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

[HungryHelga]

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.

londone - out of interest do you not have children? just wondering about CB that's all

Has no-one ever realised that most "non-working" families who can afford nice cars, holdays, luxury gadgets etc are actually in fact err, working? The money is NOT coming from generous state hand-outs at all but from undeclard employment. Have met quite a few families like this with a good stanard of living, but never ever one totally dependant upon benefits.

londonone but a voucher payment would leave families excluded from paying by direct debit......and then they will lose the dd discount!!

Unfortunately, due to the type of meters we have, we cant even change to another supplier for the meters, let alone have them taken away. The meters are specific to British Gas apparently and no other company will touch them.

I agree, there shouldnt be the nit picking over what people spend benefits on, but it isnt COMMON PLACE.

The media really do a fab job of taking the most unusual stories and making them out to be what is happening all over the country.

A voucher system would stigmatise those on benefits

at Beta! Me too! It always helpsput things in perspective when you've been on both side of the fence!

I HAD noticed that, LapsedPacifist, because I always enquire as to where people get their money from.

You know, it being totally my business.

I'm forever saying to my scamming chums "oh hold on just a second - how do you have that nice car considering you're on benefits" and then THEY say "I'm a benefit cheat" and then we all laugh.

I don't have ANY disposable income after my bills are paid. I earn £21k before tax, so what. £16k after? My mortage is £500 a month. Council tax is £120 a month. Electricity £105 a month etc etc I could go on. I cannot remember the last time I bought new clothes, most things are from the charity shop or ebay. I can't afford to get my hair cut/coloured. We don't go out on a weekend, we can't afford it. We just drive somewhere and mooch about for free! (normally some beach somewhere) Christmas/birthday presents for friends are presents I have received - recycled (shush!)

I don't think benefit families should HAVE disposable income. Why the hell should they, when it's MY TAX that's enabling them to have their plasma tvs, mobile phones etc etc. Benefits should mean living like me..or worse! NOT BETTER!!!!

making me see red!!

I don't claim child benefit and am unlikely to ever receive it. Yellow I doubt your guarantee would hold up!

yellow - very sadly, you would be able to smell some of the poor kids at my school. Just like I can smell their parents in the queue at the Spar in the morning while I buy my newspaper and they are buying £10 worth of scratchcards and 4 cans of Special Brew.

I am not making it up. Come and spend a day doing my job (Safeguarding) and I will sadly show you.

Well Yellow, if you dont want to pay taxes for "our kids" why dont you leave this country and live somewhere where you can have all your income in your hand and pay for things on a pay as you go basis?!

Which money YellowRainCoat, the money DH works bloody hard to earn? Or the money I have saved from when I too worked bloody hard? I can post a link to my budgeting spreadsheet if you like, but given we're not looking to cut back and don't really waste anything I don't think we'll need your advice.

My point was actually that they are luxuries. You cut back on them before food and heat, and if you don't you can't really expect pity for not having the latter. I've spoken out against the cuts vocally many times, however a little bit of realism is needed.

So your solution, diabolo is what? To give them less money?

Yes, that'll help.

The reason I am entitled to have an opinion is because I pay tax on my income and work outside the home for 40+ hours per week as does my dh. If other people have lifestyles they are unable to pay for on the basis of my family's contributions then I expect to have a say, just like I expect to have a say about everything else I pay for.

FWIW - child benefit replaced the old married man's allowance. Am perfectly happy to forfeit it, just as I would be happy to forfeit my right to education for my children and the NHS as we do not avail ourselves of the state provision. However, as we make massive contributions in both tax and national insurance I think we should be entitled to have tax breaks for doing so.

Frankly I expect money to be well spent and would happily see families like DanJARMouse being given a few breaks and would happily contribute to them, just as I would happily have paid a bit more for women like Riven and her family to have had a better existence. It is not, however, good use of funds to allow a family to spend needlessly on booze and fags and sky and say if there is less it will be the children who suffer.

Any one else like to start a thread on this?

I mean 2 is not enough for all the outrage surely?

My point was it's really none of your bloody business what they spend their money on.

If nothing else the article shows that it IS actually possible for a family of that size to get by on the 26k. They have to make a few cutbacks but then most of us have had to cut back on some things. There is plenty there for the essentials though and still a bit leftover which they can decide to spend on whatever they want.

I do think it's a bit ridiculous that he hasn't got a job in an IT related field after this long. He was quoted as saying there was no work in his field. Surely if he wasn't working because of his wife then he would have mentioned it.

LapsedPacifist they can spend their disposable income on whatever they like, I really don't care - but isn't the point of this particular article (which is what the OP is about) that this family claim they don't have any disposable income? And thus will have to choose between heat and food?

Hi there,

Just to let you know, we've moved this thread to Politics.

wth is a benefit family? MN is obsessed with this stuff atm. I am sure there never used to be so many bigots on here. Does anyone irl ever talk about this stuff with their mates at any opportunity because I know I don't!

Its depressing reading atm

OK, DanJARMouse, then so should everyone on this thread who's whinging about benefits.

All of us pay tax so that any of us can go on benefits if we need it. All of us pay tax so that kids can go to school and we can get NHS treatment.

That is what the point of tax is. Maybe some don't need benefits. I don't. I don't need schools either.

I'm not going to whinge cos some do. And I really don't care what they spend it on.

Catgirl - there should be a stigma about being on benefits, it should be ssomething people try to avoid.

Tiffany - No reason why the same discounts couldn't be applied to voucher payments, much like social tariffs now.

DAR - It was British Gas who changed our meters over for free so may be worth calling again.

If nothing else the article shows that it IS actually possible for a family of that size to get by on the 26k.

Yup

Am pretty sure thats why the bbc picked this family

Excellent propaganda - excellent work in gaining support for the cap. Which was the point of the article. Nice to see it is working so well

yellow I don't have a solution. I am not God, nor do I pretend to be.

But the money is often not spent wisely, properly, whatever you want to call it.

Do you have a solution?