Getting a council house! is it possible anymore?

SABJ

The college thing isnt as easy as it sounds not sure how old the op is but once you over 25 if your household income is over 15k you have to pay for courses, and lots of the courses are day only (mine was) so it would mean loosing 1 income and lots of people cant afford to do this, you also dont get any help with childcare costs from college if you get over 15k and you cant get chilcare costs from wftc because you have to both be working to qualify, this is what happened when i went back to education i was fortunate my husband could support us both and my mam is a great help with the kids so i could leave my job and go back to college but for alot of people its not as easy as going to college on a night and the fees can be quite high if your already struggeling to pay the bills.

I can see where the op is coming from with the part of us people who work hard sometimes can feel like we get the short straw when it comes to paying bills and having little left at the end of the month,espesh when you see people who dont work having everyday off and going out spending but its nice to have a sense of pride that your paying your way and paying for your own children,

neverdespairgirl

MoneyMiser wrote: »

Not applying any fraudulent standards to anyone. This has been completely taken out of context, the insurance was just an example, but please can you elabourate on your ethical and practical reasons? I'm very interested in the ethical reasons and why you put these before the practicle reasons.

If I lie, and pay less for my risk-assessed cover, other people (who do not lie) have to bear the burden.

SingleSue

There are various courses where you do not need to go to a big college. Learn direct do a fair few and most are very low fees or none at all, coupled with this, they also have very generous opening times.

I have, in the past and when I was married and working part time (hubby working full time) gone back and done evening courses to get a GCSE (I fancied one of the new fangled qualifications to go with my O Levels) and an A Level...again low cost and easily fitted into family life.

At the moment I am undergoing an ECDL which has to be fitted around medical appointments, school meetings and the general eek moments that come with having disabled children plus also doing a counselling course. It does mean that I am running around like a headless chicken most the time but it will be worth it in the end if it leads to a well paid job.

Edited to add that at the time I went back to do evening classes, I had a toddler at home and my car was off the road...and for the A Level, I was heavily pregnant.

olly300

BritonSarah the point is the OP hasn't even tried.

Firstly she has been given advice from people who have been there on how to save money. Secondly she is thinking of excuses not to further her qualifications which means she can get more money. I know people who want to do a college course and because of the fees manage to get their private employer to pay all or some of the cost.

Some employers actively encourage employers to get further qualifications. All the people I know who are in local government, national agencies or the NHS can do a course free. (Some of them have had to fight to do the course they want.)

Other posters on this board have used the Open University.

neverdespairgirl

Jenn85 wrote: »

Well I take that you are a recent school leaver then because it wasn't and still isnt being taught in schools at the moment in the county that I live in,

yes it is usefull to know how to use a washing machine our parents aren't there to do it for the rest of our lives!!!

And if the comment about Grammar was directed at me that is uncalled for and maybe if everyone wants to niggle at one another should do it somewhere else!.

Not particularly recent - I'm 31! So I left school <gulp> 13 years ago now.

I just think that washing machines etc don't need to be taught in schools.

The reason I mentioned the grammar was because you were discussing what "school's" should teach :j

Welshwoofs

MoneyMiser wrote: »

What I found abusive was when you said 'Don't have children you cant afford to pay for yourself'. What gives you the right to say this to someone? What if the OP had planned the child before the credit crunch and got all her sums right? As with many families in this country they are starting to struggle to get by each month and going further into debt.

Why do I have the right to tell people they should only contemplate having children if they can afford them? Because I'm a tax payer. I fundamentally believe that one should only plan a family if one is reasonably sure one can support that family for the forseeable future. I'm not talking about people whose circumstances change after having a family - unforeseen things happen in life and people need support if they do.

I do however fundamentally believe that before seeking help from others it's one's duty to ensure that everything has been done to help oneself.

In the case of the OP all the things she could have done have been dismissed - seemingly without much thought. i.e.

1. Bettering the household income by either OP or her OH gaining more skills and/or qualifications. The OP dismissed this as she can't drive... however there are almost limitless courses which are distance learning and we can all see she has an internet connection. She's also mentioned her OH drives....how about he teaches her? That is another skill she'll have acquired and will definitely help in gaining better/more work.
2. The damp house. We've learnt that it's privately rented for a little over £600 a month. She's approached her landlord about it who dismissed her concerns. Why leave it there? If you give up at the first hurdle you get nothing in life. She should be on that LL's back morning, noon and night and if he doesn't shift, she needs to be looking around for a different place. A quick look on rightmove for the county she lives in (Somerset) reveiled the following private rental properties all cheaper than she's currently paying and all a minimum of 2 bedrooms:
   • 6 - up to £300 a month
   • 11 - between £300-£400
   • 58 - between £400-£500
   • 462 - between £500-£600

I'm assuming that if her LL is a sod and won't fix the damp, it shouldn't be impossible to find another suitable 2+ bedroom place for £600 or less a month out of a total of 537 in the county.. and i'm sure there's tons more being advertised privately in local papers.

As for lies - I'm another that doesn't lie when I get car insurance quotes. You can bet your behind that if you downgrade your annual mileage by 10k a year and your car gets written off, that little lie will bite you on your backside and the insurance company won't pay out

I don't think anyone on this thread harbours ill-will to the OP. Frustration perhaps because she's come looking for advice and dismisses everything that comes her way because it's not what she wants to hear (i.e. it's not instructions on how to score a council house).

The brutal truth is that the numbers of council houses are dwindling every year with the 'right to buy' scheme in operation and it should be those most in need who get what stock is left and not people who desire a council house in order to gain a greater margin of disposable income at the end of the month without doing anything to increase the amount of money coming in.

This is turning into a long rant... but I do feel the OP represents a generation in a way. It's a generation we've failed with basic education about that most important of all things... survival. We've brought up young people who know how to apply for a credit card, but don't know how to balance their household budget. Young people who often don't push themselves to achieve as much as they can, because society has taught them you have the 'right' to anything you want, no matter how little effort you put in.

IMO it's time for tough love - we need to teach kids that rewards are generally directly proportionate to the amount of hard work and effort put in.

Jenn85

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Not particularly recent - I'm 31! So I left school <gulp> 13 years ago now.

I just think that washing machines etc don't need to be taught in schools.

The reason I mentioned the grammar was because you were discussing what "school's" should teach :j

A right sorry hun, I am 23 and they unfortunately did not teach budgeting and still don't I really wish they did though as I would not have to be learning it now, young people at the moment leave school without the basic life skills obviously Maths and English is a requirement but so should life skills be.

Cooking at my school was once every 2weeks for 50mins then after 3months you moved on to another "Tech" i.e wood work and such not.

SingleSue

I must admit, I do agree with you there Jenn which is why I am teaching my boys how to do things.

At age 10, my youngest is a dab hand at making roast potatoes (obviously I do the putting in the oven bit) and yorkshire puddings and my middle son makes a mean stuffing and gravy.

They all know how to operate the washing machine and they have to do their own banking and saving for items they wish to have.

Mind you, they call me Mrs Mean Mum for making them do it! :rotfl:

Jenn85

Ah Sue that is great that you are teaching your boys to cook not many mums do, and the saving for things they wish to have is an amazing skill to give your boys that way they should be less likely to get themselves into debt, even now they may refer to you as Mrs Mean Mum but later in life they will be thanking you for the invaluable skills that you have given to them, you are an amazing mummy. x

SingleSue

Aww thanks.

I don't see it as being amazing but giving them life skills that CAN be used in their future lives. I think one part of it is because two of them are disabled and I am trying to stop the prophecy of the medical peeps that especially my youngest, will never be able to live an independent life...I want to prove them wrong.

I suppose also being a single mum on benefits and the way some others perceive those on benefits, I want to show that not all of us show our children that the only way to go is by sitting on their bums for the rest of their lives, so I work extra hard to instil the work ethic in them, much the same way the work ethic was drummed into me by my parents.

I suppose really what I am doing is old school parenting when it comes to values (I do have a modern slant though, absolutely no smacking, no shouting etc and everything is done on a pro-active basis rather than reactive).

It also helps that we don't have lots of pennies floating around, so everything we want, we have to save for (middle one is currently saving for a Nintendo Wii). I thought the children would resent me for it but they keep telling me that I am doing a good job with what we have available and at least they are learning a life without credit rather than one with it and getting all the latest toys.