What the...?

Spendless

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Agreed - and on the DFW boards, there are quite a few singles who post - and there's even a dedicated thread for those long timers .... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4203267
and ....... yes we do moan about the unfairness of benefits & not being able to get tuition fees paid / free insulation * / cost of dating sites etc:D

* why should my house not be warm & I be able to save on my heating bills just 'cos I'm single .... I probably have less disposable income than every couple living in the bloomin' village but because I don't get WTC (ie have no kids), I can't get it! :mad:

touchy subject - sorry - I'm in a wee group of 6 houses and all the others have just had their loft insulation redone / topped up free because they all get benefits of some sort.

Think that's probably dependant on the funding available at any one time. I had cavity wall inuslation installed about 10 years ago not for free but at a reduced price. I could have also had loft insulation (we already had it). It was available to any household regardless of whether they had kids or child related benefits. My neighbours looked into it, they both work f-time and have no children. it might have been postcode dependant. I live in a deprived town, though not a deprived suburb of the town. My Dad had the inuslation done at his place about 15 years earlier, again because a grant was around, they wouldn't have qualifed on any other grounds.

kara7758

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Agreed - and on the DFW boards, there are quite a few singles who post - and there's even a dedicated thread for those long timers .... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4203267
and ....... yes we do moan about the unfairness of benefits & not being able to get tuition fees paid / free insulation * / cost of dating sites etc:D

* why should my house not be warm & I be able to save on my heating bills just 'cos I'm single .... I probably have less disposable income than every couple living in the bloomin' village but because I don't get WTC (ie have no kids), I can't get it! :mad:

touchy subject - sorry - I'm in a wee group of 6 houses and all the others have just had their loft insulation redone / topped up free because they all get benefits of some sort.

Hiya. May I suggest you look at this link and apply:

http://www.insulationgrants.info/cavity-wall-insulation/

I had cavity wall and loft insulation for free last year and I am employed, single and not receiving benefits, no dependents and under pension age. My house is now toasty warm! I've never had anything for free before and was very pleased.

The link says it covers all the UK. Hope it works for you!

Fire_Fox

shegirl wrote: »

You don't have to have children to get working tax credits!

But single people without kids get benefits too!So,it's not due to being single it's due to not being on benefits...

Being single needn't be a barrier to anything

But the benefits are due to finances/children not being single itself!

In the real world the rules on working tax credits are so restrictive they are basically not available to the child free. Benefits are woefully inadequate for anyone trying to run a household alone, you really notice the absence of a second 'income' (be that another adult or a child) such that bills are shared. A lot of means tested benefits or help relies on you being in receipt of other means tested benefits that are heavily restricted if you don't have children.

I'll do a thread at some point collating the stuff I sourced on the poverty line and fuel poverty in those living alone a while back - suffice to say single person households are sinking fast whilst other traditionally vulnerable groups (pensioners and single parents) have been steadily improving.

I don't think you can separate being a singleton from being child free: many of us take a whipping from both financially speaking.

daska

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I don't think you can separate being a singleton from being child free: many of us take a whipping from both financially speaking.

Does that mean single parents aren't welcome on the singles board? Or can we earn a place if we can redress the 'advantage' children give us with some other disadvantage such as disability or ginger hair LOL

shegirl

Fire_Fox wrote: »

In the real world the rules on working tax credits are so restrictive they are basically not available to the child free. Benefits are woefully inadequate for anyone trying to run a household alone, you really notice the absence of a second 'income' (be that another adult or a child) such that bills are shared. A lot of means tested benefits or help relies on you being in receipt of other means tested benefits that are heavily restricted if you don't have children.

I'll do a thread at some point collating the stuff I sourced on the poverty line and fuel poverty in those living alone a while back - suffice to say single person households are sinking fast whilst other traditionally vulnerable groups (pensioners and single parents) have been steadily improving.

I don't think you can separate being a singleton from being child free: many of us take a whipping from both financially speaking.

I disagree,you can separate it.

I'd also be a lot better off financially if I was child free!

Ames

Nelski wrote: »

Well I will be mostly out on a limb and say its about time

I hate the way the families board went down the route of another general chat board where it was actually difficult to pick out the posts that had any money saving tips/advice in at all almongst the moan threads and the general chit chat. Dont get me wrong I love a good natter about nothing important but that has a place and that place is the arms. No other forum that I know that has a specific function has the option to chat about x factor or celebrity or my dreadful day/dreadful partner/awful kids anywhere other than the allocated place.

I dont know if the plan is to put the focus back on the real purpose that sat behind this forum or not but I hope it is. I am single and I do think that we can benefit from others experience and ideas and what I love about my personal freedom is that I can go and look at other boards too..........wow it may open some peoples minds up a little.:D

I do remember uproar when the suggestion that a lot of the threads should be in the arms was made before (e.g. "this is my home - I cant go anywhere else" :rotfl:) so I will wait and see how it goes but please lets get back to some money saving boards and a nice chat joint for the social stuff.

Ducks quick and prepares to escape to the arms .........:rotfl::rotfl:

But that'll be the same with the new boards, but it'll be different demographics mixing up money saving with chat.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Singles working full-time and running a household alone, won't be getting any benefits (£6.25/hour for 40 hours/week takes them over the threshold).

Evening study is a rarity in itself. Distance learning is possible, but very long-winded and lonely - and, for most, unaffordable.

In Leeds you can study anything up to a degree on an evening. Not for free though.

daska wrote: »

Have to admit I don't feel comfortable with the changes yet. Where do you go to post about the trials and tribulations of being a disabled single parent with money worries?

Ah, you're not looking at life properly. You don't get to be a fully rounded individual, you have to split yourself into some nice tick box compartments (a bit like an Ikea bookcase). So you'd talk about disability in one forum, being a singleton in another, the parenthood in a different one, and then the money worries in yet another. See, all nicely parcelled up.

Until you have to put links in about 8 different threads to all the other ones so that people can get the full picture...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Perhaps they should move the Pets board here - aren't we all supposed to have lots of cats?

Or set up a Family Pet Board specifically for Labradors, Staffies and Spaniels, whilst we have a separate Pets Board for skinny cats with separation anxieties, dogs with digestive disorders and volunteering for rescue work?





Mind you, this will make it easier for the site's owners to see how much of each target demographic is around and what they are talking about :whistle:

shegirl

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Perhaps they should move the Pets board here - aren't we all supposed to have lots of cats?

Or set up a Family Pet Board specifically for Labradors, Staffies and Spaniels, whilst we have a separate Pets Board for skinny cats with separation anxieties, dogs with digestive disorders and volunteering for rescue work?

And a lesbian board for the sparkies and gas engineers to enjoy

Fire_Fox

daska wrote: »

Does that mean single parents aren't welcome on the singles board? Or can we earn a place if we can redress the 'advantage' children give us with some other disadvantage such as disability or ginger hair LOL

Advantage is your word not mine, neither said nor intimated. Gave my opinion FWIW on single parents and the Singletons board already today
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=57357799&postcount=27

daska

Darn it, forgot to classify myself by education, profession, height and brand of hairdye :rotfl: