to sell it as i couldn't afford to have the small amount of cash tied up in a car.
I ended up buying a M reg Mondeo for £235.

my TV was given to me by my parents. none of the buttons work and it will only pick up BBC2 unless it has sky/cable tuned into it.

and my fancy leather sofa's were bought after i saved up for a year and used mioney o got from a compensation pay out from a car accident 3 years before.
prior to my "fancy leather sofa's" we had a sofa that was given to us by the salvation army, it was about 20 years old at least and had a very large very suspicious looking stain on the back of one cushion.

I have seen teh thread that i think provoked the OP. the person who started that thread is just very bitter and has no real idea of what she is talking about.
don't let it bother you.

I don't think it's you that people are getting at, no one at all would begrudge you a little extra money.

I know people who worked full time and would have 2 hours off every 2 weeks to sign on.

i dont think anyone would begrudge you, you are trying to better your situation.

I think you're amazing to do what you do under such circumstances x

Why isn't the CSA bugging your ex? That's really unfair - he should be helping support you and £10-00 is a lot when you're on benefits. If you can get back into work, it does make a heck of a difference - scary to start with, but financial gains with Family Tax Credits etc can really make it worth while (IME)

Chirpygirl - what an inspired idea about the internet shop!

If you're renting from a landlord (?) there are different schemes to get houses double glazed and insulated where neither of you have to pay a penny and you can get all the work done for free, to cut down costs of heating etc...

try here

Personally I don't think it's really a huge deal that you earn that little extra, but I would say be very careful.
A friend of mine who was a single mother of two on IS cleaned a local pub 4 hours a week, she got caught and fined and had to go to court and everything, over about £20 a week.
Just look into exactly how much you can earn whilst claiming, it might be worth your while telling the benefits agency.

Technically its still benefit fraud though! As I don't declare it (cash in hand) and occasionally work an extra couple of hours if the old lady has been ill - a whole £6 extra a week....

I can't get a 'real' job as I home educate my child, who comes with me and draws/reads whilst I am cleaning.

Wheres all the shotgun-toting bigots gone then? Was expecting to get shouted at!

Also did you see the voucher codes on the tesco thread if you can get your shopping delivered online?
You can use the coupons on any shop and change your order after checkout so get £9 off whatever you buy.
Have a look here

Shotgun-toting bigots tend to crawl back under their stones when presented with the reality of a life on benefits.

just curious - why do you home ed? I've always been curious about the commitments / possibilities of home ed.

Ex doesn't exist on paper basically - he neither works nor claims benefits, so can't be made to pay. He lives off his girlfriend of the moment - or, when they get fucked off with his scrounging, his mummy.

I don't begrudge you either and would probably do the same in your situation.

I home ed because I feel four is too young to be in formal education, and because I feel I (with the help of friends, family, Education Otherwise etc) can offer my child a better education than the local schools!

can you approach his mum for help?

BTW i don't begrudge you this AT ALL