Join em… Again…?

So, my “part time” job (I’m doing about 35 hours a week) pays me about £600 a month after taxes.

My rent is £300.

My share of other household bills is about £80 per month.

My Phone bill about £25

My car insurance about £60 a month

Fuelling the car about £100 a month

You can see where this is going etc…

So I currently do 35 hours per week to take home £600 per month after tax, and the govt would pay my rent and household bills, and then give me £65 a week on top to sit on my arse…

Remind me again why I’m working? I’m struggling to see the funny side here! 😕

Get a better job.

Pride and citizenship.

Pride?
Self esteem?
Selflessness?

Exactly which of your household bills would the government pay?

they would pay your rent and £67 a week – you would have to pay your leccy, gas and a % of your council tax out of £67 a week. You woulnd’t be running a car.

have you applied for in work benefits?

£80 for household bills? That sounds a lot. Also move closer to work..?

What’s the minimum wage? And what’s your tax allowance?

Please don’t take this the wrong way. If That was my income, no way would I be running a car.

i know bugger all about income support, but my completely uneducated guess would be that you may be entitled to some form of income support?

Thanks, TJ,I was aware of that. I was wondering if the OP was. 🙂

I’m going to call troll on this one. The sums dont work.

trampus – crossed posts – I was answering him / making the same point

Remind me again why I’m working? I’m struggling to see the funny side here!

And I’m struggling to understand what exactly you are complaining about…..despite getting the distinct impression that you are in fact complaining about something 😕

You’ve a got a job which pays crap wages……are blaming your employer or the government for that ? Serious question btw.

On £600 a month you have no NI or tax to pay. Working 35 hrs a week I assume you are a company director. Choices should be obvious.

I make that £4.44/h assuming 5 weeks holiday. Below minimum wage isn’t it? Unless you are under 20.

@TJ No prob!

@SBZ Inclined to agree!

And I’m struggling to understand what exactly you are complaining about…..despite getting the distinct impression that you are in fact complaining about something

You’ve a got a job which pays crap wages……are blaming your employer or the government for that ? Serious question btw.

All said slightly tongue in cheek to be fair, and I’ll put some more context on the situation first. I’m also studying part time, 2 half days a week, I started doing this job as 20 hours a week and found I needed more money and they upped my hours after a while and proved myself to be ok at the job, to the point where I now regularly work 35 hours or more as well as my 2 half days at college. I’m not blaming the employer certainly, I don’t expect much more than minimum wage for a part time flexible job, that’s the going rate. Do I blame the government? I’ll be honest, the jury’s out on that one, but someone somewhere has to be responsible for the cost of living being drastically higher than the cost of many people’s basic wage.

My main point here though is that now I am in this position, I can begin to understand how so many people get caught up in the benefit lifestyle. OK, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, I’ve earnt a very decent wage in the past (and I’m sure I will again), but if you’ve only got the skills and intellect to ever earn minimum wage or thereabouts, then why bother working at all?

Get a better job.

Been trying for ages, sadly after months of looking, this was the only one I could find at all! Let alone anything that allows my hours to be flexible.

Pride?
Self esteem?
Selflessness?

They all went out the window years ago… I am a primeval being now, survival being the key!

£80 for household bills? That sounds a lot. Also move closer to work..?

2 people, £160 a month all bills, doesn’t seem that ridiculous to me. Seems positively cheap compared to my previous place where 3 of us were paying £110 each for all the bills together, but then one housemate did always put turn the thermostat up to about 24 degrees every time the other 2 of us were out.

What’s the minimum wage? And what’s your tax allowance?

£5.93 I think, and I’m on £6.08. My tax allowance will be poor until April as I was on about £35k a year until August last year, so breached my tax free threshold well and truly inside 3 months earlier this financial year.

Please don’t take this the wrong way. If That was my income, no way would I be running a car.

I can understand where you’re coming from, but if you physically need a car, then you’ve got to have one. No point trying to justify it on a cycling forum, but suffice to say I wouldn’t really get by without a car, and public transport where I need to get to and from is way more expensive than using the car anyway (car is worth about £600 and runs on LPG by the way).

On £600 a month you have no NI or tax to pay. Working 35 hrs a week I assume you are a company director. Choices should be obvious.

Yes I do sadly, as explained above… 35 hours a week, company director? Don’t know what companies you’ve been working for, last time I saw a company director in the last 2 or 3 companies I worked for do less than 60 hours a week, they’d have called themselves a part timer!

apply for working tax credit.

Company directors are exempt from minimum wage ( being ‘officers’ rather than ’employees’.) They often pay themselves below the tax and NI minimum. Their real remuneration comes from elsewhere!

Tax credits would probably add £40-50 to your income.

edit: pw

So basically you are complaining about the cost of living and pointing out that anyone on the minimum wage would find it impossible to make ends meet. Fair points. Although imo the government (any government) is far more responsible than you appear to recognise.

Company directors are exempt from minimum wage ( being ‘officers’ rather than ’employees’.) They often pay themselves below the tax and NI minimum. Their real remuneration comes from elsewhere!

Tax credits would probably add £40-50 to your income.

Gotcha, good point, like shares in the company etc. Sorry hadn’t realised what you were getting at…

Just did a tax credit calculator, it said for the remaining 2 months from now til 5th April, I would be liable for about £70 in total. OK, better than a kick in the teeth (and thanks for pointing it out), but it’s not going to make an enormous difference to be fair.

So basically you are complaining about the cost of living and pointing out that anyone on the minimum wage would find it impossible to make ends meet. Fair points. Although imo the government (any government) is far more responsible than you appear to recognise.

I have not blamed the government, not even the previous one, for this at all, and I know how much more responsible the British Govt is than most across the world when it comes to dealing with benefits and those on a low wage etc. I’m not looking for anyone to blame, I’d dearly like a solution, but primarily I’m stumped as to how I could do nothing and sit on my arse all day every day and be as “well off” as I am now doing a very nearly full time job…

£70 pw plus your wage is ‘not going to make an enormous difference’. You were willing to trade it all in for £65 and some of your rent in your OP! 🙂

I’m not looking for anyone to blame

A few minutes earlier :

someone somewhere has to be responsible for the cost of living being drastically higher than the cost of many people’s basic wage.

Make your mind up.

welcome to the real world mboy. The one that really exists for many outside of this narrow affluent stw bubble of expensive bike ownership and patronising opinion! you are definitely not alone. although I’d say ditch the car, live closer to work and commute on a um, bicycle.

let me guess, household bills includes sky tv?

£70 pw plus your wage is ‘not going to make an enormous difference’. You were willing to trade it all in for £65 and some of your rent in your OP!

£70 IN TOTAL for the period from today til 5th April… As I wrote above (pay attention!).

Or about £8 a week in other words…

Better than nothing granted, but hardly life changing!

My apologies, mboy. It is past my bedtime! 🙂

too late 😉

I’ve worked out that by doing 40hrs ( £6.50 p/hr excluding breaks), meaning doing any hours possible during the week on top of my contracted 33.5 hrs, I am just about £50 better off than being on benefits. That’s 40hrs of my life a week for £50 above staying in bed and signing a bit of paper every 2 weeks. The company will not give a full-time contract to anyone apart from a management position. I had to work hard and prove myself to get to the contracted hours I have now. Judging by the governments online benefits calculator, if I only do my contracted 33.5 hrs I am entitled to £51 working tax credit a week. Why should I bother keep giving my extra time to a company that don’t give a toss when all I wanna do is work hard and make a living?

let me guess, household bills includes sky tv?

LOL, nice stereotype! 😉

Nope, no TV at the moment, the one “luxury” at the moment is Broadband Internet through Orange for £5 a month plus the £12.75 line rental. The bills include, Gas, Electric, Council Tax, Water, Phone/Broadband, TV license (still need one to watch iPlayer and listen to BBC radio!) and that’s it. Gas and leccy likely to drop slightly now though we’re burning more wood and using less gas, and all the lights been replaced with energy saving units (were 50W Halogens).

welcome to the real world mboy. The one that really exists for many outside of this narrow affluent stw bubble of expensive bike ownership and patronising opinion! you are definitely not alone.

Indeed. I’d like to think I’ve always had my finger slightly more on the pulse than most, and I’ve had a few times of relative hardship over the last few years too where I’ve had to pinch the pennies for a few months, but right now I’m struggling to see how this is sustainable beyond next week! You’re right though, all it serves to do though is prove just how little everyone else gives a shit! They’ll still all vote Labour at the next election though cos they like to be seen as a socialist, and care about those less fortunate than themselves.

Now all this aside for a moment… What’s annoying me most right now by a country mile is this… My Mountain Bike, which I don’t have the time to ride cos I’m too busy working trying to earn enough money just to survive (when I’m not also at college) has a BB that has pretty much seized, and I won’t even have £20 spare this month to buy a bloody new one let alone the time to actually ride the damned thing unless I cut down my hours at work (meaning I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford a new BB then!). I do have to laugh internally when much younger colleagues of mine (on the same wage) worry about what to spend their massive wages on (as they still live at home, pay no rent, eat for free etc.), which car they should buy, how many times this week they can afford to get drunk etc… I’m far from bitter, I’ve been there and done that too, but one day they’ll be me sadly! At least I’m busy doing something about it again though…

even if this lot don’t get it. I understand your position completely mate. Suffice to say I am lucky enough to have a beautiful landscape on my doorstep and able enough to explore on what bike I have, and I consider myself a rich man in many ways 🙂

Good stuff Kevevs, likewise in many ways. The course I’m studying part time at uni right now is totally changing my life so much for the better, I’m finally starting to realise much of my hitherto untapped potential. The fact that I got 2 B+’s last term, when perhaps if I hadn’t had to work a full time job too I might have got 2 A’s is a moot point, but still… I’ve found something I’m actually bloody good at, and enjoy more than anything else in the world!

Just wish my local riding was a bit closer, but (if I can find the time) I can usually find a willing passenger to at least pay for the fuel there and back for the 20ish mile round trip to go for a decent ride so its not all bad.

EDIT: MASSIVELY touched by ANON (you know who you are)… Wow amazing, thanks! 😀

edit: be the best that you can for yourself 🙂 and even if you go back to the job with the decent wages, at least you have slummed it for a bit and understood yeah?

Would you be eligible for JSA if you’re not available for full-time work?

I’m also studying part time, 2 half days a week

Who’s paying the fees?

This is a good thread, and apt for Dickens’ 200th birthday!

Mboy, in which area of the country do you live?

TV license (still need one to watch iPlayer and listen to BBC radio!)

mboy you don’t. You need a TV licence to watch TV “as it’s being shown” (that’s the crucial bit) iplayer is watching post-airing, and you certainly don’t need a TV licence to listen to BBC radio!

Konabunny, me… I’m paying them. Not eligible for any loans or grants as already have a degree.

And as far as qualifying for JSA goes, yes I would. Technically I can pause the uni course any time I want (in case I got offered the right job) and carry on with it at any time in the future if required…

Can we not beat students up anymore then?