How do you manage to survive on your jobseekers money?

Coopdivi

ohreally wrote: »

Most of the folks i know of are offered plenty ad-hoc work to keep them ticking over and their partners work.

I've never worked on the side and I don't know of anybody on the dole who does.

How many unemployed people do you know and have you dobbed any of them in yet? If not why not?

Coopdivi

LadyMissA wrote: »

but then they said


' If they are paying rent (not board and lodge) and they are going to try and live on jsa, and they apply for it, they will be getting it.'

Yeah all right but I still think she's on the wind up though.

£1500 a week is over 75 grand a year. In any case if you live in Local Authority housing the money goes straight to the landlord so where's the gain? Even for those people who get the money paid direct they're hardly likely to spend it all on 98'' tellies and copious drugs if they're going to be evicted.

LadyMissA

Coopdivi wrote: »

Yeah all right but I still think she's on the wind up though.

£1500 a week is over 75 grand a year. In any case if you live in Local Authority housing the money goes straight to the landlord so where's the gain? Even for those people who get the money paid direct they're hardly likely to spend it all on 98'' tellies and copious drugs if they're going to be evicted.

I think they are talking about renting off a family member or living with one where you do not get housing benefit

Saturnalia

I get temp work which I do declare to DWP and sign off when I get over 16 hours a week. Thank goodness I do get some work, as once my rent is paid I have £21 a week left. Whereas when I work, I could earn a week's benefit income in 2 days.

Basically, it's shop at Farmfoods and Lidl, shop around for the sake of saving a few pence (as all the pennies add up), think twice before taking the bus, get used to eating 9p noodles.

Horace

I live from my store cupboard built up in times when money wasn't as scarce as it is now. I sometimes have food parcels from my parents but I tend to buy off the whoopsie shelf or use cheaper supermarkets. I cook from scratch. Don't smoke or drink, I have a car but I am still on the using the same tank of petrol from November when I last filled the car up...I need the car as my parents live in the sticks. I use public transport. I pay my own electricity, water, tv licence, VMedia package, mobile phone and make a contribution towards my rent because my housing benefit does not cover the entire rent that I have to pay.

I don't go out for meals - in fact I don't go out ordinarily.

I am extremely frugal because I have to be. It is possible to survive on £67.50 - I don't even have any savings as all my savings went on my business which still went pear-shaped:(

Coopdivi

jabanico wrote: »

I don;t understand how people manage to survive on only 67.50 particularly when they live in expensive places like London.

How do YOU do it?

I live in the North East and although I don't pay rent per se I do give my parents most of my money for expenses and shopping etc. I always run out of money after about 10 days even though I do live quite frugally.

How do you personally make your money last? are you in debt?

Being on the dole is about making compromises. So, for example, if you're always going out on the razzle with your mates on a Saturday night you can't do that on the dole because you're going to spend £25 upwards. Instead you get a carry out from the shop and get drunk at home.

In my case I can tell you that:

I don't have a TV because I can't afford that and the internet. Quite frankly I don't miss it anyway although I get the impression that I'm the only member on MSE who has never seen the Jeremy Kyle Show
I only have the heating on when it's extremely cold - so far this winter that's been 5 nights. Instead I wear umpteen layers of clothing and sit inside a sleeping bag.
My water bill is less than £25 a year because I only flush the toilet once a day.
Never drink in pubs, go to restaurants or get takeaways.
Only get public transport when I've got a lot of shopping to carry otherwise walk everywhere.
I'm pretty decent at cooking so I can make tasty meals using cheap ingredients. I still buy convenience food like pizzas and pies but I always shop around for them.
I still have my pleasures. I smoke rollies and buy 4 bottles of Montepulciano wine every week. These cost £3.39 each and allow me to get drunk twice which splits the week up and gives me something to look forward to.
I've managed to save up a little bit but this laptop that I'm typing on is 5 and a half years old and is starting to show its age. I'll have to get a replacement soon.

I know my circumstances are different to yours but you just need to look at what things you can economise on. Good luck.

Derivative

I don't personally think about expenditure on a weekly basis (at least, not in total), because I don't think it's terribly helpful - you're working backwards from monthly and quarterly bills to get there.

To me £67.50 a week would be £3510 a year.

Out of that you need utility bills, food, and any luxuries. Not sure how much others are paying for utilities but it looks doable for me.

London shouldn't really be much more expensive, your jobseeking costs might go up (travel) but then that's really because you're covering a larger area, Greater London has a radius about 5 times bigger than say, Hull.

I still don't really understand this whole "london and the south are expensive" thing. A pint and a meal out is more expensive, a taxi is more expensive, etc. But supermarket prices are about if not the same. It's only more expensive if you choose to make it.

(I'm not including housing as the only way you end up paying for that is if you choose to live with family and your folks demand it).

falko89

I was never a big earner anyway so hitting the dole was no big shock to the system, by the time I get my HB and whatever other bits and bobs I'm not that much worse off.

Voyager2002

The figure of 67.50 (which will increase next month) is the amount the law says that a single person needs to live on for a week. It is not intended to cover housing costs, which is why Housing Benefit / LHA and limited assistance with mortgage payments is also available to those who receive JSA. Any income from part-time work or whatever must be declared and usually an equivalent amount is deducted pound-for-pound, and the penalties for failing to declare such income are very severe. We cannot assume that most or even many claimants are breaking the law in this way, although some fraud is present in all walks of life.

For guidance on how to manage on such a limited income, see the 'old style' board. Personally I only run the central heating for an hour a day (if that) and am used to showering in cold water; and take similar care to avoid wasting electricity. Despite this, and the fact that I live in a well-insulated home, my direct debits for energy and water use up more than half of my JSA. I do not have a mobile telephone nor a car, and get around by bicycle to save on bus fares and gym subscriptions. Paying for food is a problem, although I cook fresh ingredients rather than buying prepared meals. A good solution is to salvage food from supermarket rubbish bins, although Tesco security have given me grief for doing this.

LadyMissA

Voyager2002 wrote: »

The figure of 67.50 (which will increase next month) is the amount the law says that a single person needs to live on for a week. It is not intended to cover housing costs, which is why Housing Benefit / LHA and limited assistance with mortgage payments is also available to those who receive JSA.

It is also not intended to cover the costs of looking for a job, traveling to interviews and the like but I have said all this before and I was told on here by many that this is what the JSA is for but it's a living allowence (meaning the money you live on).
Some people get no housing assistance and end up on the streets