Am I eligible for council accomodation?

BigAunty

vise wrote: »

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If acheiving independance from my parents is a far fetched goal at my stage, is there any grants or benefits I may be entitled to?

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You currently receive JSA and as a single healthy adult without dependents living with family, that's your lot in your current situation in terms of benefits.

Grants for what, exactly?

Your college may have a hardship fund and be aware of educational grants and trusts in the UK that you can apply for.

There's a student forum that discusses student finance on MSE, plus a student money section on the general website.

The Turn2us website has a section to search for grants.

Here are some general links about student finance.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/FinancialHelpForAdultLearners/index.htm

BigAunty

Nyfle wrote: »

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Or you could Google the Consumer Action Group (I'd link to their website but that might be against ze rules...). They've got a great forum where, instead of its members spending hours upon hours of their precious (or should that be sad and pathetic?) lives trudging through users' entire post histories and bashing those who need help from the state, they... well, they do pretty much the opposite of what this particular MSE sub-forum does.

So on the CAG, they tell unemployed teenagers who dream of a council flat, whose lifestyle is more expensive than their income, that they have no problem parachuting into social housing and will live happily ever after?

moneysavingkitten

Why don't you put you name on the list and see what happens? You won't be a high priority because, (a) You are not homeless (b) you have no children (c) you are not ill (d) you are not in any danger (e) you are not old enough to qualify for HB for a private flat, I dunno if that would help you case either. BUT nothing ventured nothing gained. If your not on the list you certainly won't get a place.

It may be that you never get a place or it takes years, but if you put you name down now, might help in the future, if things get worse and your parents end up kicking you out, it may help your case because you have been on the list longer, even if you had no entitlement at the time.

You should be entitled to around just under £70 a week for a place in shared accommodation at your age (from memory). Have you looked around to see what is available? Some shared places are really rough, but maybe you could get together with a few friends and rent a place? Then you are not risking living with dodgey people you don't know. Failing that, keep an eye out for a bedsit.

It will be much harder to live on your own than you imagine though. You will need to budget properly. Understand that out of £65 a week, you'll be expecting to pay out probably at least £40 - £50 of that on bills, especially in winter when you need the heat on, just like at your parents (unless you manage to find a place with bill included in the rent, then you may have to top up your HB out of your JSA anyway). So you will almost certainly be better off at your parents, even if they do take £50 of your JSA.

If you are getting HB and JSA, you won't be able to afford to keep a contract phone. Kill the ****er off and get an unlocked handset with a decent PAYG allowance. Then if you need to you can choose not to pay it if you need to.

It may seem like the end of the world, but you might have decide what is more important to you. Living without your parents or body building. Many people have to put their dreams on hold so they can afford to pay their bills and live on their own. It doesn't mean you have to let yourself go, you can still be fit, but I don't know anyone on JSA that can afford to go to the gym. Not even people that are ill and would benefit from it as physiotherapy.

Alternatively, do you have any friends you can stay with for a few nights a week, to take the pressure off so you are not dealing with your parents so much? Then when you go back and see them, they might be easier to cope with.

If you don't, there may be drop in centres where you can stay in your area. Some places are set up to help young people are having major problems with their parents/from a dangerous background.

You need to think about what environment can study best in. If you stay with your parents, maybe you can find out if one particular aspect of your life is bothering them so much and making them awful to live with. Maybe if it's something reasonable you can all work on it. But you need to know why first.

If you move out, do it with good grace. Done right they should be proud of you for standing on your own two feet. After all that is what they spent all that time bring your up to do. Try to be civil to them, I'm sure they care about you despite being so hard. you never know when you may need your parents help in the future.

I hope this helps a little, I remember having similar thoughts when I left home. I just wish someone had taught me how to budget properly before I did it. It would have saved a lot of pain and years of time.

Caroline_a

vise wrote: »

Weight training and plyometrics are two different things. I am a natural lifter, so no roids. Cutting down on supplements? I only buy a tub of protein every 3/4 weeks, in which case is the cheapest source of protein available (in comparison to whole food favourites such as fish, chicken, meat)

Of course they are. Didn't you read anything else on the site?? Those guys are serious strength and conditioning coaches, they train top level body builders and athletes, yet they were able to keep up with their own training for a month or so in the Far East, just using what they had to hand! So if they can do it at their level, which I'm pretty sure is way above yours, I'm sure you can!!