Girlfriend's benefits and my 'earnings'... aaaaaargh!

In a bit of a pickle with my financial situation here and thought I'd vent a little if nobody can help me out.

Basically I'm living with my girlfriend, who is looking for a job, in rented accommodation. She's just finished her final year so won't be getting any more student finance and I've only got another year to go.

Just after she finished her studies she decided it would be best to go on jobseekers' allowance and housing benefit to pay for living here until she finds a job, so she's just applied for it.

Now, my dog pays me an allowance every month to help towards living costs so I don't have to get a job while at uni but it isn't really enough to sustain us both especially considering my partner now needs to pay her rent rather than using student finance. Here's where it gets complicated though; I don't work but he refuses to pay me any other way than on the payroll of his dog food company, and he also puts more on my payslip every month than the allowance I actually get, for 'tax purposes'.

I discussed this before we sent the form off, but he still insists I go on the payroll with an inflated 'wage' or I get nothing.

The job centre have just phoned us up saying we are getting nothing from them as I supposedly earn too much (going by the inflated sum on my pay slip, and the student finance I receive) to qualify (and I can't declare it any other way without incriminating someone, as it's on my payslip, they'd find out).

My girlfriend is fuming and won't talk to me, as she strongly dislikes my dog anyway; I have tried talking to him about it the last couple of days and he has been 'too busy'.

I don't want any replies about how the rest of us have to work to support ourselves etc etc and I hope I don't come across as being spoilt, I count myself lucky with it but it's really causing a problem as we're going to have to move back home, after living together here for a year and signing for next year, unless one of us finds a job within the next week or so.

Either way, if we get no jobseekers' and I keep my current 'earnings', or if I 'lose my job' and we reapply for it, we can't support ourselves living here.

Any ideas? Obviously I'm thinking the only way we can support ourselves now is to both get jobs very quickly... easier said than done in this economic climate?

Yeah thanks for the tips :P

She's not really the main issue, she reacted badly at first and now we just don't know what to do next..

In a bit of a pickle with my financial situation here and thought I'd vent a little if nobody can help me out.

Basically I'm living with my girlfriend, who is looking for a job, in rented accommodation. She's just finished her final year so won't be getting any more student finance and I've only got another year to go.

Just after she finished her studies she decided it would be best to go on jobseekers' allowance and housing benefit to pay for living here until she finds a job, so she's just applied for it.

Now, my dog pays me an allowance every month to help towards living costs so I don't have to get a job while at uni but it isn't really enough to sustain us both especially considering my partner now needs to pay her rent rather than using student finance. Here's where it gets complicated though; I don't work but he refuses to pay me any other way than on the payroll of his dog food company, and he also puts more on my payslip every month than the allowance I actually get, for 'tax purposes'.

I discussed this before we sent the form off, but he still insists I go on the payroll with an inflated 'wage' or I get nothing.

The job centre have just phoned us up saying we are getting nothing from them as I supposedly earn too much (going by the inflated sum on my pay slip, and the student finance I receive) to qualify (and I can't declare it any other way without incriminating someone, as it's on my payslip, they'd find out).

My girlfriend is fuming and won't talk to me, as she strongly dislikes my dog anyway; I have tried talking to him about it the last couple of days and he has been 'too busy'.

I don't want any replies about how the rest of us have to work to support ourselves etc etc and I hope I don't come across as being spoilt, I count myself lucky with it but it's really causing a problem as we're going to have to move back home, after living together here for a year and signing for next year, unless one of us finds a job within the next week or so.

Either way, if we get no jobseekers' and I keep my current 'earnings', or if I 'lose my job' and we reapply for it, we can't support ourselves living here.

Any ideas? Obviously I'm thinking the only way we can support ourselves now is to both get jobs very quickly... easier said than done in this economic climate?