Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Politics

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

I think this benefit family need to take a long hard look at themselves

277 replies

HungryHelga · 01/02/2012 18:21

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16812185

£20 a week in the pub

£15 a week for Sky

£32 a week on mobile phones.

A large pouch of tobacco AND 200 fags, plus 24 cans of lager.

£30,284.80 a year in benefits

And this family thinks they are hard done by?

Ridiculous. The benefits system in this country is totally out of control.

OP posts:
thecook · 01/02/2012 19:03

Could not agree more with IloveTiffany. Perhaps you would like to tell us if you claim child benefit and what you spend it on Helga? Cos that is a benefit isn't it?

CervixWithASmile · 01/02/2012 19:04

I agree with Married.

kelly2000 · 01/02/2012 19:05

so we are not allowed to criticise anyone who goes to the media with their story - or is it just anyone is on benefits they are above criticisim.
And if you think we cannot judge them at all, does that mean you cannot give anyone sympathy either? Or are we allowed to feel sorry for someone who is capable of working (his wife is disabled NOT him), but has not worked for over a decade now might not be able to spend as much on alcohol etc, but not judge and say not having alcohol is not being hard done to.

M0naLisa · 01/02/2012 19:06

Well we have the sky movies package and 4 other packages but my sky bill for TV per month is £37.50 - so god knows what hes got sky packages wise, they could cut that down and still keep their sky movies package.
200 cigs a week? He said his wife quit but missed one appt and threw her off - get on it again?

Going out on a friday....but i thought he said they get sky movies cos they dont go out :/

You could cut alot down from that list per week. specially the shopping bill at £240 per week - nah!!

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:08

You can criticise who you want kelly2000. No-one's trying to stop you. It's called a discussion.

Maybe they like watching telly M0naLisa - would you still criticise if they were spending money on tennis lessons or is it only telly you have a problem with?

catgirl1976 · 01/02/2012 19:08

I just think it is unreasonable to care what they spend thier money on

If I laid out my expenditure I am sure some people would judge, but really it isnt anyone's business is it and I wouldn't be interested in anyone elses spending on the grounds it is nothing to do with me

DanJARMouse · 01/02/2012 19:08

I cannot believe the BBC published that story.

The figures are skewed for sure.

Anyone on benefits would be hard pushed to spend £30+ a WEEK on a mobile phone and £240 on shopping.

As a benefits family (Husband disabled, receives War Pension, Incap, I claim CB and TC) we spend a LOT less, and have very little left over. We scrape the barrel to pay for the kids to attend Brownies/Rainbows/Martial Arts. All 3 kids conceived whilst DH working FT in the British Army.

I have a budget of between £180 - £200 per week to buy groceries, pay for Gas and Electric (on meters) Fuel in the car (which living here costs 1.48 a litre) and the kids activities. As it is so bloody COLD here in winter, £50 a week automatically goes on the Gas and Electric. £30-35 in the car. Leaves £115-120 to feed and pay for activities. Food bills have soared. Where as I used to be able to do a weekly shop for £50 and a "big" shop for about £80, my weekly bog standard is now £75 and "big" shop about £120. That is buying value products where possible, shopping in Lidl for as much as possible and then getting the rest from Tesco.

I am currently trying to scrimp and save to move my family 700 miles away to enable me to work. Jobs here are minimal with up to 500 applicants for a single advert. A small rural town has little in the way of opportunities. Back south, I will have almost a "choice" of jobs to apply for, and I am not scared of hard work. I have in the past, and will again, work for NMW in a Nursing Home if needs be. I want to uproot my family for my own selfish reasons - to improve my own mental state, to show my children that they have to work for their money, and as my youngest child starts school this year, I will no longer be required to be home all day. I will be able to afford after school clubs if DH is too ill to collect and look after them. We may even one day have a family holiday that isnt in a caravan for 4 days in October or staying with Family elsewhere.

While I dont doubt there are families like the one written about, I would lay my measly excess cash (about £2 a week!) on them being the minority and used by the media to rile up the troops to support the government.

londonone · 01/02/2012 19:10

When I start getting money from the governement then by all means ask what I spend it on. However as I earn my income so I feel no need to share what I spend it on.

Benefits should be a safety net not a wage, Vouchers are a good idea.

Carers and the disabled on the other hand should be paiud a wage IMO.

kelly2000 · 01/02/2012 19:10

Actually if you have children the state can have a say in what you spend your moeny on. If this man carries through with what he says he will do and deprives his children of either heating or food whilst continuing to spend money on him and his wife for alcohol and cigerettes then the sate can intervene and force him to feed his children even if that means giving up alcohol. That goes for anyone, you are not allowed to spend you money on exactly what you want if you have children and deprive them of essentials in order to fund alcohol etc.

MoreBeta · 01/02/2012 19:10

I have to say that having worked with a lot of people on benefits there is a certain percentage who frankly do need to look at themselves. I was shocked how many had the full upgraded Sky package, ran a car and went on holiday all on benefits for years without ever having worked.

Equally there are a far larger group of people on benefits who really really struggle and do not want to live on benefits a moment longer than necessary.

I will also say there are people on extended benefits such as DLA who frankly have a far bigger income than they could possibly ever have earned if they worked in a ful time job. The system has many many faults.

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:11

Exactly catgirl. Why is it anyone's business? We won't save any money as a country by changing what people on benefits spend money on.

londonone · 01/02/2012 19:12

I care catgirl because it shows that they NEED very mcuh less than they receive.

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:12

Gosh yes they DO need to have a look at themselves, DON'T they MoreBeta?

Perhaps you, their moral better, could teach them how they should be acting?

catgirl1976 · 01/02/2012 19:13

kelly - I think you are still allowed to spend your money on whatever you want when you have children

If you are depriving your children of food or heating etc it is a CP issue, not a case of budgeting - you are not suddenly going to have the choice of how you spend your money removed (although possibly your children might be)

The state will not force him to stop buying alchohol

I have children -the state has no say on what I spend my money on

DanJARMouse · 01/02/2012 19:14

DLA IS NOT AN OUT OF WORK BENEFIT. Yes, you heard me.... people who claim DLA can also work!!!

catgirl1976 · 01/02/2012 19:14

londonone

And that is your business because........??

breatheslowly · 01/02/2012 19:14

I really think that some account should be taken of blended families like these. If they hadn't got together then each family (headed by the mother/father) would get a maximum of £26k, but put them together and suddenly they have max £26k between them.

kelly2000 · 01/02/2012 19:15

yellowraincoat,
If they spent money on tennis lessons and then complained that their benefits shoudl not be cut because the would not be able to afford to eat then I think people would judge them. No-one cares what they spend their benefits on (so long as they keep within the law and do not deprive the children of food whilst stocking up on cigereetes), but people do care when they claim they cannot afford to have their benefits cut because they need luxuries like tennis lessons alcohol etc. Imagine if thise working said they would only pay tax on what they had left over after they have paid out for luxuries like that, and that it was unfair they had to pay tax when they wanted to spend the money on alcohol. No-one would argue for their right to not pay tax if it meant missing out on fags and booze.

MoreBeta · 01/02/2012 19:16

yellow - I would just like the benefits/health budget spent better. For example, on providing respite care for teenagers and elderly people looking after seriously ill relatives day in and day out.

People who do really need the help.

ComposHat · 01/02/2012 19:16

benefit family'

Ffs

We have all claimed/used benefits of one sort or another so we are all benefit families.

op why don't you put up how you spend your Child benefit/tax allowance to see if we approve of how you are spending our tax money?

ouryve · 01/02/2012 19:16

What I dislike about the media finding stories like this is that, fair enough, this family is making shit choices and has plenty of room to cut back on things that are less than necessary rather than lament a choice between food and warmth, but it doesn't mean that all families on benefits are living like this. It certainly doesn't mean that all families are claiming such a large amount in benefits. I think some aspects of the media would love us to think that this is a lot more common than it is.

whackamole · 01/02/2012 19:18

yellowraincoat I have read the article now. There is precious little information on there.

But I still stand by my opinion. No, people don't ask to be judged but it is in human nature to do just that! I don't judge them for claiming benefits, I judge them for claiming that they will have to choose between heat and food when they spend what is frankly an extortionate amount on booze and fags in a week. No it's none of my business - but if they publish it on the BBC then it is in the public hemisphere is it not, and I am not disciplined enough to read anything without having some sort of opinion on it!

And don't bring disability into this - it has nothing to do with this article at all. The wife might have bipolar and anxiety issues but if they do claim DLA it's not mentioned and is not relevant anyway. DLA is not something that should be cut.

In this age of austerity, why should only people existing solely on benefits be exempt from having to curb their current lifestyle? Everyone else bloody well has to.

kelly2000 · 01/02/2012 19:18

catgirl,
well if you choose not to feed your children but spend money on booze and fags you can be prosecuted, and the children removed. The state will nto say that was your choice and just leave it at removing the children.

londonone · 01/02/2012 19:19

It is my business because I would like to pay less tax and if the benefits bill can be reduced then that in turn may lead to tax cuts. Therefore the level at which benefits are paid is of interest to me.

gordyslovesheep · 01/02/2012 19:20

OP do you just scower the interweb all day looking for things to be morally outraged about Hmm