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Thinking of giving up work to go on benefits

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  • pinkshoes
    pinkshoes Posts: 20,627 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Er... if you earn £30k that means you'll be taking home £1800 a month after tax and NI.

    You appear to live in Birmingham, and in a council house, so your rent can't be more than £200/month.

    If you spend £100/week on petrol, you must work at least 80 miles from Birmingham, which seems a bit daft...

    The simple solution would be find a job much closer to where you live. If you get a job within walking distance, you could take a £7k pay cut and still be better off financially (no petrol).

    TROLL!
    Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
    Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')

    No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)
  • skintas wrote: »
    i know someone who partner is on £40,000 a year and they have 3 children and she on full benefits has been on full benefits for the last 15 years... now that makes you sick...............

    i work bloody hard me and my partner i slug my guts out working at weekends. for a car and holiday i have pride , im proud that im paying my way.

    she makes me sick yes she boasts she shops in morrison i shop in neeto, she wears designer clothes goes oxford street every week. im happier cos i dont have to watch my back. yes she has been grassed up plenty of times and yes, nothing every happens............

    I don't know what benefit she is on, but if it is Incapacity Bnefit or DLA, it doesn't matter how much her partner earns as it is not means-tested.

    A friend of mine has been on IB for many years due to severe epilepsy and severe clinical depression. Her husband is a top hospital consultant and earns megabucks. Remember that not all disabilities are visible.

    As for the OP, I think he's just feeling cheesed off. I can't really imagine someone earning £30 grand wanting to exist on benefits.
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • RadoJo
    RadoJo Posts: 1,828 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    To be fair, I think a lot of people here have misinterpreted the OP (or at least, I have interpreted it differently).

    I read it as a comment on how little benefit there is to be gained working full time whilst the government pays out for people not to work when they are capable. In as much as everyone seems to agree that this happens, I thought the OP was asking why some people seem to be happy with living on the dole whilst the rest of us work hard to pay for them, and why shouldn't someone who has contributed to the system for years be the one who 'benefits' from benefits for a change.

    Whilst some people have used this thread as a way to point out how much worse off they have it than the OP, hurl abuse and call him/her a troll, you aren't really answering the question, which is basically, what is the point in making an effort to work hard and bring up your children well, when there are some who seem (and I think it is important to note that this is all based on external appearances) to have a much better quality of life claiming benefits. Or, to boil it down - if the social security system is going to support scroungers, why shouldn't it be someone who has paid in to the coffers?

    I can completely empathise with this mindset - it is difficult to have to work hard every day and come home (in my case) to neighbours who haven't done a stroke of work all day, sitting in the garden drinking at 6pm and bragging about how nice it is not to have to get up early and come home late in the rush hour - it does make you question what you get out of working. Many people on this thread so far seems to be of the mindset that working is a goal in and of itself, but I believe that work is a means to earn the money I need to live my life. If you are the kind of person who wouldn't give up work if they won the lottery, then it may be hard to understand those of us who wouldn't have a job again, but it doesn't mean that there isn't a debate to be had, or that point scoring on income levels, insults and abuse will achieve anything other than convincing the OP that people who work long hours become rude and dismissive of others' concerns.

    OP - I hope you are able to work out a way to rebalance your work and life, in amongst the bile, there are some sensible suggestions of how to go about this. I personally couldn't go on the dole because I want to travel, and working is the only way to accumulate any savings and have the independance to spend that money at least how I choose.
  • skintas_2
    skintas_2 Posts: 1,679 Forumite
    @ seven day week. shes on income support claiming to be a single parent...pure greed........and how do i know cos she tells everyone, she thinks to above everyone.

    wrong im above her cosi get off my !!!!...........
    i will be debt free, i will
  • slates
    slates Posts: 107 Forumite
    No wonder the country is going down the pan, with pr**cks like that. It makes my blood boil..If i was on 30k i would be enjoying a life a lot more better than i am now..

    Its no wonder the youngsters in this country are growing up lazy scrounging gits, when their elders are no better. I have worked in some way since I was 13. I wanted to earn my own money not scrounging of my parents or when I was older the state.

    People like this should not be given benefits at all, just tough luck. Anyone who is fit and able to work should be told to get off their lazy butts and work for a living and given the ultimatium of NO BENEFITS
  • champys
    champys Posts: 1,101 Forumite
    RadoJo wrote: »
    ?
    RadoJo wrote: »

    Iyou question what you get out of working. Many people on this thread so far seems to be of the mindset that working is a goal in and of itself, but I believe that work is a means to earn the money I need to live my life. If you are the kind of person who wouldn't give up work if they won the lottery,

    OP - I hope you are able to work out a way to rebalance your work and life, in amongst the bile, there are some sensible suggestions of how to go about this. I personally couldn't go on the dole because I want to travel, and working is the only way to accumulate any savings and have the independance to spend that money at least how I choose.

    RadoJo thank you for this balanced comment - I couldn't agree with you more. This is not about benefits or working for self-esteem, but about finding the way you want to live your life. Some people need plenty of money, some need plenty of time, and the two almost never go together. I have been steadily working on a life/work balance solution for 8 years now and am now thoroughly happy, after drastically reducing my hours worked and using every trick in the MoneySaving book to make the equally reduced income go miles further.

    It would go much too far to describe all the steps I have taken, but the two most important LifeImproving/MoneySaving actions were:

    1) moved from working in an office to working from home. (save on commute, office outfits, haircuts, lunches/drinks with colleagues and lots more)
    2) once the bosses were used to this, I convinced them that it now mattered little where me & my computer were physically based, and moved to a cheaper area (in my case France). (the best savings are housing and council tax - but many, many more).

    Note however that reducing your work hours will mean you make more hours on other activities, but that is your choice if your main goal is to spend more time at home. Plenty of time goes into cleaning, cooking everything from scratch, growing own vegetables, using wood stoves etc etc.

    But the great thing is that I used to resent my work (because it kept me from doing the things I wanted to do) but in a smaller dose I actually enjoy it!
    "Remember that many of the things you have now you could once only dream of" - Epicurus
  • dearbarbie wrote: »
    Gordon doesn't take every penny. Especially if you're in the lower tax bracket. It's for your pension, your FREE healthcare, your bin collection, everything else you can think of. Services you would whinge about if you didn't get them.

    Finally, my boyf is on £40k plus and works office hours. And I'm set to earn more than £30k this year, working in an office. So what's your excuse?

    Its for your pension; tell that to the millions who's private pensions he's robbed and the pensioners now who get jack s**t...

    FREE healthcare; 3rd world rated hospitals riddled with diseases (you go in to get better not die), can't get an appointment for at least 4-5 days - my son's minor kidney problems still hasn't been solved after 2 years because they can't fit our consultations in for 6-7 months...

    Bin collections; being told what we can and can't put in otherwise we'll be fined, 2 week collections, rat & maggot infestations

    YOU CALL ALL THEM SERVICES VALUE FOR OUR HARDWORKING TAXES!!!!????

    you are definately a barbie girl living in a barbie world love!!!!!!!!!!
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,920 Forumite
    10,000 Posts
    Its for your pension; tell that to the millions who's private pensions he's robbed and the pensioners now who get jack s**t...

    FREE healthcare; 3rd world rated hospitals riddled with diseases (you go in to get better not die), can't get an appointment for at least 4-5 days - my son's minor kidney problems still hasn't been solved after 2 years because they can't fit our consultations in for 6-7 months...

    Bin collections; being told what we can and can't put in otherwise we'll be fined, 2 week collections, rat & maggot infestations

    YOU CALL ALL THEM SERVICES VALUE FOR OUR HARDWORKING TAXES!!!!????

    you are definately a barbie girl living in a barbie world love!!!!!!!!!!

    Aren't you horrible ...
    Gone ... or have I?
  • dmg24 wrote: »
    Aren't you horrible ...

    no just don't like people who aren't in touch with reality, you must be a MP
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