Work Programme

donnajunkie

looby75 wrote: »

if your mam is really struggling is it not an option for you to move out then? Is it just you and your mam living in the house? If so she would get a single persons discount on her CT and obviously food and utilities would be less for her. You would then be eligible for HB/CTB. Not an easy solution admittedly but it might be worth considering.

i would also go on the entitled to website to see what that says they should be getting.

looby75

LadyMissA wrote: »

and who would buy my food? If I got a flat that took dss id have nothing to eat and have to sit in the dark lol

thats what JSA is for! Admittedly it's not a huge amount but it's enough for the basics.

My sister has been on JSA a few times due to redundancy and she managed on it. She even managed, with very very careful budgeting, to keep running her car.

LadyMissA

looby75 wrote: »

thats what JSA is for! Admittedly it's not a huge amount but it's enough for the basics.

My sister has been on JSA a few times due to redundancy and she managed on it. She even managed, with very very careful budgeting, to keep running her car.

I have had to cancel my mobile but I have other bills to pay, all granted no one elses fault but my internet at home with calls cost £28 a mth and I have other stuff to pay. JSA is is a LIVING allowance which is miles less than the minimum wage and its not an allowance to help ypu look for work!!

She's very lucky she could run her car obviously had nothing else to pay like loans or credit cards, getting your suits cleaned or phone line/internet or personal items like toiletries and getting your hair cut etc

looby75

LadyMissA wrote: »

I have had to cancel my mobile but I have other bills to pay, all granted no one elses fault but my internet at home with calls cost £28 a mth and I have other stuff to pay. JSA is is a LIVING allowance which is miles less than the minimum wage and its not an allowance to help ypu look for work!!

She's very lucky she could run her car obviously had nothing else to pay like loans or credit cards, or phone or personal items like toiletries and getting your hair cut etc

You need to do what everyone else does when they are on JSA, phone companies you have contracts with and explain your situation, cancel dd's and offer token payments until you are back on your feet.

Of course my sister had other bills to pay, but she took the above action which meant she could still run her car and this helped her get a new job quickly as she could apply over a bigger area and attend interviews fairly easily.

As for toiletries etc, well again you have to buy to your budget, there are loads of discount stores/pound shops that sell toiletries now. I get all mine from such places and even when I'm working I'll still use the cheap shops as I will never go back to paying £3 for a pump bottle of toothpaste when I can pay £1 for exactly the same thing all because it's got foreign writing on it! Hair cuts, well local colleges usually are crying out for "models" and you can get it done for next to nothing there.

LadyMissA

looby75 wrote: »

You need to do what everyone else does when they are on JSA, phone companies you have contracts with and explain your situation, cancel dd's and offer token payments until you are back on your feet.

Of course my sister had other bills to pay, but she took the above action which meant she could still run her car and this helped her get a new job quickly as she could apply over a bigger area and attend interviews fairly easily.

As for toiletries etc, well again you have to buy to your budget, there are loads of discount stores/pound shops that sell toiletries now. I get all mine from such places and even when I'm working I'll still use the cheap shops as I will never go back to paying £3 for a pump bottle of toothpaste when I can pay £1 for exactly the same thing all because it's got foreign writing on it! Hair cuts, well local colleges usually are crying out for "models" and you can get it done for next to nothing there.

I have been down that route before when you set up an agreement with a company and you get a BAD credit rating and I have been clear for 6 years now and I am not prepared to go back so am paying all my bills in full.

I buy cheap toiletries where before I wouldnt blink twice at spending £60 a mth in Superdrug. Only wash my hair and shower every other day and I am not a smell bag as I am washing in between just cant afford to do what I used to.

I pay £10 to a girl who works at Toni & Guy to cut my hair every 6 weeks and shes been doing so since I lost my job where it used to cost me £50.

looby75

LadyMissA wrote: »

I have been down that route before when you set up an agreement with a company and you get a BAD credit rating and I have been clear for 6 years now and I am not prepared to go back so am paying all my bills in full.

I buy cheap toiletries where before I wouldnt blink twice at spending £60 a mth in Superdrug. Only wash my hair and shower every other day and I am not a smell bag as I am washing in between just cant afford to do what I used to.

I pay £10 to a girl who works at Toni & Guy to cut my hair every 6 weeks and shes been doing so since I lost my job where it used to cost me £50.

well thats your choice, but you can't then complain that you can't afford to get to interviews etc. JSA isn't supposed to keep your credit rating good it's supposed to give you enough to survive on while you are looking for work.

I'm on a DMP at the moment because of debts my ex left me with and because I was forced to live off credit cards for 3 months and then again for about 8 weeks a year later as my benefits claim kept going missing. It's a horrible situation but it's something you just have to grit your teeth and get on with.

LadyMissA

looby75 wrote: »

well thats your choice, but you can't then complain that you can't afford to get to interviews etc. JSA isn't supposed to keep your credit rating good it's supposed to give you enough to survive on while you are looking for work.

I'm on a DMP at the moment because of debts my ex left me with and because I was forced to live off credit cards for 3 months and then again for about 8 weeks a year later as my benefits claim kept going missing. It's a horrible situation but it's something you just have to grit your teeth and get on with.

Er I am getting on with it! thanks. If you were left with debts by an ex and they were in your name thats your fault as well as you could have entered into an agreement with the people you were in debt with like you just advised

looby75

LadyMissA wrote: »

Er I am getting on with it! thanks. If you were left with debts by an ex and they were in your name thats your fault as well as you could have entered into an agreement with the people you were in debt with like you just advised

thats what a DMP is, an agreement with your creditors to pay back at a lower rate.

I'm not saying that it wasn't my fault that the debts were in my name, we were married and had been for 11 years when he walked out, most married couples have debts in both of their names. The main part of my debt came from having to live on credit for months because of a mix up by the DWP and then later on Tax credits.

But none of that changes the fact that JSA isn't supposed to keep your credit clear, it's supposed to provide you with just enough money for the basics.

925dancer

LadyMissA, why are you using the tube? It's a very expensive way to get round London when the busses are much much cheaper. Granted it will take you longer and you may have to change but it could save you a lot of money and make it more possible to go agencies.

Sometimes I would get the bus from Finchley to Oxford Street at the weekend because I preferred it to sitting on a hot tube in summer! So 7 miles on a bus is nothing if it makes it cheaper.

I live alone and am just about surviving on JSA, managing to get to interviews etc and even managing to put electric in my meter and eat! Amazing!

I'm even going to half to make a little over a fortnights money last for a month as I finally start a new job on monday and I have had to relocate to London to find employment (incidentally, it took me 2 weeks from posting my CV online and making applications to London roles to be offered a job and I don't have 17 years experience, also, only one agency ever asked to meet me, the other 4 happily registered me over the phone).

LadyMissA

looby75 wrote: »

thats what a DMP is, an agreement with your creditors to pay back at a lower rate.

I'm not saying that it wasn't my fault that the debts were in my name, we were married and had been for 11 years when he walked out, most married couples have debts in both of their names. The main part of my debt came from having to live on credit for months because of a mix up by the DWP and then later on Tax credits.

But none of that changes the fact that JSA isn't supposed to keep your credit clear, it's supposed to provide you with just enough money for the basics.

I never said it was to keep my credit clear. When you have any agreement to pay anything your credit rating will be adverse till that account is clear and has been clear for 6 years. I am on my way to getting the adverse rating off my account I hope so that with Equifax I will show not bad rating in the years to come once I get back into work and can pay more.