Housing Benefit isn't enough!!

welshmoneylover

ladykhan wrote: »

look, this about the 4th person who has been nasty to me. i came on here for advice and help not to be spoken to rudly! .

Didn't mean to be rude, however, the benefits you are on seems to be the lot you'll likely to get.

The only way to maximise your money is to cut back on your expenditure.

Lots of people are tightening their belts right now, me included!

BeenieCat

If it's true that you can't live with parents or in shared accomodation, then i believe there are exceptions that can be made with regards to the amount of hb you are paid.

I don't know much about it, but do know people who have managed to get more hb than they would normally be awarded in 'exceptional circumstances'

asandwhen

ladykhan wrote: »

No my mum has crohn's disease too and she lives with my dad and sister and 1 toilet. Doesn't work out too well.

ladykhan wrote: »

noone else in my family drives.

How does your mum manage without a car then? I think you should lose the car and fags.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

There are 2 adults and 1 young child in our house. You state you do not have the luxury of biscuits, alcohol, etc etc....nor do we and my OH works 12 hour shifts nearly every day of the week If one of us smoked it'd spiral us into debt, if one of us goes for a night on the town, or even for a few drinks with friends then we are backlogged with money. Unfortunately it is a way of life for so many.

My OH works and earns £22K (so we are not entitled to a penny), this just about covers our living costs - i then have to ebay continuously to make extra cash to pay of debts from before we had our daughter (still not able to have any sort of luxury).

Unfortunately i found that working was actually more expensive, and pretty detrimental to my daughters behaviour (she is very young and didn't like being left with a childminder with 7 other children to lookafter all day) so hence we have learnt to live with it - cut back on as much as you possibly can, and i mean really cut back, not make excuses for keeping certain things within your budget.

We don't have a car, i had to get rid of mine as we simply couldn't afford to run it, we can't even afford a bottle of wine unless i do extra well on Ebay, and my poor husband has to work a ridiculous amount of extra hours just to keep us afloat.

I'm not trying to attack you - unfortunately it is a big shock when you first move out (i remember, i moved out into my first rented place when i was 16, i'm 23 now), i am just trying to tell you what it is like from a families point of view who are actually going through poverty.

I do understand where you are coming from on the gas/electric/water front though - it is ridiculously expensive. We live on the coast so it is alot colder here than inland - 2 bed house: we pay £85 per month gas, this is just heating 2 hours morn, 2 hours eve, and one shower(me and little one bath together) and one bath(oh) per day. Washing machine is on just 2/3 times a week. Electric £50 month, Water £55 month stupidly split between two water companies. None of this is debt and we too are on a meter which apparently is more expensive. Do what we do - wear more layers, especially at night and line your curtains - it helps a bit.

Good luck anyway - i hope you find a way around it!;)

busy_mom_2

Sorry to add to the negativity but your are not yet even 20 and you seem to think you will never be able to work, why?
lots of people work with this illness and to think you are writing your life off at such an early age is sooo wrong. Surely you aren't expecting to claim benefits for the rest of your life?

krisskross

Crohns is treatable and between exacerbations many sufferers can almost forget they have it. One of my nurse colleagues had severe Crohns but still managed to work

You really do have to learn to live within your benefit means or get a job and provide for yourself. If you don't pay your rent you will be evicted and it is 6 years until you get all your rent paid.What career path do you plan to follow once the Crohns is stabilised? I am assumimg you do not intend to stay on benefits all your life.

How many hospital appointments do you have a month that means you have to have a car? Most unusual to be seen much more than 3 monthly once treatment has commenced.

Rikki

dmg24 wrote: »

Perhaps you could help out ladykhan with some of your £80,000 savings?

Not while its in my bank account he can't.

pipkin71

ladykhan wrote: »

look, this about the 4th person who has been nasty to me. i came on here for advice and help not to be spoken to rudly! yes they are paying for my benefits and a margin of my rent and council tax and i would go out to work if i can but i CANT! some people wont understand that and thats fine. i wont bother coming on here for help no more as even though there are some nice people on here who are willing to offer advice, others are just being rude. i need my own "digs" to live. I cant live in my parents house nor shared accomadation! if you and other people dont understand and have nothing to offer me dont reply on the thread. its that simple! thank you to everyone whom has helped me. i will see about a ppc and look at the meter and ring them up. i will empty my car and get it checked out by someone (ive just thought of a place where they train mechanics so they must do a little discount?!). thank you again to the people who helped.

ladykhan, as difficult as it seems, you have to ignore the posts where negative comments are made. This board is meant for help and advice, unfortunately that doesn't always happen.

Despite some of the comments, you have been offered good advice. Some of it perhaps, you don't want, but still good advice all the same.

You've looked at the situation with your car and say you can't manage without it, so could you look to buying a cheaper car - one that doesn't use as much petrol? I don't know much about cars, so not sure it's possible.

Do look at giving up smoking. You can get help with patches, chewing-gum ect and you will feel much better when you manage to stop, no doubt healthier too.

Go further down the board to money saving old style. They have some fantastic ideas on there to eat healthily on a budget.

Do check what's going on with the gas and electric, as it does seem that you are using an awful lot. You could also phone the water company to see what the average water cost would be. Just a thought, but I'm sure I read on the disability board about reductions to your water costs if you're on a meter and have a health problem that means you use more water. I will see if I can find it.

Above all, don't leave mse, as many on here can offer some excellent advice. As I said, sometimes it isn't the advice a poster may want, but it does give you something to think about.

feelinggood_2

Also, are you registered with your nearest GP? Usually there is a surgery within walking distance.

I think it is worth looking into hospital transport as mentioned above.

You should not only live within your means, but put a small amount away each week to cover any unexpected big bills.

skipsmum

DS2 has severe crohns disease, colitis, and juvenile arthritis but still manages to lead a fairly normal active life. He needs a healthy diet, and has liquid feed on prescription when he is poorly. Maybe you could see a dietician for some diet advice? I feed 4 of us on £60 a week - have a look at the OS board for help here.
Gas and electric seem really high, twice what we use in a 3 bed house (there is always someone here blasting the heating out!)
Might be worth getting the meter looked at.
DS gets DLA, but more for the artritis which can be crippling. I don't know of anyone who gets it just for crohns,but you can always apply.
My brother has crohns too, and DH has a bag after a bowel resection so I do understand the problems it causes. They both went to college where they had lots of support. DH is working now, and my brother is at uni where he still gets lots of support.
Hope you get it sorted.