Could YOU live off £53 a week

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Original post by blue n white army

Super markets do 3 for £10 on meat which can easily make 11 meals more if im making it last. Pasta rice and noodles as well as the sauces are cheap cheap cheap. Potatoes are cheap and do a good few meals and theres usually fruit and veg on offer. Bread is £1 a loaf for hovis at the shop round the corner from me. I eat well im never sick and im in great shape fitness wise.

Bills based on what ive paid already, for gas electric and water come out at £11 ( I share with one other person) basically put a jumper on and be tactical with the heating.

TV Licence can be ditched straight off if you needed to cut costs. Just watch your programmes on catch up tv (which you dont need a licence for)

hmm yeah if your a skinny guy your be looking at about 1500 calories a day which i suppose would be just about okay, gas electric and water you would be very very conservative to have that low a bill, but the real question is how do you travel? buy new clothes? toothpaste deodrant shampoo all that stuff shavers etc, you need a tv license if you have a screen able to view any kind of tv, you need a tv license even if you only have a pc and i know this from alot of problems with them.

Reply 161

minimarshmallow

Original post by Ziggy2252

I agree about the toothpaste/deodorant/clothes/travel, but you do not need a TV license to have a PC at all, unless you're watching live TV on it (on iPlayer or something). If you've had problems, they must have some evidence that you were watching live TV or are just trying to scare you. I have a TV that is hooked up to a Playstation and I don't have a TV license because I don't watch TV, and no amount of letters telling me I may be fined will change that.

Reply 162

blue n white army

Original post by Ziggy2252

I get about 2000 a day (been calorie counting for the gym)

With gas and electric we are very conservative. Infact when I submitted a meter reading for gas I hit enter and it popped up with 'this is an implausible amount based on previous usage for this property'

You can get good shampoo (alberto balsam) for a quid and good shower gel is usually on offer at some point. If you look in the right places you can get toiletries quite cheaply.

To answer the transport question I walk most places. Even at home in the country side I like to walk home after a night out (3miles) but if youre on benefits what travel are you going to need to do? How many job interviews will you have in a week?

Also you only need a tv license if youre viewing tv live. Catch up tv is free. Iplayer for example will pop up and tell you when you need a tv licence to view something.

Reply 163

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by blue n white army

To answer the transport question I walk most places. Even at home in the country side I like to walk home after a night out (3miles) but if youre on benefits what travel are you going to need to do? How many job interviews will you have in a week?

If you're lucky and applying to the right jobs (on top of the jobs you HAVE to apply to through universal jobmatch) you should be having at least 1 interview a week.

JSA requirements say that you must apply to and attend interviews for jobs within 90 minutes travel from your home. Usually this is measured by public transport (or if you have a car then time travelled by car) and not walking or cycling . If you refuse to apply or attend an interview within this radius then you get your JSA stopped. ref: DWP guidance

Reply 164

Ziggy2252

Original post by minimarshmallow

You need a tv license if you have a screen capable of watching live tv via the internet, they check to see if you have internet and if you do hit you with a bill, me and 3 other roomates tried this and after we got people knocking every week we decided to pay, we let them in and said we just use it for games and browsing but its pretty obvious that your going to be watching some form of tv on it id rather not be hit with a massive fine a few years down the line but this is just my experience im sure others have got away with it

Reply 165

Ziggy2252

Original post by blue n white army

yes shampoo shower gel toothpaste shavers shaving foam facial cleanser a moisturisher replacements for damaged goods like fridge washing machine etc, thats another one washing your clothes costs atleast a fiver a week on electric ? im just saying it from someone who in the past has lived on a slightly bigger budget in shared accomendation and we all had times where we had to share stuff, your lucky you can walk alot of people require bus and trains.

Reply 166

Smartcook

People might manage 53 a week if they are students.

However 53 a week on JSA isn't going to be the same since you have to add in cost for finding jobs such as stamps, envelopes, paper, ink, any new clothing for interviews, travel to/from interviews.

If your single and staying with parents then JSA is a bit better.

Reply 167

Smartcook

Original post by GulfArab

People on benefits are absolute scum. If I had my way I would stop welfare spending. These scavengers don't deserve luxuries as they're too lazy to work and contribute to society. I'd be ashamed to live on benefits. There are many other people in the world who survive on much less than £53 a week.

I've also noticed that most of these people on benefits are uneducated cretins. My advice to these mongrels is get a job and stop living off people who are working hard but being forced to feed animals like you.

ps. I've never lived on benefits and my studies have been paid for privately without the need for student loans.

Trolling but prefect example.

Child Benefits, Income Support, Personnel Independence Allowance(Disability Allowance), Carers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance are some of the benefits claimable within Britain, however ill minded idiots don't think of these and think all benefits are bad when in reality only a small amount of the claimants are indeed scum so f**king get the facts right before slating the benefits system. It's c**ts like the idiot I've quoted that p**ses me off.

Back on topic.

Reply 168

blue n white army

Original post by Smartcook

Sorry for the late reply

Aren't a lot of job applications done online now? I think the stationary cost of job hunting is fairly low. I'm firing off many job applications atm for jobs next year and about 2 out of 30+ applications have needed to be done by hand and posted.
New clothing is such a rare cost. I've had my suit for 5 years and it's done many interviews, presentations weddings etc it's not like you need to buy a new suit for each interview.

Travel to/from interviews i understand though.

Reply 169

cl_steele

If you werent paying rent/Mortgage with it then i see no real reason why not although it would definitely give ones quality of life a kicking.

Reply 170

Ice Constricter

I pay £36.50 for my weekly 7 day travelcard alone. Yeah, so work out the likelihood of me living off £53 a week...

Reply 171

CelticSymphony67

Full Time Carers who have given up their jobs to look after their elderly parents or family members have to survive on £59.75.a week. It is a travesty, especially considering how much they save the state in Caring costs. One study estimated that people who claim Carers Allowance in the UK are saving the UK Government £90 Billion a year in caring costs.

Reply 172

HDQP

I've literally started a thread on the £54 a week Student Finance expect me to live off. I've been given £859 to live off for 16 weeks, that's £54 a week.

Travel £480
Food £640
Broadband £88
Electricity £320
Gas £160
Phone £220

Total = £1908, almost double what I've been given.
Cuts could be made, but for me, I simply can't afford to even go to university.