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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:
catgirl1976 · 01/02/2012 19:20

OK........

So because we are "paying" for these people to get the money they are getting through tax and we don't claim these benefits, we have the right to know what it is being spent on and to judge it?

In that case..................

I pay a lot of tax and I don't get benefits like tax credits, and I won't be getting child benefit going forward.

I would therefore like a full breakdown from those of you who do get CB and CTC and WTC on what you are spending it on because by the rational of some poster on this thread I get the right to know, the right to judge and the right to decide if you "need" it and what you spend it on.

I await your breakdowns

Thought not

DanJARMouse · 01/02/2012 19:20

hahahaha tax cut!

The benefits are being cut to reduce the amount of DEBT this country is in. It wont do anything to bring down taxes!

NinkyNonker · 01/02/2012 19:21

I am the first to speak our against the cuts, but unless this chap has been seriously misrepresented then I'm sorry, he is asking to have their spending ripped to shreds. As and when their weekly budget gets cut, they can stop buying Sky, booze and fags and not have to choose between food and heating. The latter two are essentials, the first aren't. If they choose not to then that is up to them, but they can't then complain about it and say how hard done by their kids are as it will be their fault..

When DH had two years of low earning we cut back on non-essentials, wine (Shock), the odd take away, changed our buying habits etc and we got on with it. We couldn't just go to his employer and say 'come on now, paying him this little means I can't afford my wine and Chinese, you must pay us more or it is bloody unfair'...same goes here.

DanJARMouse · 01/02/2012 19:21

Thats easy catgirl - my Tax credits and Child benefit is spent on food, gas and electric.

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:21

How do you know they haven't curbed their lifestyle whackamole? £240 on shopping for 6 people doesn't seem that massively extravagant to me.

We'd all like the budget to be changed, Morebeta. Do you really think you'd find many people in this country saying "you know what I want? MORE PEOPLE DYING IN SHIT HOSPITALS".

Demonising people on benefits won't help though.

Well done on swallowing the crap the media feeds you though. Divide and conquer and all that.

balia · 01/02/2012 19:22

Don't think it can be true. No CSA from the father of the children? No means tested EMA for the lad going to college? And £240 on grocery shopping?

So sad to see this sort of thing on the BBC. What about balance? Surely they could have made up found a family who are facing real financial hardship who don't have Sky? There are plenty of them. Maybe the BBC could phone St Mungo's and ask them.

In fact, maybe that is the way to go - instead of posting comments on the bottom of these articles we could all just copy and paste the web addresses of Homeless Charities and provide some balance of our own?

JustHecate · 01/02/2012 19:22

Well, if I had to choose - I'd prefer the government to close all the loopholes that mean that the massively wealthy and the huge businesses avoid paying loads of tax. Stick that in the public purse and we'd all be better off!

But it's easier for them to get us turning on each other and attacking those at the 'bottom' rather than going after those at the 'top'. After all, who benefits from the loopholes and where do politicians go when they retire...

CervixWithASmile · 01/02/2012 19:22

I hope this doesn't change into a DLA related thread. We get it, it's not an out of work benefit!

catgirl1976 · 01/02/2012 19:23

Wll how much do you spend on food Danjar - and what do you buy and where do you buy it

I bet some posters could make that money go further, so apparantly, they then get to tell you you dont deserve it or need it

I think thats how it works

coccyx · 01/02/2012 19:24

why should the Gov pay for lazy, selfish adults like them? yes it does matter what they spend the money on, working people have had to cut back so why shouldn't they

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:24

You know what I hate? People having kids. I don't have kids, but I pay taxes so that your kids can go to school and get child benefit.

In these straitened times, you can't afford luxuries like kids.

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:24

Why should I pay for your kids coccyx?

SoupDragon · 01/02/2012 19:25

"I'd prefer the government to close all the loopholes that mean that the massively wealthy and the huge businesses avoid paying loads of tax. Stick that in the public purse and we'd all be better off"

I doubt that is true. They'd just fuck off elsewhere.

londonone · 01/02/2012 19:25

By all means catgirl - total I have ever received from the government in cash is zero so I won't be disclosing what I spend it on.

DANjar - obvs not going to be any tax cuts soon but I live in hope!

DanJARMouse · 01/02/2012 19:26

I spend about £70 a week for a family of 5... that is just basics. If I need to do a washing powder/loo roll etc shop it can be £120.

That is Lidl and Tesco for what I cant get in Lidl.

Gas and electric is extortionate, in the region of £50 a week in Winter.

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:27

Oh, so londonone, you've never used the NHS? You didn't go to public school? You don't have your bins taken away by dustmen?

whackamole · 01/02/2012 19:27

yellowraincoat I don't know if they haven't cut back but 24 cans of lager, 200 fags and a large pouch of tobacco, plus Sky which they pay an unbelievable amount for suggests not.

I take it back if they are buying Tesco Value lager which is 89p per 4 cans but the rest is excessive.

catgirl1976 · 01/02/2012 19:28

No thats fine - you are exempt from the judging londone

You may stand in the special corner.

KalSkirata · 01/02/2012 19:28

'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.'

Sigh. Multi millionaires such as David Cameron are/were entitled to claim DLA. It is not related to income.

overmydeadbody · 01/02/2012 19:29

DanJARMouse you should shop around for cheaper gas and electric Shock. I pay £38 a month for both gas and electric, surely you can get a better deal that £50 per week?

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:29

But what DIFFERENCE does it make to you whackamole? What do you care?

Do you REALLY imagine that even if the government just shot all the people ever on benefits and cancelled the whole system you'd be in any way better off?

You wouldn't be. Of that I am quite sure.

Can't you look on it as charity or something if it bothers you that much?

NinkyNonker · 01/02/2012 19:30

Well, the booze and fags alone would add up to around £100 p/w (just looked online, I can't believe how expensive fags are now! I remember thinking they were pricey at a fiver for £20) so they can always cut back on them to make savings without losing Sky and the mobiles

whackamole · 01/02/2012 19:30

I pay about the same as you DanJARmouse on utilities - are you on a meter? We are, I hate it, but they won't let us do direct debits unless we pay for the meters to be changed. £200 per meter we were quoted - but we'd get that back in 2 years!

GypsyMoth · 01/02/2012 19:30

vouchers lol!!!! Listen at yourselves!!

vouchers at the corner shop Hmm to pay the milkman? To spend in the post office? Market stalls? Charity shops? How will that work then? Who will pay the admin on vouchers? They can be sold on for cash, how will you police that and who will pay for it?

Think before you post!! Think!

yellowraincoat · 01/02/2012 19:30

So what do you spend your money on NinkyNonker? I'd like to suggest ways for you to cut back.