will this work??

katygeorge

hello again,

i do have a previous post where im asking for benefit advise, well so far i am getting told no, the reasons they give are valid but that still leaves me with no money. One of the things they keep saying is we cant claim because i work more than 24 hours a week, so my question here is - if i cut my hours at work from 30 to 24 will be be able to claim or will they just say no because i have obviously done it on purpose?

i know it sounds like im trying to fiddle the system, but i really need help and they will give us nothing, i have managed to get a crisis loan today for food shopping but they would only give us £50 so hardly going to last long and the council tax benefit is going to take up to 3 months so still got to pay that each month otherwise i would have £161 spare which we could use for food shopping

dmg24

katygeorge wrote: »

hello again,

i do have a previous post where im asking for benefit advise, well so far i am getting told no, the reasons they give are valid but that still leaves me with no money. One of the things they keep saying is we cant claim because i work more than 24 hours a week, so my question here is - if i cut my hours at work from 30 to 24 will be be able to claim or will they just say no because i have obviously done it on purpose?

i know it sounds like im trying to fiddle the system, but i really need help and they will give us nothing, i have managed to get a crisis loan today for food shopping but they would only give us £50 so hardly going to last long and the council tax benefit is going to take up to 3 months so still got to pay that each month otherwise i would have £161 spare which we could use for food shopping

Ho hum ...

£50 is five weeks food for those on a budget.

DX2

katygeorge wrote: »

the council tax benefit is going to take up to 3 months so still got to pay that each month otherwise i would have £161 spare which we could use for food shopping

Would it not be more sensible to just pay a token payment towards your CT whilst you are waiting for CTB to be sorted out, that way you have spare cash. What will happen once your CTB comes through you will probably have over paid and the you probably won't get this back, it will be carried forward.

katygeorge

yes braincrum, well sort of my husband has, as he ran out first (he smoke roll ups) ive got 7 fags left and when there gone there gone. got some patches today at boots, a lot cheeper than fags!!

fiddling the system - i wouldnt need to if the system worked, i wont get in to all that as i know its not the place for me to get on my soap box

would like to hear how you feed 2 people for £10 a week? as any suggestions are welcomed, did try hard today in asda getting cheeper where i could, and didnt get any non essentials or treats, just 3 meals a day, tea suger and milk. and there not great meals we feel like students again

DX2

katygeorge wrote: »

yes braincrum, well sort of my husband has, as he ran out first (he smoke roll ups) ive got 7 fags left and when there gone there gone. got some patches today at boots, a lot cheeper than fags!!

fiddling the system - i wouldnt need to if the system worked, i wont get in to all that as i know its not the place for me to get on my soap box

would like to hear how you feed 2 people for £10 a week? as any suggestions are welcomed, did try hard today in asda getting cheeper where i could, and didnt get any non essentials or treats, just 3 meals a day, tea suger and milk. and there not great meals we feel like students again

You have no money and you bought patches today!

katygeorge

DX2 wrote: »

Would it not be more sensible to just pay a token payment towards your CT whilst you are waiting for CTB to be sorted out, that way you have spare cash. What will happen once your CTB comes through you will probably have over paid and the you probably won't get this back, it will be carried forward.

i dont understand - am i allowed to that as would be able to survive if i did that, as ive not mortgage for 3 months now leaving my bills at £810.18 a month, and by doing a bit of overtime i can just manage that on my wage but it leaves nothing over, but my council tax is £161 which would then be spare to buy food

katygeorge

DX2 wrote: »

You have no money and you bought patches today!

yes i did, there a hell of alot cheeper than fags, and im already pulling my hair out with stress so think i need a bit of help to quit smoking

DX2

katygeorge wrote: »

i dont understand - am i allowed to that as would be able to survive if i did that, as ive not mortgage for 3 months now leaving my bills at £810.18 a month, and by doing a bit of overtime i can just manage that on my wage but it leaves nothing over, but my council tax is £161 which would then be spare to buy food

It would certainly be an avenue I would be looking into if I was in your situation, speak to your local council and explain that you are struggling and that you are waiting for your CTB to be processed. Got to be worth a try.

DX2

katygeorge wrote: »

yes i did, there a hell of alot cheeper than fags, and im already pulling my hair out with stress so think i need a bit of help to quit smoking

My last post on the "fags" issue
Fags/Patches v's Food essentials.

katygeorge

DX2 wrote: »

It would certainly be an avenue I would be looking into if I was in your situation, speak to your local council and explain that you are struggling and that you are waiting for your CTB to be processed. Got to be worth a try.

ok thankyou very much, will give them a call on my lunch on monday and see what sort of arrangement we can come up with, never even thought of it, just been so wrapped up in trying to pay everything.

as for fags v food - im afraid i would take the fags and live on soup, but i do really feel the patches are important and did get the cheep boots own brand and used my boots points towards paying for them

Kimitatsu

Can I suggest that firstly you go over to the old style moneysasving board and get some ideas for your food shopping? With stuff you have in the store cupboard/freezer you can probably eek it out a lot further than you think.

Have you spoken to the Council to see if you can lower your payments? £161 seems high for your council tax if that is your normal payment, you need to speak to them and see if you can put an arrangement in place which you can afford to stick to.

Lowering your hours at work to claim benefits can be seen as deprivation of income and so any other benefits could be refused or sanctioned.