can I happily live on just £25 a week?

aaaPrincipessa

Hi,
I was receiving JSA a month ago while looking for a job. I then found two part time jobs but one didn't work out so I'm now working just 16 hours a week earning £87. I'm paying £57 for rent and £17 for travel a week.

This leaves my with just £13 for living expenses! Needless to say it doesn't go very far. I just calculated how much (if any) Housing and Council Tax benefit I could claim. It estimated £8 housing and £4 Council Tax!

Could this be correct? how can i possibly live on £25 a week? how is this fair? i would be so much better off sitting at home not working. i feel discouraged from working as Im actually losing money by being employed.

Any advice on how to improve my circumstances would be greatly appreciated.

welshmoneylover

aaaPrincipessa wrote: »

Hi,
I was receiving JSA a month ago while looking for a job. I then found two part time jobs but one didn't work out so I'm now working just 16 hours a week earning £87. I'm paying £57 for rent and £17 for travel a week.

This leaves my with just £13 for living expenses! Needless to say it doesn't go very far. I just calculated how much (if any) Housing and Council Tax benefit I could claim. It estimated £8 housing and £4 Council Tax!

Could this be correct? how can i possibly live on £25 a week? how is this fair? i would be so much better off sitting at home not working. i feel discouraged from working as Im actually losing money by being employed.

Any advice on how to improve my circumstances would be greatly appreciated.

How old are you? Would you be able to claim WTC?

Hammyman

aaaPrincipessa wrote: »

Hi,
I was receiving JSA a month ago while looking for a job. I then found two part time jobs but one didn't work out so I'm now working just 16 hours a week earning £87. I'm paying £57 for rent and £17 for travel a week.

This leaves my with just £13 for living expenses! Needless to say it doesn't go very far. I just calculated how much (if any) Housing and Council Tax benefit I could claim. It estimated £8 housing and £4 Council Tax!

Could this be correct? how can i possibly live on £25 a week? how is this fair? i would be so much better off sitting at home not working. i feel discouraged from working as Im actually losing money by being employed.

Any advice on how to improve my circumstances would be greatly appreciated.

It isn't correct. THe HB and CTB is calculated so that as long as you don't exceed the LHA limits, you have at least the same as you would claiming JSA. The entitledto.com website is quite broken when it comes to HB and CTB.

concerned43

Don't think you should be paying all that rent - what calculator did you use?

aaaPrincipessa

Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

@welshmoneylover: I'm 28. I thought I was only entitled to Working tax credit when working above 30 hours? could I claim working only 16 hours?

@Hammyman and @concerned43: I used Direct.gov which said i was only entitled to coucil tax benefit of £3.50 a week and manchester city council which estimated £12 for both housing and council tax benefit.

Darlyd

aaaPrincipessa wrote: »

Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

@welshmoneylover: I'm 28. I thought I was only entitled to Working tax credit when working above 30 hours? could I claim working only 16 hours?

@Hammyman and @concerned43: I used Direct.gov which said i was only entitled to coucil tax benefit of £3.50 a week and manchester city council which estimated £12 for both housing and council tax benefit.

You have to work min 16 hours a week, So put a claim in for that. And you will only know 100% what hb/cb you can get once you have put in a claim for it. . Get on it op, You may get it back dated..

concerned43

you won't qualify for WTC if you only work 16hrs (unless you have a child) else its 30hrs pw.
but i think you rent benefit is low

dark_lady

I too thought that people without kids could only get working tax credit if they were working 30 hours a week minimum.

dark_lady

Concerned we posted the same thing at the same time. You must type quicker than i do:beer:

aaaPrincipessa

Thanks for the help everybody...
I'll apply for the benefits and see what I can claim.. or hopefully get a second job soon!

DX2

Is your house/flat the right size? You haven't got 3 bedrooms just for one person?

Darlyd post is slighty incorrect you get WTC on 16 hours per week if you are a) a parent, or b) disabled. If neither a or b apply you need to work 30 hours per week.