£11,500 in debt..enough of living borrowed life.pls help

alykhalil

Alleycat wrote:

Now, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but why are you expecting the tax payer to owe you a living? At the end of the day, you criticise a single mother who is not working for getting benefits, yet you are only working part time? There are two of you to raise your children and she is coping alone. The benefits system is there to help those who are on a low wage/out of work and struggling (I know its not infallible, but thats what its supposed to be there for) NOT to be cheated. At the end of the day, you racked up £11,500 worth of debt and it should be YOU not everyone else that has to pay it back. You will get outstanding advice on these boards, but not if you intend to defraud the system.

Most people struggle with their bills, would love to have more money in their pockets, but go about it legally. I have an 8 month old daughter and went back to work part-time, my partner works full time. We get Child Tax Credit and Child Benefits. We do not own our own house as we cannot afford to and my partner earns the same as you would if you put the hours in.

If you really need the help and advice this board has to offer, I would suggest putting down both your wife and your joint income and expenditure and people can help you whittle it down to enable you to begin paying off your debts, rather than perpetuating and increasing your debt even further.

I really do hope you can sort things out and begin to make a dent in your debt.

Alley

every word of yours is cent percent true. but mate, i aint here to use other peoples money. i was jobless for 3 months but never claimed for job seekers allowance coz we were self sufficient and didnt need no help. But right now i am not feeling the same coz we need help and none availabe...you see...anyway, i will sort both our inomes out and put it here...you people may be able to advise better than...cheers

margaretclare

Hi

I'm not sure if this is the right place to get into these kind of discussions, but it's a sad fact that people from other countries do come here, for whatever reason - perhaps as students - they see that we have benefits as a 'safety-net', they relay the information back to the countries they come from, and hey presto, everyone thinks 'this is great, let's have some of this!'

The benefits system is not perfect and has grown up over a number of decades. Every government that ever came to power has tinkered with it in the name of 'reform', few have done much to improve things. A century ago retirement pensions were introduced - old people were grateful that a small amount a week was enough for them to continue to live independently and not go into the workhouse. And yet many retired people - especially older women on their own - can't live on the basic state pension with today's prices, and they're certainly among the group that Alleycat mentions, who struggle with bills.

Don't even get me started on single mothers - my mum was a single mum in 1935 and I grew up through the 1940s when there were no benefits for a single mum at all. I grew up in the sort of poverty that no one sees now, and my mum literally scrubbed floors for a living. The person who mainly brought me up, because she couldn't go out to work, was my aunt. She'd had polio aged 21 in 1926 and she sat on the floor for most of her life. No purpose-built dwelling with shower-room for her! From those hard-working, resourceful, ethical people I acquired most of my values.

It's understandable that someone living in this country for 3 years gets a superficial view and thinks we have a lovely easy life. I admit that even the poorest pensioner is not living like e.g. a refugee in Darfur. But you have to see a bit of the historical perspective before you understand. Re single mothers - there are guys now (as there have always been) who don't hang around to take responsibility.

When I still went to the CAB I was phoned, more than once, by someone who asked the question 'Would we be better if we lived separately?' They meant - both partners would claim benefits in their own name but he would still come round to sleep, even if every other night. I thought this was a scam, I still do, they wanted me to give them the figures so they could decide whether to do this quite cold-bloodedly, and I'm afraid I fobbed them off as best I could.

But as I say, this is probably not the place.

Aunty Margaret

margaretclare

alykhalil wrote:

all you peopl are right, its just not me who complains about the system. people wouldnt be stupid enough to goto prison for 7 days just coz of not paying £50 counsil tax.

The people who did that - the retired social worker who didn't serve the full 7 days because someone paid the bill although she asked them not to, and the retired vicar who was released yesterday after serving his 28 days - were doing it out of principle, not because they were stupid. Stupid they most certainly are not! There have always been people in this country who were willing to go to jail for a principle. Read a little history - John Hampden and 'Ship Money' in the 17th century spring to mind.

I may not wish to go that far, I pay my council tax and don't give it much of a thought, but there may in the future be things I'd be willing to go to prison for. If the flying of my country's flag - the flag of St George - is ever seen as a way of 'stirring up religious hatred' then I think I'd go to jail over that principle.

Aunty Margaret

alykhalil

thank you everyone for your help. I seriously think this thread is going out of way. it started by me asking for help and it ends by me being told of JUST COZ I MENTIONED TRUTH. anyway, i am closing this thread and if anyone really wants to help me please PM me or i will PM whoever wants to help me. I am closing this thread now. thank you again for all you support guys.



BG NOTE:

Thread closed at the request of the OP...

Former_MSE_StatsMan

Have you read Martin's article 'Problem debt help' that can be found HERE.